Earlier this month, five undergraduate students represented Georgia Tech at the 12th annual ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference hosted by Duke University in Durham, NC. The conference, which is funded in part by revenue generated from athletic events by the member institutions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is an opportunity for selected undergraduate students to present their research and scholarship in a professional setting and meet fellow students from peer universities. Eighty-six students attended the event.

The following Georgia Tech students gave impressive presentations:

• Zinka Bartolek (Biomedical Engineering) Chemoreception of Marine Chemical Defenses
• Taylor Garmon (Biochemistry) Matrix metalloproteinases are required in Xenopus laevis neural crest EMT and migration
• Kaley Parchinski (Biomedical Engineering) Development of an EPIC-μCT method for analyzing proteoglycan content in neocartilage constructs
• Celeste Runnels (Biochemistry) Assessing the Role of Ribosomal RNA in Protein Folding and Evolution through FRET
• Marissa Savage-Gibson (Biology) Forelimb Preference Across Unimanual Tasks and Comparison of Personality Traits in the Red Kangaroos at Zoo Atlanta

The Meeting of the Minds Conference is an excellent opportunity for students to hone their presentation skills – ones that will serve them well during and after college. Students interested in learning more about this conference and other presentation opportunities should visit the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program website http://urop.gatech.edu/.