Last week, Mississippi State University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium showcased MSU students’ commitment to creative discovery with a total of 281 research projects. Among them, co-ed professional engineering fraternity Theta Tau embodied a particular desire to take research to new heights by contributing individual research and sponsoring the symposium’s Tomorrow Builder Award.
The Tomorrow Builder Award is one of the symposium’s Special Area Competition Awards and is given to an undergraduate engineering student whose research helps “solve complex problems of critical importance to society” according to the competition’s guidelines.
The fraternity budgeted a portion of the money collected from membership dues to sponsor this award. They then chose candidates from the list of abstracts for the symposium, made evaluation sheets and watched candidates for the award present their research during the poster session.
Tristen Sellers, junior biomedical engineering major and Theta Tau’s current scribe, spoke about the reasons why Theta Tau chose to support the symposium this way.
“Our three main pillars are brotherhood, service and professional development,” Sellers said. “…The Tomorrow Builder Award is just one of the ways we can support other engineering majors with their professional development and research outside of our members.”
Swarup Bhattarai, sophomore electrical engineering major, is the winner of this year’s Tomorrow Builder Award. He developed technology that detects aquatic invasive species usually found in the southeastern side of the United States. He wanted to provide people with a cost-effective system to detect invasive species early so that local farmers could prevent their crops from being outcompeted by invasive species.
Bhattarai wrote about how receiving the award encouraged him as a researcher.
“Receiving an award like this definitely gives me a confidence boost,” Bhattarai wrote in an email to The Reflector. “When I received the email congratulating me for the award, it was so exciting because I had this feeling that people loved what we did. This feeling helps us keep going and pushing forward on the research we do.”
As instructors, students and spectators weaved through the maze of posters during the symposium’s poster sessions, some of Theta Tau’s members also presented their individual research.
Austin Prevette, a senior aerospace engineering major and member of Theta Tau since his freshman year, presented his research confidently to both judges and peers in the Colvard Student Union ballroom. Prevette said his experiences in Theta Tau prepared him for opportunities like the symposium, adding that he feels MSU’s chapter is a good blend of social and professional.
“I participated in some Theta Tau Talks that helped me learn to talk professionally,” Prevette said. “They prepare you for stuff like presenting research.”
Prevette’s research is on using metal 3D-printing, also called additive manufacturing, to create hard-to-manufacture aerospace parts like structural adapters to a rocket engine and airbrakes. Prevette’s decision to use additive manufacturing made the parts strong but low mass.
Prevette said his research was inspired by his experiences with the MSU student organization Space Cowboys and his senior seminar research. He explained that the parts required lots of testing.
“We tested the parts’ strength and vibration at research facilities at NASA and Mississippi State,” Prevette said. “The tests showed that the parts performed better than expected, and they are now approved to fly on a high-powered rocket built by students for a major international competition this year.”
Theta Tau members presented research and supported the research of others at this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, inspiring others to continue taking advantage of the opportunities at MSU to learn while a community of fellow students offers encouragement along the way.
