- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student shares love of robotics with “Star Wars” inspired microdroids

John Hill — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 17:20:19 +0000

One University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is hoping his series of microdroids inspired by a galaxy far, far away will inspire other students to get interested in STEM education. Alejandro “Alex” Alvarez-Barreiro, a junior double major in mechanical engineering technology and Spanish, received a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Signature Experience Award to build microdroids inspired by the “Star Wars” Universe. “I love ‘Star Wars’ and have a passion for robotics. So naturally I decided to build ‘Star Wars’ inspired robots,” Alvarez-Barreiro said. “The reason I wanted to do microdroids was because most robots that kids see are big and complicated. I wanted to show that it is possible to build a cool looking robot with very few funds and very simple parts. I used to work at the STEM Education Center so I have a passion for STEM events.” Alvarez-Barreiro has participated in the VEX Robotics summer programs at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock since he was in high school. Once he completes the six microdroids with funding from the Signature Experience Award, he plans to take them to different schools next year to share his love of robotics with junior high and high school students.

This micro droid created by Alejandro Alvarez-Barreiro was inspired by “Star Wars” character BB-8.

“I think the project is very cool that you can take something from a fictional universe and make it in real life,” he said. “There is a club of BB-8 and R2-D2 builders, and it’s a big worldwide group of people who have experience building these characters and that was very helpful for me. Sadly, I’m the only BB-8 builder in Arkansas, so I can’t ask local people for advice on the building process.” Alvarez-Barreiro spends a few weeks designing each microdroid on a CAD program. Depending on the size of the drone, it takes one to three days to print the components off of a 3D printer before they are assembled and painted. He has a life-size replica of BB-8 that is three feet tall and weighs 33 pounds. His first BB-8 robot came to an unfortunate end, but it led him to a new and better building strategy. “The first time I did the Signature Experience Award, I was prototyping a BB-8 robot,” he said. “During the expo, someone picked it up and dropped it. It shattered pretty quickly. This gave me an opportunity to create longer-lasting and stronger robots with 3D printing. They are made with PLA, a biodegradable plastic.” After finishing this project, Alvarez-Barreiro’s next goal is to create a life-size R2-D2 robot to accompany BB-8.

LeFevre is first recipient of Linda Blaine Flake Endowed Scholarship

John Hill — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 12:00:44 +0000

Caleb LeFevre, a junior studio art major from Little Rock, has been awarded the first scholarship from the Linda Blaine Flake Endowed Art Scholarship. “I am super excited about receiving this scholarship,” LeFevre said. “I was very honored to be able to meet the donor, Leslye Shellam. I‘ve received scholarships through the department before and I wrote a thank you letter. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet the donor, and that was very lovely.” Leslye Shellam, the daughter of Linda Blaine Flake and L. Dickson Flake, created the scholarship to honor her mother’s love of art with a $100,000 donation. Shellam awarded LaFevre the scholarship during a celebration of World Art Day on April 15, while LaFevre gifted Shellam with a charcoal painting of his girlfriend and dog. As part of the scholarship, LeFevre will feature his work in a solo exhibit in the Windgate Center of Art and Design during the spring 2022 semester. “It’s a wonderful opportunity,” he said. “I have made so much work since I’ve been at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, especially after not making art for so long. I am so excited to put all my work in the solo show. It’s an opportunity to show all the things I’ve been working on rather than just one area of interest.” After graduating from Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School in 2003, LeFevre moved to Memphis and later North Carolina. He’s been working as a dog groomer for the past six years and hadn’t practiced art in more than a decade when he started at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as a biology major with the intention of practicing medical bio illustration. “Then I took one basic drawing class in the Windgate Center, and I was blown away,” LeFevre said. “I started drawing again for the first time in 15 years. I realized I didn’t need a biology degree. I needed to be making art. The building and faculty was so amazing that I was really blown away.” LeFevre also works in the Windgate Center as the woodshop monitor and teaching assistant. He’ll be putting those skills to work during the fall semester working as a studio assistant for woodshop classes at Penland School of Craft, an international center for craft education in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. LaFeve recently had four pieces displayed in the Annual Student Competitive art show, and he was one of the winners of the Art Supplies and Materials award, courtesy of Art Outfitters. He was a recipient of the 2020-21 Signature Experience Award, which he and his partner, Andrew Myers, used to create . “My project was a furniture design project,” LeFevre said. “Another furniture design student and myself designed benches for the art department made from wood harvested from a tree from the campus lot. After we send them to a company to be painted, the benches will end up in the Windgate Center of Art and Design.” LeFevre will graduate in spring 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in studio art, a minor in art history, and an applied design certificate. After graduation, his next step is to attend graduate school.

