Katie Moore, holding certificate, a junior Stetson student in the College of Arts and Sciences, was accepted to present at this year’s Posters on the Hill conference. The conference, held each April in Washington, D.C., is hosted each year by the national Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) on Capitol Hill. This event helps members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research by talking directly with the students whom these programs impact. The project that was accepted was Moore’s SURE (Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience) research project, entitled, “A Ubiquitous Non-Binding Fitness Application for Mobile Devices Using Body Sensors.”

Moore first presented this project in Stetson University’s Showcase 2013 program held on campus on April 16. The goal of her research is to “develop a motivational fitness application for a smartphone.” The application would allow an engaging and guided exercise routine by wearing a wireless heart rate monitor that collects fitness data, and then displays heart rate performance on the device. The benefits from this modern way of exercising would include weightless equipment and the freedom to work out as preferred.

Through Stetson’s SURE grant program, students illustrate how to be daringly significant. And with the help of Stetson University’s math and computer science professor Hala ElAarag, Ph.D., Moore was able to do so effortlessly.

“Katie’s research was one of 60 selected from 850 abstracts submitted this year, with an acceptance rate of seven percent,” stated ElAarag. “Katie has previously presented this research at the annual consortium of computing sciences in colleges: southeast region, held in Marietta, Ga., where she won first place. In addition, Katie presented her research at the third annual Florida undergraduate research conference held at the University of Florida.”

For the second time in six years, ElAarag and her students represented Stetson University on Capitol Hill. In 2007, Andrew Moedinger, who also conducted SURE research under ElAarag’s supervision, presented on the Hill. Moedinger now has a very successful career working at Google as a software engineer.

“I was very excited to participate again this year in this prestigious event,” ElAarag said. “Undergraduate research plays an important role in undergraduate education. Katie and I are very happy we got the opportunity to promote undergraduate research on Capitol Hill.”

Information regarding the Posters on the Hill conference can be found at this website: http://www.cur.org/conferences_and_events/student_events/posters_on_the_hill/.

Funding for Moore’s project was provided by the Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) grant.

by Kim Charles