Summer of love: Students and research a perfect pair

When Daniella Massa ‘23 was in the final stages of her college search, a key factor that pointed her toward Union was a visit to the CRoCHET Lab.

Housed on the bottom floor of the Wold Center, the Collaborative Robotics and Computer-Human Empirical Testing lab is an interdisciplinary hotspot that features robots and unique interfaces.

It is also the ideal place for Massa, a computer science and psychology double major, to spend her summer weekdays working on her research project.

Under the guidance of Kristina Striegnitz and Nick Webb, associate professors of computer science, Massa is hoping to develop a fully functional social robot that is able to communicate and interact with humans.

Named VALERIE (Voice-Activated Laser Enabled Robot for Interactive Experiments), the robot is an ongoing project for the Computer Science Department. VALERIE can move, speak and display a variety of facial expressions on her main screen.

Over eight weeks, Massa will agglomerate the functions into a graphical user interface (GUI) and design a variety of task-driven interactions for VALERIE to perform, including asking a person for information or physical help, or to deliver information, such as being placed in Admissions and answering questions from prospective students and their families.

"Having a well-designed GUI allows us to ensure that VALERIE behaves the way we want her to during an interaction," said Massa, of the hamlet of Hartsdale in Greenburgh, N.Y.

Massa is among more than 120 students across a multitude of disciplines working on summer research projects. Most projects are funded through the College’s undergraduate research program. Government or scientific society grants to faculty members, academic departments and foundation funding support the rest.

For nearly 40 summers, with the exception of the pandemic, Union has fostered close working relationships between thousands of students and faculty as part of its longstanding commitment to undergraduate research.

In nearly every corner of campus, one can find students pursuing a diverse mix of projects.

Luke Miranda ’23, a biochemistry major from Fayetteville, N.Y., hopes to understand the self-cleavage sites and structure of metacaspase proteins from the fungus Schizophyllum commune. He is working with Kristin Fox, the Florence B. Sherwood Professor of Physical Sciences.

Julian Zapata-Hall '23, a mathematics major from Morelia, Mexico, is one of three students working in Schaffer Library on a project with Jennifer Grayburn, director of Digital Scholarship and Public Services. The students are part of the library’s Summer Institute for Digital Exploration at Schaffer (Summer IDEaS), which aims to introduce students from across the disciplines to the digital humanities.

The students will explore the College’s massive John Bigelow Collection through data visualization, including network analysis, mapping and text analysis. A member of the Class of 1835, Bigelow was a prominent author, lawyer, diplomat and distinguished man of letters in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Gifted to the College nearly 60 years ago on behalf of the Bigelow family, the collection spans approximately 80 linear feet. It includes some 22,000 letters from prominent political, cultural and literary giants, including Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who co-designed Central Park.

Last year, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives awarded Union a grant to support the digitization of the collection.

“Having access to small fragments of people's lives is great, being able to give them a second life through research and divulgation is awesome,” said Zapata-Hall. “We are currently learning about the computer techniques used to convert antique written material, such as letters, into useful data sources and how we can use this data to gain a further understanding about the lives of their authors or era in general.”

The summer research program at Union includes weekly elevator pitches for students to share their projects with other students and faculty. There are also weekly seminars related to career development and campus resources that may be useful for research.

“I have really enjoyed my summer research experience so far,” said Massa. Her research will form the basis of her senior thesis. “You get to work at your own pace, but you still have to meet certain deadlines. And seeing what other students are working on has been interesting.”

A poster session highlighting many of the summer projects will held Friday, Aug. 5, in the Wold Atrium.

“Regardless of their ultimate career plans or major, the experience gained from summer research will help students learn more about what they love doing, and hone their problem solving and communication skills,” said Watson. “Summer research also gives students a chance to gain independence in their work, and discover their own strengths.”

Visit the website to learn more about undergraduate research at Union.