The Mathematics Department is excited to announce the recipients of this year’s Sigma Scholarship. This scholarship was established in summer of 2020 to support and encourage students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields to pursue higher-level mathematics.
Congratulations to our 2023 Sigma Scholarship recipients:
Abou Bakar Berthe
STEM field: Mining Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Oliver Rosas
STEM field: Civil Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Spencer Henwood
STEM field: Computer Science
2023-24: Portland State University
Isaac Osorio Beltran
STEM field: Computer Science or Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Post and photos contributed by Kayoko Barnhill
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Engineering and Computer Science students preparing to graduate presented their projects in an expo in the STEM Collaboratorium on June 6.
Engineering Professor Izad Khormaee explained that at the beginning of the academic year, students were assigned a task: to build and design a project that solves a real-world problem. Students proposed their project and designed it in Fall term, built it in Winter term, and improved on it in Spring term.
Brandon Eastman (above) designed and built an electric-powered robot for use in production line automation. His project combines mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science.
“It’s very simple,” Brandon said. “It is three motors equaling three degrees of freedom. Each motor is a wheel.”
Brandon is earning his associate degree in electrical engineering and transferring to WSU Vancouver to pursue a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Mellanie Martin (above) displayed the bioinformatics program she created that applies computer science principles to biological data.
“This program takes a DNA strand and transcribes it to RNA,” she said. “Bioinformatics is a growing field. We have so much biological data, but we don’t know what to do with it.”
Mellanie is transferring to WSU Vancouver to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Linnea Castro (above) a mother of three children, enrolled at Clark in her late 30s to pursue a career in computer science. She is transferring to WSU Vancouver to pursue her bachelor’s degree. She created a homework timer to encourage kids to focus for 25 minutes.
“It’s fun to do a project that’s manifested around something you want to learn,” Linnea said.
Outside on the terrace, Carlos Aragón(top of page) demonstrated his renewable energy project, Ram Power Energy, a wave-powered generator that transforms hydraulic energy into electrical energy. He hopes to use this technology to harvest the energy of the ocean waves to produce electricity and to extract hydrogen.
Carlos is earning his associates in electrical engineering and is transferring to WSU Vancouver, where he plans to earn his bachelor’s degree while continuing to improve his project. Eventually, he believes this process could not only be used to generate energy but also to clean the oceans.
“I’m excited to see how to use it,” he said. “I hope to inspire more students at Clark to research new sustainable and clean energy sources.”
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish
Women in STEM Tea
To equip their engineering students for success, professors Tina Barsotti and Carol Hsu encourage their students to create community by participating in campus and community outreach events, including STEM NERD Girls.
These outreach events available in Engineering program provide opportunities for diverse learners to explore and achieve their educational goals by promoting social connectedness through peer support, volunteering, networking, professional interaction, and mentoring.
“Building community fosters collaboration and connectedness,” said Professor Barsotti. “By providing these opportunities, the program encourages students to continue their paths in the STEM field. This helps us to retain students from systemically non-dominant groups.”
Engineering graduates remain connected
Four Engineering graduates who volunteered in outreach events also formed a study group when they were Clark students. Over the years, they have remained friends and continue to encourage each other as they transitioned to pursuing bachelor’s degrees, and now in the early years of their careers. They spoke on a panel at a Women in STEM tea on May 17 in the STEM Building.
Megan Sarygin, Gabriella Miller, Shiori Baba, and Marie Roza heeded their professors’ advice when they were STEM students at Clark College. They volunteered in NERD Girls and contributed to other outreach and campus events. After they graduated from Clark, they transferred to various universities, but they continued their study group as they faced the rigors of advanced STEM classes and projects.
Some years later, they still connect and remain friends. Now instead of seeking advice about college classes, they discuss the successes and challenges they are experiencing as young women working in male-dominated STEM fields.
Megan Sarygin
Profession: Field service engineer, Tokyo Electron US
Education:
Clark College Running Start student; Associate of Science, mechanical engineering, 2019
Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, minor in business administration, Washington State University Vancouver, 2021
Insights:
“Developing your social skills is very important, just like your hard skills. Social skills are just as important as your classes, getting good grades, and studying. Make connections. Work in a group. Work on your communications skills.”
