Sophomore Scholars from Previous Years
2022-2023 Sophomore Scholars
College of Architecture and Construction Management
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Scholar: Jacob Gonzalez Brito, Architecture
Mentor: Giovanni Loreto, Associate Professor of Architecture
Sustainable Building Materials: Architectural Forms and Structural Design (History
and Technique in Reinforce Concrete Formworks: A Study of Pier Luigi Nervi Approach)
The last hundred years in architecture and civil engineering have been widely dominated
by the use of concrete, which became the second most consumed commodity after water.
Although concrete and cementitious materials have a low embodied energy (of approximately
0.90 MJ/kg), they are used in vast quantities. In 2016 world production of cement
amounted to approximately 2.8 billion tons, with production and usage accounting for
almost 8-9% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the technology has improved, providing stronger and more durable concrete,
the construction techniques have not changed. Historically, concrete and reinforced
concrete structures have been constructed using rigid formwork, mainly relying on
the use of either steel or timber to generate the required temporary support structure.
Starting from these considerations, this research project aims to advance our fundamental
understanding of nonrigid concrete formworks in an effort to marry architectural form
and structural design. By challenging the paradigm of rigid formwork, this research
technology will impact the embodied energy and the carbon emission associated with
new concrete constructions by possibly saving up to 30% in concrete volume when compared
to an equivalent strength prismatic member. In addition, the provision of an inexpensive,
extremely lightweight, and globally available formwork material in place of wood will
help address the need for housing in building economies that rely on reinforced concrete
construction but lack in access of wood construction materials. This research thus
offers exciting opportunities for engineers and architects in the move towards a more
sustainable construction industry.
Students working on this research project will investigate the use of formwork in
concrete structures with varying degree of flexibility to achieve:
more economical construction while improving sustainability and resilience of concrete
structures conform to varying architectural forms the adoption of advanced concrete materials (such as Ultra High Performance Concrete,
Engineered Cementitious Composites, etc.) in constructions
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College of Computing and Software Engineering
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Scholar: Anh Duong, Computer Science
Mentor: Dr. Maria Valero de Clemente, Assistant Professor of Information Technology
Study of the Impact of Skin Properties in ML for Glucose Estimation
Accurate understating of the absorption (scattering) properties of human skin is still
a challenge in biomedical optics and biomedical engineering. Furthermore, the impact
of skin roughness and pigmentation is known to affect the light distribution when
light beams are propagating through the skin. In this project, estimating the impact
of these factors on the images obtained from fingers, ears,and other tissues is crucial
for determining features that make the ML model more accurate. In this regard, the
student will work with Dr. Valero and Dr. Lu from East Carolina University, whose
primary research has been based on the understanding of biological systems by investigating
their interaction with light by the measurement of scattered light signals. The project
will follow an approach based on the study of Radiative Transfer Theory, the two-layer
model human skin, and the influence of angles in light scattering.
The first parameter that we are interested in studying and incorporating in the ML
model for glucose monitoring is the light propagation within the tissue. Because we
are interested in understating the light propagation on a survey of cylindrical tissue
(finger or earlobe), we will express the fluence on the edge of a circle and obtain
the scattering profile at a cross-section with radius 饾憥 . We will incorporate the
features of light propagation and study the impact in our current ML model. Studies
will be conducted to determine light propagation and absorption in other tissues like
ear lobules and crura of antihelix. The second parameter that will be studied is the
skin roughness impact on the blood glucose model. To understand the implications,
we will use the two-layer model human-skin proposed by Dr. Lu. We will use it to determine
the impact of the roughness on light absorption and investigate if the variables introduced
by roughness can be used as features for AI model. The third parameter that will be
considered is skin pigmentation. The natural absorbers present in tissue are the chromophores
that are present in biological pigments, specifically, the heme pigment of hemoglobin,
myoglobin, bilirubin, and melanin. Melanin is one of the critical contributors to
skin pigmentation. We will perform a quantitative approach to systematically measure
the absorption of different wavelength lasers in our current prototype, the impact
of the model results, to finally select a light laser with a wavelength in a range
acceptable (producing accurate glucose ) for different levels of melanin.
