Nine Kean Students Present at National Undergraduate Conference

A record group of nine Kean University students from various academic disciplines recently presented their research and networked with other student scholars from across the nation at the prestigious National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR).

Presenting at NCUR is a high distinction for undergraduate students that only seven other Kean students have achieved since 2012. NCUR is one of the largest undergraduate research conferences in the U.S. and gives about 4,000 undergraduate student researchers the opportunity to share their research each year. 

“NCUR helped me to be more motivated as a student because I saw how my hard work paid off ─ making it to NCUR ─ and now I want to see if I can take my experience and research further,” said Nicholas Alvino, a resident of Wanaque, who made an oral presentation with two other students on their research topic, The Quality of Routing Services: Comparison of Observed and Estimated Travel Times.

Attending the three-day conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia were six computer science majors – Alvino, Isabel Morais, Peter Hannon, Jose Rodriguez, Philip Kenny and Daniel Henriques; two information technology majors – Andrew Floyd and Evelyn Moran; and management major Mitchell Lanzl.

“Presenting outside of the university is important for the professional development of students, including undergraduate students who at this conference had the opportunity to present their research to a large audience including peers, faculty, and others in the academic community,” said Daehan Kwak, Ph.D, assistant professor of computer science at Kean who advised the students and accompanied them to the conference.

The students presented various types of research, much of which focused on the accuracy of GPS devices including Google Maps, Waze and Mapquest. Other research topics explored technological approaches to a web-based, interactive academic course planner for students.

“This experience helped me prepare for my career,” said Lanzl from Roseland, who conducted interdisciplinary research with computer science and information technology students, and presented on an app to improve negotiation training and performance. “In the beginning, I did not think I would attend something like NCUR, but putting in enough hard work got me where I needed to go.”

Students who attended gained valuable experience from the conference that they can apply to their future careers and further their research.

“Several students are extending their research agenda through the feedback and ideas they received from the conference and a couple of them are considering graduate school,” Kwak said. “Without the support from the University, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), our enthusiastic students would have missed such great opportunities to enhance their research aptitude.”

All of the accepted students received the funding to conduct their research through Kean’s grant-funded programs, summer research and independent studies. All travel expenses for the conference were provided to the students by the University and through LSAMP.

NCUR 2020 will be hosted by Montana State University. Kwak recommends that interested students seek an advisor and start preparing early.

“Being part of something greater is valuable for all students to pursue and polish their passions,” Kwak said.