University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Soccer Players Lauren Turnburke & McKenna Stockhausen Chosen to go to Washington, D.C.
05.04.2010 | Women's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Senior women's soccer players' Lauren Turnburke and McKenna Stockhausen had a little busier week than their classmates at the end of April. However, when you get called to present a research paper to Congress that does tend to make things a little busier.
The graduating seniors prepared posters and papers on examining the differences in PERT and CPM and presented an algorithm (heuristic) that allows PERT (uncertain) data projected to a given confidence level to be transposed into a CPM (deterministic) cost-trade off analysis. The problem of reconciling these two methods has been a problem for project managers and engineers since the early 1950's. Rather than reconcile the differences, textbooks and software ignore the major statistical difference and have attempted to combine the two into one technique. This has resulted in cost and time overruns for many projects. This research project resulted in deriving a heuristic that translates PERT data to CPM data with no error. This capability will allow industrial engineers, project managers, and operations managers to better prepare project bids and priority documents.
Lauren and McKenna prepared these posters and papers for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) that would be displayed side by side in Montana. One poster and paper would be for a natural science audience and the other would be for a general audience. At NCUR, Dr. David Burns, the founder of SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities), was so impressed with Lauren and McKenna's work that he requested that they come to Washington D.C. for the purpose of presenting their work at SENCER's Spring Symposium and participate in the 2010 Posters on Capitol Hill the next afternoon. Dr. Burns gave his speaker's honorarium to fund Lauren and McKenna's trip to Washington, D.C.
"I think by the time we got back to Asheville the second time (they were in Asheville for six hours before heading to Washington, D.C.) we figured out that we had taken 10 flights in seven days," commented Stockhausen recently after getting some rest. "We didn't have too much time to rest but it was an experience of a lifetime.
"When we found we were going to Washington, D.C., we were in Montana at NCUR and had like an hour to pack and get ready to go home and then go to Washington, D.C.," said Turnburke. "However, I'd do it again if I got the chance to."
One of the highlights of the trip to Washington, D.C. was getting a private tour of the Capitol and a meeting with Congressman Heath Shuler.
"Our private tour of the Capitol was really exciting," stated Stockhausen. "We got to go on a tour that most people don't get to see."
"Congressman Shuler was really nice to us," added Turnburke. "You can tell he's very busy, but he came to the Posters on Capital Hill, spent time talking to us about our posters and papers.
"We talked to three or four other congressional offices about our work," Turnburke also said. "Everybody we talked to were interested in what we had written about."
"It was a wild week, and we met so many people in different time zones," declared Stockhausen.
Both expressed thanks to some great faculty advisors on the project. Bob Yearout, Keith Krumpe, Linda Nelms and Jimin Lee all assisted McKenna and Lauren with the project.
"We couldn't have gotten much done without all of the help from our faculty advisors," said Turnburke. "They were so helpful from start to finish."
McKenna and Lauren finally got a chance to slow down and come home for good on Wednesday morning (April 21). However, there was still work to be done.
"I had a Spanish Class at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and I was there for the class with my homework done," smiled Stockhausen.
One day in Montana. The next day in Washington, D.C. and the next day - Spanish Class at 2 p.m.
"We wouldn't have wanted it any other way," explained Turnburke.
The duo enjoyed great soccer careers for the Bulldogs as they led Asheville to the 2006 Big South Championship. They were part of a team that was UNC Asheville's first women's team to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Side note: In UNC Asheville's long history of Undergraduate Research, Lauren and McKenna are only the second research project selected for Posters on the Hill.
