This week, UNC celebrates University Research Week — an annual campus-wide event packed with lectures, workshops, and undergraduate research stories designed to promote awareness of research opportunities at Carolina.
Every day, humans create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. How do we protect, store, and transfer it all? A team at RENCI has spent the last decade developing the Swiss Army knife of data management, called iRODS, that does all those things — and it’s used by a variety of institutions across the globe.
Yanni Lai is a PhD student and graduate research assistant in the Department of Mathematics within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on using algorithms to identify mechanical problems within the heart.
Shimul Melwani examines factors of the “dark side” of emotion in the workplace: gossip, frenemies, negativity, bad news, and close-minded leaders. Where businesses may shy away, she often finds that embracing the complexity of human emotions does more good than harm.
Angelica Leigh is a PhD student concentrating on organizational behavior within the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Her research focuses on the diversity in organizations such as the influence of racial and gender stereotypes on negotiation outcomes.
Laura Ruel is an associate professor within the UNC School of Media and Journalism. Her research employs UX methods, usability testing, and eye-tracking technologies to provide insight into user behavior and cognitive processes.
Thu-Mai Christian is the assistant director for archives at the Odum Institute for Social Science. Her research focuses on how to make data management and sharing integral to normative research practice. She is also responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Odum Institute Data Archive.
Virginie Papadopoulou is a research assistant professor within the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State. Her research focuses on the circulatory bubble dynamics that lead to decompression sickness in scuba divers and astronauts, and how physiological factors acting on microbubbles affect ultrasound cardiovascular imaging and cancer treatment.
Over the last five years alone, more than 15 UNC students have accepted jobs at Eastman, a materials and specialty additives company in Kingsport, Tennessee. On top of hiring Carolina grads, the company supports research projects across four departments within three schools at UNC, creating a successful model for how industry partnerships function at the university.