GCC engineering major scores at regional science conference

Grove City College mechanical engineering major Ken Kato ’18 took second place in the undergraduate oral presentation category last week at the 12th Annual Regional Scientific Consortium Symposium held at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie. This is the second year in a row that a Grove City College research student has taken home a prize for a presentation at this symposium.

Kato, a junior from Renton, Wash., and fellow in the College’s Trustee Scholarship Program, presented work on the behavior of plankton in a jet-stirred turbulence tank in a Grove City College lab. The work has application to the management of ecologically and economically important shellfish, particularly oysters. It is part of a wider collaborative research project involving scientists and students at Grove City College and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Kato will offer an expanded version of his independent study presentation at the Hopeman Student Research Seminar Series in December on campus.

The Regional Scientific Consortium Symposium is a three-day professional scientific conference that includes talks and posters by undergraduates, graduate students and scientists. The focus of the conference is environmental science and science related to Lake Erie, but is open to any entries. Grove City College is a sponsoring member of the consortium.

“Presenting their research at a professional conference is an opportunity for valuable training and networking for our students, and great marketing for the College.  Ken’s award multiplies that impact,” says Dr. Erik Anderson, Kato’s research mentor and professor of Mechanical Engineering. 

In addition to Kato, seven other Grove City College students mentored by Anderson and Dr. Fred Brenner, professor of biology, gave talks at the symposium. 

For more information on the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Grove City College, visit: www.gcc.edu/mece. For more on the Department of Biology, visit www.gcc.edu/biol.