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Scholar: Richard Borowski, Computer Science
Mentor: Arthur Choi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Towards Bounding the Behavior of Deep Neural Networks
Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in the form of deep neural
networks, have revolutionized a diverse range of fields. As neural networks become
more pervasive, the need to understand the boundaries of their behavior is becoming
increasingly important. For example, can we formally guarantee that an autonomous
vehicle will not violate traffic laws, such as reaching excessive speeds? Towards
the goal of bounding the behavior of a neural network, we propose first to bound the
behavior of individual neurons by incrementally tightening formal bounds on it. Subsequently,
we seek to bound the behavior of a neural network.
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Scholar: Noah Clark, Computer Science
Mentor: Turaj Ashuri, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology
Design of a Soft Hand Prosthesis with Deep Learning Vision-based Manipulation for
Disabled People
Over 2 million people in the United States live with limb loss, and this number is expected to double by 2050. Scientists use the latest knowledge and technology to help these people by designing prostheses to retain the function and cosmetic appearance of a biological limb. Amputees commonly use myoelectric prostheses, which are controlled by the generated electromyographic impulse of muscles鈥 nerves to control the prosthetic.
Despite recent technological advances, control of myoelectric prostheses remains a
challenge. This challenge results in device rejection by the amputee and overuse injuries
of the intact limb. Learning to distinguish different muscle groups is a cumbersome
process hampering an easy adoption by the amputees. Therefore, the overall acceptance
of these devices is still low, leaving the amputees with an open problem to be addressed
by the scientific community.
We propose a novel vision-based design that uses an artificial neural network to help
amputees making an automated grasp. Building blocks of this design are: 1) an embedded
camera in the palm controlled by the amputee to take a snapshot of the object to grasp;
2) a trained convolutional neural network to identify the image of the object taken
by the camera and to find a suitable grasp type; 3) another differently trained convolutional
neural network based on finite element method to command and control a fine coordinated
movement of the prosthetic hand; and 4) a soft robotic prosthetic hand, controlled
by the second neural network to autonomously grasp the object.
This new intuitive technique is similar to how a human interacts with an object to
make a suitable grasp. People with a disability represent a significant part of our
society. We expect our results and outcomes to be of economic and medical benefit
to our community by providing a functional design and important knowledge for use
in commercialization of the future human prostheses. In the long run, we expect our
method to increase the quality of life for people with amputation by providing them
better ways of communicating their intentions and goals to their myoelectric prosthetic,
thereby reducing the support they need.
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College of Science and Mathematics
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Scholar: Grace Kurniawan, Biochemistry
Mentor: Mohammad A. Halim, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Peptides Therapeutics for Covid-19: Targeting the Protein-Protein Interactions of
Receptor Binding Domain and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2
The SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus. This virus translates
four structural and many non-structural proteins. One of the most important structural
proteins is spike (S) protein which allows the virus to be attached into the host
surface by interacting with human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (hACE2) receptors
present in the upper and lower respiratory system. Recent studies show that the SARS-CoV-2
has 10-20 times greater affinity to the hACE2 receptors, resulting in greater transmissibility.
The S protein comprises of S1 and S2 domains. The S1 domain is responsible for binding
to ACE2 receptors via its receptor-binding domain (RBD. The interaction between the
receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the ACE2 receptor is the critical route of entry
for the virus. Therefore, the S protein is a potential target for drug or vaccine
development. Small molecules or peptides can be designed as therapeutics that will
disrupt the interaction between the S protein and the ACE receptor; however, small
molecules are not ideal for targeting the large protein-protein interactions (PPIs).
