IMSA Ornament Collection

Tradition of the IMSA Holiday Ornamentby Dr. Stephanie Pace MarshallDecember 12, 2007 When an institution is created from scratch, there are few stories and no traditions. It quickly became apparent that we needed to both capture the powerful emergent stories of IMSA\u27s courageous creation and begin to think about creating a legacy of traditions. So, as our first holiday season of 1986 unfolded, we decided that we would begin a tradition of holiday ornaments. Sometimes, the ornaments were made by hand; most often, they were purchased. But they were always hand-lettered with IMSA and the year. During the first few years, this was lovingly done by Valerie, Sometimes late at night. Soon thereafter, we asked Clay Sewell and his students to do the lettering, and with this change came his artistic touch of beautiful lettering in gold ink. Although the ornaments were not chosen with any particular theme in mind, the ornaments for 2001 and 2006 were different. Following September 11, we decided our ornament for 2001 would be an apple to remind us of the resiliency and hope of New York City, the Big Apple. The ornament for 2006 was a silver snowflake proudly proclaiming IMSA20 and the unique contributions of each of us to IMSA\u27s bold ideas and world-class results. So, after just a few short years, a tradition was born, and annually, IMSA gives all staff and Board members the IMSA ornament for that year. I have been told that for some staff members, the IMSA ornaments are the first ones to be hung on their trees.https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/archives_exhibits/1009/thumbnail.jp

Approximating the Row-Wise Weighted Total Least Squares Regression Solution

Motivated by applications as a kernel of nonlinear regression algorithms, the row-wise weighted total least squares regression problem is examined to find a consistent and accurate estimator. Specifically, the proposed estimator has a time complexity linear in the number of observations and a space complexity constant in the same value, as the number of observations can be quite large in many modern applications, often many orders of magnitude larger than the number of input and output features. Further, to accommodate large data sets, an algorithm functions by updating an intermediate representation from each observation, allowing for parallelization of the necessary computation. Several related algorithms are proposed, based on approximating the noncentral second moment of the underlying data by a weighted mean, requiring only linear time in the number of observations. Experimental findings show the proposed algorithm to be competitive with existing methods intended to solve other variants of the Total Least Squares problem. Directions for continued iteration and further investigation are proposed

Interning With Local Government

The organization of the City of Aurora strives to provide resources for community citizens. Our business project focused on reaching overall outcomes in a quick and efficient manner, with excellent results. This allowed us to gain skills in communication, knowledge of government and problem-solving through the course of multiple projects from assisting the company’s grant writer to collecting data for an up-and-coming eviction dashboard. Homelessness has become a pressing crisis in Aurora with shelters like Hesed House exceeding their capacity. The fact that the four counties - Kane, Kendall, DuPage, and Will - that makeup Aurora have various ways of approaching evictions exacerbates the issue. In order to be able to better understand the state of the housing crisis, and thus, take steps to address it, we gathered data on evictions in the counties encompassing the City and created an easy-to-interpret display of the information. Our methods included filling out Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, getting in touch with Circuit Court Clerks’ offices, and reaching out to organizations that have done similar projects in the past. Our goal was to create a visualization of data surrounding evictions in Aurora so the City can take a holistic approach to manage evictions

The Effectiveness of a Localized b-Jet Veto for Improving Lepton Jet Reconstruction

Using the identification of jets originating from b quarks, we eliminate a source of background in our search for the dark photon. These “b-tagged” jets often contain lepton pairs that are similar to the decay of dark photons. A veto against these jets further isolates the dark photon signal, aiding in analysis. The extent to which efficiency changes due to the veto is compiled. Additionally, b- tagged jets in proximity to other leptons are exclusively filtered which makes vetoing considered in a fewer number of necessary cases. The framework is updated with an “Info Map” to support adding variables, such as the b-jet tag, that are utilized during analysis

Designing a Variable Compliance Leg for Soft-Ground Locomotion

Legged locomotion on soft-ground is essential to designing robots for tasks such as disaster relief and extraterrestrial exploration where the ground is typically yielding instead of rigid. In order to have successful legged locomotion on soft-ground, as much energy as possible needs to be conserved. This project aims to conserve this energy by minimizing the penetration depth of a robot foot hitting the ground. In order to do this, a mechanism is tested that utilizes force control by means of springs with data being collected for further analysis. Through utilizing an integrator simulation as a basis of comparing data, this project sets the groundwork for designing a robot leg. Eventually, this project aims to create a robot leg able to adapt to a variety of terrains with different ground stiffnesses

