Student Symposium Fosters Creativity and Impact

Author Ava Zajczenko '27 is a Nonprofit Management major with a focus on food insecurity and works as a student assistant at JWU, contributing to JWU News.

Each spring semester at Johnson & Wales University, students in both Providence and Charlotte get ready to present the research they've been working on for that academic year.

Encompassing a wide range of topics from zero-waste desserts to the impact of dance on Pre-K motor skills, each student is working on something unique and impactful in their own way.

The event had students lining the halls, dressed professionally, and were ready to present their research to the countless chefs, professors, friends and family who came to support them. Here's how this year's Student Research, Design & Innovation Symposium went!

The Symposium from All Perspectives

Syrine Reese-Gaines, a leadership adjunct professor at JWU Charlotte, was one of the judges for this year's Symposium.

When judging the student projects, she shared that the judges looked at "knowledge, comfort of communication and the impact of the project that they presented."

The way the students presented their projects, making sure that the judges had a full understanding of the project when walking away, was also considered.

Reese-Gaines can apply one word to the students' presentations of their projects: passion.

"They have been so passionate and so knowledgeable. The amount of research, particularly understanding that this was outside their academic curriculum, was something that they had to participate in and raise their hand for. So that was extremely impressive for me," shares Reese-Gaines.

Ashley McGee, CEC, a senior culinary instructor at JWU Charlotte's College of Food Innovation & Technology (CFIT), was a faculty mentor for students presenting at the Symposium.

McGee feels a sense of excitement and happiness being a part of this process. "This experience has meant a lot to me, serving on this artist committee and as a mentor to three of our participants. As a CFIT faculty member, I'm feeling proud because I would say many of our applicants for this symposium came from CFIT, and I was pushing a lot for things to happen. It's so meaningful now to see it happening in person."

McGee emphasizes the skills students will gain by participating in the Symposium, including "an ability to communicate beyond what they thought they were capable of, and the digital format that we utilized this year, because they were able to let their creativity show through that." She explains, "By creating something tangible, such as offering food samples, they understand how to multitask. Everyone presenting can bring all their research into a two-minute elevator speech, which is not easy to do, but it forces them to understand the highlight of what they're trying to do here."

As one of the presenters at the Symposium in Providence, and the writer of this story, I had an amazing opportunity to see all the research I've been compiling for the past two semesters come to fruition. Interacting with staff, faculty and other students while presenting my project and gaining feedback not only helped me feel proud of what I accomplished, but it also showed me other ways I can improve.

Seeing the other student presenters who spent ample time on their projects, plus the excitement that lit up their faces when explaining their projects, is really what the Symposium is all about to me.

The Symposium allows students to work on something they're passionate about and show themselves that they can work on hard research but make something amazing in the end that they can be proud of.

CFIT Dean Jason Evans also made an appearance at this year's Symposium. With a variety of projects and people participating, he has noted that it's impactful to see everyone involved.

It was inspiring to see the great diversity of work presented by JWU students at the Symposium; from electrical engineering projects to world-class wedding cakes and health/wellness initiatives, it truly showed how comprehensive the JWU academic experience can be," shares Evans.

Preparing for the Symposium can be time-consuming or even stressful for students. Yet Evans notes a big benefit: but "Students build their "work" muscles, just like everything we ask them to do in labs and classes. It builds great habits for going the extra mile."

Project Winners Making an Impact

Both Charlotte and Providence's Symposiums featured a multitude of impactful projects presented by students across all colleges. Let's take a look at some winning projects in more detail!

Fan Fave Award - JWU Charlotte

Reed Lusk '28 is a Baking & Pastry Arts major whose final project for his Plated Desserts lab focused on a zero-waste dessert, including sustainability and the use of bananas, specifically their peels. Part of the course's final involved combining elements from a chosen restaurant, which would then be used in the student's plated dessert.

"The restaurant I chose had a big focus on sustainable gastronomy, so for the Symposium, I decided to take my project a step further instead of just using a specific part of the banana that I was using," shares Lusk.

Lusk investigated the "science and nutritional benefits, along with some of the environmental issues and other applications where banana peels could be implemented."

While Lusk hasn't presented other projects/research at JWU yet due to being a first-year student, he sees many other opportunities to participate in similar events while here at JWU. Lusk won the Fan Fave Award, having been the favorite project overall at JWU Charlotte's Symposium. "It feels incredible, knowing that something I put a lot of time and effort into was able to reap a reward reinforces the idea that putting your mind to something can result in success," voices Lusk.

"It definitely makes me feel like I am actually doing something important, and something that other people seem to appreciate and have an interest in as well," he expresses.

Nutrition Education, Technology & Applied Tools Award - JWU Charlotte

Jeremiah Hernandez '27 is a Food & Beverage Entrepreneurship major who focused his project on Custom Recipe Macro-Tracking Application, specifically the accessibility of nutritional macro and micro information for those who want to eat healthierand understand how their diet is impacting them.

Hernandez elaborates on this: "The intent behind this project is to show that there is more that goes into eating balanced meals than just focusing on calories and that it is possible to eat what we want when we understand the mechanics behind the food."

Hernandez was also able to present this project at Sharkfest earlier this year, which he found an amazing opportunity as well.

Winning the award that he did was a "pleasant surprise to receive the award," noting, "I can't say that winning will never be fun, but much like with Sharkfest, the main point for the event, at least for me, was to gain feedback from others about what I'm working on."

The feedback given from the people who visited him at the Symposium, both beneficial and critical, allows Hernandez to grow from his project and progress towards the final version.

Community, Equity & Social Impact Award - JWU Charlotte

Isabella Felke '26 and Alexis Nauss '26 are both majoring in Food & Beverage Industry Management and focused their project on food literacy in youth. When taking one of their senior classes, they were asked to find a problem in the world that they wanted to fix, which is where they settled on food literacy.