Peptides, on the other hand, can disrupt the PPIs effectively as they possess larger
surface compared to small molecules and thus specifically bind the interface binding
region.
Our central hypothesis is that antiviral peptides which were known to inhibits SARS and other viruses can be repurposed and improved for effective covid treatment. Our group recently computationally screened antiviral peptides, that were known to work against SARS-CoV-1 and other viruses, targeting the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Based on Grace鈥檚 computational screening results during her First-Year Scholars program, some peptides were the most promising candidates which could potentially block the entry of SARS-CoV-2. During her sophomore scholar program, she will work on the following aims:
Aim 1: Based on the previous computational screening results, 5-6 peptides will be
synthesized using standard Fmoc-based synthesis protocols. The synthesized peptides
will be purified using RP-HPLC and characterized by mass spectrometry, and circular
dichroism (CD).
Aim 2: The inhibition efficiency of the best peptides against RBD will be performed
by SARS-CoV-2 Spike-ACE2 Interaction Inhibitor Screening Assay Kit.
The expected outcome of this project to identify potent antiviral peptide and advance
our knowledge of how these peptides can be further improved. The expected results
will have a very positive impact on the public heath imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Scholar: Faith Arends, Environmental Science
Mentor: Ramya Rajagopalan, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology
Predatory Myxobacteria of the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem
Myxobacteria, a group of gram-negative rod-shaped predatory bacteria primarily found
in soil, kill and lyse their prey using antimicrobial compounds and lytic exoenzymes
and use the released nutrients to facilitate their growth. Myxobacteria are typically
found in soils with a neutral pH level. However, we have detected myxobacterial presence
in soil samples, with a pH range of 4.5-5.5, collected from the longleaf pine conservation
area in Paulding County by whole microbiome sequencing. The isolation of novel myxobacteria
is of great interest as they are a potential source of useful metabolites such as
antimicrobial compounds.
The goal of this project is to isolate wild myxobacteria from 48 soil samples collected
from the longleaf pine conservation area. The soil samples will be treated with antifungals
and placed on starvation media streaked with prey bacteria as bait in order to lure
myxobacteria from the soil. Isolated wild myxobacteria will be analyzed for their
predation capabilities against a range of clinically significant prey bacteria and
screened for the production of antimicrobial compounds.
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Scholar: Noam Lewit, Chemistry
Mentor: Mohammad A. Halim, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Synthesis, Characterization, and Mass Spectrometry Studies on Scorpion Venom Peptides
to develop Therapeutics against the SARS-CoV-2
The corona virus began a worldwide pandemic in the beginning of 2020, infecting over 605 million and killing over 6.48 million people worldwide as of August 27, 2022. Recently FDA authorized some vaccines for emergency use, however, the infection and death toll is rising each day, there is an urgent need for effective and selective antiviral drugs/peptides. Several small molecules have showed promising results for covid-19 treatment, however, very few studies have been performed for antiviral peptide therapeutics. Repurposing of drugs such as Remdesivir, Favipiravir and others exhibit some therapeutic efficacy against Covid-19. Therefore, development of new effective and specific antiviral agents and strategies are urgently needed to provide alternate therapeutic molecule to treat SARS-CoV-2. Antimicrobial peptides, isolated from living species, are potential broad-spectrum antiviral agents. Scorpion鈥檚 venom contains a mixture of peptides and proteins with varied bioactivities and receives a great attention due to their potential application in peptide drug design and development.
This novel RNA virus translates 29 proteins including 16 non-structural, 4 structural and 9 accessory factor proteins. Among all SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins, the main protease has important role for viral polyproteins maturation and replication. Drug repurposing provides a useful and effective solution for identifying potential therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. The most successful 3CLpro inhibitor is lopinavir, a protease inhibitor used to treat HIV infections. This drug is also marketed as lopinavir-ritonavir as a boosted form. However, a clinical trial of lopinavir鈥搑itonavir for adult patients with severe Covid-19 infection have not shown much promise. Despite some challenges, peptides have several advantages including high specificity and effectiveness, easy to synthesize, high potency, low toxicity, fewer side effects, and low accumulation in tissue. Our central hypothesis is that peptides which were known to inhibits protease of other viruses can be repurposed and improved for effective covid treatment.
