Berea Undergraduate Research and Internship Symposium (BURIS) 2023

The Berea Undergraduate Research and Internship Symposium (BURIS) is hosted every year by Division I (Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Nursing). Participation is open to all Berea College students. In recent years we have structured the symposium with both talks and poster presentations as well as a plenary session. In 2019 we introduced a second oral presentation category for internship presentations that might not fit in the standard research presentation model. Both types of oral presentations are scheduled for 12-15 minutes with 5 minutes for questions/speaker transition. Posters may be submitted from various fields across campus (previous posters from chemistry, biology, physics, psychology, sociology, education, African American Studies, economics, industrial arts, computer science, physical education & health, and mathematics). The format for these will be a 4-foot wide by a 3-foot tall poster that will be hung after poster stands are assembled and in place on Thursday night or Friday morning. All students who pursued substantial research projects over the previous year are encouraged to present their research.

Registration for BURIS opens normally in September each year with BURIS held on the 2nd or 3rd weekend in October. Many students will also want to register for the Kentucky Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting held in November each year. Another opportunity to present research is the UK Department of Chemistry Regional Undergraduate Poster Competition.

The program for Fall 2023 will take place on Friday, October 20th. Student oral presentations starting at 2:30 PM (MAC 206, 356, 357, 306, 307, and 406) with a concurrent poster session starting at 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM in the MAC atrium (odd-numbered posters from 3-4 pm and even-numbered posters from 4-5 pm). These sessions will be followed by a 45-minute plenary talk (with 10 minutes for questions after) at 5:10 PM.

Our plenary speaker for this year’s event is Dr. J. Tanner Slagel from the Formal Methods Group at Langley Research Center (NASA) in Newport News, VA, speaking on the topic of “Why Proofs Matter: Applying Formal Methods to Safety Critical Systems.” Tanner was a 2013 Berea College graduate with a major in mathematics. He pursued his doctorate in Mathematics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

"Why Proofs Matter: Applying Formal Methods to Safety Critical Systems"

How do you know an aircraft system is safe? Uncrewed aircraft systems have the potential to aid in disaster relief, from delivering essential supplies and medicine during a hurricane to controlling and tracking a wildfire. As these operations become increasingly complex and autonomous, assuring the safety of these systems is paramount. While essential, experimentation alone of software and hardware does not always provide the confidence level to ensure it will not fail catastrophically. This talk presents Formal Methods, the process in which a system is proven to work using elements of mathematical analysis and foundational logic, and applies Formal Methods to applications of interest to NASA.

Dr. Slagel's Biography

Tanner is part of the formal methods group at Langley Research Center, where he proves properties of safety-critical software and hardware systems. Before coming to NASA, Tanner spent a decade in college studying mathematics at Berea College and Virginia Tech. While at Berea Tanner did an undergraduate research project on structured light tomography under the tutelage of Dr. Larry Gratton and Dr. James Blackburn Lynch. One day Tanner visited an island composed of only Knights (only speaking truths) and Knaves (only speaking lies). He came across three inhabitants of the island (A,B, and C) and was informed from a trusted source exactly one of them was a magician. The inhabitants made the following statements: A: ‘B is not both a knave and a magician.’ B: ‘Either A is a knave or I am not a magician.’ C: ‘The magician is a knave.’ Which one of A,B, and C is the magician? In his free time, Tanner enjoys walking his dog Rupert around Rupert’s neighborhood.  

Oral Research Presentations

Research and Internship Posters

Registration form for 2023 BURIS to be held on October 20th. The registration deadline is Friday, October 13th.

Oral presentations will be 12-15 minutes in length with normally one presenting speaker with 5 minutes between them for questions and/or speaker transition. The posters shall be printed as single pages that are 4-foot wide by 3-foot tall and may be hung on the poster stands once assembled on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. For samples of past BURIS posters, follow this link.

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