At the 2023 conference, students will be placed into cohorts that stay together throughout the day as they attend a track/group of 3 workshops together. When you complete your registration for madiSTEM, you will indicate your top choices of workshop tracks. Please be aware that you may not get your number one choice due to the number of participants. We encourage you to be open to exploring new things as you make your requests.
madiSTEM workshops use a variety of materials, including food. If you have concerns about materials, please email madistem@jmu.edu.
2023 Student Workshop Tracks
Workshops within each track are listed alphabetically. Descriptions of the workshops in each track can be found below in the 2023 Student Workshop Descriptions Section.
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2023 Student Workshop Descriptions
Here is a printable two-page pdf of the Student Workshop descriptions.
- A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD
From mapping endangered animal habitats to helping to make cities sustainable and prevent terrorist attacks, satellite and aerial images are not just cool to look at, they can be used for all sorts of important purposes. In this workshop you will learn the basics of working with satellite and aerial imagery, and then use computer image processing to find a solution to an environmental problem.
Dr. Zack Bortolot, Professor of Geography, JMU and Xiaojing Tang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, JMU - ALL THAT GLITTERS
Have you ever wondered what makes your makeup shine? Chances are that shimmer is created by a mineral. Come find out which minerals make your lip gloss shine, discover where they come from, and then make your own.
Dr. Chiara Elmi, Assistant Professor of Mineralogy, JMU - BEATING THE ODDS: FIGURING OUT PROBABILITY
In this workshop we will play and analyze games and try to figure out how probability works as it relates to rolling dice and calculating how we should make decisions.
Mr. Eric Imbrescia, Instructor of Mathematics Methods, JMU - CREATE YOUR OWN GAME
Are you interested in making games? In this workshop, you will use Scratch programming to create your own version of a game about a fish who is just trying to stay healthy and avoid the dangers of the seas! You will learn about game development concepts such as motion, scoring, collisions, animation and sound effects.
Dr. Mona Rizvi (El-Kadi), Associate Professor of Computer Science, JMU and Katherine Hassler and Alice Milea-Ciobanu, Computer Science Students, JMU - CUTTING WITH CODE
We will explore how computer science is used by artists and product designers to make physical artifacts.
Dr. Chris Johnson, Associate Professor of Computer Science, JMU - HOW TO KEEP A SECRET?
Keep our information safe on the Internet. Come explore cryptography, the art of making and breaking codes, and how it has developed from the Caesar cipher to public-key codes.
Dr. John Webb, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, JMU - LET'S MAKE A DEAL!
In the famous Monty Hall problem, a contestant chooses from three doors, one of which has a prize. After the contestant makes their initial choice, the host opens one of the other losing doors and then gives the contestant the option of switching to the other closed door. Should they switch? We will play the game, discuss the history, and determine the best strategy to maximize the odds of winning.
Ms. Lamiaa Korayem, Visiting Instructor of Mathematics and Statistics, JMU - MAKING SOAP
At one point in history, soap was heavily taxed and was a luxury item only available to the rich. Now we alll use soap everyday as handwashing is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of disease. In this workshop, we will make soap that you will be able to take with you.
Dr. Cindy Klevickis, Professor of Integrated Science and Technology, JMU - MAROONED-ENGINEERING A SOLUTION TO GET HOME
Do you want to learn more about engineering? The world is facing a lot of challenges, but engineering design gives us a way to better understand and solve problems. Join us in a design challenge that requires collaboration and prototyping of creative solutions to figure out a way home after being stranded on an island. Come explore different fields of engineering while learning the engineering design process.
Society for Women Engineers, JMU Chapter - MIMICKING BRAIN DISEASE
Proteins are essential for your body to function. Diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers result in misfolded and aggregated proteins in the brain. This workshop will use common household items to illustrate how environmental conditions can misfold and aggregate proteins.
Gina MacDonald, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, JMU - OPERATION STATISTICS
Which surgery tool is better? Does it matter who the surgeon is? Is one tool better for one type of operation but not the other? Come play the game Operation! We will use statistics to examine whether a store-bought tweezer is better than the one provided with the game while learning about collecting and analyzing data.
Dr. Beth Cochran, Assistant Professor of Statistics, JMU - PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD
Have you ever wondered what makes gummy worms gummy? Or why there is guar gum in your jam? Join us and explore the chemistry involved in your daily life! We will learn more about the chemicals that you interact with regularly and harness the power of chemical reactions to make delicious desserts.
Student Affliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) and Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE) - POSITIVE WiFi
We will learn to be POSITIVE (Prevent Other Stealing your Internet in Five) on your Wi-Fi networks. You will discover how home networking Wi-Fi and associated internet service can be easily hacked into by strangers if the home network wireless router is not configured correctly.
Dr. Emil Salib, Professor of Information Technology, JMU - PROGRAMMING WITH FINCH ROBOTS
Want to stay one step ahead of our robot overlords? Start practicing with adorable Finch robots! In this workshop, we will learn to write Python code to make our Finch robots dance, avoid obstacles, sing, and react to light. Come see why Python is the most popular language for teaching introductory computer science at top-ranked universities. No prior experience is necessary - anyone can learn!
Dr. Chris Mayfield, Associate Professor of Computer Science, JMU - SEEING THE INVISIBLE
Can you see a cell? What about DNA? In this workshop you will have a hands-on experience extracting DNA, using a microscope, and observing and describing different types of cells and cellular components. If you are interested in biology or just curious to learn more about DNA and cells, join us for this experience!
Dr. Jaira Ferreira de Vasconcellos, Assistant Professor, JMU and Dr. Kristen Clermont, Biology Postdoctoral Fellow, JMU - SKITTLE STATISTICS
Learn valuable statistical analysis tricks with a fun and tasty twist!
Association for Women in Mathematics, JMU Chapter - THE DATING GAME
What is "half-life" and how is it used to determine the ages of rocks? Join us in this workshop to use M&Ms to simulate how atoms radioactively decay and how we can use that to discover how old rocks really are.
Dr. Christina Rost, Assistant Professor of Physics, JMU and John Barber, JMU Physics Student - THE WHAT'S-INSIDE STATION
Have you ever wondered what is inside a phone or toaster? So many engineered devices in our daily lives remain a mystery to too many of us! Learn to use hand tools to open up these mystery boxes and take them apart! What are all of those little things inside? Let's figure it out together. Will it be difficult? Maybe, but I am confident you are up for the challenge.
Dr. Heather Kirkvold, P.E., Associate Professor of Engineering, JMU - WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER
Have you ever heard of fish-hunting snails? How do these slow creatures catch fast-moving prey? In this workshop, we'll learn about this fascinating group of predatory marine animals and use their beautifully decorated shells to build our own family tree of cone snail species.
Ava Galgano, Shelby Speichsman, and Abby Trinidad, JMU STEM Corp students - YOUR HEARTBEAT…IT'S ELECTRIC!
Come be a physiologist for the day and study the fascinating subject of you, specifically your heart! We will look at the anatomy (structure) of the heart and how it pumps blood. This will include talking about the electrical system the makes your heart beat...you will also get to see what this looks like on an electrocardiogram (EKG), a tool doctors use in the hospital to determine patient heart health.
Caitlin Bing-Zaremba, Biology Student, JMU
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
madiSTEM Email Address:
madistem@jmu.edu
