Student Recognition
(L to R) Jack Streeter, Reid Huffman, Cory Hughes
Award Recipients for 2012
- The Raymond H. Medley, Jr. Outstanding Senior Mathematics Award
2012 Recipient: Reid Huffman - The Raymond H. Medley, Jr. Outstanding Senior Computer Science Award
2012 Recipient: Cory Hughes - The Stephen R. Campbell Mathematics and Computer Science Award
2012 Recipient: Jackson Streeter
Student Athlete Awards
At the 2012 Belmont University Athletics All-Sports Banquet, Kimberly Muldowney, Mathematics major, received the Team Academic Achievement Award for Women's Cross Country/Track & Field. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, reached at least junior status, and been enrolled at Belmont University for at least 2 semesters.
Also at the banquet, Jamie Loftis, Women's Soccer, Mathematics and Secondary Education major, received the award for Outstanding Secondary Educator.
Students place Second in Best Student Paper Competition
Colin Hemphill, a Belmont senior majoring in Computer Science and Audio Engineering Technology, and Josh Sheehy, a Belmont senior majoring in Computer Science, placed second in the Best Student Paper Competition at the recent Association for Computing Machinery Southeast Conference (ACM/SE). Their paper, "Finding Effective Search Strategies for the TwoBik Puzzle", was one of a dozen undergraduate and graduate student papers accepted for presentation at the conference. The 50th Annual ACM/SE drew 183 students, faculty and professionals in computer science to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 29-31, 2012.
Reid Huffman, a senior Honors student pursuing a BS in Applied Discrete Mathematics and a BBA in Music Business, has been awarded a 2011 scholarship from the Southeastern Actuaries Conference (SEAC). Each year the Southeastern Actuaries Conference funds actuarial science scholarships for full-time students at universities and colleges in the Southeast who have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a career in the actuarial field. In 2010, they awarded six scholarships totaling $10,000. The SEAC has been in existence since 1949 and provides continuing education opportunities for their members and colleagues in the actuarial profession in the southeast U. S.
2010 Information Technology Student of the Year
Belmont senior Matt Lefavor and Belmont alumnus Nick Williams took top awards in their categories at the Nashville Technology Council 2010 Awards Ceremony. The ceremony, held in the Renaissance Hotel ballroom October 28th, 2010, drew 400 of the city's leading technology professionals.
Matt, the Information Technology Student of the Year, is a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy in the Belmont Honors Program, and has presented undergraduate research in both fields. His most recent summer job was data mining at the Goddard Space Flight Center, preparing the next Mars Rover to find life on the Red Planet. Nick, the Software Programmer/ Engineer of the year, earned his Bachelor's Degree from Belmont in 2009. He was a double major in Computer Science and Audio Engineering Technology. He is currently a software developer at PureSafety, provider of risk management software to 35% of the Fortune 500 companies.
Matt's award marks the second year in a row that Belmont has claimed the IT Student of the Year. The 2009 award winner was Hank Carter, a Computer Science major who finished his B.S. in May 2010 and is now a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Like each of the twelve award winners, Matt and Nick took home beautiful new Epiphone guitars. The guitars are a symbol of the NTC "Feel the Beat" Technology Awards, and each year they are decorated with a unique design. Matt also took home a fully-loaded laptop, courtesy of NTC sponsor Hewlett-Packard, and a $500 scholarship also provided by Hewlett-Packard.
The 2010 ACM Mid-Southeast Conference was held in Gatlinburg, TN on November 11-12, 2010. Belmont senior Cameron Behar gave a presentation on "Visualizing Graphs through Software". Dr. William Hooper and Dr. Joyce Crowell gave a talk titled "An Applet Package for CS0".
Cameron’s presentation earned him Honorable Mention honors. His presentation was fourth out of the 23 undergraduate student presentations from institutions such as University of Alabama, Austin Peay, UT Martin, Tennessee Tech, Furman University, East TN State, Jackson State, Columbus State, Samford University, and MTSU.
Belmont Senior Matt Lefavor has landed an internship for the summer of 2010 with NASA on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) team. The SAM Team is located at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/about/info/faq.html.
SAM is a suite of instruments that will be on board the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. The SAM team consists of scientists and engineers both in and out of NASA, in the US and Europe. SAM's five science goals will address three of the most fundamental questions about the ability of Mars to support life - past, present, and future. If all goes well, the SAM module will Launch aboard the Mars Science Laboratory in late 2011, and ride in the "shotgun" seat as the rover explores the Martian surface.
Matt is a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy in the Belmont Honors Program, and has presented undergraduate research in both fields. His current assignment is data analysis for the SAM team. For more information, see: http://ael.gsfc.nasa.gov/marsSAM.shtml
Belmont senior Chris Driggers is on the team bringing the Methodist Church to an iPhone near you. Driggers, a Computer Science major at Belmont, is a full-time intern during the summer of 2010 for United Methodist Communications (UMCOM), which handles the communication, public relations, and marketing needs of The United Methodist Church.
According to Chris, "The great thing about being an intern as part of the Technology Team at UMCOM is getting exposed to a wide variety of web technologies. In my first few weeks at UMCOM I was able to assist in setting up new servers, use Google Search APIs to assist searching across UMC websites, learn JavaScript and use HTML/CSS to code websites, and even begin work on Mobile Applications for iPhone and Android platforms. I even spent some time setting up a multi-media room with HDMI capabilities..."
UMCOM and Belmont have a long and fruitful partnership. Danny Mai, Director of Technology at UMCOM, is a double Belmont alumnus, earning his B.S. in Computer Science, with a minor in Religion, in 1995, and his M.B.A. in 2004. Since joining UMCOM, Danny has welcomed many Belmont students for internships, including Stuart Childs (2008) and Zane Colgin (2009).
Stephanie Bobo (L) has been selected to be one of sixteen women to participate in the George Washington University Summer Program for Women in Mathematics (SPWM) in Washington, DC for summer 2010. SPWM is a five-week intensive program for mathematically- talented undergraduate women who are completing their junior year and may be contemplating graduate study in the mathematical sciences. Goals of this program are to communicate an enthusiasm for mathematics, to develop research skills, to cultivate mathematical self-confidence and independence, and to promote success in graduate school. Website link: http://www.gwu.edu/~spwm/
Kelly Harlan (R) has been selected to participate in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Geometry and Knot Theory at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) for summer 2010. The principal goal of the REU in mathematics at CSUSB is to provide promising undergraduate math majors with a meaningful, exciting and challenging experience in mathematical research. During the eight-week residential program students will carry out guided independent and collaborative research. Research problems will come from the fields of Combinatorics and Knot Theory, and will be chosen in consultation with a faculty mentor. The program culminates with participants submitting research papers based on their work, and presenting their results at a formal seminar. Website link: http://www.math.csusb.edu/reu/