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  • Students Attend Massive Math Meeting

    January 16, 2024

    “I was surprised at the sheer size of the math world,” said first-year student Isaiah Conway, reflecting on his trip with fellow students and faculty to the world’s largest mathematics conference Jan. 3-6 in San Francisco. Ten students and three faculty members were among nearly 6,000 other mathematicians at annual Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM), hosted by the American Mathematical Society.

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  • Students Reveal Physics Findings in Hawaii

    December 19, 2023

    Two Westmont students presented their research at a joint meeting of the Nuclear Physics Divisions of the American and Japanese Physics Societies Nov. 26-Dec. 1 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Natalie Fogg '24 and Reese Toepfer '26 joined Robert Haring-Kaye, Westmont professor of physics and department chair of physics and engineering, at the event that featured more than 100 undergraduates from both nations.

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  • Engineering Students Go for Speed

    December 11, 2023

    Overcoming obstacles was the challenge of the day as the Westmont Engineering Department hosted its third annual remote control car competition Dec. 7 in front of Kerrwood Hall.

    New this year, students competed in a bowling pin knockout following the traditional figure eight race. The competition was tight and a final race with all three cars was needed to determine a winner.

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  • Study Examines Anxiety, Emotional Neglect from Fellow Congregation Members

    November 30, 2023

    A study of older U.S. South Asians examines relationships between religious service attendance (temple, mosque, etc.), anxiety and feelings of emotional neglect by fellow congregation members. The research finds that among U.S. South Asians, those who attend religious services more often are also more likely to experience higher levels of anxiety. Further, much of this relationship can be attributed to feelings of being ignored or neglected by other members of the congregation.

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  • Microscope Aids Researchers at the Atomic Scale

    October 24, 2023

    Westmont’s science professors have obtained a new tool for their teaching and research. The biology, chemistry, engineering and physics departments will all use the Hitachi scanning electron microscope (SEM), housed in Winter Hall. Its focused beam of electrons interacts with atoms in the sample to produce an image.

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  • Students Bring Joy of STEM to Ecuador

    August 17, 2023

    Westmont engineering students returned to Quito, Ecuador, in May to share their love of science, technology, engineering and math with children in an after-school program. The seven engineering students, Jonny Reitinger, Jonah Swanson, Jacob Bailey, Maria Judy, Elijah Cicileo, Becca Hudson and Tasha Loh, designed and built STEM educational materials to share with the children. They were joined by Dan Jensen, director of Westmont engineering, and a Compassion International representative.

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  • Large Grant Funds Study of Reptile Dwarfism

    August 16, 2023

    Westmont biologist Amanda Sparkman ’03 and her research collaborators have won a $2 million, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation to continue investigating the evolution of dwarfism in Channel Islands National Park reptiles.

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  • Grads Earn Prestigious Fulbright Scholarships

    June 8, 2023

    A record three Westmont graduates have earned prestigious Fulbright Scholarships this year to teach and conduct research around the world. Ebun Kalejaiye ’23 will teach English in Spain, Cody LeFebre ’22 will teach English in Colombia and Valerie Swisher ’22 will study personal experiences and perceptions of mental health care in Hungary.

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  • Up Close and Personal: Professor Goes Beyond Teaching to Mentor and Encourage Students

    June 6, 2023

    During his post-doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh, physics professor Ben Carlson mentored both under-graduate and graduate students. When they asked to work with him in the summer, he looked for suitable projects. “After two summers, I learned what was appropriate and helpful for students,” he says. “Two of my students at Pitt were offered ATLAS papers, which is significant because people in the collaboration — especially undergraduates — don’t necessarily get credit. My students did enough, so their names appear with the collaborators.

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  • Alums Win National Research Fellowships

    April 18, 2023

    Two Westmont alums have received prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Braden Chaffin ’23 and Chisondi Warioba ’21 have been chosen for the program whose purpose “is to ensure the quality, vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.” The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support that includes an annual stipend of $37,000.

