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The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s 16th-annual Celebration of Scholarship will showcase more than 75 different student research projects.

The presentations, ranging from the design of an e-voting platform to how to craft a motion picture screenplay, will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 23 in Reeve Memorial Union, 748 Algoma Blvd. The research was conducted in collaboration with faculty advisers.

Senior management information systems major Marshall Scorcio developed an e-voting system prototype with a secure systems framework for software engineering to address voting accuracy and technical security issues.

“I looked at what happened with the previous e-voting machines and then began following industry best practices,” Scorcio said.

Modeling his system after the online banking concept, Scorcio also made his system transparent to allow system evaluators to monitor security better, which was the main problem in previous e-voting systems.

“I think it’s definitely feasible,” Scorcio said. “It would encourage people to vote more because they can vote from anywhere at anytime.”

Ashley Hellenbrand, who majors in environmental studies and chemistry, also explored the feasibility of a technological advancement that would benefit society.

Hellenbrand researched if the electric car is sustainable, its potential benefit to society and the costs involved in making the switch.

“Society would benefit because we would be less dependent on oil, and we would lessen greenhouse gases and breathe cleaner air,” Hellenbrand said.

Hellenbrand worked on her project as part of a sustainability course where she also brainstormed ideas to raise awareness about sustainability on campus. She currently is leading an environmental audit report that examines the past, present and future environmental state of UW Oshkosh.

Poster presenters will be available to discuss their projects from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 23 in rooms 201 and 202 of Reeve Union.

Winners of  the 2008-09 Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant, awarded by the Office of Grants and Faculty Development, include Scorcio and the following other students:

  • Nicholas Bach, biology and microbiology, with Robert Pillsbury, “The Effects of Disturbance and Nutrient Addition on a Periphyton Community Dominated by Didymosphenia Geminate”
  • Peter Christensen, chemistry, with Brant Kedrowski, “Synthesis and Resolution of Chiral Molecule Cacalol”
  • Ryan Dhillon, geology, with Dan Lehrmann, “Petrographic Evaluation of a Permian-Triassic Erosion Surface and Implications for Causes of the End-Permian Extinction”
  • Jeremiah Henning, biology and microbiology, with Stephen Bentivenga, “Influence of Mycorrhizal Fungi on Competition Between Two Prairie Grasses”
  • Andrew Jansen, geology, with George Hudak, “Lithogeochemical Evaluation of the Lower Member of the Neoarchean Ely Greenstone Formation, Vermilion District, NE Minnesota”
  • Anthony Pietsch, history, with Stephen Kercher, “The Student Struggle: Conflict With Wisconsin State University Authority in the Late 1960s.”
  • Virginia Pliska, Economics, with M. Ryan Haley, “Optimal Reserve Price in Wisconsin State Forestry Auctions”
  • Olesya Savchenko, accounting, with Stephen Makar, “Firm-Specific Foreign Exchange Exposure and the Monitoring of Hedge Effectiveness: Do Ineffective Hedgers Modify Future Derivatives Use?”
  • Chan Vang, art, with Li Hu, “Beyond the Refugee Experience”
  • Rebecca Zink, foreign languages and literature, with Dr. Elena Gonzalez-Muntaner, “A Voice for the Voiceless: A Portrait of Childhood in Matute’s Short Stories”

The UW Oshkosh Film Society Blowout will cap off the Celebration of Scholarship from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Reeve Union Theatre.

For more information visit, www.uwosh.edu/grants/assets/uw_student_support/celebration_of_scholarship.php.