Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

Present, collaborate, inspire.

What is SOURCE?

The Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) is a day-long event that allows students to present their research projects, scholarly work, or creative activities in a poster format or as oral presentations. Undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines are encouraged to become involved in research and creative endeavors and present their work at SOURCE. No classes are held on this day, so join us! Sessions will take place in the Harre Union and the VUCA. Here is the tentative schedule for the day:

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Showcasing Research & Creativity

One of the joys of completing a research project or creative endeavor is sharing the results with others. Students who have worked on class projects, senior projects and theses, artistic works, or independent scholarship are encouraged to participate.

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2025 SOURCE Schedule – April 24th, 2025

A woman presents her scientific poster to a small group at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression.

A student presents research on solar furnaces in front of a scientific poster at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression.

Man with binoculars stands in front of a scientific poster about urban birds at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression.

Two women standing and smiling in front of a scientific research poster at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression.

A student presents a colorful research poster at the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression, engaging an attendee in discussion.

Symposium Submission Details & Resources

The Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) abstract submission page is now directly linked to the ValpoScholar website for publication! ValpoScholar serves as the central exchange for outstanding scholarship and creative work from faculty and students as well as University record and campus history. Your work will be stored here permanently, so you can provide the link to family, friends, and future employers to show them your work.

Abstract Submission Details

Submission Instructions

STEP ONE: When you click on the link below, you will be prompted to login to your existing account or create an account in ValpoScholar. You will need to provide your email address and a password.

Create Account

STEP TWO: Once you have created an account, the link will take you directly to the abstract submission form for the Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression. In addition to your abstract of 250 or fewer words, you will need to have the following information available:

Title of project;
Name(s) of the author(s);
Primary contact name and email;
Faculty sponsor name and email;
Name of the college and department/program associated with the project;
Biographical information about the author(s) — 75 or fewer words;
Information on whether you will be displaying a tabletop poster (tri-fold presentation board) or wall poster (printed on a large-scale printer), or if you will be making an oral presentation;
Primary file or link to your primary file for your poster or oral presentation (optional).

STEP THREE: Once you have completed and successfully uploaded the abstract submission form and all attachments, you will receive email confirmation of your submission. If you do not receive an email confirmation, please submit your abstract again.

STEP FOUR: A few weeks after the date of SOURCE, your abstract (along with any files you have uploaded) will then be published in a permanent archive of Valpo work.

Submission Deadlines

The abstract submission deadline is Friday, March 28, 2025!

Submission Acceptance Details

There is no prejudging process for SOURCE. Once you have submitted an abstract, you are in! Please save the date of Thursday, April 24, 2025 on your calendar and plan to attend SOURCE to showcase your work. We will contact you prior to the event to communicate final event details.

Explore Past Research and Creative Work

2024 Student Award Winners

2024 SOURCE and the Graduate Academic Symposium featured 123 student presentations that represented the work of more than 200 Valpo students. Faculty evaluations of these presentations led to the awards shown below. We thank the Valpo Phi Beta Kappa chapter for sponsoring the First Place Undergraduate Oral and Poster Awards!

First Place Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Ashley Vernon (mentor: Prof. Sarah Jantzi)

“In Plain Sight: A Curated Art Walk”

Second Place Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Abby Pintoy (mentor: Prof. Joseph Bognar)

“Leveling Up the Leitmotif: Understanding How the Unique Medium of Video Games Explores and Develops the Leitmotif”

First Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Charles Smith and Fayol Ateufack Zeudom (mentor: Prof. Sami Khorbotly)

“Computer Vision-Based System to Study Parking Utilization”

Second Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Alex Kagay, Micah D’Arcangelo, Joshua Mangnall, Mario Ramos, Ethan Duff, Noah Fisher, and Max Van Den Berg (mentor: Prof. Peter Krenzke)

“Efficient Solar Thermal Electricity Unlocked: Sodium Heat Pipes in the Solar Furnace”

Third Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Gavin Forck (mentor: Prof. Jesse Sestito)

“Automation of iterative computer aided design and finite element analysis in SolidWorks”

Fourth Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Makayla Mann (mentor: Prof. Lauren Sestito)

“Evaluating Liposome Stability in Gastric and Intestinal Environments”

First Place Graduate Oral Presentation (joint): Caleb VanArragon and Matt Latzke (mentor: Prof. Tiffany Kolba)

“Predicting Professional Golf Success Using Amateur Rankings”

First Place Graduate Oral Presentation (joint): Maria Mack (mentor: Prof. Betsy Burow-Flak)

“Tomorrow’s Odyssey: Love, Scars, and Change”

First Place Graduate Poster Presentation: Caleb VanArragon and Lanna Sirhan (mentor: Prof. Danielle Orozco-Nunnelly)

“Antimicrobial Activities of Several Argemone mexicana-Inspired Phytocompounds”

2023 Student Winners

2023 SOURCE and the Graduate Academic Symposium featured 104 student presentations that represented the work of more than 175 students. Here is a video with short clips of the day’s sessions in the Harre Union. Faculty evaluations of these presentations led to the awards shown below. We thank the Valpo Phi Beta Kappa chapter for sponsoring the First Place Undergraduate Oral and Poster Awards!

First Place Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Adam Lindemer (mentor: Prof. Katharina Uhde)

“Brass Multiphonics in the Works of William Kraft and Øystein Baadsvik and Expanding the Possibilities of Solo Brass Repertoire”

Second Place Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Darnell Crater (mentor: Prof. Katharina Uhde)

“De-Colonizing Puccini’s Opera Turandot”

First Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Anton Eschenauer (mentor: Prof. Tiffany Kolba)

“A Statistical Analysis of Valparaiso University’s Math Placement Process”

Second Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Demetria Zoldak, Bradley Davis, and Kade Kovarik (mentor: Prof. Luke Venstrom)

“A New High Temperature, High Pressure Electrochemical Test Station to Support the Processes that Produce Sustainable Fuel”

Third Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Carly Schiene (mentor: Prof. Jay Grossman)

“Comparative Analysis of Peanut Roundabouts and All-Way Stop Intersections”

Fourth Place Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Hannah Nelson (mentor: Prof. Dan White)

“RF Signal Intensity Explained Through VNA Calibration and Advanced PCB Layout”

First Place Graduate Oral Presentation: Ravi Kiran Nimmagadda (mentor: Prof. Hugh Gong)

“Loan Approval Prediction Based on the Decision Tree and Random Forest Methods”

Guidelines for SOURCE Presenters

All faculty-sponsored projects will be accepted for presentation at SOURCE. Students and faculty should read the Oral Presentation Guidelines regarding the development of their presentations. Faculty sponsors guide and support their students, both in conducting the original research and sharing that research in the appropriate format.

Oral presentation guidelines