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  • Putting Mental Training to the Test

    January 6, 2023

    By the time Nicklas runs into Westmont’s Human Performance Lab, he’s already exhausted. The middle-aged man is breathing heavily and sweating profusely as Timothy Van Haitsma, associate professor of kinesiology, and senior Damien Ureste place electrodes on his body and insert a plastic tube into his mouth.

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  • The Need for Speed: Engineers Put Creations to the Test

    December 9, 2022

    Westmont’s junior engineering students were revved up for the annual remote control car competition on Dec. 8 in front of Kerrwood Hall. The students spent the last 10 weeks working in teams to assemble hundreds of parts to create their race cars, which count for 5 percent of their overall grade in the Machine Design course.

    In the end the team of Tasha Loh, Becca Hudson and driver Caleb Wilcox won the Championship Race, each receiving a trophy from President Gayle D. Beebe.

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  • Engineering Builds Out Its Program

    June 10, 2022

    Westmont’s engineering program welcomed more than a dozen impressive professional engineers to campus for two days of meetings and feedback on the young program. The Westmont Engineering Advisory Board explored ideas about the department’s curriculum, design projects, accreditation and funding.

    “We talked quite a bit about creating a culture in the engineering program that helps students grow not only technically, but in every aspect — including their spiritual lives,” says Dan Jensen, director of the engineering program.

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  • Taking a Deeper Look into the Woman at the Well

    June 10, 2022

    John’s account of Jesus and the woman at the well has long inspired Caryn Reeder, professor of New Testament and co-coordinator of gender studies at Westmont. “Because of her words and testimony, people in her village believed

    in Jesus,” Caryn says. “She is a model for women’s voices being heard. I’ve always treasured this story of a woman engaging in theological debate and becoming the first missionary. This nameless woman, who lacks wealth and power, engages in the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Bible. It teaches us about who gets to be God’s people.”

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  • Summer Program Awakens a Passion for Research

    June 10, 2022

    “My experience with summer research changed my life,” says John Corbett ’22. “I discovered that I love chemical re- search and want to pursue it in graduate school.” He worked with chemistry professor Brandon Haines and spent hours coding on a supercomputer that uses an equation to measure the energy of organic products. He has developed a passion for using chemical research to build more durable and cheaper medical diagnostic tools, like MRI machines, for low-income communities. As an intern at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, he regularly witnesses this need.

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  • Back to Oxford with a Passion for Research

    May 11, 2022

    Lexy Gillette ’22 had planned to attend a large research university after graduating from high school in Bend, Oregon. But she discovered an old, dusty Westmont piggy bank in her room that her uncle, Marcus Gillette ’05, had given her and decided to visit the college. “I got out of the car and something felt right, and I absolutely loved it,” she says.

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  • New Faculty Engineer High-Tech Research

    May 11, 2022

    Westmont’s two new faculty members bring international expertise to the engineering department. Tenure-track professors Douglas Hector Fontes, a Brazilian national, and Johan Jair Estrada López, a Mexican national, joined the faculty in the spring.

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  • Using Research to Create Healthy Communities

    May 11, 2022
    BY CYNTHIA TOMS, PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL STUDIES AND KINESIOLOGY BASED ON HER TALK AT WESTMONT’S 2019 LEAD WHERE YOU STAND CONFERENCE

    I approach development through the lens of global health. It’s personal for me. Twelve years ago, I was living in Uganda when I became pregnant with my first son. About six months into the pregnancy, I woke up with a swollen body, stabbing pains in my abdomen and a searing headache.

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  • Ambitious Grads Earn Major Honors

    May 10, 2022

    Six Westmont students completed major honors projects before graduating in 2022: Ethan Walker (chemistry), Abi Bradshaw (communication studies), Chapman Canlis (philosophy), Loren Schneider (communication studies), John Corbett (chemistry) and Wesley Brown (mathematics).

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  • Mangrum Wins Prestigious Research Award

    March 29, 2022

    Kya Mangrum, assistant professor of English, has won a $9,900 Graves Award in Humanities research grant. A 2021 Westmont Teacher of the Year, Mangrum is conducting research for a new book exploring how Americans remembered and wrote about slavery and the Civil War in the first five decades (1865-1915) following Emancipation and the end of the war.

