2017 Auburn Talks Presentations

Presenter / College / Title	9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Auburn Talks Presentations
Karen Rabren College of Education TRANSITIONS: WHY ARE THEY SO DIFFICULT FOR SOME?	Everyone experiences many transitions throughout their lives. These transitions can be challenging for those engaged in the process, as well as for their loved ones. This is especially true for one group of individuals. People with disabilities have the same hopes, desires, and aspirations as those without disabilities. They want to work, live independently, and become engaged members of their communities; however, for some, their disabilities pose significant barriers in their quest for integrated and productive lives. Learn how research, outreach and instruction at Auburn University is building brighter futures for persons with disabilities.
Maria Soledad Peresin School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences RETHINKING THE USE OF TREES: ADVANCED MATERIALS FROM NANOCELLULOSE	Produced by chemical, mechanical, or enzymatic processing of lignocellulosic feedstock, nanocelluloses are nanosized cellulose particles with remarkable properties and are very appealing for multiple novel applications in materials science. Colloidal suspensions of nanocellulose exhibit steady gel-like structure at low solids content, suitable to be incorporated in formulations for thickeners, emulsifiers for food, cosmetics and paints. Moreover, they present good film-formability with high barrier properties after drying which is attractive for applications such as packaging, biosensors, membranes, OLED displays and biosensors. Also, their exceptional mechanical properties make nanocellulose a very appealing alternative for engineering of renewable, strong light-weight materials.
Haroldo Toro College of Veterinary Medicine *UNDERSTANDING NATURAL SELECTION* IS ESSENTIAL FOR VIRAL DISEASE CONTROL**	Poultry meat and eggs constitute the most important protein source for human consumption worldwide. Preventing viral diseases by vaccination in commercial poultry assists in maintaining poultry products at an affordable price for the consumer. Vaccine development poses significant challenges. One of most relevant obstacles is “antigenic variation” among viral strains, i.e., viruses rapidly change their “look” and successfully escape defense responses induced by vaccination. The evolutionary mechanisms, originally proposed by Darwin, explain how viruses remain the most relevant problem affecting human and animal health. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for virus disease control.
David Cicero Harbert College of Business FORE! AN ANALYSIS OF EXECUTIVE SHIRKING	Economists emphasize performance-based compensation because we believe that people work harder (and better) when they have “skin in the game.” But it’s challenging to test this theory empirically, because people avoid being observed “shirking” their responsibilities. In this talk, I will discuss new evidence suggesting that this principle is not only true, but often neglected, in the upper echelons of corporate America. Evidence of the costs imposed by under-incentivized executives is made possible by our analysis of a novel measure of executive leisure consumption: the amount of golf they play.
Barbara Baker College of Liberal Arts A GENDER COMPARISON OF HBCU'S AND PWI'S IN THE SOUTHEAST	This study examines twenty-five doctoral granting land grant institutions in the southeastern Unites States in order to compare hiring, rank, and salary by gender and by university type: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The comparison—drawn from raw data reported by the institutions to the National Center for Education Statistics between 1980 and 2011—indicates surprising differences related to rank and salary between men and women. While gender disparities in salary and promotion persisted at both institution types, these gaps widened more significantly at PWIs than at HBCUs.
Randall Clark Harrison School of Pharmacy EMERGING SYNTHETIC DRUGS: DESIGNERS AND DINOSAURS	New synthetic drugs of abuse are appearing at a greater rate than ever before in our history. The origin of these new psychoactive substances is a mixture of newly designed molecules and older re-purposed drugs. These synthetic substances can exist in a number of different forms sharing similar analytical signatures yet differing in biological activities and legal status. The ability to distinguish between controlled and imposter forms of drug substances is extremely important in forensic drug identification. Our work involves characterization and differentiation of these imposter molecules creating boundary issues at the interface of the synthetic processes, the analytical signature and the nature of the legal control. This talk will describe examples of synthetic opiates, cannabinoids and cathinone drug classes.
Presenter / College / Title	1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Auburn Talks Presentations
Tony Overfelt Samuel Ginn College of Engineering MANUFACTURING IN ALABAMA: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW	Although the underlying principles of chemistry and physics that control manufacturing have not changed since the first metal components were produced thousands of years ago, the ways we understand and control manufacturing processes are changing rapidly. Today, manufacturing processes can be accurately controlled by state-of-the-art production systems to precisely build metal structures for aerospace, orthopedic and automotive applications that were not imaginable just 10 years ago. This talk will look at the history of manufacturing in Alabama across the years and explore some of the rapid developments occurring in Alabama as 3D printing and additive manufacturing take their place as mature production technologies.
Xavier Vendrell College of Architecture, Design & Construction 20K HOME: BEAUTIFUL, AFFORDABLE, EFFICIENT, DURABLE AND WELL-BUILT	In Rural Studio’s 20K Home project students are faced with the challenge of designing a house that can be built quickly and affordably by a contractor in a market-rate economy. In taking the 20K House from “Project to Product,” Rural Studio has expanded its engagement to include outside consultants to aid in aligning the design with the International Residential Code as well as FHA, USDA, and HUD guidelines. The goal of this project is to offer up these documents free of charge to anyone who wishes to procure a housing product that is dignified, affordable, and sustainable.
Elizabeth Schwartz College of Sciences & Mathematics IMPACT OF INFECTION AND IMMUNITY ON METABOLISM AND THE MICROBIOME: DISCERNING THE MECHANISMS OF SICKNESS	The symptoms of illness associated with infectious disease have a profound effect on the productivity of the host and more broadly, on the work force. Fever, body aches, nausea, and fatigue are metabolically demanding and can markedly restrict the performance of the host. Many of these symptoms stem directly from the host’s immune response and are regulated in part by the microbiome. The goal of our project is to define how specific components of the immune response and gut microbiota contribute to the systemic metabolic profile of illness. The insights provided by this study will inform the design of therapeutics to ameliorate these symptoms.
Veena Chattaraman College of Human Sciences AI BOTS ENABLING INTELLIGENT CONSUMER DECISIONS	Consumption decisions are quintessential aspect of human existence. Rational choice theory predicts that consumers can make choices to maximize their desired attributes. Despite this, sub-optimal decisions for food, homes, and health insurance underscore a variety of our nation’s problems today. Our research designs, develops, and evaluates intelligent, naturalistic decision aids (bots) that are built on a solid science base of psychological theories combined with an experiential understanding of consumer decision-making. These bots use natural language to infer human thinking, adapt to user- and object-triggered decision strategy use, and arrive at informed choices by augmenting the natural way in which humans make decisions.
Linda Gibson-Young School of Nursing THE POWER OF SYNERGY: EMPHASIZING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE CHILD HEALTH	Alabama has the second highest obesity rate in the U.S., and diabetes and hypertension have exploded, particularly in children less than 18 years of age. The purpose of this AU talk is to highlight synergy among child health as we introduce a new project titled TigerCHAT. Synergy is the interface of multiple partnerships to generate a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. TigerCHAT is a comprehensive health education project provided to rural, school-aged children focused on behaviors associated with poor child outcomes. The focus is placed on sustainability of this project through the power of synergy.