“Ask for help. In a lab at WSU Vancouver, we were using a mill and a lathe to make small parts for a gyroscope. Using the lathe did not make sense to me. I was so far behind. The lab instructor was patient and opened up the lab on the weekend for extra work on the lathe. It was so nice to have it click in my brain.”
Clark College, Associate of Arts, mechanical engineering, 2018
Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, Washington State University Vancouver, 2022
Insights:
“When we were growing up, it wasn’t expected that a girl would go into a STEM field.”
“I wanted to work in a field where there are always questions to answer, opportunities to learn.”
“I was drawn both to aerospace and neuroscience. I asked myself: Space or brains?”
“Being able to make mistakes is sometimes harder for women. People can be more critical.”
Shiori Baba
Profession: Project engineer classified as civil engineer, Bonneville Power Administration
Education:
Bachelor of Science degree in geology/earth science, University of Washington, 2016
Clark College, supplemental prerequisite engineering classes to transfer to Portland State University
Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, Portland State University, 2021
Insights:
“Networking is a scary term, but who you know is important. You don’t know who will be your boss or what opportunities may come up because of word of mouth.”
“My agency makes transmission lines and maintains substations. It’s been male dominated, but I’m seeing more female engineers now. BPA has been putting in efforts for more diversity within their workforce.”
“It’s okay to make mistakes. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes.”
Marie Roza
Profession: Senior emerging technology engineer, Skanska, the fifth-largest construction company in the world
Education:
Clark College Running Start student and Associate of Science degree in civil engineering, 2019
Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, Portland State University, 2021
Insights:
“In engineering, there are so many options. You aren’t limited.”
“Construction is very male dominated. Only about 13% are women. But within my company, we have an amazing focus on diversity and inclusion.”
“Make your connections within your classes. It’s important to have a support system, especially as a woman in STEM. I could not have made it without these three.”
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish
Rocket Breaks Record
Penguins fly!
Or rather, one “Little Penguin” rocket flew on April 28, with the help of four Clark Aerospace students.
Every spring, the college’s Aerospace program travels to the scrappy sagebrush landscape of Brothers, Oregon, a premier launch site for high-altitude rocket projects, 40 miles east of Bend. Their mission: Launch the rockets they have built during the academic year.
Clark’s team arrived in two cars filled with rockets, tools, four students, and Xiunu “Sophie” Lin, physics professor and director of Clark’s Aerospace Program.
First, student Tyler Lawrence launched his rocket, and it was safely recovered. This achievement marked Tyler’s L1 High Power Rocket Certification.
Great outcome!
Next, the team launched their rocket, dubbed “Little Penguin,” which is 12 feet long, 5 inches in diameter and weighing about 45 pounds. According to the team’s simulations, the rocket with an M-1939 motor could potentially reach a high point of about 16,000 feet (called “apogee” in rocket lingo).
Little Penguin: All Systems Go!
Following a simple countdown, the team launched Little Penguin around 5 p.m. Wow, did that Little Penguin fly!
Professor Lin said, “It took off with tremendous power, producing a shock wave that could be felt 500 feet away from the launch site. The rocket soared straight into the blue sky with a beautiful straight line before disappearing.”
After a rocket is launched, it’s crucial for the team to follow its trajectory visually, so they later can find where it lands. When they lose sight of a rocket, the team uses a radio receiver to follow the signal of a radio tracker attached to the rocket’s nose cone.
But the signal they picked up was weak, indicating that the rocket must have drifted far from the launch site. The students, Professor Lin and the team’s mentor, Jack Caynon started driving, and stopping every few minutes to check the signals and direction before driving forward.
After driving for an hour or two, they eventually picked up a stronger signal. It came from a sagebrush-covered field behind a barbed wire fence. The sun had already set. The team crawled beneath the fence and walked uphill for a mile, where they found Little Penguin 11 miles northeast of the launch site.
Little Penguin broke Clark’s record
From left to right: Ethan Lloyd Walters; Samuel Remus Banceu; Tyler James Lawrence (team leader); Jackie L. Caynon (the team mentor); Xiunu Sophie Lin (program director); Vyacheslav Timofeyevich Lukiyanchuk
Keith Stansbury, the prior director of the college’s Aerospace program, said “an 11-mile recovery is a record for Clark. Eleven miles and we got it back! Phenomenal!”
