A Letter from the UROP Student Editorial Board

Journal Advisors

Sharon V. Salinger Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education	Said M. Shokair Director, UROP
UROP Faculty Advisory Board Professor Wendy A. Goldberg Professor Donald D. Hoffman Professor John C. LaRue Professor Richard H. Lathrop Professor Hartmut Luecke Professor James S. Nowick Professor James W. Penrod Professor Richard T. Robertson Professor Martin Schwab	UROP Student Editorial Board Kimberly Balazs Elizabeth Black Joseph Boufadel Erin Curtis Pernille Hemmer Ahmed Ibrahim Kevin Loutherback Vivek Mehta Jessica Morreale Abraham Qavi Jana Remy Kristine Rivera Talinn Toorian Vicky Zhou Vanessa Zuabi
UROP Journal Assistants Megan Nowell Kaufman, Publications & Web Assistant Jerry McMillan, Journal & Symposium Student Advisor Henry Yan, Computer Programmer and Analyst

~ Letter from the UROP Student Editorial Board ~

The opportunity for undergraduate research publication is limited, and it is with great pride and dedication that we present to you the best of the best in faculty-mentored undergraduate research from the last year. The UCI Undergraduate Research Journal is truly interdisciplinary in scope, and we have endeavored to make this volume representative of the breadth and depth of research and creative projects undertaken at UCI. While this has been a demanding task, it has also been a rewarding and fulfilling experience. Each Board Member has brought unique and outstanding skills to this volume, as have the talented and enthusiastic students who labored to create original projects under the guidance of their faculty mentors. We looked for originality and significance as we evaluated the submitted papers, along with a high quality of research and writing, and we feel that these 15 papers are a tribute to the academic excellence attained at UCI. It is our hope that the work represented here will further encourage students to undertake projects of their own, reflecting the creative and academic potential of UCI undergraduates.