Academics

Ed Koeneman practices what he teaches in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. He and his father started a medical device company for stroke rehabilitation robots that were so innovative, a leading research-and-development magazine named them one of the 100 most innovative products for that year. His students also can relate to the conversion he’s working on for his Chevy S-10, and he has been known to dive into an interesting hobby.

Sonya Berges, Assistant Professor in the College of Education, loves distance education. She especially loves it when she can reach out to adult learners who share their struggles. “While I may not be able to share the story of Christ with every student, I believe that my actions of grace and compassion, especially over the past year, model a bit of the love and grace Christ offers,” she wrote. 

While pet harnesses are already available on the market, no standard exists to test them. So GCU students designed a canine crash test dummy to help make those pet harnesses safer. Another team developed their Smart Valet to help travelers traverse the airport with ease. And a third team developed a seating system for students with disabilities. They were just a few of the 30-plus projects presented at Monday’s virtual senior Engineering Capstone Showcase.

How people communicate has changed drastically over the past several years, and anyone with a mobile phone knows just how crazy that can get. GCU will equip students for those continued changes with six new programs of study. New bachelor’s programs in Social Media and Professional Writing and three new Communications emphases will launch in the fall and highlight the ethics, civility and judgment in media and communications that are sorely needed these days.

Uriel Serna has always been intrigued by big data and knew it could be used to save lives, so he created a portable nanny camera that uses machine learning to recognize children’s faces. He wanted to help parents better monitor their children to prevent tragedies, such as children drowning in their family’s swimming pools. Shelby Clow and Kolten Spencer created an app for first-time pet owners. And Deep Contractor and Michael Stauffer designed a virtual reality chatroom where people who don’t speak the same language can communicate, despite the language barrier. Those were just a few of the 40 or so projects computer science, computer programming and information technology/cybersecurity seniors created for the senior Technology Capstone Showcase, which was virtual this year.

Jevon Jackson, Program Chair/Program Lead for the Software Engineering Program in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, is extremely accomplished in music, not just engineering. Where he performed as a 10-year-old is amazing, as is his wide range of interests. His spirit comes through in every answer of what he submitted for Faculty Focus.

Marc Eilers has a neat job — he teaches athletic training in the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions. He’s also a neatnik and says his fellow faculty members will attest to that. Eilers is passionate about the proper way to evaluate a patient and how to mimic a practical evaluation, and he’s enjoying two life-changing recent developments.

Dr. Araxi Hovhannessian, Senior Adjunct Professor and Dissertation Chair in the College of Doctoral Studies, was delighted to see three of her learners earn their doctorates in the last year, and she also gets a kick out of watching them become even better teachers than she considers herself. When not coaching dissertations, she likes to travel to faraway lands.

Lena-May Haught and Wendy Bowersox want to help change a troubled world. That’s the fiery passion of students in Social Work programs at GCU. Haught, a sophomore, hopes to one day bring children in foster care to the farm, and Bowersox hopes to improve government policies to help the underserved. Haught will enter the new bachelor’s degree program in Social Work in the fall while Bowersox has been studying in the year-old Master of Social Work program, both examples of GCU meeting the demands for more social workers when they are needed more than ever.

From natural deodorant to COVID-19 research, there was no shortage of impressive student presentations at this year’s CSET Research Symposium and Honors Showcase on Saturday. Honors finalists delivered in-person presentations while CSET finalists presented orally via Zoom. “It just goes to show how active and engaged our students were both inside and outside the classroom this year despite COVID-19 and limitations on what they could and couldn’t do,” Honors College Associate Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli said.