Architecture

Authors: Samuel Weisler. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Contemporary architecture and design increasingly prioritize sustainable, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing indoor environments, acknowledging the fact that we spend most of our lives inside buildings. However, this research brings up a critical question: are we undervaluing the inherent beauty of the outdoors within our built environment? While the concept of beauty is a subject of heavy debate, the universal beauty of nature remains a constant. This study aims to substantiate the superiority of outdoor spaces over their indoor counterparts by comparing the visual appeal of AI-generated images. Specifically, it will create image pairs for five different activity categories: contemplation, recreation, social interaction, education, and creativity. Each image in the pair must embody essential elements: sunlight, biophilic components, and privacy. For each activity category, AI will be instructed to generate an outdoor space image and an indoor equivalent. Next, visual eye-tracking software will analyze these images, enabling us to quantitatively gauge their visual appeal. The analysis will provide insight into whether outdoor spaces surpass their indoor counterparts in aesthetics. Anticipating that outdoor spaces will exhibit greater visual appeal, this research carries valuable implications for the architectural and design industries. In a world increasingly focused on enhancing the human experience, these findings will advocate for the greater incorporation and prioritization of outdoor spaces in built environments. Increasing our access to outdoor living spaces will undoubtedly improve the quality of human experiences.

Authors: Colton Korpi. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Background: The apparent design shift and style of LDS temples has changed over time moving from a traditional style into a modern era. The ornamentation and architectural style of these sacred spaces play a role in shaping the user's spiritual experience by creating a profound sense of connection to religious tradition. Insights into the evolutionary link between human perception and ornamentation inform this exploration. Architecture, initially rooted in shelter and protection, has evolved into an art form, encompassing subjectivity, creativity, and aesthetics. The effects of architecture on our psychological well-being, makes it an ideal venue to understand its influence on spiritual experiences.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the presence of ornamentation and architectural style influences the experience of sacred ordinances within LDS temples.Method: A comprehensive study method combining surveys and Visual Attention Software (VAS) to investigate the effects of temple design on user experiences. Surveys will present participants ranging in age, race, and religious beliefs with questions and visual comparisons of diverse temple styles, form, levels of ornamentation, and site design. Complementing this, VAS will offer a technological perspective by analyzing visual attention patterns. The research includes a selection of LDS temples with varying architectural styles distributed geographically to minimize regional biases.Results: The primary hypothesis is that architectural styles and factors of LDS temples impact the emotional and spiritual experiences of visitors. These results could influence and impact the process and overall thought of designing sacred spaces Conclusion: By utilizing both traditional survey methods and VAS technology, this research aims to provide an understanding of how temple architecture shapes the spiritual journey of visitors. The outcomes could have broader implications for architectural design in sacred spaces and offer valuable insights into the evolving role of architecture in spiritual well-being in a contemporary context.

Authors: Arawyn Walter. Mentors: Alexandra Giannell. Insitution: Utah Valley University. “Breaking Boundaries” is an abstract self portrait that describes the duality of distancing myself from relationships, juxtaposed to being entangled in the complex connections I have with family and friends. Boundaries, in my sense of the word, are barriers/rules that are set to make an individual feel comfortable, however these barriers can be complicated and are different from person to person. This piece explores my own personal struggle when it comes to setting boundaries for myself and being able to understand the boundaries of others. The two figures resting in the center of the piece expressing two versions of myself, one in action and one in rest revealing two mental states that portray the emotions showing two extremes of what relationships feel like to me. Parts of the work physically emerges from the canvas from my hands that are tangled up in string. The distance of the tangled and strained strings from the canvas comments on my state now and the physical distance I have put between myself and past relationships in order to feel a sense of freedom from the pressures they put on me and I put on myself.