“Recovering the rocket 11 miles from the launch site is almost a miracle,” said Professor Lin. “The recovery may not have been successful on our very first flight test, but we collected our first set of flight data to analyze and improve our rocket for future flights.”
The team examined the errant Little Penguin and discovered that an insufficient weld led to the bulkhead detaching from the fin cans, causing the rocket to drift in strong winds. The team plans to scrutinize the flight data to glean further insight.
Their next mission: competing at the SpacePort America Cup competition, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition, held June 19-24 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
“Our students learned good lessons from this flight,” said Professor Lin. “The perseverance they showed during the search of the rocket was impressive and amazing. As a team, we are determined to fail as many times as necessary before we can succeed at the SpacePort America Cup competition.”
Just in time for Earth Day, Clark College was certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program on April 20, joining 165 other college campuses and 179 cities across the country united to make their landscape attractive to pollinators.
“Through a variety of sustainability initiatives, college students, faculty, and staff have championed creating environmentally friendly campuses,” said Clark College President, Dr. Karin Edwards. “I was fortunate to help sow wildflower seeds on campus in early spring. I anticipate that we will be enjoying beautiful native wildflowers—and seeing more bees on campus—in the coming months.”
Biology Professor Steven Clark is coordinating the college’s Bee Campus initiative and has led the college in laying groundwork, such as planting native wildflowers, to make the campus more attractive to bees and other pollinators.
“Bee Campus helps bees because we provide food and habitat for bees,” Clark said. “But it may help humans more because we learn how to live in harmony with nature.”
Pollinators—including mason bees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and hummingbirds are essential for the planet. They are responsible for the reproduction of almost 90% of the world’s flowering plant species and 30% of our food.
As part of the college’s Bee Campus initiative, it is offering opportunities for student research and service learning. Faculty, staff, and students have worked together to study and create pollinator habitat with native plants.
As a certified Bee Campus, Clark College will offer education to students and community members about the region’s native pollinators, potentially via biology labs, community science research contributions, environmental science service learning, Continuing Ed seminars, and Bee Units offered to nearby elementary schools.
During Clark’s Take Your Child to Work Day event on April 27, he led a group of college employees and their children on a bee walk just outside the front door of the STEM Building. Within minutes the kids were identifying and counting mason bees, bumblebees and more.
Professor Clark will teach two Clark College community education courses focused on bees and their habitat. Bee Walks and Bee Lives begins May 26. Bee Walks and Bee Biology begins June 6. Both courses include classroom time followed by a “bee walk” around campus.
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a Portland-based nonprofit. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities and college campuses to sustain pollinators by providing healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants that are free of pesticides.
Clark College Engineering Professor Carol Hsu is an immigrant, a woman of color, and a pioneer of sorts who pursued a mechanical engineering degree at a time when only 10% of engineering students were women.
But did you know she’s also an avid gamer who plays World of Warcraft?
Professor Hsu talked about these things and more when she spoke to more than 70 Clark College students, faculty and staff at the Spring Student of Color Luncheon on April 25.
The free event is presented each term by Clark’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Multicultural Student Affairs. It provides opportunities for students to be encouraged by inspiring stories, meet faculty and new friends, consider different career paths, and identify community resources and potential mentors.
Professor Hsu shared her story and her lessons learned and shared tips to help students navigate college. She grew up in Taiwan, where she attended school seven days a week. When she was in high school, her family emigrated to Houston, Texas. She didn’t speak English, but thanks to her high school’s ESL classes, she learned.
Recognizing her aptitude to working with her hands, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Before her teaching career, she was an engineer at various companies including Chevron, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard. In her work, she traveled to many countries and experienced diverse cultures.
Now in her 13th year of teaching at Clark, she also co-directs NERD Girls and other STEM outreach in the community.
She encouraged students to “find opportunities whenever possible. Get involved.”
Professor Hsu’s advice to students:
Design is a process. It takes a team.
Join clubs on campus and get involved to make connections.
Get to know your professors, who know about opportunities and can write recommendation letters.
Join a study group and make friends; encourage each other to keep going.
Her words of wisdom:
“If you tell me ‘no,’ I’m going to show you that I can.”
“Your reputation follows you, so do a good job.”
“There’s nothing you can do about the past, but you can change the future.”