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  • Chemistry Department Earns ACS Approval

    March 29, 2022

    After a 10-year process, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Professional Training voted in January 2022 to include Westmont College on the list of institutions approved by ACS. Effective immediately, the society will certify the degrees of Westmont graduates who complete the requirements of the college’s Professional Track for Chemistry.

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  • Study Examines Attachment to God, Psychological Distress

    January 5, 2022

    A national study examines the link between perceived relationship with God and mental health from a sample of more than 1,600 Americans. The research suggests that religious believers who relate to God in an uncertain or anxious manner are more likely to experience symptoms of psychological distress, including anxiety, paranoia, obsession and compulsion.

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  • Gardner Wins Award for Child Worker Research

    December 9, 2021

    Elizabeth Gardner, Westmont assistant professor of communication studies, won a Top Paper award in the Public Address Division at the National Communication Association Conference in November at Seattle. The paper, “Child Workers Redefining a Bolivian Childhood in the Código Niña, Niño y Adolescente,” describes strategies the young speakers used to campaign for their rights.

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  • Illustrator Chalks Up Another Milestone

    December 7, 2021

    A steady string of awards continues to paint an impressive career for Scott Anderson, Westmont professor of art. A jury has chosen his illustration commissioned by the Westmont College Festival Theatre, for the 64th annual exhibition of the New York Society of Illustrators, one of the most prestigious and competitive shows in the field of professional illustration.

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  • Small Cars Offer Big Lessons for Engineers

    December 7, 2021

    “Engineering is so hard you have to have fun,” said Dan Jensen, director of Westmont engineering, as small, remote control cars zipped along the road in front of Kerrwood Hall. On Dec. 6, students in Jensen’s Machine Design course raced their foot-long RC cars on a short, figure-eight racetrack as part of their coursework.

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  • Book Offers Respite from ‘Restless Devices’

    October 27, 2021

    It is difficult to imagine life without our personal devices. Today’s digital technologies are designed to captivate our attention and encroach on our boundaries, shaping how we relate to time and space, to ourselves and others, even to God.

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  • Book Offers Inspiration to Teachers

    October 4, 2021

    Beloved local educator Michelle Hughes has co-edited a new book that offers ways to reframe obstacles to teaching as opportunities for personal and professional growth. “Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice: Turning Challenges into Opportunities,” a collaborative effort with Hughes’ colleague and friend, Ken Badley, is available for pre-order through Routledge.

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  • Math Students Offer Summer Research

    August 10, 2021

    A Westmont student won a national science research award and six students presented their research to a regional section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Westmont senior Samuel Muthiah, a mathematics and English double major from Altadena, Calif., won a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Award. His program, “Algebraic Methods of Computational Biology,” is at Texas A&M University. Muthiah, a full-tuition Monroe Scholar, is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Tau Delta Honor Societies.

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  • Westmont Decision Lab Helps Zoo Plan for the Future

    August 10, 2021

    Professor Enrico Manlapig and his students in Westmont’s Applied Management Science (AMS) course offer their expertise in analytic decision-making to the local community. Last fall, they acted as the Westmont Decision Lab and assisted the Santa Barbara Zoo in making some decisions about its future.

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  • Detecting Infants with Greater Risk for Cerebral Palsy

    August 10, 2021

    Premature infants face an increased risk for cerebral palsy (CP), and detecting the condition early can lead to better treatment and outcomes. Don Patterson, professor of computer science, has patented a limb-motion monitor that may identify pre-term babies most likely to be diagnosed with CP. He is collaborating with a team of scientists from UC Irvine, Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach to demonstrate that it works on a larger scale.

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  • Standing at Your Desk Burns Few Additional Calories

    August 10, 2021

    Researchers from Westmont and the University of Bath sent shock waves through the world when they released their findings about the energy cost of sitting versus standing. They discovered that standing naturally at a desk burns only slightly more calories than sitting naturally.

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