During the sophomore Scholars program, Naom will conduct research with following specific
aims:
Aim 1: Based on the previous computational screening results, 5-6 peptides will be
synthesized using standard Fmoc-based synthesis protocols. The synthesized peptides
will be purified using RP-HPLC and characterized by mass spectrometry, and circular
dichroism (CD).
Aim 2: To assess the inhibition efficiency of the synthesized peptides, protease inhibitor
assay will be conducted.
The expected outcome of this project to identify potent antiviral peptide inhibitors
against 3CLpro and advance our knowledge of how these peptides can be further improved
for their efficiency through structural guided investigation. The expected results
will have a very positive impact on the public heath imposed by covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, our findings will help to address important strategies on designing peptide
therapeutics against the viral proteins.
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Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Scholar: Isabel Alford, Psychology
Mentor: Anna Weinstein, Assistant Professor of Screenwriting
Women Writers of Film & Television (WWFTV) Digital Humanities Project
Underway since Fall 2020, the WWFTV digital humanities project will culminate in a searchable digital archive to serve as inspiration for aspiring young women screenwriters and to provide industry professionals and screenwriting scholars easily accessible quantitative and qualitative scholarship on the works of women film and television writers. To date, there is no online resource dedicated to the study of women鈥檚 screenwriting contributions to U.S. and global film and television industries. As such, this project will serve as significant scholarship in film and television studies, offering a new framework through which to examine historical and contemporary screenwriting.
Students working on this project study current and pioneering women screenwriters and their most prominent works. Students research some of the top-ranked films and series in each decade and the genres where women have found the most success.
Students are searching online archives for interesting women writers whose work was
influential, well-received, or in some way intriguing in retrospect but, in many cases,
whose names are not commonplace to those who create, consume, or analyze film and
television. Student scholars are compiling genres or categories of films or television
shows that women often wrote for (e.g., soaps, afterschool specials, teen movies,
rom-coms, romance) and gathering information about the most compelling women from
each decade.
As we move into the next phase of the project, incorporating data into the website, students will draft new biographies, factcheck and rewrite existing biographies, update the database, and integrate fair use and public domain image links. Students working on the WWFTV project have obtained critical research and writing skills, as well as oral presentation skills as they share their research with their peers. Students have presented their research at the 石榴直播 Symposium of Student Scholars, the Southeastern Women Studies Association (SESWA) conference, NCUR, and the Posters at the Georgia State Capitol.
The WWFTV site is soft launching in September 2022 and hard launching in Summer 2023.
In the coming years, I will apply for external funding for WWFTV so I can continue
working with undergraduate researchers to build out the site. The ultimate goal is
to make the site comprehensive, including U.S. and global women screenwriters, which
will involve continual work to excavate data from the archives and update the site
as women screenwriters produce new works.
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Scholar: Cortney Calligan, Psychology
Mentor: Jennifer Willard, Professor of Psychology
Exploring the Role of Individual Differences in False Confessions and Informant Behavior
In Cortney鈥檚 First-Year Scholars Program project, we conducted focus groups with students to explore students鈥 perceptions and experiences using the instant messaging app, GroupMe, in their college courses. Because Cortney is interested in topics in Psychology and Law, our plan is to involve her in a study investigating whether relationship status (friend versus stranger) impacts rates of false confessions and informant behavior. The data for this study are already collected. It was an experimental study that involved bringing two participants (either friends or strangers) into the lab and randomly assigning one participant to become our participant-confederate. Under the direction of researchers, participant-confederates cheated on test and later sent a plea to their innocent partner to take the blame for the cheating. Innocent participants were then falsely accused of cheating. Our primary dependent variables included false confessing (i.e., signing a statement indicating they cheated), engaging in informant behavior (i.e., stating they were an eyewitness to the participant-confederate鈥檚 offense, showing the text-message plea as proof of their innocence), and destroying evidence (e.g., erasing the text-message plea).
