Photographs by Lee Pellegrini for Boston College Magazine's @精东影业 Studio

Ten undergraduate independent research projects鈥攍aunched in the departments of biology, biochemistry, classical studies, computer science, economics, finance, information systems, and physics鈥攚ere displayed at a daylong symposium on big data held on campus this semester. In a spirit of open exchange, another 19 undergraduates shared the substance of their senior theses with faculty, staff, and peers at a separate event.

Here is a sampling of their work.

Poster1900x600
Computer science major Ning Lu 鈥16 showed the outcomes of hypothetical computerized stock trades that relied on an algorithm he designed to yield improved results with repeated use (so-called machine learning). At left is Ginger Saariaho, executive director of school development for the Office of University Advancement.
Poster2900x600
Computer science major Ayako Mikami 鈥16 shared a piece of music produced with an algorithm she adapted. The algorithm enabled her computer to 鈥渓earn鈥 the patterns of some 2,500 traditional Chinese compositions.
Poster3950x600
Kaitlin Chaung 鈥17, a biology major who employed machine learning techniques to tag elements within cells using color or other visual cues, spoke with, from left, Rita Klapes 鈥86 (mother of another student researcher in the room, classical studies major Peter Klapes 鈥19) and Jill Edgar, licensing associate in the University鈥檚 Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing.
Students Cameron Lunt '17 and Ryan Reede '16 present their research project on realtime processing of streaming data for virtual/augmented reality application.
Peter Salvitti, chief technologist of information technology services at Boston College, tried out a virtual reality headset at a presentation by computer science majors Cameron Lunt 鈥17 (blue shirt) and Ryan Reede 鈥16 (not pictured). Beyond the poster, associate professor of the practice of English Joseph Nugent (left) talked with Neal H. Patel, head of human/social dynamics at Google Inc. Patel took part in an afternoon panel on the ethical implications of big data. Nugent spoke in the morning on how the resources of big data have changed literature studies.
Poster5900x600
Information systems and finance major Yuqi Wang 鈥16 (left) and physics major Ziyin Liu 鈥18 (right) described their collaborative research on stock prices and the influence of factors such as social media postings and New York City weather to Peter Salvitti, chief technologist of information technology services, and associate University librarian Kimberly Kowal.
Poster6900x600
Political science major Marissa Marandola 鈥16 (right) wrote her thesis on 鈥淭he Dollar Debates: Comparing the Implications of Judicial versus Political Intervention for School Finance Reform.鈥 At left is fellow senior Brittany Keroack.
Poster7900x600
Political science major Michael Crupi 鈥16 described his study, 鈥淎n Inquiry into the Intellectual Foundations of Modern American Conservatism,鈥 to assistant professor of political science Lindsey O鈥橰ourke.
Poster8900x600
Doyle Calhoun 鈥16, a linguistics major, talked with University Libraries staff members鈥攆rom left, Carli Spina, Barbara Adams Hebard, Benjamin Florin, Christine Mayo, and Anna Kijas鈥攁bout his work on 鈥淟anguage, Mission, and Africa: Digitizing and Contextualizing French Missionary Analyses of African Languages, c. 1850鈥1920.鈥
Poster9900x600
Philosophy major Eleni Callas 鈥16, whose thesis is titled 鈥淗ow Free Am I? Where Neuroscientific Experiments Can Lead,鈥 talked with assistant professor of philosophy Richard Atkins.
Poster10900x600
Ejona Bakalli 鈥16 described her Islamic civilization and societies thesis鈥斺淭he Ottoman Imperial Harem鈥濃攖o fellow seniors (from left) Beylul Negassi, Chethanna Raphael, Yolanda Bustillo, and Olivia Guyon.
Poster11950x600
Philosophy major Walter Yu 鈥16 and theology professor M. Shawn Copeland discussed Yu鈥檚 work on 鈥淭he Phenomenology of Empathy.鈥
Poster12950x600
International studies major Tate Krasner 鈥16 (center), with economics professor Joseph Quinn and Akua Sarr, vice provost for academic affairs. Krasner鈥檚 thesis was titled 鈥淚dentity (in) Crisis: Examining Interorganizational Cooperation within the Peacekeeping Regime Complex.鈥
Poster 13950x600
International studies major Garrett Lau 鈥16 researched 鈥淩oma Education in Post-Communist Eastern Europe: Pathways for Intervention to Reduce Levels of Social Exclusion.鈥 At right is Lindsay Schrier 鈥18.
Undergraduate Poster Session for the Humanities in the Reading Room of O'Neill Library. Richard Balagtas A&S '16 explains his project to Allicen Dichiara A&S '16, graduate student Rachael Tully, Lauren Lin A&S '18, and Kejs Aliko A&S '18.
Richard Balagtas 鈥16, a philosophy major whose subject was 鈥淭he Human Marketplace: The Ethical and Medical Challenges of Illicit Organ Trafficking,鈥 talked with, from left, Allicen Dichiara 鈥16, Lauren Lin 鈥18, and Kejs Aliko 鈥18.
Poster15950x600
Alexander Hawley 鈥16 wrote about 鈥淭he Muslim Brotherhood鈥檚 Gamble with the Arab Spring: The Re-Radicalization of Islamist Parties in Democratizing Governments鈥 for his international studies thesis. At right is J. J. Mao 鈥16.

The University鈥檚 daylong symposium on big data was held on March 16 in the Newton and Boston Rooms; senior theses were presented in the O鈥橬eill Reading Room on April 8.