Applications for Signature Experience Grants open until Oct. 31

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 16:08:44 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will accept applications for the university’s Signature Experience Program until Oct. 31 to encourage and support students in the development of high-impact research or creative projects mentored by a faculty member through the 2019-20 academic year. Applications must be submitted by midnight Oct. 31. The first round of grant applications will be reviewed beginning Oct. 15, so early applications are encouraged. The Signature Experience Grant program was created in 2017 to provide students up to $1,000 to fund a signature experience, such as a research project, creative activity, or community project to enrich students’ academic experience at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Past projects have ranged across disciplines and included a review of tenant-landlord laws in Arkansas, a study of coral reef disease in the Bahamas, an analysis of gold nanoparticles for growing neural cells, an examination of cross-dressing on Shakespeare’s stage, and the entrepreneurial design and development of a transparent fishing box. “This year, there will be several important changes aimed at formalizing the Signature Experience Program to support high-level research and creative work, as well as retention and recruitment initiatives,” said Dr. Jeremy Ecke, director of the Signature Experience Program. “As the Signature Experience Program matures, we hope to offer more research and creative support to students through workshops, speakers, and luncheons that will build a culture of collaboration between faculty and students at various levels of their academic careers.”�� This year, a subset of awards will be set aside for freshmen, sophomores, and students who transferred to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock during the 2019-20 academic year. “The grant gives new ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students the opportunity to develop a research project with a mentor and gain a better understanding of a given discipline and its methodologies,” Ecke said. “If new students work with a mentor and conduct research early on in their college careers, they are more likely to stay in school. They are far more likely to be engaged as an active member of the academic community and to identify with their majors.”�� For the first time, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also offer a set amount of grants for graduate students.�� “This funding will prioritize graduate students whose research projects are unlikely to move forward without a source of funding,” Ecke said. “These grants open up more research opportunities for our graduate students and give them the chance to conduct more competitive research projects in areas that are not as highly grant funded.” To be eligible for application, students must have a minimum 2.5 grade point average and a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty member to mentor their project. They also must present their project during the 2020 Student Research and Creative Works Showcase in April 2020. Applications can be filled out at this link. Examples of abstracts, budgets, biographies, and past Research Expo programs are also available on the Signature Experience website.�� For more information, contact Dr. Jeremy Ecke at jsecke@ualr.edu or 501-569-3475.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student develops communication strategies for women without children

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 15:33:17 +0000

Robin Freeman is a strong, well-educated, and independent woman. She’s confident she will make a difference by helping others. This is a part of her story that she wants to portray to the world. What’s not a part of her story at this time? Marriage and children. As a childless woman in her 30s, Freeman is disturbed by the tendency of people to judge women for not having children. “Your biological clock is ticking. You better hurry up,” said Freeman, a graduate of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Applied Communication who is pursuing a graduate certificate in human resources. “I’ve heard that since I was 21, but I haven’t found a guy I want to marry yet. … I’m okay with myself. I don’t know when or if I’ll have children. I’m still figuring it out, and that’s okay.” Inspired by her own experiences, Freeman is investigating the experiences of women without children and the communication strategies they employ to cope with stigma in society. “There has been a growing trend of women without children,” Freeman said. “Society has caused women to feel hopeless if they are not mothers by the age of 30. I asked these women what childlessness meant at different stages in their lives and how they adapted when society has placed expectations on them.” Freeman is one of more than 100 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students who received a $1,000 grant to conduct original research, creative works, and community service projects this semester as part of the university’s Signature Experience Award program. Dr. Avinash Thombre, professor of applied communication, serves as her faculty mentor. Freeman interviewed seven women between the ages of 30-65 and developed three overarching themes during the interviews: “Don’t judge me,” “Don’t make assumptions,” and “Don’t pity me.” Freeman presented her research at the Southern States Communication Association Undergraduate Honors Conference earlier this month and at the Student Research and Creative Works Expo held April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. “This project is about trying to engage open communication with audiences to allow them to reconceptualize how they think about women without children and to consider the judgments they place on these women,” Freeman said. “One of my recommendations is that women should not defend themselves against accusations. Women shouldn’t worry about defending their sexuality or people assuming that they don’t like children.” She hopes that her research will lead people to understand that a woman’s life is about more than whether she has children. “A woman’s motherhood status is natural and personal. Most people see women without children as a void, but it’s not a void,” Freeman said. “It depends on who you’re asking. Every woman without a child has a story to tell.”