"We noticed that classes like home economics are no longer offered in schools. So, we decided to focus on this issue and came up with a lesson plan that teaches kids (specifically high school age) to meal plan and prep as well as how to budget a recipe using store prices," elaborates Felke and Nauss.

They wanted to focus on understanding a realistic situation of living on your own and feeding yourself. They then took their lesson plan to a high school, where they taught the students for the day, giving students the perspective of this real-life situation.

While Felke and Nauss express that there are multiple opportunities to present their work at JWU, this was their first time participating in a symposium. "It really pushed both of us out of our comfort zones," they both elaborate.

As they are both graduating, Felke and Nauss both plan on moving to Charleston, South Carolina, where they will work as pastry chefs for now.

Being awarded their Award at the Symposium elevated their experience. "It was great to see our hard work pay off," Nauss shares. "We put a lot of time and effort into this project, so having it recognized as the top place in our category was an amazing feeling. It is a passion project that Izzy and I want to continue perusing and hopefully we will do what we set out to do and change the world."

President's Award - JWU Providence

Abigail Nosal '26 is a Health Science major who, along with her partner, Miriam Liz Villa '27 who majors in Biology, created their project, which focuses on how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are connected to intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adults ages 18 to 25 in Rhode Island.

For their project, Nosal and Villa looked at data from the Rhode Island Young Adult Survey to see how the number of ACEs someone has relates to their risk of experiencing IPV. They also researched how these risk factors differ across different groups.

The key findings showed that having cumulative ACEs is shown to put an individual at higher risk for IPV. "Some groups are especially at risk - for example, pregnant individuals, individuals with disabilities and those who identify as sexual and gender minorities," Nosal explains. "Overall, the project shows how early life experiences can impact relationships later and highlights the need for better support, screening and prevention."

Nosal and Liz Villa had many opportunities to present other projects at JWU, including publishing articles in research journals, presenting at the Symposium last year and presenting at several conferences. "These experiences have really helped us grow as presenters, and we have had great experiences sharing our work," shares Nosal and Liz Villa.

When bringing up the award they won, Nosal shares, "It is really meaningful to have both my work and the importance of this research recognized, especially since it focuses on public health issues affecting young adults in Rhode Island."

"It is truly a space dedicated to help others and to allow undergraduate students to research topics that impact, not only the community here at JWU, but the state of Rhode Island is impactful" shares Liz Villa.

They both feel grateful to the people who have helped them along the way, including their mentors and collaborations with organizations.

Educational Wellness Award - JWU Providence

Emily Garganese is currently finishing her second year in JWU's Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program, and focused her project on the Impact of Dance and Movement on PreK Motor Skills. Her project includes a scoping review that examines how dance and movement interventions impact motor development in pre-school-aged children and serves as the background for her doctoral capstone project.

Her project investigates existing research to identify themes showing that dance can support important motor skills, such as balance, coordination, strength, and fine and gross motor development.

"It highlights how structured dance activities, including rhythmic movement, sequencing and motor imagination, help children develop and refine these foundational skills needed to complete daily tasks such as school and play," she explains. "In addition to motor outcomes, the literature also demonstrates benefits in attention, emotional regulation, social engagement and overall participation, as children are actively involved in interactive and expressive movement experiences."

Winning the award at the Symposium shows Garganese that "Moments like this remind me why I'm so passionate about what I do, and it makes me feel like the work I'm putting in at JWU is actually making a meaningful impact for the future," shares Garganese.

Human Centered Design Award - JWU Providence

Jillian Mercer '26 is a Design major whose project, "Story Builders," is an engaging and educational game for children in grades 1-3. This game helps improve reading comprehension skills and fosters positive associations with reading through collaboration, tactile learning and fun.

I created 3D printed blocks of various sizes and different colors that correspond to the different parts of speech that are used to create a sentence," Mercer explains. "This allows the player to not only create a sentence, but physically see the structure."

Throughout her time at JWU, Mercer has had the opportunity to present her work within the Design Department. Gaining feedback and praise is a crucial step in the design process, and Mercer has been able to present "Story Builders" multiple times throughout the process to gain feedback. 

Winning the award at the Symposium was truly unexpected for Mercer, but made her feel deeply honored to have won. "As a designer, I am always looking for where to improve and how I can do even better in the future, so it was grounding in a way to have my work recognized, showing me that I've already accomplished great things," shares Mercer.

After graduating, Mercer will be working full-time as a product design and illustration intern at iRobot. She'll be assisting in the creation of product manuals and human-centered design knowledge.

"I'm excited to pursue my dream of making the world a better place through design and am very thankful for my time at JWU for helping shape me as a designer," shares Mercer.

Sustainability & the Environment Award - JWU Providence

Tymon Childs '26 is a Sustainable Food Systems major and created Feed the Folk: Soybeans as SNAP Inputs. His project "explores surplus commodity soybeans as SNAP inputs to not only keep our commodity farmers in business by providing an end-use for their crop, but also provide soy-driven meals for food-insecure families," shares Childs.

The idea is to integrate already existing soybean processing infrastructure with U.S. Sodexo food facilities already contracted with the federal and local government.

Childs also presented at the Portsmouth Garden Club. "I spoke about the things we were cultivating in the greenhouse and the farm, as well as talked about my experience at Johnson & Wales," he shares.

When talking about winning his award, he shares, "It can be hard for me to quantify my success at JWU, so having my research and hard work recognized was nice and does make me feel like I'm doing something great here."

After graduation, Childs plans on working at Newport Vineyards over the summer in the culinary greenhouse and farm. He is also applying to the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program in the fall.

Apply to JWU

Visit JWU

Transfer to JWU