The plan is to have Cortney assist in identifying recent articles published to strengthen
the literature review, fill gaps in the coding of some data, and assist in analyzing
a portion of data from the study. As part of this study, participants completed individual
difference measures, including empathy, perspective taking, emotional intelligence,
and the Big Five trait measures (i.e., openness, consciousness, agreeableness, extraversion,
and narcissism). These data have yet to be analyzed.
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Scholar: Ameesha Narine, Psychology
Mentor: Shubam Sharma, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Pathways to Purpose among Marginalized Older Adults
This project aims to explore the pathways to developing and maintaining a sense of purpose among marginalized older adults. Previous research has primarily used quantitative, self-report measures to assess how older adults define and maintain a sense of purpose in life. Further, previous research has largely ignored how older adults who face challenges due to aspects of their identity may pursue and maintain a sense of purpose differently than those who are not marginalized. As such, our project seeks to fulfill these gaps through conducting one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with older adults who identify as marginalized. Twenty-two older adults will be interviewed and are currently in process of being conducted by the student. The semi-structured interview has been designed for this project and asks about older adults鈥 experiences with challenges that have acted as barriers for the development of their sense of purpose in life. The interview also asks about resources that have aided in the maintenance of purpose in life. Interviews are expected to be completed by the end of September, 2022. The next phase of the project will comprise of in-depth qualitative coding of the interviews. A grounded theory analysis will be performed. The student will first be trained in this qualitative method and will then conduct practice coding with a sample dataset. Coding of actual study interviews will then follow. Themes are expected to reveal the ways in which marginalized older adults have faced challenges that may act as barriers for the maintenance of their purpose and also what resources have helped them to develop a purpose. Findings are expected to be of practical relevance that may be used to develop interventions for older adults from marginalized communities.
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Scholar: Edwin Trejo-Rivera, Psychology
Mentor: Israel Sanchez-Cardona, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Examining Factors and Interventions to Promote Personal Resources and Well-Being
This project explores how personal resources, which can be enhanced and promoted, are linked to individual's mental health, positive behaviors, and well-being (e.g., stress, work engagement, job boredom, positive affect) in different settings (i.e., work, school, healthcare, employment). One of the projects during participation in the FYS program consisted of implementing intervention programs related to personal resources and psychological well-being. This intervention is a brief program that aims to develop four malleable personal resources: self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. Promoting these personal resources enhances people鈥檚 ability to handle challenging situations, set and achieve goals, and engage in healthy behaviors. The program was implemented in a public organization in Puerto Rico. During Summer 2022, we started data analysis and writing of the manuscript. We expect to continue this work and submit the article for publication during Fall 2022. The student participating in the First-Year Scholars Program AY21-22 (Edwin Trejo Rivera) is collaborating on this project.
Currently, we are working on two projects to explore the interconnectedness of demands
and resources on stress, resilience, and work outcomes. The first project aims to
understand the precursors of work-related stress and well-being among nursing personnel.
As part of this project, we expect to identify the coping strategies used by nursing
personnel to deal with daily demands and the effect of job and personal resources
on their psychological health and performance. The second project aims to analyze
how the gender identity of women in managerial positions affects their psychosocial
well-being and their type of leadership. Specifically, in this project, we aim to
identify women's leadership style in managerial positions and further analyze how
the fit or misfit between the gender identity of women in managerial positions and
the stereotyped characteristic of the position affects psychosocial well-being. The
student will continue participating in these projects through the Sophomore Program
and actively participate in dissemination efforts (presentation and publications).
