Third annual Undergraduate Research Fair connects undergrads with research opportunities

The Undergraduate Research Council hosted the third annual Undergraduate Research Fair in the Strand Union Building on Aug. 26, providing an opportunity for faculty and student researchers to share their work and recruit students.

The Undergraduate Research Council advises MSU’s administration on issues specific to undergraduate research. It is also the only council whose representatives are exclusively undergraduate students, according to the MSU website. 

Biology major and research council representative Jessminda DiCello said the research fair is one of two events put on by the council each year. The other event is the Undergraduate Research Celebration, where faculty and students can present their research posters. This event takes place in the spring.  

According to DiCello, students interested in research can meet with a research advisor. “Students can make appointments with us and talk to us to get a hand with the research journey,” she said. 

Several different researchers and MSU colleges were tabling, including Samuel Roberts, a mechanical engineering major and researcher at MSU’s Biological and Electronic Microfabrication Lab. According to its website, the Microfabrication Lab addresses problems relating to microscale manufacturing. 

“The overall aim of our research is to 3D print conductive electronic structures and circuitry measured on the scale of micrometers,” Roberts said. “This is the conclusion to chapter one of our research.” 

Other tables at the fair included the campus library, the Museum of the Rockies and NASA.

Iliana Hoerth, a chemical engineering major, said that the NASA booth offered opportunities to a wide range of majors. “They gave me a QR code that talks about internship opportunities, BOREALIS ballooning programs and small satellite projects,” she said.

Various MSU colleges also set up at the fair, allowing new studentsto explore degree opportunities. One such college was the School of Music, where representatives played electronic noises and rhythms over the clamor of the ballrooms. 

“We are looking to garner some interest among different students and people from across campus just to bring attention to our program,” said music student and table attendant Lars

Knudson. “We love what we do. We get to make some cool noises and go on some really crazy experiences just through the degree program itself.”

To schedule an advising appointment or to learn more about undergraduate research, email undergradresearch@montana.edu or visit https://www.montana.edu/undergraduateresearch/meet-your-team/index.html.