Increase YSU’s infrastructure, focus on science, interim provost says


Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Garret Zusik, a dietetics student in his final semester at Youngstown State University, becomes excited when he talks about flaxseed.

A true scientist, according to Zusik, is someone who’s passionate about topics that others find tedious. Zusik’s passion is fiber and the effect it can have on physical and mental well-being.

Fiber consumption, he said, affects everything from a person’s weight to his or her likelihood of developing depression.

Zusik was one 221 students who delivered presentations Tuesday relating to their research in STEM fields, as part of YSU’s QUEST program.

Interim Provost Martin Abraham delivered a keynote presentation to a sizable audience of students, faculty and parents recognizing the work of QUEST students. His presentation, “The Role of Research at a Comprehensive University” attempted to answer the question: How can YSU become a major research institution?

The answer, Abraham said, is not merely to increase YSU’s infrastructure, but rather to focus on how science is taught. He drew on his nearly 30 years of research experience to make a case for a practical approach to science.

He spoke candidly about how difficult it can be to win funding for research. STEM students should address this problem, Abraham said, by continually asking themselves, “What do I know that people want to pay for?”

Sultan Almujil, an electrical engineering student who emigrated from Saudi Arabia to study at YSU, applied this practical approach to robotics research, which he presented Tuesday. Almujil’s team explored the potential societal effects of robots.

“I think robots will not be just good or just evil,” Almujil said.

“People may lose jobs to robots, but at the same robots might make life easier.”

Kami Enmoui, a student who partnered with Almujil, floated the idea that robots might be able to complete dangerous jobs for humans and that they might revolutionize labor so that “people no longer have to work 9 to 5.”

Throughout his talk, Abraham emphasized that it’s not enough to be smart. Brilliance, according to Abraham, means nothing if a scientist can’t communicate why his or her theories matter.

“There’s a distinction between scholarship and research,” Abraham said. “Scholarship is sharing research with others.”

YSU graduates will enter a global workforce in which countries such as China continue to outstrip the United States in STEM achievement.

In order to survive in this increasingly competitive world, Abraham said, YSU graduates must learn effective communication.

Zusik, who plans to pursue a masters degree and eventually a career in nutrition research, affirmed this notion.

“I fit the scientist stereotype because I’m a nerd who cares too much,” Zusik said.

“But I don’t fit the scientist stereotype because I’m not going to use a bunch of jargon when I could use plain English. I want people to know why my theories matter.”

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