Fun Facts about Professor Hsu:
She is an inventor who holds two U.S. patents.
She is an avid gamer. In World of Warcraft, she is a warlock.
She commutes to campus via bus and listens to audiobooks; she has listened to 377 audiobooks.
Her favorite genre is fantasy; favorite authors include Brendon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman.
Photo: Clark College/Susan Parrish
MESA students engineer possibilities
Clark student Alejandra Magallanes, far left, was part of a group that won second place in a competition for human-based engineering solutions at a recent MESA conference.
Clark’s MESA program is still in its first year, but already it’s providing new opportunities for student success.
MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) is a national program dedicated to encouraging under-represented populations to succeed in STEM fields. At Clark, this includes a dedicated space for studying and creating community, as well as opportunities for mentorship, assistance with books and fees, and conference participation.
This March, two Clark MESA students attended the MESA Student Leadership Retreat at Warm Beach Camp in Stanwood, Washington, along with students from 15 other MESA community college programs from Washington and California. Mai Lee Xiong and Alejandra Magallanes were able to participate in activities to boost their professional development and leadership skills.
They also participated in a competition for human-centered design solutions, breaking into groups to identify a problem, interview a potential user of their solution, and prepare a poster and oral presentation to explain it to others.
Mai Lee Xiong, far left, collaborated on a concept for a medical-translation app at a recent MESA conference.
Xiong’s group focused on health care disparities that arise from language barriers between health care providers and patients whose first language is not English. They proposed the development of an app to translate medical information into different languages–one that would include medical terminology not available through tools like Google Translate. The project was a perfect fit for Xiong, who is studying biology and plans to pursue a degree natural medicine after her bachelor’s degree.
Alejandra Magallanes’s group also decided to tackle an issue related to healthcare: the availability and convenience of Pap smear exams to detect cervical cancer. They proposed a device that could be used at home to collect a sample of cervical cells. It could be used by people who have difficulty attending doctors’ appointments or who may avoid Pap smears because of the uncomfortable nature of the exam–and in doing so, could increase the number of people who receive preventative care. Magallanes’ group won second place in the competition, which includes proposals from more than 20 teams.
As with Xiong, Magallanes’s project aligned well with her interests; like Xiong, she is studying biology and plans to transfer to a university for her bachelor’s degree after graduating from Clark College in 2020.
“This experience really helped show the value of having the MESA program at Clark College,” said MESA director Dr. Ellen Harju. “It was wonderful to see these two students be able to work and succeed with their peers in an environment that allowed them to be their authentic selves. I’m excited to see more of our MESA students get the chance for these experiences.”
Clark’s MESA program is located in the STEM Building rooms 206/208 and is open Monday – Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. More information about the program is available online at www.clark.edu/cc/mesa.
Photos: Clark College/Ellen Harju
Winter STEM Seminars
Efforts to create ecotourism and protect two monkey species in West Africa are the subject of Dr. Robert Schubert’s STEM Seminar Series lecture.
Clark College is inviting the public to come back to school for a series of free lunchtime seminars that explore the lighter side of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Begun in 2015, the Clark College STEM Seminar Series launches its 2018 Winter season with yet more fun, informative presentations geared toward anyone with an interest in science—no Ph.D. required!
The winter quarter events in this series include:
January 19: The Aka and Bofi Foragers of the Central African Republic with Dr. Jay Fancher, Clark College anthropology faculty. Join Dr. Fancher as he recounts tales of his doctoral field research with the Aka and Bofi foragers of the Central African Republic. Learn how studying—and sharing—their meals helps researchers better understand archaeological findings from the area.
February 16: Human Culture and Primate Conservation with Dr. Robert Schubert, Clark College anthropology faculty. When balancing modernization with protecting wild species, creating local control of conservation efforts is crucial to their success. Dr. Schubert shares stories of how local beliefs help preserve two West African primate species and of the challenges posed in developing successful ecotourism initiatives.
March 9: It’s All About Mud! with David Kluesner, geologist and Florida Gulf Coast University faculty. When oil and other pollutants spill into water, how can scientists predict where they’ll wind up? With more than three decades of experience in the field, this geologist shares his study of pollutants in the mud of a Florida estuary—and what that mud can tell us about how to track and contain future spills.
