Minority participation in undergraduate research was focus of symposium held at Wayne State

DETROIT (Nov. 7, 2013) ­- More than 150 undergraduate students from across Michigan gathered at Wayne State University on Saturday, Nov. 2 for the 6th annual Michigan Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (MI-LSAMP) Undergraduate Research Symposium.

	Additional symposium photos are available on the Wayne State College of Engineering Flickr site.

MI-LSAMP was launched in November 2005 with a grant from the National Science Foundation. It is an alliance of five four-year institutions - including WSU, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University and Western Michigan University - and 10 community colleges. Its overall goal is to significantly increase the number of underrepresented minority students earning bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and prepare them for entry into graduate STEM-related degree programs.

The symposium, hosted for the first time by Wayne State's College of Engineering, highlighted research opportunities within the LSAMP network, nationally and internationally. Featured speakers included the University of Michigan's Jerry Caldwell, executive director of MI-LSAMP, and Farshad Fotouhi, dean of the Wayne State College of Engineering, who spoke of the benefits of a research experience and provided more information about graduate schools.

The event also featured several poster and oral presentations. Oral presentation winners included Michigan State University students Lazarius Miller, Mary Lian and Kelly Montgomery. Poster presentation winners included Lian, Choya Webb of U-M, Pastor Houtado of WMU, and William Carr of Wayne State.

"We were delighted at the turnout," said Darin Ellis, the College of Engineering's associate dean of academic affairs and student services. "It was great to see so many bright young minds from Wayne State and across the state present their work. Word is clearly getting around that research plays a crucial role in the development of our STEM talent pool, and students are lining up to take advantage of the opportunities. Programs like MI-LSAMP play a critical role in addressing gaps identified by our students' future employers, such as increasing the overall number of STEM grads while also increasing the diversity of the talent pool."

Added Caldwell, "The Undergraduate Research Symposium is an important event of our annual calendar because it highlights a major objective of the MI-LSAMP project of increasing participation of underrepresented minority students in the scientific enterprise through faculty-mentored research. The number of students and faculty participants has grown each year, including greater participation of community college students and faculty. The students did an excellent job of presenting their research, and we are extremely pleased with the outcome of the symposium."

Kayla Jordan, a senior majoring in electrical engineering at Wayne State, attended the event and believes the symposium serves a great purpose in raising STEM awareness among minority students.

"I have been participating in the LSAMP program for three years now. I started as a pre-first-year student and now I have mentored new LSAMP students interested in research," Jordan said. "I see not only an increase in STEM awareness among minority students, but also but pure passion. LSAMP provides minorities with an opportunity to network and mature in their chosen STEM fields."

For more information on MI-LSAMP, visit http://milsamp.engin.umich.edu/.

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Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.