Twelve awards were distributed at ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University’s Seventh Annual Texas STEM conference, held on Nov. 2, 2019.
Students from ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Louisiana Tech University presented 46 presentations - 18 talks and 28 posters.
First, second and third place awards were given to both graduate and undergraduate students for best oral presentation and best poster presentation. Awards went to:
Undergraduate Oral Awards:
First place: Kyle Delk, Biology, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University, 2019 Presidential Fellow
Topic: “Effects of Vitamin D on Human Meibomian Gland Epithelial Cells”
Co-Author: Carolina Lema, University of Houston
Mentor: Rachel Redfern, University of Houston, College of Optometry, The Ocular Surface Institute
Second place: Katherine Harmon, Biology, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “siRNA Silencing of VPS32 in Tritrichomonas foetus”
Co-Authors: Peter Connolly, Guadalupe Cisneros, Diana Dang, Khushi Malani, Emily McCall, and Duy Vo
Mentor: Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor, Department of Biology, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Third place: Matthew Johnson, Physics, Major in Electrical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “A Study of Current Data on Fast Radio Bursts. “
Mentor: Dr. Cengiz Sen, Department of Physics, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Undergraduate Poster Awards:
First place: Emily Ingram, Chemistry and Biochemistry, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Analysis of the Catalyst Effect on Bulk Ammonia Borane-Polyethylene Oxide Hydrogen Storage Composites”
Co-Authors: Caitlyn Clark, Krishna Karel, Riqiang Fu and Dr. Ozge Gunaydin-Sen
Mentor: Dr. Ozge Gunaydin-Sen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Second place: Donna Fleming, Chemistry and Biochemistry, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Theoretical Calculations of Epoxyketene to Lactone Thermal Rearrangement Transition States and Kinetics”
Mentor: Dr. Christopher B. Martin, Department of Chemistry and Bio-chemistry, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Third place: Kyleigh Dixon, Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Development of an Algal-based Landfill Leachate Treatment System”
Mentor: Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Graduate Oral Awards:
First place: Mukunda Khanal, Mechanical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “An Analysis of Baking Schedules for Highly Moisture Sensitive Electronic Components”
Mentors: Dr. Xuejun Fan and Dr. Jenny Zhou, Department of Mechanical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Second place: Divine Sebastian, Mechanical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Multiscale investigation of corrosion on super-hydrophobic aluminum alloy using electrochemical techniques and in-situ AFM”
Mentor: Dr. Chun-Wei Yao / Department of Mechanical Engineering / ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Third place: Ashiqur Rahman, Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Biosynthetic Conversion of Ag+ to Colloidally Stable Ag0 nanoparticles by Chlamydomonas
Reinhardtii: A Mechanistic View of the Light-Induced, Extracellular Polymeric Substances-Mediated Synthesis Process”
Co-authors: Shishir Kumar, Adarsh Bafana and Julia Lin, Nanobiomaterials and Bioprocessing Laboratory (NABLAB), Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University; Si Amar Dahoumane, School of Biological Sciences and Engineering, Yachay Tech University,Hacienda San José s/n, San Miguel de Urcuquí 100119, Ecuador;
Mentor: Clayton Jeffryes, Nanobiomaterials and Bioprocessing Laboratory (NABLAB), Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University and Center for Advances in Water & Air Quality, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Graduate Poster Awards:
First place: Seyedsaeid Hosseini, Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Influence of Pulverized Bottom Ash on Nano-Mechanical Properties of Interfacial Transition Zone and Bulk Matrix”
Mentor: Dr. Nicholas A. Brake, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Second place: Shanglei Pan, Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Topic: “Evaluation of a thermo-tolerant acidophilic alga, Galdieria sulphuraria, for landfill leachate treatment”
Mentor: Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø University
Third place: Anton Gribovskiy, Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Topic: “RF Spectroscopy with Nonlinear Si Integrated Microring Resonators”
Mentor: Dr. Malik Rakhmanov, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
2019 Texas Stem Conference Award Winners
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