Rak promotes mental health, suicide prevention with inspirational mugs, website

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 19:36:42 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is promoting mental health awareness with one inspirational smiley-faced mug at a time.�� Emilia Rak, a junior social work major, knows what it’s like to live with mental health disorders and the challenges and stigma that can come from people who don’t understand. “I’ve struggled with mental health issues for several years, and I would become severely depressed,” Rak said. “I had a very good friend, Renee. Her mother passed away a few years ago. She loved coffee, so at her funeral they had a coffee bar. Often, when I was feeling depressed, Renee told me that I had to have a coffee date with her mom in the morning. It was my promise not to harm myself until morning. For many years, my promise to my good friend was the only thing that kept me alive.” Years later, when Rak’s friend continued to struggle with her mother’s death, she began making mugs for her friends who needed a boost to their spirits. The mugs, which she makes at The Painted Pig in Little Rock, are hand-painted with bright colors, smiley faces, and inspirational phrases. “I just started making mugs and giving them to friends of mine who I thought were having a hard time. I love making presents for people,” she said. “While I was doing this, I was engaged in my own art therapy. The mugs take between 2-6 hours a piece to paint. While I was making mugs, there was no room for dark thoughts or to question my own self-worth.” When Rak received a Signature Experience Award from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock last fall, she was grateful for the opportunity to take her project further. “People gave me feedback that my gift saved them from having a bad day or that this simple gift really had an impact in my life,” she said. “The opportunity came up to get the award, and I wanted to really make a difference with the award. I created the website () and started providing content for my website and social media.” Rak was one of more than 100 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students who received a $1,000 grant to conduct original research, creative works, and community service projects this semester as part of the Signature Experience Award program. Her faculty mentor is Dr. David Namir, professor of social work. She will present her research at the Research and Creativity in the Rock event on April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. Along with her website, Rak began making more mugs with the goal of delivering them to places that promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She gave mugs to the Auxiliary to Arkansas State Hospital, Inc. to support their art therapy program, Creative Expressions, as well as the electroconvulsive therapy suite at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Psychiatric Research Institute. She also presented mugs to her classmates in her social work classes and asked them to please “pay it forward” by either gifting the mug to someone who was struggling or to keep the gift and “pay it forward” by having a positive, productive day that started with a smile.

Emilia Rak creates these inspirational mugs to raise awareness for mental health issues and suicide prevention.

Rak feels the mugs will especially help people with depression and other mental health disorders as well as people who have suffered a major loss in life. “When you wake up, you feel like you have nothing to keep you motivated,” she said. “All you have to do is look at this mug to make you feel better. People have told me that the mugs make them smile and laugh. It’s been proven that if you physically smile, you feel better. This is a simple way for me to address a serious health problem.” Rak will continue to provide mugs and is accepting orders from anyone who would like a mug, but she would like to prioritize organizations that promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention. “I truly enjoy making people happy,” Rak said. “This is something that is simple and effective. I’ve opened a for anyone who would like to donate, and I’d like to keep doing this for as long as I can.” Rak is on track to graduate in May 2020. She hopes to give back by working as a social worker and eventually an art therapist. “This started out as art therapy, and this is why I am enthused about my future career because I know it works,” Rak said. “I want to make an impact in any way I can. Who knows? I might be painting mugs until I’m 110 years old.” In the upper right photo,��Emilia Rak pets her service dog, Rooster The King of the Universe. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

Signature Experience Award recipient studies life, growth, and challenges in Texas immigrant community

