Great blog from an exciting event. Mr. Baltz class in partnership with Oakland University.
STEMx Kickoff Event at OU INC
Seaholm’s pilot section of STEMx Research and Design organized by Seaholm AP Physics Teacher and OU Professor Doug Baltz really kicked things off last Thursday. The entire class went on a trip to OU INC, Oakland University’s business accelerator that helps young ventures in the areas of energy, medical devices, and information technology. We were greeted by Amy Butler, the Executive Director at OU INC, who has built a career in the area of energy efficiency.
We heard from a variety of speakers, all prominent members of the OU community and greater area. Lorenzo Smith, the Associate Dean at the School of Engineering and Computer Science, gave a nice motivational talk that emphasized the novelty of the STEMx program.
He was followed by Bob Kittle, the CEO of Munetrix. Mr. Kittle explained how Munetrix collects public sector financial data and generates easy to understand results through aggregate analysis. This serves to increase transparency in public sector finances and helps communities to increase their cost efficiency. My fellow STEMx student Olivia Miller is looking forward to working with him in the coming weeks.
Gary Rogers, OU Director of Research, also gave a brief introduction and conveyed his enthusiasm for being a part of this project.
Finally we heard from Robert VanTil, Chair of the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering, and John Katona, an ISE graduate student. VanTil and Katona are working on an ongoing project at Troy Beaumont Hospital. For his thesis, Katona is analyzing the patient and staff workflows of the hospital in the hope of making things more efficient and reducing wait times. A number of my STEMx classmates will be assisting him in his endeavor.
After the presentations, mentor pairings were announced for each of the STEMx students. So many professors in the OU community were interested in participating in this program that a two to one student to mentor ratio was achieved. My fellow STEMx student Labina Petrovska and I were thrilled to be matched up with OU Professor Mi Hye Song. Professor Song’s research focuses on the centrosome, a cellular organelle that plays a key role in organizing genetic material during cell division. Having successfully completed Linda Wichers’s Honors and AP Biology courses at Seaholm High School, Labina and I couldn’t be more excited to apply our knowledge in a real undergraduate research laboratory.
Russell Ladd
We heard from a variety of speakers, all prominent members of the OU community and greater area. Lorenzo Smith, the Associate Dean at the School of Engineering and Computer Science, gave a nice motivational talk that emphasized the novelty of the STEMx program.
He was followed by Bob Kittle, the CEO of Munetrix. Mr. Kittle explained how Munetrix collects public sector financial data and generates easy to understand results through aggregate analysis. This serves to increase transparency in public sector finances and helps communities to increase their cost efficiency. My fellow STEMx student Olivia Miller is looking forward to working with him in the coming weeks.
Gary Rogers, OU Director of Research, also gave a brief introduction and conveyed his enthusiasm for being a part of this project.
Finally we heard from Robert VanTil, Chair of the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering, and John Katona, an ISE graduate student. VanTil and Katona are working on an ongoing project at Troy Beaumont Hospital. For his thesis, Katona is analyzing the patient and staff workflows of the hospital in the hope of making things more efficient and reducing wait times. A number of my STEMx classmates will be assisting him in his endeavor.
After the presentations, mentor pairings were announced for each of the STEMx students. So many professors in the OU community were interested in participating in this program that a two to one student to mentor ratio was achieved. My fellow STEMx student Labina Petrovska and I were thrilled to be matched up with OU Professor Mi Hye Song. Professor Song’s research focuses on the centrosome, a cellular organelle that plays a key role in organizing genetic material during cell division. Having successfully completed Linda Wichers’s Honors and AP Biology courses at Seaholm High School, Labina and I couldn’t be more excited to apply our knowledge in a real undergraduate research laboratory.
Russell Ladd
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