All events are held on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. in the STEM Building room 151 on Clark’s main campus. All are open to the public. Light snacks will be available and guests are welcome to bring their own lunches with them.
Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013, as soon as possible.
This article was contributed by STEM Outreach Program Coordinator Nadia Kluesner.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Robert Schubert.
Free STEM Seminars begin Oct. 20
Clark College is inviting the public to come back to school for a series of free lunchtime seminars that explore the lighter side of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Begun in 2015, the Clark College STEM Seminar Series launches its 2017 Fall season with yet more fun, informative presentations geared toward anyone with an interest in science—no Ph.D. required!
The fall quarter events in this series include:
Oct. 20: Terrific Telescopes—Windows to Our Universe with Dr. Duane Ray, Clark College Economic & Community Development instructor
Join Dr. Ray as he reviews the amazing technology of today’s telescopes and how they work. He will then take us on a tour around the world, showing the latest equipment now installed or being installed, including light, infrared, microwave and X-ray telescopes.
Nov. 17: Cave Curiosities with Eddy Cartaya of the U.S. Forest Service
As a ranger in the Deschutes National Forest, Cartaya has the opportunity to investigate many caves while solving crimes. His work on glacier caves in Mt. Hood has provided valuable information about these fragile and ever-changing ecosystems.
Dec. 1: Telling Science Fact from Fiction with staff from Clark College Libraries
Information is moving fast and furious these days, and it can be difficult at best to tell what is and isn’t high-quality scientific information. Join a team of Clark librarians for some ideas about how best to tell scientific fact in the media from fiction. This promises to be a fast-paced and fun romp through scientific literacy!
All events are held on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. in the STEM Building room 151 on Clark’s main campus. All are open to the public. Light snacks will be available and guests are welcome to bring their own lunches with them.
Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Anyone needing accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at (360) 992-2314 or (360) 991-0901 (VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013, as soon as possible.
Young scientists unite
Students competing at the 2017 Southwest Washington Regional Science Olympiad.
Burning marshmallows, miniature hovercrafts, robotic arms, and the perennial favorite, bottle rockets, were a just a few of the 48 activities featured at this year’s Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament, which took place at Clark College on Saturday, March 4.
Mid-experiment at the Science Olympiad.
More than 350 young scientists from 20 middle-school and 18 high-school teams competed in the Olympiad, coming from as far north as La Push, Washington, and as far south as Corvallis, Oregon. Winning teams from the regional competition earned spots in the Washington State Science Olympiad, which will take place at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington, on April 15.
Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization that encourages a love of science through educational opportunities, hands-on activities, and regional, state, and national tournaments.
STEM Coordinator Erin Harwood, who oversaw the planning and logistics for the tournament, said she was very pleased with the outcome of the event.
“We’ve had a four-year break from hosting any Science Olympiad event this large, and it’s been a very long time since we hosted a regional event, so this was a nice change and a great way to get back to hosting again,” she said. “It was really amazing how many students volunteered, and the faculty and staff–even the Dean!–got in on helping out.”
Clark students volunteered to help make the Olympiad possible.
More than 130 volunteers—most of them Clark College students, employees, and alumni—helped make the event possible.
At the end of the day, the school teams, event volunteers, and others who participated in the tournament gathered in the O’Connell Sports Complex gymnasium for an awards ceremony filled with energy and enthusiasm. Students from the Quileute Tribal School, whose team had traveled the farthest to participate in the Olympiad, shared a song and words of encouragement with the other attendees before the awards were announced. Eleven teams, five from middle schools and six from high schools, will be continuing on to the state tournament. Camas schools will represent a full five of those eleven teams moving on to the state level.
The following teams will be advancing to the Washington state competition:
B DIVISION (MIDDLE SCHOOL)
1ST PLACE: Skyridge (Blue Team)
2ND PLACE: Liberty (Black Team)
3RD PLACE: Skyridge (Green Team)
4TH PLACE: Jason Lee (Red Team)
5TH PLACE: ExCEL
C DIVISION (HIGH SCHOOL)
1ST PLACE: Camas (Black Team)
2ND PLACE: Camas (Red Team)
3RD PLACE: Woodinville
4TH PLACE: Union (Black Team)
5TH PLACE: Skyline
6TH PLACE: Washougal (Black Team)
For more photos of the event, visit our Flickr album.
