News and Events

The annual Student Symposium brings together all members of the Lake Forest College community for a day of scholarly and creative presentations, exhibits, debates, performances, and posters.

One afternoon panel featured several slideshow presentations showcasing students’ utilization of AI to collect data and innovate for usage in classrooms, healthcare, politics, and more. Christopher Zimbizi '27 spoke about MindScribe, a health-tracking app that uses AI to improve people’s cognitive health, particularly dementia sufferers. AI Minor Co-Chair and Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics Sara Jamshidi, the panel’s chair and Zimbizi’s faculty advisor, worked closely with Zimbizi to advance and supervise MindScribe’s development. 

“Chris was an ideal candidate for this work,” Jamshidi said. “Chris has shown himself to be very skilled at producing commercial products [and] he’s completely ready to work in software development as well!”

One poster, presented by Nicholas Abraham '27, explained how controlled vibrations could “improve spatial awareness” and provide “directional feedback” to users of mobility canes. Additionally, he is immensely proud that the director of the Haptics Lab, Lecturer in Biology Frederick Prete, uses an early prototype of the cane, as he is blind/low-vision. 

“I hope that once my cane is used more, that we can start pushing this out to see if people will benefit from the directional feedback,” Abraham said.

Abraham added that he hopes to present another Symposium poster next year, with a more efficient and faster-processing cane prototype.

 During the Senior Art Exhibit, Jared Thomas '26's project “Pumping Engine” was a highlight. Presented via a diorama and a TV screen playing a homemade film, Jared’s work tells the story of  “Stanley,” a sentient generator character from the series of children’s books that inspired Thomas & Friends. In his artist’s statement, Thomas wrote that he wanted to “[bring] beloved railway tales to life through model filmmaking,” with the project acting as an opportunity to bring out his inner child.

“As soon as I left the classroom on the first day, I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” Thomas said. “Let’s just say I was the guy whose playroom was absolutely covered in track; watch your step!”

The symposium's final event was a performance by the Chamber Choir. The 24 vocalists sang three songs, including “Jumalo.” Associate Professor of Music Anne Barry describes the piece as “a song from Latvia that tells the symbolism of a horse in Latvian culture.” Barry complimented the vocalists’ performance of the song as “this was the first time they had the opportunity to perform it in its entirety in public.”

“I am very proud of that as it's a very demanding piece musically, with multiple voice parts, and also in Latvian,” Barry, who is retiring at the end of the semester, said.

Overall, this annual event appears to have been a great success and a wonderful experience for presenting students and supporting faculty members, including Symposium Committee Co-Chair Associate Professor of Religion Anya Golovkova.

 “I cannot emphasize enough how exceptional our students' work is,” she said. “The level of undergraduate research, music, and art on display here is something genuinely special and not easily reproduced elsewhere.”