Eighth Annual BEAR Day, 17th Annual Engineering Expo to Showcase Outstanding Student Research

636
Engineering Expo

MACON – Mercer University will hold its eighth annual Breakthroughs in Engagement, Arts, and Research (BEAR) Day and 17th annual Engineering Expo April 5-6 to showcase outstanding student research and special projects from the College of Liberal Arts, Stetson School of Business and Economics, Tift College of Education, Townsend School of Music, College of Health Professions and School of Engineering.

BEAR Day will feature more than 130 presentations including contributions from more than 200 students, while the Engineering Expo will feature more than 185 freshmen, 90 seniors and 50 Engineering Scholars giving oral and poster presentations and participating in the annual freshman design competition.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. John Churchill, former national secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and retired dean and professor of philosophy at Hendrix College, who will deliver the inaugural Malcolm Lester Phi Beta Kappa Lectures on Liberal Arts and Public Life, presented by Mercer’s Zeta Chapter of Georgia.

The lectures will take place April 5 at 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and April 6 at 11 a.m. in the Presidents Dining Room inside the University Center. The theme of this year’s lectures is “The Problem with Rules.”

Dr. Churchill was born in Hector, Arkansas, and grew up in Little Rock. He attended Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College, followed by the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1977.

In addition to serving on the faculty at Hendrix College, located in Conway, Arkansas, he was vice president for academic affairs and dean for 17 years. In 2001, he became national secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Washington, D.C., and served in that capacity for nearly 15 years.

Click here for more information on the Lester Lectures.

BEAR Day poster presentations will begin on Thursday from 4-6 p.m. throughout Heritage Hall in the University Center. Presentations continue Friday in locations across campus, including the University Center, Knight Hall and Stetson Hall.

The Art Department will hold its annual student awards ceremony in Plunkett Gallery inside Hardman Hall and Townsend School of Music’s brass choir will perform in the McCorkle Music Building’s instrumental rehearsal room on Friday from 10-11 a.m.

The University Honors Convocation will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. in Willingham Auditorium.

“BEAR Day demonstrates and honors the achievements of students and highlights the depth and breadth of the academic experiences at Mercer,” Dr. Wayne Glasgow, senior vice provost for research and dean of graduate studies. “I know that those in attendance will enjoy the presentations and trust that BEAR Day will spark intellectual curiosity and inspire further scholarly pursuits.”

The Engineering Expo will be held on Friday, beginning with the annual freshman design competition from 9-9:50 a.m. in the Engineering Building atrium and lobby.

Guest speaker Ashlee S. Lane, a School of Engineering alumna and managing director of Accenture Consulting, will offer a presentation from 10-10:50 a.m. in Science and Engineering Building, Room 110.

Podium presentations will take place from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. and poster presentations from 1:30-2:50 p.m. in the Science and Engineering Building.

“The Engineering Expo is one of the most highly anticipated days of the academic year,” said Dr. Laura Lackey, dean and professor of environmental engineering. “It’s on this day when seniors share their capstone design projects, Engineering Scholars and other students engaged in research share their results, and freshmen students enrolled in the ‘Introduction to Engineering Design’ course compete in varied venues with vehicles they have designed and built.”