Students and Faculty Elevate Science/Math Days at Cedar Point

The BW Cedar Point team, left to right, back row: David Revta and Dr. Ed Meyer, midde: Dr. Lisa Ponton and Alan Duncan, front: Brandon Dropic and Dr. Jim Emigh (not pictured: Dr. Peter Hoekje)

A group of Baldwin Wallace University students and faculty has transformed the learning materials used in one of the most anticipated spring field trips for Ohio middle and high school students: Physics, Science and Math Days at Cedar Point.

The week-long event (May 11-15 for 2015) turns “The Roller Coaster Capital of the World!®" into "the world’s biggest classroom" with special presentations, demonstrations and hands-on exhibits aimed at helping students to see how math and science apply to a wild ride on the Slingshot or the Wicked Twister, or the creation of cotton candy.

BW electronics technician David Revta spearheaded the BW effort to develop new middle and high school workbooks that include concepts, illustrations, and problems to solve—all based on the Cedar Point experience. “Our ultimate goal as education partner,” Revta says, “was to strengthen the ties to state science standards, and offer a progressive, tiered curriculum that will allow teachers to customize learning for their students.”

Brandon Dropic '15, a neuroscience/chemistry major from Seminole, Fla. got involved in this the project for the “unique experience of connecting other students to chemistry in a fun, non-traditional way.” He goes on to explain that “since chemistry questions had not previously existed, we were creating something brand new and exciting.”

While Cedar Point’s ties to the laws of physics are obvious, chemistry professor Dr. Lisa Ponton says finding chemistry connections sounded like a challenge. But, the inspiration came easily when the group visited the park to brainstorm. “We zeroed in on the steam combustion railroad, the kettle corn and cotton candy right away,” Ponton explains. “So we included problems like density comparison, moisture calculation, and the pressure involved in the corn exploding.”

In addition to Dropic, Ponton and Revta, the BW team included chemistry major Alan Duncan '15 from Valley City, Ohio, plus faculty members, James Emigh (education), Dr. Peter Hoekje (physics) and Dr. Edwin Meyer (physics).

BW also plans to send students and faculty to the park during science week to host a booth and answer questions, further helping Cedar Point to offer a one-of-a-kind learning experience, wrapped in pure fun.

Photo courtesy Cedar Point

For BW Alum, ALS Bucket Challenge is Personal and Professional

BW President Bob Helmer (right) and Alan Kolp, BW Chair in Faith and Life
accept the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at BW's Weekend of Welcome for
freshmen students. Helmer challenged two BW vice presidents, along with
Berea Mayor and BW alumnus Cyril Kleem - Photo by Da'Qeayce Swain '18

As the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has swept the BW campus, with President Bob Helmer and religion professor Alan Kolp the latest to endure a frigid shower at Weekend of Welcome, a BW alumna marvels at the support for a cause that is both a personal and professional mission.

Mary Wilson Wheelock '96, serves as Executive Director for the ALS Association Northern Ohio Chapter that covers 32 counties including Cleveland, Akron, Toledo and Youngstown. She says the awareness and support generated by the challenge is "unprecedented, unfathomable, and downright incredible."

The BW chemistry major changed her career path when her mother was diagnosed with ALS a year into her graduate program. "I took a leave of absence from Notre Dame to return home to care for my mother. Wanting something to distract from the demands of caring for an ALS patient, I found an opportunity for an AmeriCorp VISTA volunteer in the BW Career Bulletin. I was placed with Cleveland Reads, and helped write one of the first locally funded America Reads grants. I spent my service year working on various fundraising projects, and...well...a development professional was born."

"I lost my mom to ALS in June 1999, and her dying wish was that the battle to defeat ALS not end with her," she continues. "I took that to heart and became an active volunteer with the local Chapter. In early 2011, the executive director position opened up, and I was fortunate to be selected. The job has been, like the Ice Bucket Challenge, a dream come true."

Wheelock says the response to the challenge, from people like her old BW chemistry professor and Associate Dean, Jim McCargar, to Dean of the BW Conservatory of Music, Susan Van Vorst, and many, many others is amazing, but "our fight against this disease won’t end this summer."

To direct an Ice Bucket Challenge gift to the Northern Ohio Chapter, or to one of its upcoming Walk to Defeat ALS events, visit www.alsaohio.org.

BW Junior Wins Stilwell Scholarship

 

Amanda Feairheller '15 is one of two BW students awarded The Charles J. Stilwell Scholarship for her "outstanding performance in an internship."

Feairheller interned at The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland last fall as part of her participation in BW's Urban Semester Program. She served as an HIV testing counselor for The Free Clinic's walk-in HIV testing program. She also worked with the Clinic's Syringe Exchange Program, one of only two in Ohio, as well as Project DAWN, which stands for Deaths Avoided With Naloxone.

"It was an honor to work with The Free Clinic and work on an issue that has devastated our community," said Feairheller. "It reminds me why I chose Public Health."

In addition to her Public Health major, with a minor in Chemistry and is a member of BW's public health club, Veritas. Last year, Feairheller was in the news for making a coast-to-coast bike ride for AIDS awareness.

Second Round of Contest Produces Winning Ideas

The second and final round of BW’s Blackstone LaunchPad's 2014 Year of the Idea Contest produced a number of winning ideas, but Kara Gawelek '14 claimed the biggest prize. The neuroscience and biology major and chemistry minor drew on her experience in the lab as inspiration for a "Semi-Automatic Pipet Tip Cartridge," which not only won the $200 first place prize in the for-profit category, but claimed the $300 overall grand prize as well.