Authors: Nathaniel Stucki. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. In the field of architectural design, the invention of artificial Intelligence or (AI) has sparked incredible amounts of curiosity and debate in regard to its potential impact on classical design principles. For this Project I will dive into the relationship between AI and classical Architecture and aim to determine whether AI can Measure up to the educated experts of classical architecture and how we can use AI as a tool for design.The project will unravel in three separate phases (1-3). Phase 1 will explore the interior and exterior images provided by AI when describing a building akin to the Pantheon because it is considered to be the pinnacle of beauty. The incremental process of refining the text prompt is essential to obtain quality images to continue into the subsequent phases.In phase 2, the VAS by 3M, will be used to assess which of the AI images are the most captivating for both the exterior images and the interior images. The winning interior image and the winning exterior image will then move on to phase 3.Phase 3 will take these AI images and compare them to photographs of the Pantheon VAS 3M. This phase will evaluate the extent that AI can pull attention and will offer insights into the potential utility for architects or designers to use in the design process during the conceptual phase.In conclusion, I expect findings will show VAS attention percentages are slightly skewed in favor of human design and, while AI can enhance the efficiency in the design process, it cannot replace years of classical training. Architects would be wise to, instead of resisting change, fully embrace AI as a tool for design enhancement. This study emphasizes the importance of collaboration between “man and machine” in shaping the future for architecture.

Authors: Josh Lythgoe. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Is the average American content with their home? If not, why are they discontent? One study suggests that how one perceives their home has more impact on them than the actual physical makeup of their home. This research will be added to by determining how the average homeowner perceives their home, and whether or not they are content with their current home. This research will be executed via a survey with a target sample size of at least one-hundred individuals. Factors such as race, socioeconomics, gender, and education will be studied to see what correlations exist between these factors and contentment in each category. Participants will be gathered by posting the survey on various forms of social media, as well as distributing flyers in public locations and randomly selected neighborhoods. Homeowners will be directed to rate various aspects of their home in the following areas: aesthetics and beauty, layout and flow, spaciousness and comfort, timelessness and longevity, maintenance and upkeep, and neighborhood and location. An average will be taken from each category to assess homeowners contentment by topic. The expected results are that on average homeowners will be more discontent than content in each of the above mentioned categories. A statistical analysis will be conducted to look for correlations between who designed the home and contentment. There is an expected positive correlation between contentment with one's home if they were involved in the design process. Similarly, there is an anticipated positive correlation with contentment if an architect designed the home. This research will be used to help guide design professionals to know how they can improve owner contentment with homes being newly constructed and renovated. The findings will help raise awareness of whether or not the current method of designing and constructing houses is meeting the homeowner’s needs, and expectations.

Authors: Sadie Stutz. Mentors: Ben Felix. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The Pagoda is a World War I memorial located in Memory Grove Park in Salt Lake City Utah. This structure was designed by Slack Winburn who was a WWI veteran and local architect in Salt Lake City. It was built in 1925 and is placed to the right after the entry gates of this park. The structure is built out of marble and has simple but intricate detail around the top of the entablature. The pedestal and urn placed in the middle of the structure was added in later years. As you walk around this pedestal you are able to read the names of those in Utah who have passed on and have fought for our country. This memorial is a very elegant and peaceful structure to pay tribute to those who have passed on. The purpose of this project was to study and research this structure. I went to the structure and measured the different details, I composed this analytique to show the beauty in this structure. This composition is done with pencil and watercolor. I have shown an enlarged Doric column, entablature, and pedestal. There is a flower motif of a forget-me-not flower that is repeated through the ornamentation on the entablature and on the pedestal. I have shown the floor plan and floor details with the broken pieces of colored marble which focuses your attention on the pedestal in the middle to remember these men who fought. In the center of the composition is an elevation of the entire structure, surrounded by rose bushes. file:///C:/Users/sadst/Downloads/Sadie%20Stutz%20-%20Pagoda%20Analytique.pdf

Authors: Dallin Zollinger, Lauren Brooks. Mentors: Lauren Brooks. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Antibiotics are one of the most important inventions in recent history, saving countless lives. However, their use has also caused antibiotic resistance to increase in frequency among bacterial populations at an astonishing rate. This increase in frequency will influence our treatment of infections worldwide since previous treatments will no longer be effective, causing many deaths that would once have been preventable. Streptogramins are a class of antibiotics used to treat infections which bacteria have evolved resistance to. This study was focused on the vatA gene, which encodes resistance to streptogramins in Staphylococcus aureus. Samples were collected from various areas on the Utah Valley University campus, the DNA was extracted, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific to the vatA gene was performed. Gel electrophoresis was then performed to visualize the amplicons generated from the PCR to evaluate the presence or absence of the vatA gene. Through this work, we have identified locations where this gene is found.

