Student engagement expo highlights research, internships, clubs, art and more

MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State Brandywine’s student engagement expo, held April 8 in the campus gymnasium, showcased the academic, co-curricular and experiential work of more than 120 student presenters.

Students displayed a wide variety of work created as part of a class, internship, research project or student organization during the 2024-25 academic year, including:

• Research projects in astronomy, biology, chemistry, cybersecurity, civic engagement, English, engineering, human development and family studies, mathematics, music theory and psychology.
• Studio art classes
• Internships in business, cybersecurity, human development and family studies, information technology and psychology.
• Student clubs and organizations, including the Brandywine Athletics Advisory Council, Brandywine Benefitting THON, DMAX, Latinx Club, Lion Ambassadors, Magic the Gathering Club and Scripture Seekers.
• On-campus employment with the Brandywine LaunchBox.

Crystal Cassario, a fourth-year human development and family studies major and former Brandywine softball player, developed a group project around how to empower athletes through social media. Presenting at the Student Engagement Expo was inspiring for her, she said, as she was happy to share her work with other athletes. 

“As an athlete, being able to share my work and talk about my passions with other student-athletes is very rewarding,” she said. “I know how important it is for athletes to market themselves, and I hope my work will help athletes do that.”

Nearly 400 people were in attendance, including fellow Brandywine students, faculty, staff and family members.

Abel Hillberg, a fourth-year psychology major and founder of Magic the Gathering Club, was thrilled to talk about his club with the Brandywine community. As a founding member of a new club, he wanted to get the word out about his club at the expo.

“Presenting at the Student Engagement Expo, to me, means getting to talk about something I really enjoy,” he said. “As a club, we would love to get more people to join, so it was great to present at the expo, talk about our club and recruit students to join our community.”

Jennifer Zosh, professor of human development and family studies, was one of the judges for the expo. She commented on how much she enjoys getting to learn about students’ passions through their internships and coursework. 

“A highlight for me was being able to interact with students around their passions,” she said. “Whether it’s internships like school counseling, designing ways to make a classroom more accessible or string art representing vertices, it’s great to see students take what they learned in the classroom and apply it to their passions.”

Janeen Madison, lecturer of mathematics and STEM lab coordinator, was the lead in organizing the Student Engagement Expo, from contacting students to submit their posters to creating the event set up. She noted how seeing the event come together in the end was very rewarding.

“Seeing the students present their hard work at the end of the semester has been very rewarding. Interacting with the proud parents and mentors who guided the students has been especially meaningful,” she said. “We are thankful to the colleagues who worked to pull this event together. Their support has been invaluable in making this event a success.”