Mountain Lions Present Findings From Semester-Long Research Project Spawned from 鈥楬idden Figures鈥�
When three 黑料老司机 (黑料老司机) students applied to take part in an undergraduate research experience last semester, they had no idea they would A) be presenting their findings at the Annual Meeting and Conference; B) be the only team there completely comprised of community college students; and C) win the Outstanding Oral Presentation award. But that鈥檚 exactly what these amazing mountain lions did!
鈥淧resenting at the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science was more of a last-minute thing,鈥� 黑料老司机 student Brianna Jones said, explaining that they presented a brief introduction of the research at the annual 黑料老司机 Spring Research Conference, but later in the semester decided to present their findings at another conference.
The research that Brianna and her teammates 鈥� Cassandra Nevarez and Jonathan Salazar 鈥� presented involved writing computer code to simulate U.S. astronaut John Glenn鈥檚 orbit in 1962 and improve upon the code using modern numerical methods.
鈥淯sing the film 鈥楬idden Figures鈥� as a jumping-off point, the team explored the mathematics used by human calculators to ensure John Glenn could orbit the earth and return safely,鈥� said Math Professor Sara Meana, the team鈥檚 faculty mentor.
The 2016 Oscar-nominated film starring Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Mon谩e, and Octavia Spencer is about a team of African-American women mathematicians who played a crucial role at NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. The idea to use the film as a launchpad (pun intended) for the research experience came from one of Professor Meana鈥檚 former students.
鈥淎nother one of my fabulous students mused aloud one day in Calculus 2 that it would be so cool to understand the math from the movie 鈥�,鈥欌€� Professor Meana said. 鈥淭hen later in the semester when we were exploring Euler鈥檚 method, which is the math referenced in a pivotal scene in the film, she said, 鈥楾his is all there is to it? That can鈥檛 be it!鈥� Her questions made me have more questions.鈥�
That spawned Professor Meana鈥檚 first foray into leading an undergraduate research experience, or URE, with that very same student last fall.
鈥淗er URE focused on Mary Jackson鈥檚 contributions related to nose cone shape and wind tunnels,鈥� Professor Meana said. 鈥淗er broad exploration helped me to understand and organize the information available so this group was able to continue research on the same topic, but from a different perspective tailored to their interests and goals.鈥�
That perspective dovetailed perfectly with Jonathan鈥檚 plans of continuing on to Arizona State University (ASU) to earn a Bachelor鈥檚 in software engineering after he graduates next year from 黑料老司机.
鈥淚 learned a lot about object-oriented programming and Euler鈥檚 method, which will definitely benefit me on my path of becoming an engineering student,鈥� Jonathan said.
Jonathan and Brianna are both utilizing the My Pathway to ASU transfer program but Brianna, who will also graduate from 黑料老司机 next year, hasn鈥檛 yet decided which university she will attend to pursue dual Bachelor鈥檚 Degrees in computer science and physics.
鈥淚 have Arizona State University in mind, but I鈥檓 still exploring some of my other options and am considering some universities out of state,鈥� she said.
The first-generation college student began attending 黑料老司机 in 2022 when she was still a junior in high school. She met Professor Meana that summer when she took trigonometry and said she fell in love with her radiant teaching skills and ability to make somebody鈥檚 day by cracking a joke. When she heard about the URE opportunity with her former professor, she jumped at the chance. She said the URE benefited her in numerous ways, but one way in particular stands out.
鈥淣ot only did this experience allow me to conduct an intriguing study, but it also allowed me to go outside of my comfort zone to explore new things,鈥� Brianna said.
The Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science Annual Meeting and Conference was held April 15 in Mesa. 黑料老司机鈥檚 team presented alongside graduate students and people with Ph.D.s. Judges indicated that 黑料老司机鈥檚 presentation was the most outstanding presentation because the team took very complicated mathematics and explained the outcomes and results in a very accessible way.
鈥淲hen preparing for this oral presentation, I never had the mindset of needing to win this Outstanding Oral Presentation award,鈥� Jonathan said. 鈥淚 honestly just wanted to educate others on how cool it is that computers can solve satellite re-entry problems within a fraction of time compared to back in the time when NASA had to hand-compute everything. So we avoided using complicated math terms and replaced them with simpler terms so the audience could actually understand what we were trying to explain and that really helped in getting the message across.鈥�
Each student was also awarded a $1,000 (WAESO) scholarship at the begining of their semester-long research.
鈥淚 felt ecstatic and relieved at the same time when I found out I was getting the WAESO scholarship,鈥� Brianna said. 鈥淣ot only did this help me pay for my tuition throughout the semester, but I also felt excited knowing that there were individuals that wanted to support me and my research.鈥�
Jonathan said the scholarship motivated him to work harder and produce high-quality research.
鈥淚 was able to take more days off at work and focus on school and this URE,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t felt like my hard work was really paying off.