CuentoSLAM

Spanish V students participated in a Spanish storytelling event, now called CuentoSLAM One of the most prominent storytellers in the Chicagoland area, Nestor Gomez, was invited to IMSA to open our CuentoSLAM event with two stories in Spanish; he was also asked to serve on a panel of judges that was sponsored by the Office of DEI. Nestor is Guatemalan and started telling stories in English at Moth events to help overcome a stutter; however, that was just the beginning of his journey, as now he is using his voice to speak on behalf of undocumented immigrants and immigrants in general. Here is his personal website if you\u27d like to know more: https://www.nestorgomezstoryteller.com/ IMSA students did an incredible job telling personal stories on stage in Spanish without any notes!https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/spanish_v/1005/thumbnail.jp

Internet Usage in African Countries Compared to the World

This project examines internet usage across different countries around the world mainly focusing on Africa. At this time, African countries do not have a lot of internet usage as compared to other countries. Some African countries do not have any internet usage at all. These countries face severe economic and power crises as the countries are not sustainable. This project relates to the 9th, 10th, and 11th UN SDG Goals. The type of presentation will be an infographic. Incorporating evidence from various sources, these studies show that internet usage in Africa is much lower than the rest of the world. The studies argue for better internet infrastructure in Africa. These concerns are particularly evident in the countries’ poor economies and failing infrastructure

Improving the Approach to Nuclear Energy in the U.S

The goal of our Student Leadership Exchange project is to address the challenges of climate change and sustainable zero carbon emission energy sources by focusing on the approach to Nuclear Energy in the United States. Climate change is one of the greatest problems of modern society. There are various contributing factors to climate change, but it is largely accepted that one of our primary approaches should be to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to stay under 1.5*C of warming. The largest source of carbon emissions is fossil fuels, so we must transition to net zero energy if we want to meet U.N sustainability goals 7 Affordable and Clean Energy and 13 Climate Action. Nuclear energy has been repeatedly emphasized as an important part of a just transition away from carbon based energy. It can provide electricity on demand, where renewables presently struggle, and in their current state produces enough green energy to replace coal and natural gas. This makes it an ideal source of energy to implement now while renewable energy is being developed. Nuclear is especially ideal because nuclear reactors have similar requirements as fossil fuels, such as in jobs, transmission, and cooling, so the infrastructure requires less development than the current state of renewables. Despite the necessity of nuclear power, the current state of nuclear fleets globally do not meet the criteria for the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero energy plan. Development is behind and the contribution of nuclear power to the world power supply, while high, is still not where it needs to be. We decided to focus on this issue as it pertains to the U.S nuclear fleet. The overarching problem with the nuclear fleet is the amount of new nuclear power. Development of advanced reactors has been slow and unprofitable and there are not many ideal zones for implementing older models. To address this, we are investigating 4 approaches: transforming coal fired power plants into nuclear power plants, increased funding or tax benefits to encourage building and keeping reactors online, improving old reactors beyond mandatory maintenance upgrades, and facilitating the development of new reactor models. By improving the state of the U.S nuclear fleet, the transition to clean energy will be more just and feasible, helping us reach our climate goals

Fixing the rolling check experience for students

The purpose of this project is to design and implement a distributed system for rolling checks at IMSA (Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy). The system will consist of a web-based tool that allows all resident counselors halls to check any student, regardless of their hall. The system will also include a web-based interface for staff members to view the status of rolling checks, including reports and analytics about the checks. The implementation of this distributed system will improve the efficiency and accuracy of the rolling check process at IMSA, while also providing a more flexible and transparent system for staff members to manage the checks. Overall, this project will enhance the safety and security of the students at IMSA, while also making rolling checks more convenient for both students and staff members

Health Hub

Many students find it difficult to maintain their well-being when dealing with studies, and many existing apps that claim to help guide them are decentralized and lack a complete selection of different features (especially features outside of physical health). This inaccessibility leads to many students risking their overall quality of life and considering dropping out. Health Hub offers a solution to this problem. Health Hub is an intuitive app that allows users to access important resources for mental and physical health quickly. Working closely with schools\u27 wellness teachers, counselors, and food service providers, Health Hub provides students with a virtual catalog of what their school has to offer in terms of wellness. App development would be free, as we would create the app ourselves. Initially, we will start out hosting a few schools, and as our user base grows, we will expand to more. Also, funding at launch will be sourced through a one-time purchase from the user. As we grow, we may shift to a subscription-based service for students and, potentially, schools and districts