May 6, 2016
Student research returns with 2nd Annual Mesa College Research Conference
By Office of Communications
The 2nd annual Mesa College Research Conference took place on May 6, showcasing Mesa’s
top student researchers.
Like last year’s conference, this year’s event was divided into Analytical, Descriptive,
and Experimental research categories. 25 students presented their original research
on psychology, biology, chemistry, language, history, and more.
Taking top honors this year in the Analytical category was 2015’s Descriptive category
winner, Patricio Gallardo García Friere. His research, “Reinserting Ourselves into
the Ecosystem: The Implications of Human Waste Recycling in Water Management,” focused
on re-using waste in water management. In the Descriptive category, Isabella MacIsaac
was named the winner for “Storm-related Changes in Beach Morphology and Analysis of
Beach Sediment Characteristics, Torrey Pines State Beach.” Nicholas Cantrell won the
Experimental category with “Training Artificial Neural Networks in Virtual Environments.”
The award winners were presented with special trophies 3D printed from a design by
Jonathan Demetrio, a student in professor Morteza Mohssenzadeh’s Engineering 151 class.
Special thanks goes to the judging panel, consisting of Lisa M. Will, Moe Ebrahimi,
Michael S. Reese, Phil Lawrence, Andrew MacNeill, Argero Zerr, Elizabeth Armstrong,
G. Thomas Kaye, James McMahon, Mary McMahon, Oscar Torres, and Jennifer Carmichael.
Thanks also goes to the MCRC Conference Committee members: Dean of Mathematics and
Natural Sciences Saeid Eidgahy; professors Paul Sykes, Shahrokh Parvini, Jaye Van
Kirk, Justin Estep, Leticia Lopez, Alison Primoza, and Ian Villalta; and Honors student
Sandra Perez.
Tags: Students, Research