The University of Alabama

University of Alabama seniors Aubrey Dettman, Samantha Norris, Alyssa Serena and Braxton Smith were awarded UA ASSURE (Arts & Sciences Support for Undergraduate Research) grants this academic year to support their senior research projects.

Graham Jones, a student at the University of Alabama has been selected to be a speaker at the NIH's All of Us Researchers Convention.

Down the road comes the Hear Here Alabama mobile audiology clinic. Stocked with equipment and staffed with eager undergrads and professionals, the clinic heads out several times a year from UA to health fairs, county health departments and other places in West and South Alabama to offer hearing screenings and do research in areas where audiology resources are limited. Now The College of Arts and Sciences is asking the public to help expand the mobile clinic's mission and reach as part of Bama Blitz, UA's online fundraising event for alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends. The Hear Here Alabama program is a "passion project" to which Bama Blitz contributors may give directly. Bama Blitz will run from noon April 10 to 8:31 p.m. April 11. "I love making a difference and seeing the look on people's faces when they get their sense of hearing back," said Madison McCullough, a senior from Sand Rock who helps run the clinic. "No one thinks about their hearing until it's gone." Research and screenings The project grew out of the research agenda of Dr. Marcia J. Hay-McCutcheon, associate professor of communicative disorders. After she came to UA in 2008, she started performing research on people with hearing implants. She discovered that because of lack of income and health resources, people with hearing loss in the Black Belt were not getting implants. To continue her research into hearing loss and implants, she had to reach out with more mobile resources. "Lots of counties don't have health care resources or hearing health care resources," she said. "I needed to go to the people rather than have the people come to me." So Hay-McCutcheon got the idea for the Hear Here Alabama mobile clinic. The program started in 2013 with $433,000 from UA's College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Research and Economic Development, Academic Affairs, and the Center for Economic Development - money earmarked for buying equipment. Hearing and isolation Loaded with expensive instruments, the clinic represents a key research tool for Hay-McCutcheon. She and her colleagues have produced papers on hearing and memory, rural populations and social isolation for such publications as the International Journal of Audiology and the Journal of Clinical Psychology. "We're looking at hearing loss in general and trying to understand how it's associated with social interaction," Hay-McCutcheon said. "It makes sense that if you don't hear people, you withdraw from social interaction. It's just too challenging." Hay-McCutcheon, audiologist JoAnne Payne and a team of undergrads in the communicative disorders department head out both to offer hearing screenings and, if the participants consent, gather additional data. Each trip costs about $1,000. McCullough joins Hay-McCutcheon in performing the screenings in two booths in the quiet environment of the clinic as well as perform crowd control and keep the area tidy. Visitors who fail the hearing tests are offered referrals or discounts to the clinic on the UA campus. Sometimes people getting the screening are in for a surprise. "I had one man come in and say, 'My wife says I can't hear, but my hearing's fine,'" McCullough said. "If people fail the screening, we offer a discount to come to UA and get a full evaluation." Assessing needs Because the mobile clinic has to go to an area and come back in a day, the range of locations it can visit is limited. Places the truck returns to often include Pine Hill, Demopolis, Livingston and Selma as well as events in Tuscaloosa. The College is asking for donations to allow the truck to visit each community at least once a month over a one-year period. Hay-McCutcheon also would like to expand into Pickens County. "We'd like to more fully understand what the needs are in the community among professionals who work with people with hearing loss or people who have hearing loss," Hay-McCutcheon said. "We also need funds for the operation of the truck -- not just the upkeep of the truck, but upkeep on the equipment." People interested in contributing to Bama Blitz may go to https://bamablitz.ua.edu/. Bama Blitz will run from noon April 10 to 8:31 p.m. April 11.

Nearly 500 students at The University of Alabama highlighted their research and creative projects during the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference on March 27. The 12th annual conference is hosted by UA's Office for Undergraduate Research and the Office for Research and Economic Development. Poster presentations are grouped by research areas -- instead of by academic colleges or departments -- to align with national trends of using interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving. The conference spurs interest in research among undergraduate students and helps students polish their communication skills, said Dr. Kim Bissell, director of the Office for Undergraduate Research. "We have got some pretty phenomenal students who are truly doing great things," she said.

