Office of Undergraduate Research

Engage

Available Projects

 

College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences

  • Dr. Peter Hanink
    • Project Description:
      1. Assessing sentiment towards campus police on Cal Poly Pomona’s campus by surveying students, faculty, and staff.
      2. Evaluating the effectiveness of face-to-face courses compared to asynchronous ones.
      3. Analyzing under what situations people consider it acceptable to break rules.
      4. Examining schools, prisons, and hospitals and sites of social control and "policing normalcy."
    • Mode: Hybrid
    • Responsibilities: Students will spend most of their time searching for articles, reading and summarizing them, and assembling literature reviews.
    • Required Skills: Reading and writing skills as well as ability to conduct searches.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: Students will gain essential experience in conducting research, using research questions to guide searches, ability to read and understand scholarly research, find patterns and commonalities/differences among and between different articles, and how to organize articles into a literature review.

College of Education and Intergrative Studies

  • Dr. Marisol Diaz
    • Project Description: S.E.M.I.L.L.A (Students Engaging & Mobilizing In Lifelong Learning through Advocacy)
      In response to the College of Education and Integrative Studies’ Community-Care and Wellness (C3W) Initiative, this project aims to mentor students while they critically reflect on themselves and issues that impact the local Pomona communities’ education experiences and perspectives.
      Through the S.E.M.I.L.L.A project students are expected to examine critical social justice issues in the local community that in turn impact the educational experiences of p/tk-12 students; especially, those with marginalized identities. Understanding these connections beyond a superficial level is key to transforming oppressive spaces. Understandably, this takes time and a lot of critical reflection. Therefore, S.E.M.I.L.L.A project is designed to take students through a process of learning which seeks to not only positively transform the local community but more importantly, critically transform their own thinking. In the initial stage of the project, students will engage in a lot of critical readings and critical reflection on their own positionality, identity, and sociopolitical history. This develops critical thinking in students, which is an important skill of any educator and citizen. This project will teach students life-long skills they can apply to various contexts in their life and careers. Below are student learning objectives expected from the S.E.M.I.L.L.A project:
      • Students will undertake undergraduate research activities.
      • Students will thoughtfully examine their own positionality and identity within a broad sociopolitical context.
      • Students will analyze critical readings focused on the manifestations of oppression and power in the educational system.
      • Students will participate in community activism, seeking feedback from the community to drive informed change and empower local residents.
      • Students will present their findings to the local school board
      • Students will collaboratively author a paper and draft a proposal for a national conference, presenting the project's findings, experiences, and outcomes.
      Not only will students benefit from engaging in undergraduate research in the local Pomona community, through the S.E.M.I.L.L.A project, students will have the privilege of working with stakeholders (community members) to frame how advocacy and agency work, with and not without community partners. It is expected that participants in our surveys will be informed about local school board meetings, the findings of the research, and ways they can create personal and systemic change.
    • Mode: Hybrid
    • Responsibilities:
      • Working independently on research
      • Completing readings
      • Adding to a literature review
    • Required Skills: 
      • Qualitative methods
      • Data collection
      • Analysis through theming
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project:
      • Qualitative analysis techniques through theming
      • Data collection of surveys
      • Introduction to quantitative analysis (statistical significance) analysis

  • Dr. Socorro Morales
    • Project Description: I am available to support the mentoring of independent student projects in the following areas: education, ethnic studies, ed leadership, culturally responsive pedagogies and leadership practices, racialized and gendered educational experiences, sociology of education, race studies in education. My expertise is in qualitative research.
    • Mode: Virtual
    • Responsibilities: Students will develop a research question that they can answer within the context of the 8 week program.
    • Required Skills: Basic knowledge of qualitative research.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: Development of a research project, from question to a method and methodology to answer that question, skills to be able to critically evaluate research, skills on how to present that research effectively.

College of Science

  • Dr. Hao Ji
    • Project 1 Description: Object detection which allows for the recognition, detection, and localization of multiple objects in images or videos, has many practical applications. In this project, we plan to develop an automated method leveraging synthetic data to train object detection models for custom objects. Students participating in this project will gain experience in synthetic data generation and training deep learning models for object detection tasks.
    • Project 2 Description: Pose estimation, a fundamental task in computer vision, involves analyzing images or sensor data to infer the position and orientation of objects relative to a known coordinate system or reference point. In this project, we plan to develop an approach utilizing images or videos from multiple viewpoints to accurately estimate object poses in various environments. Students participating in this project will gain practical experience in processing images or videos, implementing, and fine-tuning deep learning models specifically designed for pose estimation tasks.
    • Project 3 Description: Krylov subspace techniques have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in solving large-scale linear systems and optimization problems. In this project, we plan to develop, analyze, and implement efficient Krylov subspace methods to accelerate computations behind a range of machine learning and computer vision tasks. Students participating in this project will gain practical experience in designing high-performance numerical algorithms for machine learning and computer vision.
    • Mode: In-Person
    • Responsibilities: During the summer, students will work on this project in the Computational Intelligence Lab at CPP, where high-end GPU desktops and
      research equipment will be provided for students to research activities. Meetings will be arranged in each week to discuss research ideas and guide project progress.
    • Required Skills: For both Project 1 and Project 2, knowledge in deep learning is essential. For project 3, proficiency in numerical methods and linear algebra, particularly Krylov subspace methods, is crucial.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: For Project 1 and Project 2, practical skills in training deep models for object detection and pose estimation, respectively. For project 3, skills and knowledge in designing high-performance numerical methods for computer science applications.

Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture

  • Dr. Essam Abdelfattah
    • Project Description: Castration, a routine management practice in beef production. Several studies have reported that castration induces pain, and distress that reduce production. Castration by banding is the second most frequently utilized method in cattle industry after surgical castration which includes application of a heavy elastic band around the neck of the scrotum. While banded castration tends to result in fewer complications in comparison to surgical castration, it is associated with chronic pain that can persist for a minimum of 42 days. The specific objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of pain management in band castrated beef calves on 1) growth performance (body weight, withers, and hip heights); 2) calf behavior using accelerometer leg sensors; and 3) pain indicator.
    • Mode: Hybrid
    • Responsibilities: At least two days per week we will work at beef unit to collect data from animals, and we will work in lab for data and samples processing.
    • Required Skills: Students should be comfortable working around beef calves, have experience in data entry into Excel, and be able to follow the schedule for collection.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: The students will gain experience in the following tasks: collecting literature reviews on the study topics, measure the behavior of animals, experience working with beef calves, data entry and management, data statistical analyses.

  • Dr. Helen Trejo
    • Project Description: Exploring Innovations in the Global Fashion Supply Chain: Quality and Sustainability
      Conduct a literature review focused on recent innovations in the global fashion supply chain to improve quality and meet emerging sustainability needs. This can include use of technology, such as artificial intelligence and software management systems to improve apparel and footwear quality assurance efficiency. Attention to innovations in traceability to address environmental sustainability and social responsibility concerns in response to UN Sustainable Development Goals, or global policy changes (sanctions, tariffs).
    • Mode: Virtual
    • Responsibilities: Reviewing literature in academic journals (Textile Research Journal, AATCC Journal of Research, ACM/ IEEE conference proceedings)
    • Required Skills: Excellent writing, organizational, and time management skills.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: Will gain knowledge in reviewing systematic literature reviews and using databases to narrow down results. Will gain experience with scholarly writing, and insight into innovative approaches in textiles, computer science, data analytics, and social science supply chain topics.

 

  • Dr. Cindy Cordoba Arroyo
    • Project Description: Circular Synergies: Exploring Minority-Led Circular Entrepreneurship 
      This project investigates the challenges and facilitators for minority-led circular enterprises in Southern California's clothing and textile industry. We aim to conduct interviews, stakeholder analysis, and surveys to collect data, analyze it with Atlas.ti, and develop a framework to support these entrepreneurs.
    • Mode: Virtual
    • Responsibilities: Students will start with literature review and training in Atlas.ti. Regular tasks include conducting interviews, coding data, and analyzing results. Weekly meetings will be held to discuss progress and challenges. Students will also participate in CPP's weekly seminars and workshop.
    • Required Skills: Preferred skills include qualitative research methods, basic understanding of entrepreneurship, and interest in sustainability. Students from all disciplines are welcome; coursework in apparel management, business, sociology, or environmental science is beneficial.
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: Qualitative research methods, data coding, stakeholder analysis, interview techniques, data analysis using Atlas.ti, literature review, research design, survey implementation, problem-solving, scientific communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, time management, critical thinking, entrepreneurial ecosystem understanding.

Multidisciplinary

  • Dr. Tarek Elsharhawy
    • Project Description: Humanities and space project: nutrition, kinesiology, psychology, space education, agriculture, social sciences majors welcome to develop project ideas with students on space exploration. Students will work with Bronco Space research lab ICON at the Cal Poly Pomona Innovation Village (hybrid mode). Students will be empowered to explore interesting questions around space and their respective fields. Students will work be exposed to multiple space related concepts and interact with peers, student leads, and faculty advisor. Projects are ideal for all class standings, faculty will work with students on making feasible research ideas that can be completed within the 8-week period.
    • Mode: Hybrid
    • Responsibilities: There is a lot of flexibility in coordination with the leads. Faculty will work with students on setting weekly tasks. Regular check ins with students. 
    • Required Skills: Looking for self-determined, motivated, and eager to learn students in the topics of space research. 
    • Skills/laboratory techniques/knowledge that the students will gain from participating in this project: Modules for hands on learning will be provided depending on discipline and topic idea: literature review, developing a methodology, articulating findings in poster or oral presentation.