Kara's idea would speed up the research process for small labs and scientists who are frustrated by the slow pace of manually reloading sterile, plastic tips onto their micropipets (which are used to dispense small samples), but who can't afford expensive, fully automated equipment.

In this second round, students submitted more than 50 ideas in three categories. The first place non-profit idea was a Serving for Soldiers program suggested by Alexis Charara '14 and Christine Austin ‘15. In the Baldwin Wallace category, Nnaji Iwunze ’17 won with a BW Workout Buddy concept. Second place winning ideas came from Tim Gruskiewicz '15, Rachel Hoffpauir ’15,  Tom Jackson ’16 and Ashley King '16.

Judging was based on the originality and problem-solving power of each idea. The goal of the contest was to spark campus creativity and increase awareness about BW's Blackstone LaunchPad, which is sponsored by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation and the Burton D. Morgan Foundation.

BW Students Present at National Chemistry Meeting

Accomplished BW senior Chemistry majors Melissa Hoffbauer, James Dobscha, and Brad Minrovic attended the recent American Chemical Society's 247th National Meeting & Exposition in Dallas, Texas along with professor Ray Shively.

The meeting is one of the largest scientific gatherings in the world, with more than 30,000 participants, and all three students presented research that they had been working on since 2012.

All three students will be pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry starting the fall. They have all been accepted to multiple programs, but only Melissa has accepted an offer at this time. She'll be continuing her education at University of Notre Dame.

BW Seniors Earn American Chemical Society Awards

BW seniors Melissa Hoffbauer and James Dobscha both received awards for their presentations at the 2014 annual Cleveland Section American Chemical Society’s “Meeting in Miniature,” hosted by BW on March 12.


Hoffbauer and Dobscha were two of just four undergraduate students to earn awards out of 52 presentations. Other participating schools included Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Oberlin College and The University of Akron.

BW People Take the Polar Plunge

At least two people in BW's philanthropic-minded community have turned their fundraising for a good cause into an extreme experience. Despite our frigid winter, Career Services Graduate Intern, Marissa Bozak, and Chemistry Professor, Stephen Tytko, took the "plunge" into Lake Erie at Geneva State Park's Breakwater Beach on February 22 to raise money for the the Special Olympics.

Duncan Scott/DScott@News-Herald.com

Bozak and Tytko, collected pledges to support the 2014 Law Enforcement Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics, contributing to an event total of more than $50,000. A shirtless Tytko was featured in a News Herald photo of participants trying to stay warm before their icy dip (right). And, that's Marissa emerging from the frigid water above sporting a Stinger tee!

Chemistry, Culture and Cooking Combine for Tasty Final

BW Honors Program students take courses that are innovative and experiential, including "The Science and Culture of Food" taught by the Chemistry Department's Dr. Ray Shively. The interactive course explores the science behind food preparation, as well as the cultural and geographical constraints on what we eat and why.

For their final this semester, 20 students prepared and presented a 13 course dinner at the BW President's House and the experience was caught on video. Dinner guests (and "Top Chef" judges) included President Bob Helmer and his wife Linda, BW Board of Trustees Chairman Paul Carlton and others.

Deying Gravity on NASA's "Vomit Comet"

Five Baldwin Wallace University students conducted summer research during a wild ride on NASA’s “Weightless Wonder” airplane, aka "the Vomit Comet." The BW experiment was one of just fourteen selected for NASA’s 2013 Reduced Gravity Student Flight Program.  Read more about our fearless flyers' amazing adventure on the BW website, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on space.com, in The Strongsville Post and in the Strongsville Patch.

Left to right, Astronaut Mike Fossum, Sarah Rospert '13 (biology), Astronaut Cady Coleman, Carissa Bonus '13 (biology), Logan Sirline '14 (neuroscience/chemistry) and Frank Prochaska, NASA Reduced Gravity Education Program Manager

Biology/Neuroscience Major Wins Prestigious Scholarship

Kara Gawelek ’14 was one of three scholarship winners at the prestigious, 2013 YWCA Women of Achievement Awards in Cleveland. Gawelek, a Brunswick native, was selected to receive the $1,500 Dr. Jennie S. Hwang Award, which recognizes an outstanding female sophomore or junior student who is majoring in a science, engineering or technology-related discipline. She was chosen from more than 40 student nominees from 12 universities!

Gawelek, an aspiring pathologist who credits her late father with inspiring her to “live up to her potential,” has earned a 3.96 GPA while studying Neuroscience/Biology and Chemistry at BW.

The first-generation college student is head ambassador for BW’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Studies Program, vice president of the Pre-Medical Society and a Choose Ohio First STEM Scholar, as well as a STEM Scholars Leadership Council member. Read more on the Strongsville Patch.

Gawelek (center) at a meeting of BW's STEM Scholars, an innovative BW scholarship program preparing students for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Baldwin Wallace Professor Wins Grant to Make Science Magic

Who wouldn't be excited about science after witnessing a gummy bear disappearing into a dazzling display of fireworks or "elephant toothpaste" exploding into the air? Those are just two of the tricks in the "Magical Science" show developed by Baldwin Wallace University chemistry department professor Regan Silvestri. Since 2009,  Dr. Silvestri has volunteered to perform “Magical Science” for more than 2,300 young people at schools and other venues.

Now, Dr. Silvestri, in partnership with the Akron Section of the American Chemical Society, has received an American Chemical Society Innovative Projects Grant to create a teacher training program inspired by his "Magical Science" outreach. The program will show elementary, middle and high school teachers how to incorporate appropriate science demonstrations into their curricula, assuring alignment with the academic content standards of the State of Ohio Department of Education.

As Dr. Silvestri says, "Science can be fun, and yes, even entertaining." Additional photos are on the Akron ACS website.