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:13:08 +0000

In the 1970s, a small group of international students from the Federated States of Micronesia at Corsicana, Texas, founded what has become��a burgeoning community of hundreds of Micronesian immigrants.�� Since last fall,��Nicole Ursin, a senior anthropology major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been conducting original research on the immigrants. She is able to do the research��as one of more than 100 undergraduates who received a $1,000 grant to conduct research as part of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Signature Experience Award Program. Since beginning her research, Ursin has visited Corsicana on multiple occasions to meet with community leaders and other longtime residents to learn about daily life in the community and why it has continued to grow. “Most choose to stay because Corsicana is a small, quiet town that doesn’t have all the rush and stress of a big city. The Federated States of Micronesia also has an agreement with the United States where its citizens are allowed to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely,” she said. Ursin is also looking into the unique challenges they face in their community, as well as how issues from their home islands over 11,000 miles away continue to affect them. “Micronesia was just hit by a major tropical storm a few weeks ago, which devastated much of the islands’ crops by flooding them with seawater,” Ursin said. “Since then, it’s been more difficult for Corsicana residents to access imported staple foods like taro and breadfruit. The Corsicana community has been working to raise funds to send rice back to their home islands.” Ursin credits her faculty mentor with introducing her to the Corsicana community and providing her with access to community leaders. “The man who currently leads the community is one of Dr. Juliana Flinn’s former students, and we’ve both been welcomed into it because of that,” Ursin said. Throughout this process, Ursin herself has also gained valuable practical experience in anthropology. “In the early stages of this project, I learned from Dr. Flinn the basics of proper anthropological field work. I’ve done anthropological work in museums before but actual field work was completely unknown to me, and I’m very thankful that Dr. Flinn was there with me to show me exactly what to do,” Ursin said. After finishing her research, Ursin hopes the lessons she has learned from doing the research and the experiences in the field will land her a career in anthropology. “My interest overall isn’t just in Micronesia but in transnationalism and community development overall,” she said. “This research is helping me further understanding how a community develops in one specific area, why people stay, and how a city can help these communities that grow within them thrive.” Overall, Ursin is thankful for the experience she gained from the Signature Experience Award program and encourages other students to look into the program. “If you have a solid project in mind and a good mentor, you should definitely do it,” Ursin said. “On my own I couldn’t have gone to Texas and met all these people or know what to do when I met them. It’s an experience I’ll remember for a long time.” Ursin will be a member of a research panel discussion where she will discuss her research at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Expo on Thursday, April 18.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student studies effects of reparations in post-civil war countries

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:37:17 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is conducting research on how measures to address histories of violence affect conflict-affected societies after spending the summer at a prestigious research and graduate preparatory program.�� Solomon “Ra’phael” Davis, a junior Donaghey Scholar double majoring in philosophy and international studies, spent June and July at the at University of North Texas. Students participating in the program receive a $4,000 stipend, free room and board during the program, and paid travel expenses. Davis is one of only 10 students accepted to the program, where interns worked with faculty and graduate student mentors to conduct political science research on civil conflict management and peace studies. There, he started researching the impacts of transitional justice and reparations on post-civil war peace. Transitional justice is a term that refers to a range of policy measures, such as criminal prosecutions and memorials, that are designed to provide some form of justice for past human rights violations. The program also served as graduate school preparation, providing him with essential skills to pursue further education in political science and peace studies at the graduate level. “I absolutely loved it. I made wonderful friends and connections. It opened up a different path to my career,” Davis said. “I’ve always wanted to work toward international law, but now I can do that with political science and international relations, and it has opened up another path toward graduate school. I can do more traveling with hands on human peacebuilding research.” Davis was inspired to apply for the program after taking a seminar on peacebuilding and post conflict reconstruction with Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. Davis’ research project is entitled, “Repairing the Breach: How Material and Symbolic Transitional Justice Affect Post Civil War Peace.” “Ra’phael’s research has the potential to make original contributions to the transitional justice field by distinguishing the effects of different types of reparations,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “This project is the great foundation for a doctoral dissertation. Among other things, he will be building an original dataset that will aid future research on reparations.” Davis studied the implementation of reparations in United Nations member countries that have experienced a civil war or conflict from the 1980s through the present. Reparations were classified as symbolic, such as having memorial ceremonies, governments issuing public apologies, and building museums to commemorate the event, or material reparations consisting of monetary compensation, property restitution, or other material benefits by the government to victims. “Material reparations have the ability to change the conditions in which a person exists,” Davis said. “The government can issue a public apology, but their living conditions don’t change and the physical conditions don’t change. That’s not to say that symbolic reparations can’t be powerful. I think rebuilding buildings with cultural value, having reconciliation ceremonies, and building museums and memorials can have an immense effect.” Davis largely found that symbolic reparations only work well enough to reduce the probability of the resumption of the conflict when material reparations are made as well. “So far, material reparations should work better than symbolic reparations, but they work better together,” he said. “I calculated the different types of material and symbolic reparations. Together, most of the mechanisms work well together except for the combination of amnesties in reparation. Providing amnesties to perpetrators along with reparations to victims is counterproductive. The museum-memorials variable paired with reparations doesn’t have statistical significance. There is also an argument that museums and memorials can cause retraumatization and anger.” Davis is continuing his research with Wiebelhaus-Brahm and will present his findings at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18. He is also the recipient of a��Mentored Signature Experience Project Award. He used the award to pay for books and software needed to continue his research project as well as to fund his travel to present his research at the International Studies Association Midwest Annual Conference in St. Louis Nov. 15-17. In the upper right photo,��Ra’phael Davis is researching which type of conflict reparations are most effective in conflict-affected societies. Photo by Benjamin Krain.��

