Auburn Faculty Research Symposium highlights innovative projects, from neuroscience to rural housing design to additive manufacturing

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Auburn University faculty are gathering Oct. 4 for the 2019 Auburn Research Faculty Symposium, during which they will discuss and give presentations on their innovative research, from neuroscience to rural housing design to additive manufacturing and more.

The annual event from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in the Student Center provides Auburn and Auburn University at Montgomery faculty an opportunity to share their discoveries university-wide and with the community.

“Auburn researchers are working every day to solve real-world problems for the benefit of citizens in Alabama and beyond,” said James Weyhenmeyer, Auburn University vice president for research and economic development. “The annual faculty symposium is a great chance for everyone to see this innovative research and scholarship firsthand.”

Roundtable discussions, designed to help faculty achieve external funding for research projects, will be held from 8:30-9:50 a.m. in the second-floor classrooms. The next event features four researchers presenting Auburn Talks from 10 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. in the third-floor ballroom, with each researcher speaking for 5 minutes followed by a 10-minute, moderated question-and-answer session. The speakers and topics are:

  • Allan David, the John W. Brown Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering: Nanoparticles for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

  • Sarah Zohdy, assistant professor of disease ecology, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences: What's the Buzz? Disease Emergence in a Changing World

  • Mollie Mathis, assistant professor of accounting, Harbert College of Business: S. Taxation of Foreign Earnings: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

  • Steve Brown, professor of political science, College of Liberal Arts: Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces That Changed a Nation

“The Auburn Talks are similar to the famous TED Talks as they provide insight into great projects,” said Rodney Greer, a member of the Research Symposia Committee and assistant dean for research in the College of Education.

More than 90 researchers then will fill the third-floor ballroom with poster displays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by 11 presentations from the Presidential Awards for Interdisciplinary Research, or PAIR, teams from 1:10 to 4:45 p.m.

The interdisciplinary PAIR projects were selected in 2018 for special funding to propel Auburn to new levels of research and development distinction. Projects are designed to tackle local and global challenges ranging from housing affordability to advanced manufacturing of medical implants. Areas also include rural health disparities in poverty-stricken areas, treating the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, neuroscience research and graduate education, reducing carbon dioxide emissions or using them for other means, and other critical areas of human and environmental health.

“All of our faculty put many hours into their research and creative scholarship,” Greer said. “We invite everyone to join us at the symposium to recognize their excellent work.”

More information about the Auburn Research Faculty Symposium is available on the faculty symposium webpage or by contacting Research Symposia Committee member Tony Ventimiglia.

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Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification, life-changing outreach with Carnegie’s Community Engagement designation and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs. Auburn’s commitment to active student engagement, professional success and public/private partnership drives a growing reputation for outreach and extension that delivers broad economic, health and societal impact.