Student Wins Undergraduate Research Award

Department of Applied Computing & Electronics student Clayton Anderson recently completed a research project involving variable power states in computing labs on the COT East campus. Clayton's research, entitled "Energy Usage Study of Student Computing Facilities at the University of Montana" won the best oral presentation in the category of Physical Sciences at 2011 UM Undergraduate Research Conference. Associate Professor Tom Gallagher was Anderson's faculty mentor. Using power management software, a MS Windows GPO provided by Energy Star, routine schedules, and regular idle periods between classes Anderson's plan applied to the 6 computer labs on the COT East Campus would save the University of Montana approximately 9,684 kWh or 6.82 metric tons of CO2 annually. Clayton and all the other winners were honored at the Mansfield Library undergraduate research exhibition and each received a $100 gift card to the UM Bookstore.