Signature Experience Award to fund student’s travel to conference in Philadelphia

Jenny Lambert — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 15:59:49 +0000

Thanks to her Signature Experience Award, Nicole Ursin, a junior double majoring in history and anthropology, will present her research at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference in Philadelphia, April 3-7. During the fall 2017 semester, Ursin was one of 79 University of Arkansas at Little Rock students to be awarded $1,000 from Chancellor Andrew Rogerson’s undergraduate research grant program to offset costs for a one-semester project or experience in research or creative works. “The Signature Experience Awards are allowing students to achieve more with their academic research,” Ursin said. “I would not have been able to afford this trip to Philadelphia without it.” With a financial burden lifted, Ursin was able to focus on her conference presentation and the progression of her project, “Understanding Museum Demographics: Historic Arkansas Museum.” “I’ve interned and worked in museums for the past three years,” Ursin said. “My goal was to do a project that showed the complexities of museums and addressed one of the problems that museums are facing.” Through her research, Ursin found that most museums design exhibits and programs to ��attract diverse audiences, but in reality, typically draw crowds of little demographic diversity. To understand why this happens, Ursin began investigating the demographics of museum visitors in Little Rock. “To reach diverse audiences, museums must first understand the factors driving the demographics they presently represent,” she said. During the summer of 2017, Ursin begin collecting data from visitors and employees at Historic Arkansas Museum. She later analyzed her findings, interviewed museum professionals, and researched the racial issues concerning museums. Finally, she sought to develop a definition of diversity that would be applicable to Arkansas museums. “This project has strengthened my interest in museum anthropology and has made me more interested in how museums can diversify their exhibits and audiences,” Ursin said. Ursin’s project is a direct reflection of a suggestion proposed by the American Association of Museums in 2010 that promoted fieldwork that would contribute to tourism and heritage studies in America. �� Ursin is currently in the final stages of her project, composing a detailed write-up of her work for local museum professionals, which she will present at the conference, as well as drafting an article for publication in anthropology or museum study journals. After graduating from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2019, Ursin plans to pursue a master’s degree in museum anthropology, and afterward, work for a museum.

Signature Experience Award takes student to the Bahamas

Jenny Lambert — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 13:00:53 +0000

Rebecca Bishop, a Donaghey Scholar whose research interests lie in the health of diseased coral reef, will use her Signature Experience Award funds this summer to travel to San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas, to collect and analyze coral reef samples at the Gerace Research Centre. Bishop, a sophomore environmental geology major, was among the first group of University of Arkansas at Little Rock students to receive Chancellor Andrew Rogerson’s newly instituted Signature Experience Award. During the fall 2017 semester, he awarded 79 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students $1,000 to assist in the purchase of materials for a one-semester project or experience in research or creative works. “I’ve always been interested in coral reefs because of how incredibly diverse and important they are as an ecosystem,” Bishop explained. “The more I learned about corals, however, the more I understood how much danger they were in.” Through her research, Bishop found that the frequency of increasingly warming temperatures and extreme weather events threatened the future of coral reefs. To gain a better understanding of how these conditions impacted the animals, Bishop decided to explore them in San Salvador, an island with very little literature about the ecological health of its reefs. “There is still a lot we don’t know about coral diseases and their causes, but when I learned that I could help contribute to the information surrounding coral and their health, I became eager to start my own research,” she said. Bishop has already dived into the discovery stage of her project, “Incidence of Coral Reef Disease on San Salvador Island.” From March 19-24 during spring break, she and her Geology and Ecology of the Bahamas class traveled to the Bahamas for field study. While there, Bishop began the preliminary work of her project, scoping out sample sites and inspecting coral diseases. Bishop’s overall research goal seeks to continue the monitoring of coral reefs, while using the findings to help establish a marine reserve with active management and a regulations enforcement plan for San Salvador’s reef system. Dr. René Shroat-Lewis, assistant professor of paleontology and geoscience in the Department of Earth Sciences, serves as her advisor. Bishop will complete her bachelor’s degree in geology in 2020, and afterward, plans to head to graduate school to study oceanography. Not only is Bishop thrilled to do the research she enjoys, she’s also grateful to have the university’s support, expressed through the Signature Experience Award, to back her in her endeavors. “The Signature Experience Award has been extremely important for me,” Bishop said. “Because my research focuses on an area outside of the United States, the costs associated with my project are a bit high. If it weren’t for the help and support I’ve received from the Signature Experience Award, I wouldn’t be able to conduct such exciting and unique research.”

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock student shares love of robotics with “Star Wars” inspired microdroids