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Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
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Scholar: Galilea Rosas Guzman, Mechanical Engineering Technology
Mentor: Ayse Tekes, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Development of a Multi Degrees of Freedom 3D Printed Torsional Mechanism to Be Utilized
in Engineering Courses
The project aims to design and develop a multi-degree of freedom torsional system
consisting of a rod, disks, potentiometers, a motor, and support to be utilized in
the vibrations and control laboratory (ME4501). The existing equipment favorably utilized
in vibrations and control laboratories is bulky, expensive, and has an embedded data
acquisition system preventing the mechanical engineering students to have a deep understanding
of the signal flow from the sensors and actuators to the data acquisition card. To
address this problem, we will develop a 3D printed low-cost (less than $100 including
the mechanism and sensors) torsional laboratory equipment. Once the design is finalized,
and parts are 3D printed, we will select the appropriate sensors, and will revise
the design if necessary. Multiple setups will be developed.
The learning objectives that are tied to the proposed laboratory equipment will be
identified, a lab handout with in-detail descriptions for the students taking ME 4501
will be created, and then will be shared with the laboratory students.
The sophomore scholar will introduce the lab equipment to the students, and students
will be instructed and guided by both the supervisor (Dr. Tekes) and the sophomore
scholar (Galilea Rosas Guzman). The student survey will be collected and final revisions
will be implemented based on student feedback.
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Scholar: Quang Lam, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Ashish Aphale, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Detection of Trace Heavy Metals in Water: Development of Electrochemical Sensors
Modern industrial processes often result in release of heavy metal cations (such as
Ca, Cr, Hg, Cu, Pb etc.) in water bodies, causing adverse biological and ecological
consequences. Although, numerous techniques have been developed to detect heavy metals
in aqueous solutions, their early detection in trace concentration remains a challenge.
Electrochemistry based impedance sensors have gained considerable attraction due to
miniaturization and low cost. Electrodes fabricated using high surface area nanocomposite
materials have shown promise towards development of sensor platform. This project
aims at developing basic understanding of structure-property-function relation to
development of sensor device with superior sensitivity, selectivity, and lower detection
of limit.
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Scholar: Lakshay Battu, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Jungkyu Park, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Novel Thermal Coating for High-Speed Airplane
In comparison to various other materials, carbon fiber, specifically carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) remains pre-eminent amongst other materials for use on aeronautical systems. Due to its high specific strength (strength-to-weight ratio), CFRP has been able to carry heavy loads while maintaining a lightweight build. This strength and weight efficiency has allowed for commercial airplanes such as the Airbus A350 and the Boeing-787 Dreamliner to greatly outperform common aluminum frame airplanes. Despite its extraordinary strength and light weight efficiency, when influenced by heat resulting from air resistance, CFRP is known to undergo serious degradation that would significantly decrease the effectiveness of the polymers. To prevent this degradation and maintain the strength of the CFRP, thermal protective layers (TPLs) are designed to shield the CFRP from heat exposure. This research is focused on the examination of the effectiveness of TPLs, that are hybrid compositions of epoxy resins and buckypaper (carbon nanotubes) for 3K 2x2 twill carbon-fiber, through experimental methods. Experimental thermal analysis of the CFRP is performed at 225 掳C for hot plate testing and 650 掳C for heat gun testing. The results show that the addition of buckypaper in the thermal protective layer seemed to detect nearly 48掳C less heat on average of the four measured intervals in hot plate tests. From heat gun tests, moreover, it was clearly seen that the carbon fiber TPL that contains the epoxy and buckypaper is dominant in terms of heat dispersion. The anisotropic thermal transport property of nanostructured carbon is expected to spread heat accumulated in hot spots efficiently, preventing the heat from being propagated into the CFRP body material. As the next step, we will use analytical method and FEA simulations to explain this heat dissipation phenomena.
