By Sally Henschel | Senior Member
Presenting research is a critical, valuable component of a student’s educational experience. A student research competition provides students a venue in which to share the culmination of their work and an opportunity to receive feedback from professionals in the field. Each year, the STC Academic SIG Student Poster Competition provides students just such an opportunity: undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit innovative work in communicating technical content, producing and publishing content, researching content, or promoting the profession. Selected posters are presented at the annual STC Summit.
In Spring 2014, students submitted their research posters to the Academic SIG, who made the entries available to this year’s judges: Ben Woelk, Valerie Ball, and Pam Ecker. Using a Competition Entry Assessment Form modeled on the STC International Summit Award Entry Assessment Form, the three judges reviewed, commented upon, and ranked each submission. Three top entries were selected, and the students were invited to present their posters at the Summit. Each was given time to review and incorporate suggestions provided by the judges prior to resubmitting their poster to STC, who had the posters professionally printed for the Summit. Students whose posters were not selected also received feedback from the judges and were encouraged to participate in next year’s competition.
2014 Summit
On Tuesday, 20 May 2014, the three selected students—Anna Lerew-Phillips, Kevin Hufnagle, and Britta Voigt—presented their research to a packed, interested audience at the Summit. The judges and audience moved between the three students’ presentations, asked questions, and offered feedback. Following the presentations, the judges met again to rank the students on their presentation and to select one Best of Show and two Distinguished award winners.
Best of Show was awarded to Anna Lerew-Phillips for her research poster “Comparing Safety Information of Class II Medical Devices and Adult Novelty Toys.” Anna currently is working on her masters in English at Midwestern State University, and is a member of STC’s honorary society, Sigma Tau Chi. The judges noted, “She researched a very delicate subject, summarized and supported her research with appropriate sources, and provided a professional and thorough presentation.”
Distinguished was awarded to Kevin Hufnagle for his research poster “Collecting Monuments: Creating a Mobile App for Photo Navigation Using Audience-Based Iterative Design.” A May graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with two bachelor of science degrees in computer science and professional writing, Kevin started work the week following the Summit as a software development engineer, with a focus in user interface design, at ICONICS in Foxborough, MA. The poster that he presented in Phoenix was part of his Major Qualifying Project (MQP) at WPI, the equivalent of a senior thesis at most other universities. A judge commented, “The attitude of the writer is sincere and charming in his wish to benefit both technical communication professionals and their audience as users of travel apps.”
Distinguished was also awarded to Britta Voigt for her research poster “Reflection of Cultural Differences in U.S. English and German Industrial Manuals.” Britta is a graduate student in the masters program in technical and professional communication at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. A judge commented, “The topic is intriguing, and the poster provides useful information that illustrates the student’s intellectual curiosity regarding the study and analysis of technical communication.”
The awards, both plaques and gift cards from Amazon, were presented to the students at the Honors Banquet, which the students attended as guests of the STC Board of Directors.
Preparing for Next Year’s Competition
Following this year’s poster competition, members of the STC Academic SIG, judges, and students met to discuss the competition and make suggestions for improvement. Students said they appreciated the early, constructive feedback from the judges and the opportunity to make changes to their posters prior to their Summit presentations. Judge Valerie Ball suggested that the emphasis of next year’s competition be on the visual representation of information, data, or knowledge (i.e., infographics). In his October 2013 Intercom article, “Planning and Creating Infographics,” Michael Opsteegh describes infographics as “a powerful way to persuade your audience and convey copious amounts of data in a manner that is digestible and entertaining to the reader.” Academics in the conversation agreed the call for participation should go out in early Fall, allowing faculty and students time to incorporate Fall and Winter research assignments and projects into a competition entry. The Academic SIG Administrative Council has decided to continue with or adopt all of these suggestions, so in late August please look for our call for student participation in Student Research Competition for the 2015 Summit.
“Made Me Feel Like the Winner of a Jackpot”
What did the students who presented their posters have to say about the Summit experience? Students who present their research at the Summit benefit in many ways:
“At this year’s Summit, I had a great experience. It was the second Summit I attended and even more inspiring than last year’s. . . . Giving my first public speech was intended to be a challenge to overcome my stage fright and turned out to be another important stepping stone in my career path. . . . [T]he second reason why this year’s Summit was so inspiring to me: the people. The conversations I had with fellow students, STC members and staff, as well as with some of our industry’s leaders made me feel like the winner of a jackpot. . . . Also, some of the educational sessions I attended made me realize that I am at a crossroad in my career and gave me inspiration in how to proceed. To summarize, being able to present in the student poster competition gave me the great opportunity to further develop my career goals and to network with professionals I would have not been able to otherwise.”
—Britta Voigt
“The encouragement I encountered from new and seasoned STC members highlights the best the Summit has to offer any student: confidence. I received constructive criticism from the audience of the poster presentations. Presenting on an STC platform in front of novices and professionals and receiving positive feedback leveled the feelings of inferiority I experienced.”
—Anna Lerew-Phillips
“This conference offered me numerous opportunities to learn about new technologies and communication strategies that relate directly to my professional projects. The networking events allowed me to compare thoughts and predictions regarding the field’s trajectory with knowledgeable, caring members of the technical communications community. I would highly recommend attending this event if you wish to gain new professional partners and newfound inspiration within the user experience, technical writing, and content strategy markets.”
—Kevin Hufnagle
