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MCC Daily Tribune

Congratulations to all Scholars' Day Participants

More than 165 students presented at Scholars' Day and participated in the Celebration of Learning at the Brighton campus on April 30th and May 2nd, respectively! Research topics represented a variety of academic disciplines, including the humanities, science, engineering, and social science, as well as original creative works, showcasing the breadth and depth of scholarship at MCC. Congratulations to all students who participated!

Top student presenters from MCC's 16th annual Scholars' Day competition were announced Wednesday, May 1st at a celebratory reception. Thirty-nine students received MCC Foundation scholarships ranging from $1000 to $2,500 for their research presentations and posters. The scholarships were presented by college leaders and benefactors and special guest David Wallace-Wells.

Congratulations to the following MCC student award recipients::

Professor Matthew Hachee Award Recognizing the top scoring presentation or poster at Scholars’ Day in honor of Professor Matthew Hachee:

  • Mark A Kanelba, Propagating the American Dream: The Hegemonized Ideals that Constructed the American Suburb 

Oral Presentations -  Arts-Humanities Category

  • 1st Place (tie): Brianna Cook, From Stereotype, Freedom: Tracking the Impacts of Queer-Coding in Vampire Fiction; and Christopher Hoffarth, French Neoclassical Visionary Architects and the Democratization of Architecture 
  • 3rd Place:  Jesse Dwaileebe, The Heart of Darkness Within the Colonial Gaze: Analyzing Miguel Gomes’ Tabu and Western Cinema’s Construction of the African Other

Oral Presentations - Human Rights Category

  • 1st Place:  W. Gennady Poehner, Negative Branding, Surveillance, and Industry Backlash Against Direct Action Radical Environmentalism
  • 2nd Place:  Joseph Leichtner, Private Prisons
  • 3rd Place (tie):  Angelo Romero, Myanmar Civil War, Causes and Effects; Kyle Kronenberger, Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons: Punitive Action and its Long-Term Mental and Physical Effects; and Elizabeth Tackitt and Chianti Franz, Debunking Transphobia: Is This All They Have?

Oral Presentations - Justice Category

  • 1st Place:  Mark A Kanelba, Propagating the American Dream: The Hegemonized Ideals that Constructed the American Suburb
  • 2nd Place:  Raina Lockwood, Introverts, Social Fears, and the Positive Psychological Impact of Passing Connections with Strangers
  • 3rd Place (tie):  Anastasia Waite, Separating the Self from the Masses: How Habitual Social Media Use Affects Self-Identity Development in Those Under 25; Connor Klaric and Mara Waynick, A Transfer Readiness Course for all Students at MCC; and Natalie Stoner, From Legal Scholarship to Culture Wars: Misconceptions of Critical Race Theory and the Movement to Ban It

Oral Presentations - STEM Category

  • 1st Place: Piotr Cetner, Concept to Prototype: The Development of a Wearable Haptic Display
  • 2nd Place:  Connor Spence, Alexander Calamel, Gavin McAllister, Andrey Kravchenya, Robert Staheli, and Taryn Liendecker, Building Biomedical Technology Today
  • 3rd Place:  Sam Griffin, A Human’s Guide to Updating the Matrix

Posters - Cognitive Brain Category

  • 1st Place (tie): Jennifer Marie Ames, Aroma and Cognition: A Look at Fragrance’s Influence on Memory; and Kayla DeJesus, Ana Santos, Ava Allen, and Leah Wolfe, Replication of Drawing as an Encoding Tool: Memorial Benefits in Younger and Older Adults
  • 3rd Place (tie): Gracia Solenyanu, Skye Gaudio, and Annabelle Rheinwald, Stand By Your Stroop: Standing Enhances Cognitive Abilities; and Ciara Reifenstein, Women Holding the Door for Men: The Potential of a Brief Interaction to Change Students’ Minds

Posters - STEM Category

  • 1st Place: Connor Klaric, Investigating the Role of ASH1L in Erythropoiesis by Disruptions in the Gene Sequence
  • 2nd Place: IO Reid, Calibrating Site U1541 XRF Elemental Data Using Sediment Digests and ICP-MS
  • 3rd Place (tie):  Hassan Mohamed, Arazine’s Effects: Investigating Food Intake in Male Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster); and Milena Filipink, Using Remote Sensing and AI to Classify Brownfields from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

Posters - Visual Category

  • 1st Place: Abbey Helfer, Table-top Color Science Laboratory STEM Outreach
  • 2nd Place: William Groth, Approachable Method for Opto-Mechanical Alignment of a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
  • 3rd Place: Olivia Owens, Keirsten Simmons, and Audrey Friga, Replication of Kemmelmeier and Winter 2008: Sowing Patriotism but Reaping Nationalism

Additional information about all student presentations can be found on the Scholars' Day website.

Scholars' Day 2024 was made possible through support from the keynote presenting sponsor, the ESL Charitable Foundation, as well as support from local philanthropists through the MCC Foundation. Many thanks to them and the countless MCC faculty and staff who dedicated time and expertise to make this event happen.

Katherine Ghidiu
Scholars' Day
05/06/2024