Authors: Sydney Holt, Mikaela Cowles. Mentors: Joe Jensen. Insitution: Utah Valley University. We are using Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) to measure distances to giant elliptical galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These distance measurements will be used to better define the Hubble Constant, and hopefully help resolve the Hubble tension crisis in cosmology. Part of SBF requires a knowledge of the colors of the galaxies to be studied in order to account for variations in age and composition of the stars contained within. To this end, we are using PanSTARRS and DECam data to determine the optical g-z color (464 nm-900 nm) values for galaxies from the Virgo and Fornax clusters out to 300 million light years.

Authors: Isaac Settle, Easton Gray, Bonnie Anderson. Mentors: Bonnie Anderson. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Study of mode transitions with an artificially-blown clarinet Isaac Settle, Easton Gray, and Bonnie AndersenAbstractWhile playing the clarinet one might experience what is called a squeak or grunt note. A squeak note is a note that is in a higher register without any change of the keys being pressed. Similarly, a grunt note is a lower shifted note with the same circumstances. Both tend to be undesirable while playing, but often happen when learning how to play the clarinet. A similar occurrence of tonal differences can be controlled intentionally when advanced students enacting the technique called voicing to play the instrument in different registers. This research studied the physical parameters that cause squeak and grunt notes. An airtight box was built to hold the mouthpiece of the clarinet and attached to an air compressor. The effects on mode transitions between registers based on air pressure and where contact is applied on specific parts of the reed of the clarinet were studied. Additionally, a laser vibrometer was used to compare reed vibrations to that of the pitch of the clarinet. This data can help clarinet students as they learn the technique of voicing.

Authors: John Walton, Mason Astill, Jarrett Nelson. Mentors: Dustin Shipp. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Our research group is working to create a meta analysis of the variables that affect the efficiency of eddy current braking systems. We are making a track to accelerate marbles made from different non-ferromagnetic materials down an incline, through a photogate to get its initial velocity, then through a solenoid. We are testing several metals for the marbles and solenoids driven by alternating current with different frequencies. The marble after passing through the solenoid will have its new velocity recorded, allowing us to determine the deceleration experienced by the marble.

Authors: Sarah Adams, Bailey Bennion, Sara S Rocks. Mentors: Sara S Rocks. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The abundance of microplastics within Earth’s environment is of great concern to public health. Heavy toxic metals like lead and mercury concentrate on the surfaces of microplastics, and can readily enter the biosphere. This poses a risk to humans and other forms of life because of the large amount of microplastics that have been found in even the most remote locations on Earth. Not much has been studied about the origins and presence of microplastics in Utah snow. It would be beneficial to study microplastics in snow because, once the snow melts in the spring, it is a substantial source of water for Utah and communities in the American West. Preliminary data indicates increased concentrations of microplastics in snow samples that originated from ski resorts compared to snow samples in areas with little recreation. The current project further investigates the origins and quantity of microplastics in the snow at the Sundance ski resort. Snow samples from the Sundance ski resort and from a remote location with little human activity are compared. Additionally, the number of microplastics at Sundance between natural and artificial snow samples are compared to see if the plastic components within snowmaking machines generate a greater amount of microplastics in the snow. To investigate if snowboards and skis can release plastics, microplastics in fresh snow are quantified before and after snowboard contact. Because microplastics can also be shed from clothing, researchers also examined samples for fibers generated from winter garments. This project aims to shed light on the sources and number of microplastics in Utah snow, especially the effects of skiing and snowboarding.

