Student Research Event Draws Crowd, Praise (Video + Photos)

Academic research could be an isolating endeavor.

The long, lonely hours spent in laboratories and libraries could sometimes have researchers wondering if their hard work will pay off in the end.

Then, an event like The University of Scranton’s Celebration of Student Scholars happens, and it’s clear that the sacrifice was worth the effort.

The 25th annual Celebration of Student Scholars was held during the afternoon of April 30. The three-hour social event, which was catered and featured nonstop foot traffic inside the Loyola Science Center, drew hundreds of University community members, including friends, family and faculty.

About 185 students participated in the showcase, including more than a dozen oral presenters like Cuong Nguyen.

“I am very proud of myself and of course there’s a sense of relief, as well,” said Nguyen, of Ashley, a Scranton graduate now pursuing his master's degree in software engineering here. “This project, I’ve been working on it since at least 2023.”

The origin of Nguyen’s research project, “Software Development for the Grape Personal Space Weather Station,” predates the college careers of some other presenters.

For example, Jonathon Symuleski, a biochemistry major from Hop Bottom, is a sophomore at the University. Symuleski’s relative youth didn’t stop him, however, from reading ahead and getting a jump on some sophisticated concepts he’ll learn in the years to come.

“Overall, super beneficial,” Symuleski said of his research project. “I learned so much doing the project. I was able to take some concepts from class that I had and then apply them to actual work. I got to work with a great professor and it’s helped me discover what I like doing.”

Arati Kishore, of Pakistan, said it was a dream of hers to present a poster at a globally recognized university such as Scranton. Kishore covered “Commodity Pricing Reduces Costs While Prices Stay Stable.”

“It was a big thing for me; analyzing the data, making charts, reviewing and discussing with your peers and teachers and finally making a project which you can present and find out the research,” Kishore said. “There’s a problem and you find out some research (to solve it). It was a great experience.”

Presenters spanned all three of the University’s colleges and covered timely topics, including “Rewriting the Rules: NIL and the College Sports Economy,” by Colin Merriman, a senior finance major from Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Timeless subjects were covered, too, including former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; students in a history class taught by Robert Shaffern, Ph.D., were assigned to research different aspects of Churchill’s life.

“I did my research project on Clementine Churchill, Winston Churchill’s wife … she really fascinated me and was a beautiful and interesting person,” said Therese Shimkus, a history major from Scranton. “Through her whole life, she was a rather lonely, isolated individual. That carried over into her adulthood. But she really supported her husband — completely, wholeheartedly — all the time. I was so impressed by her story and I’m happy to be able to share it.”

In total, 110 of the 124 poster presentations were solo and the remaining 14 were made in small groups.

Each presenter worked closely with a faculty mentor who helped guide them along the way.

“It’s just a chance for us as a university community to celebrate and recognize their hard work because they put a lot of work into it,” said Brooke Leonard, director of the office of research and sponsored programs. “We have some excellent students doing amazing research. And our faculty are really great mentoring them and taking them on. We like to recognize that.”