Can a computer evolve?
Are miracles analogous to the placebo effect?
Is language a source of power?
These are just some of the many innovative themes of the 12 research projects presented at the first annual Spruce College House Research Symposium on Saturday.
Provost Robert Barchi served as the event's keynote speaker. Barchi is well-known for his groundbreaking neuroscience research and its clinical applications.
"Research is exceptionally exciting," the provost said. "You have the opportunity to think what you want to think and do what you want to do and people pay you to do it."
The symposium featured the research of undergraduates as well as graduates.
Following the event, Spruce College House Faculty Master Helen Davies awarded Engineering seniors Henry Chan and Tom Olsen and College senior Frank Hsu best oral presentation for their project entitled "Apparatus for the Evaluation of a Genetically Evolved FPGA Circuit Configuration."
Engineering senior Gregory Miller won an award for best poster presentation for his, "Measurement of Hydrostatic Pressure in the Invertebral Disc of Sheep."
But these groups of student researchers weren't the only presenters. College senior and Spruce Humanities Fellow Gerianne Kauffman spoke about her project, "Catholic Miracles as Placebo Effect."
"Science and religion are usually dichotimized," she said. "I chose to view Catholicism and medicine as complementary, realizing in biomedicine, it is not just the body -- it's the mind and the body."
Comparing faith in religion to faith in the medical system, Kauffman tried to find out if miracles were based in the brain.
Chan and his partners' project integrated biology and engineering. Those audience members who knew nothing about FPGA circuits left the symposium aware of the ability of engineers to design intelligent, self-evolving devices.
Rather than focusing on how to create a desired circuit, Chan's research attempted to design circuits that, after some time of random computer variations, evolve into the desired circuit.
Around 30 people attended the event, some of whom said they were fascinated by the research and the scientific method process.
"There were interesting problems [the researchers] thought of," College freshman Harveen Bal said. "It was very interesting to see the steps involved in how people put together their projects."
The symposium was organized by Spruce Graduate Associates Daniel Moore and Eric Klein and Residential Advisor Andrew Trister and was sponsored by Spruce College House.
The goal was to expose Spruce residents to the activities of their fellow housemates and allow them to see first-hand the availability of research experiences.
Undergraduates "can learn what kinds of opportunities are out there," Moore said.
Additionally, the symposium served as a training ground for the students, allowing them the opportunity "to condense years of research into 3 feet of poster board and 15 minutes," Klein said.
Organizers hope the event will continue to showcase student research projects for years to come.
