Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium 2011

Current Winners | Previous Winners

The Engineering School Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium is an annual presentation and selection of the best of the Undergraduate Research theses. Each finalist in the competition delivers a 15-minute oral presentation, and four awards are given at the end of the symposium. The awards are Winner and Runner Up for the individual category and Winner and Runner Up for the team category. This is the first year that there were more team submissions than individual submissions. Listed below are the finalists, the winners, and the members of the selection committee.

Individual category (5 finalists)

Individual Winner: Lynna Nguyen		Individual Runner-up: Hannah Bindig

Investigation of Polypyrrole Membrane Potassium Sensor for Inclusion in Biomimetic Heart Cell Major: Civil and Environmental Engineering STS Advisor: Peter Norton Technical Advisors: Pamela Norris		Tarnishing in Color-Stable Based Alloys Compared to Commercial Copper Major: Engineering Science: Material Science Concentration STS Advisor: Bryan Pfaffenberger Technical Advisors: John Scully

Other individual finalists:

David Kamensky
Explaining unexpected behaviors of Monte Carlo simulations
Major: CS, Physics | STS Advisor: Peter Norton | Technical Advisor: Paul Reynolds

Eric Rodriguez
Analyzing the Market Limitations for a Small Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Major: MAE | STS Advisor: Peter Norton | Technical Advisor: James Durand

Joseph Boyle
Using Crowdsourcing to Enhance the Crisis Management
Major: CS | STS Advisor: Peter Norton | Technical Advisor: Alfred Weaver

Team category (4 finalists)

Team Winner: Debbie Padilla, Nivedha Panneer, Nate Wilson		Team Runner-Up: Katelyn Mason and Carolyn Mulvey

Development of A Novel, Rapid Detection Technique for Pertussis Major: Biomedical Engineering STS Advisor: Catherine Baritaud Technical Advisor: Kimberly Kelly		A New Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetic Retinopathy Major: Biomedical Engineering STS Advisor: Douglas Jerolimov Technical Advisors: Shayn Pierce-Cottler

Other team finalists:

Charles Cameron, Louis DiValentin, Rohini Manaktala, Adam McElhaney, Christopher Nostrand, Owen Quinlan, Lauren Sharpe, Adam Slagle, Charles Wood, Yang Yang Zheng
Enhancing Tracking and Tactile Feedback Capabilites for Virtual reality Medical Training Simulators
Majors: SIE, CS, MAE, BME
STS Advisors: Catherine Baritaud
Technical Advisor: Gregory Gerling

Jeffrey Smith and Wyatt Shields
Controlling Cell Decisions by Manipulating Subcellular Signaling
Majors: BME
STS Advisors: Jeffrey Saucerman
Technical Advisor: Catherine Baritaud

Selection Committee and Judges

2011 Selection Committee:
Ben Calhoun, Assistant Professor, ECE

Lisa Colosi, Associate Professor,CEE

Carl Knospe, Associate Professor, MAE

John Hossack, Professor, BME

Jim Lambert, Associate Professor, SIE

Beth Opila, Assistant Professor, MSE

Bryan Pfaffenberger, Assistant Professor, STS

Abhi Shelat, Assistant Professor, CS

2011 Symposium Judges:
Teresa Culver, Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Joanna Curran, Assistant Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Vince Derr, Executive Vice President Faulconer Construction

William Guilford, Associate Professor Biomedical Engineering

Sudhanva Gurumurthi, Assistant Professor Computer Science

Stein Kretsinger, CEO fundedbyfun.com