Authors: Matthew Drachman, Caden Weaver, Nicholas Martin. Mentors: Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. There has been a lot of public debate in recent years when it comes to the topic of guns in the United States. Scholarship on the subject has shown varying opinions on how people believe on gun ownership, along with the subject of carrying firearms in public. A Pew Research study found 46% of people supported concealed carrying in places, while support among gun owners was 67% (Parker et al., 2017). While research has been conducted on concealed carry, research on open carry support and the factors that contribute to it are rather unknown. Within our study, we attempt to see how support for open carry, which is legal in most places in the U.S., is affected based on who is doing the open carrying of firearms. Particularly controversial political and racial groups. Within our model we randomly assign survey respondents to either our control question to gauge their support for open carry, or one of four vignettes we have designed to see if exposure to the treatment causes a change in how support for open carry will change. Our results have important implications pertaining to attitudinal (in)stability on core civil liberties within the United States.

Authors: David Schloesser. Mentors: B Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. How do place-based identities influence American’s attitudes towards perpetrators of politically motivated violence? Through the implementation of a pre-registered conjoint experiment, I seek to answer this question. Ideally, and under normative circumstances, punishment of politically motivated violence should be applied to perpetrators with considerations only towards what/who was targeted in the act and the severity of the violence committed. In the U.S. however, evaluations of guilt are determined through the trial of peers, leaving room for the influence of in-group and out-group biases to appear in the judgement of perpetrators according to the suggestions of Social Identity Theory. As such, biases arise that cloud human judgement based on preconceived attitudes towards various group identities that influence our opinions when judging other individuals. One’s sense of place, or how strongly they identify themselves with their locality and its’ culture, is one of these powerful group social identities that establishes a salient “in-group” persona to other locals, while influencing attitudes towards various “out-groups” of people not from that place. Holding constant other considerations pertinent to acts of politically motivated violence, Americans more harshly evaluate perpetrators of violence from geographic communities other than their own. To judge the relative weight that these place-based identities hold towards the judgement of political violence perpetrators, evaluators were presented with perpetrators with randomly assigned personal characteristics (e.g., where they are from) and varied features of the violent act (e.g., how severe the act was, what/who was targeted), and asked to determine the level of punishment or mercy to be assigned to each perpetrator. I found that perpetrator place characteristics indeed influences the evaluator’s excusal of political violence, however when weighted against the features of the act, the nature of the act matters much more for evaluations on average. These findings can be interpreted as normatively negative, given that an evaluator’s place identity appears to reflect in-group out-group biases that affect the assignment of punishment to a crime. However, the disproportionate effect of the violent act’s target and severity are normatively encouraging.

Authors: Adam Smith, adam@tallsmith.com. Mentors: Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The social desirability bias is a well-documented and well-studied phenomenon in the social sciences, but it has only been in relatively recent literature that experimentalists have begun to study the effects treatments have on the manner in which the social desirability bias is reflected in social behavior. The aim of this study is to test the effects of perceived privacy influences the way people answer this question: "What is the aim of politics?" This study seeks to replicate findings in other research that has delved into the relationship between perceived privacy and social desirability. Another significant area of interest is how neurodivergent identity, especially autism, fits into the relationship. With this study, we can better understand how social desirability affects political discourse as well as provide insights into the neurodivergent mind and how it relates to politics.

Authors: Bryan Jay Frandsen. Mentors: Joseph McMurray. Insitution: Brigham Young University. This paper expands on a citizen-candidate model of electoral competition under both plurality rule and ranked choice voting. The paper finds that ranked choice voting nominally avoids Duverger’s Law by accumulating many identical candidates but yields fewer viable equilibrium policy positions than plurality rule. Additionally, ranked choice voting favors moderate candidates and policies, increasing the probability of their implementation compared to plurality rule. This moderate bias leads to lower polarization in equilibrium than is possible under plurality rule.

