In one of the most exciting events of the year, undergraduate students recently gathered in Alumni Hall to present their research projects in the annual Undergraduate Research Exhibition. While most of the poster titles were self-explanatory (to someone with a Ph.D.), others required a few context clues.

Luckily for you, we here at Onward State are providing that completely accurate context that you all are looking for.

Of course! Coenobita compressus thats our favorite. Upon a first read, the word beach stands out. Truthfully, Coenobita compressus sounds like the name of an organism but could be anything from a bacteria to a fish to a little mollusk.

The use of the term boldness is slightly confusing, considering that term is usually associated with colors or personalities. Maybe the author of this project investigated how aggressive the organism was in terms of competition with others. The size and beach disturbance factors are just there for a little challenge.

This research project is absolutely fascinating. First of all, whats a service robot? Maybe it fixes things, provides a manual service, or works in stores and restaurants as a customer service representative. Regardless, assigning a name to a robot would probably make anybody happy.

Graph? Vertex degrees? This one just screams math. We barely made it through MATH 140 and 141, and youre telling us someone chose to keep doing that? Like, for their entire life? Were sending our thoughts to this person.

Most people know these words by themselves, but strung together, it reads like Latin. Binder jet printed stainless steel seems like it could be related to 3D printing, but what the hell is a binder jet, and how does it print things? Our best guess for this one is that, in the most basic terms, theyre testing the strength of a certain type of stainless steel.

Radio telemetry is a bit above our pay grade ($0), but it sounds like something in the vein of echolocation, which is pretty cool. However, the usage is concerning. It seems unnecessary to try and locate spiders, especially when they have cryptic in their name. They probably dont want to be found.

This research project seems a little oxymoronic. How can a robocar be both self-driving and remote control? We would like a live demonstration, please.

The only word that means anything to us here is spectroscopic, and it brings back traumatic memories of organic chemistry. Despite our familiarity with spectroscopy, the abbreviated programs or methodologies are going way over our head, and likely everyone elses. A shot in the dark and a gut instinct is leading us to chemical engineering.

Haylee is a junior studying immunology and infectious disease. She is from Mifflintown, PA, a tiny town south of State College. She is a coffee addict, loves Taylor Swift, and can't wait to go to a concert again. Any questions can be directed to @hayleeq8 on Twitter or emailed to [emailprotected]

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Guessing What Undergraduate Research Exhibition Titles Mean - Onward State