A recent graduate of The University of Alabama civil, construction and environment engineering program has received a fellowship with the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Shane Crawford has been awarded a National Research Council fellowship and will receive funding for 24 months to work at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Crawford, who graduated with his doctorate Dec. 15, will start with NIST in January 2019. "By taking his experience to the national level, communities across the country will benefit from his research," said Dr. Andrew Graettinger, UA civil, construction and environmental engineering professor and Crawford's doctoral adviser. "By gaining this national level experience, Shane will be a valuable faculty member in the future." The NIST NRC Postdoctoral Research Associateship Program brings research scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability to perform advanced research related to the NIST mission. Crawford's work during the fellowship will be with the NIST Community Resilience group and the Disaster and Failure Studies group. "I've been told that the program is very competitive," Crawford said. "Many of the NRC postdocs at NIST go on to work full time with NIST." Crawford will be working to develop strategies for communities to build and adapt to their risk from natural hazards. He will also be developing data collection protocols to more accurately and efficiently document impacts to the built, economic and social environment of affected communities. The application process for this fellowship involved a research proposal, submitting education information and curriculum vitae, and five references. In addition to Graettinger, Crawford received references from three UA faculty, which were Dr. Ed Back, department head of civil, construction and environmental engineering; Dr. Mike Kreger, Garry Neil Drummond endowed chair of civil engineering; and Dr. Lawrence Powell, director of the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research.

University of Alabama students recently participated in RRS Live, an interactive broadcast of research projects conducted by students in the Randall Research Scholars Program. Students discussed the goals, outcomes and societal impact of the research they conducted during the fall 2018 semester. The Randall Research Scholars Program (formerly Computer-Based Honors) pairs exceptional students directly with leading research professors and cutting-edge computing technology to complete scholarly research projects in any field of study. During their freshman year, students complete an intensive series of courses on technology fundamentals, problem solving, project management and research fundamentals. These skills enable students to quickly learn and adapt to new knowledge domains and technical environments required for faculty-directed research projects. Throughout their sophomore to senior years, Randall Research students students interview with faculty and select a project to work on as a research assistant with a faculty member who will act as project director.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that The University of Alabama will receive two grants totaling $28,909 to fund two Phase I student teams through the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) grants program. More than $463,000 in funding is being provided by the program for 31 teams nationwide that are developing sustainable technologies to solve current environmental and public health challenges. One project is "GIS Enabled Green Infrastructure Design Tool," led by Dr. Andrew J. Graettinger, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-more-28000-grants-university-alabama-innovative-technology-projects.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that The University of Alabama will receive two grants totaling $28,909 to fund two Phase I student teams through the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) grants program. More than $463,000 in funding is being provided by the program for 31 teams nationwide that are developing sustainable technologies to solve current environmental and public health challenges. One project is "GIS Enabled Green Infrastructure Design Tool," led by Dr. Mark Elliott, assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-more-28000-grants-university-alabama-innovative-technology-projects.

Students in the Computer-Based Honors Program in the Honors College presented their research during CBH Live 2017, a live interactive broadcast of research projects conducted during fall 2017.

Forty-four incoming freshmen from across the country have been selected for the Computer-Based Honors Program in the Honors College at The University of Alabama.

A University of Alabama graduate student in the Culverhouse College of Commerce was recognized at the SAS Global Forum 2017 in April in Orlando, Florida. Cameron Jagoe, a master's student in UA's Decision Analytics program, was featured in the main opening session of the forum. He discussed his work in data analytics, which involves SAS, UA and US Bank. More information on Jagoe's work with UA and SAS may be found here: https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/articles/analytics/university-of-alabama-student-lands-dream-job-with-help-from-sas.html A video of his presentation may be found here: http://video.sas.com/sasgf17/detail/videos/most-popular-videos/video/5382699791001/developing-the-next-generation-of-analytics-leaders?autoStart=true

A team of engineering students at The University of Alabama is one of six selected as finalists in an international contest to design better antennas for small satellites, called CubeSats.

The Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity Conference, held March 30, is a premier annual event at The University of Alabama that provides students with the opportunity to highlight their research or creative activity. In addition to bringing attention to the outstanding work being done by UA's undergraduates, the conference allows students to gain experience presenting, become eligible for cash prizes, and form relationships with faculty mentors and fellow conference presenters. For more information, go to https://www.ua.edu/news/2017/03/ua-students-highlight-research-creativity-during-annual-conference/