Authors: Ethan Reese. Mentors: Russ Bailey. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Many individuals struggle with oppressively high standards for their character, behavior and environment, know commonly as perfectionism. Perfectionism also carries significant attention in the fields of psychology, at least partially because of its association with higher rates of OCD, depression and anxiety, but also higher performance and goal-achieving (Lunn et al., 2023). The presentation will be synthesized from available literature, and focus on how perfectionism can be positive or negative, and how to effectively adopt beneficial perfectionism. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of perfectionism in academic and workplace settings.There are moderating factors that distinguish adaptive perfectionism from maladaptive perfectionism and various sources of perfectionism, including self-prescribed, socially-prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism (Benson, 2003). There are diverse explanations of the many ways individuals strive for perfection, or how they impose expectations of it on others, and many of those will be elaborated on. Therapists have both the ability and the professional responsibility to assist in those efforts. The therapeutic modalities specifically suited for working with perfectionism and the consequences of complex relationships between it and certain mental illnesses will be presented for analysis. This discussion will benefit individuals inside and outside of mental health professions alike through exploreing the process of turning perfectionism adaptive, as well as provide direction for future research in on the topic.References:Lunn, J., Greene, D., Callaghan, T., & Egan, S. J. (2023). Associations between perfectionism and symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in young people: A meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52(5), 460–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2211736Benson, E. S. (2003, November 1). The many faces of perfectionism. Monitor on Psychology, 34(10). https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/manyfaces

Authors: Elizabeth Jenkins. Mentors: Jerry Johnson. Insitution: Brigham Young University. There is convincing data on the potential relationship between predator-prey environments and cognitive abilities. There is often an increase in cognition found in species living among predators. Culum Brown and Victoria A. Braithwaite (2005) conducted an experiment to test this hypothesis on Brachyraphis episcopi. While they anticipated their results would support this hypothesis, the populations under non-predator conditions solved the cognitive tests more quickly. In this study, I replicate their experiment with a different species, named Brachyraphis rhabdophora, to determine if their results are repeatable. Populations of Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora are found in northwestern Costa Rica and are distinctly segregated into different river drainages. In each drainage, the populations are isolated into predator and non-predator populations. These populations experience a parallel separation of social environment to the populations used by Brown and Braithwaite. Using their same methodology, we measured cognition in Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora by presenting them with the task of locating a hidden food patch. I expected that that the predatory-prey population would complete this task more efficiently, although it’s possible that this species could produce the same contradictory results. Once the data are all collected, I will present the results and publish a paper on my findings.

Authors: Parker R. Carlquist, Lexi Brady, Seth Dotson, Jeff Glenn. Mentors: Jeff Glenn. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Background: Addressing public health problems requires cooperation from stakeholders who may have wide-ranging political, religious, moral, and societal beliefs. If stakeholders lose trust and mutual understanding between one another, the influence of public health efforts decreases. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated these complexities as communities became divided in opinions regarding the appropriate response. Without systems and strategies to maintain and increase trust, divisive public health issues may become unsolvable. Objectives: The Campus Conversations project analyzed the effectiveness of reflective structured dialogue (RSD) in helping develop skills and abilities to address difficult conversations and topics. The project hosted conversations among Brigham Young University students of varying demographics and ideologies on divisive topics such as diversity and gender.Methods: Students were recruited to participate in an hour-long conversation with 4-6 others, including a student facilitator who guided the conversation. Conversations began with foundational agreements followed by 3 rounds of questions. Participants were each given an opportunity to speak uninterrupted in each round, followed by group discussion and questions. The structure encourages the sharing of personal experiences and beliefs in an environment that fosters understanding instead of judgement. Pre- and post-conversation surveys were administered to measure the effects of the conversations on skills. Participants were asked to rate how important they believed a skill was and also assess their ability to use it. A collection of 8 different skills and 6 different mindsets/abilities were measured. Results: Survey results found that participation in a conversation using RSD is associated with statistically significant improvements in how students rated the importance of 6 different skills. Additionally, 8 skills and mindsets/abilities saw statistically significant improvements in students’ assessed capability. The skills of “vulnerability” and “suspending judgement” saw the greatest improvements in both rated importance and assessed capabilities. The average change between pre- and post-surveys overall was a 10.5% increase. Conclusions: In order to develop effective public health policies, consensus and understanding must be achieved among stakeholders and communities. The results highlight the potential for RSD conversations to be used as an effective tool to improve students’ belief in the importance of skills required for difficult conversations and potentially improve their ability to use them. Public Health Implications: Public health is currently working to address various divisive problems that require collaboration from stakeholders that range across the political, demographic, and societal spectrums. Utilizing RSD can help promote understanding and the ability to discuss divisive issues in a calm and structured way, forming a foundation whereupon policy can be effectively created, discussed, and advocated.