WHAT: Ninth annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at the University of Washington.

WHO: More than 500 of the brightest student minds in the state will share the findings of their research that range from the frontiers of science to Seattle's coffee culture.

WHEN: Friday, May 19, noon to 5 p.m.

WHERE: Mary Gates Hall on the Seattle UW campus.

DETAILS: Undergraduates from the UW will be joined by a handful of participants from Seattle University, Western Washington University and North Seattle Community College as they share the results of their wide-ranging research including presentations about:

• Monty Reed's semi-autonomous LIFESUIT prototype to help paralyzed people walk. The Bothell student is a former army ranger who was partially paralyzed in a parachuting accident.
• Seattle senior Steven Araujo's examination of the science and poetry of birdsong.
• Richland junior Kylie Fullmer's exploration of the history and efforts to conserve the huge cyclorama depicting the battle of Gettysburg painted in 1884.
• Burien junior Dana Wen's efforts to convert images found in math, science and engineering textbooks into a tactile format that can be easily used by the blind, much the same way Braille makes written materials readily available.
• Mercer Island senior Carrie Coineandubh's work showing invasive non-native plant species are far more abundant than native species inside Northwest Trek Wildlife Park near Eatonville. If this habitat degradation continues the park may become unable to support the herds of bison, elk, deer, sheep and goats that rely on it.
• Poulsbo senior Emily Fischer and Kirkland junior Sarah Rosenfeld's investigation of graffiti and how it transforms public space in Seattle, as well as how graffiti "artists" and the public view graffiti.
• Seattle senior Diana Thayer's investigation into determining the survival rates of Magellanic penguin chicks over the past 23 years at Punta Tombo, Argentina, which has the largest breeding colony of the birds.

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For more information: contact Janice DeCosmo, assistant dean of undergraduate education at (206) 221-6178 or jdecosmo@u.washington.edu