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Scholar: S. Alex Owen, Environmental Engineering
Mentor: Giovanni Loreto, Associate Professor of Architecture
Sustainable Building Materials: Architectural Forms and Structural Design
The last hundred years in architecture and civil engineering have been widely dominated by the use of concrete, which became the second most consumed commodity after water. Although concrete and cementitious materials have a low embodied energy (of approximately 0.90 MJ/kg), they are used in vast quantities. In 2016 world production of cement amounted to approximately 2.8 billion tons, with production and usage accounting for almost 8鈥9% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Although the technology has improved, providing stronger and more durable concrete, the construction techniques have not changed. Historically, concrete, and reinforced concrete structures have been constructed using rigid formwork, mainly relying on the use of either steel or timber to generate the required temporary support structure.
Starting from these considerations, this research project aims to advance our fundamental understanding of non鈥恟igid concrete formworks in an effort to marry architectural form and structural design. By challenging the paradigm of rigid formwork, this research technology will impact the embodied energy and the carbon emission associated with new concrete constructions by possibly saving up to 30% in concrete volume when compared to an equivalent strength prismatic member. In addition, the provision of an inexpensive, extremely lightweight, and globally available formwork material in place of wood will help address the need for housing in building economies that rely on reinforced concrete construction but lack in access of wood construction materials. This research thus offers exciting opportunities for engineers and architects in the move towards a more sustainable construction industry.
Students working on this research project will investigate the use of formwork in concrete structures with varying degree of flexibility to achieve:
more economical construction while improving sustainability and resilience of concrete
structures conform to varying architectural forms the adoption of advanced concrete materials (such as Ultra High Performance Concrete,
Engineered Cementitious Composites, etc.) in constructions
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Wellstar College of Health and Human Services
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Scholar: Quinn McKeever, Nursing
Mentor: Tyler Collette, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Mechanisms of Trauma and Resilience: Extending Lessons Learned to Individuals with
Above Threshold PTSD
Last year, 石榴直播 students and I examined the underlying mechanisms of resilience in the face of traumatic events by modeling the relationship between adverse events, anxiety, and post-traumatic growth while accounting for theoretical anxiety buffers that are predicted to moderate the detrimental effects of adverse events. Insights from this research not only informed broader literature and provide evidence for the theoretical framework of ABDT, but has laid the groundwork for research into interventions that target individuals鈥 natural resources and the cultural foundations that shape them. Students on this project presented at local and national conferences and have worked on products for publications. The current project will extend this work with a unique sample of individuals with above threshold PTSD. Data will be collected through Qualtrics for validation and normalized data modeling. Further, experimental designs will be employed to evaluate how mere thoughts of death can elicit similar (albeit far less in magnitude) responses to alleviate the anxiety associated with such adverse events.
Specifically, Quinn took on a special role last year by evaluating factors that he proposed should moderate the relationship between anxiety buffers proposed to reduce the psychological impact of a traumatic event on long term outcomes. Previous work supported Quinn鈥檚 idea to evaluate the stability of self esteem at the individual level and determine its role as a moderator in the broader model I had specified. His success has led our team to consider this a vital component to the validation study proposed for the coming year.
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2021-2022 Sophomore Scholars
Bagwell College of Education
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Scholar: Symphony Williams, Integrative Studies
Mentor: Sohyun An, Professor of Social Studies Education
Still Racist, Sexist, Classist, and Ableist: Analysis of Children's Books
Children's books are an invaluable source of information and values. They reflect
the attitudes in our society about diversity, power relationships among different
groups of people, and various social identities (e.g., racial, ethnic, gender, economic
class, sexual orientation, and disability). The visual and verbal messages young children
absorb from books (and other media) heavily influence their ideas about themselves
and others. Depending on the quality of the book, they can reinforce (or undermine)
children's affirmative self-concept, teach accurate (or misleading) information about
people of various identities, and foster positive (or negative) attitudes about diversity.
Children's books teach children about who is important, who matters, who is even visible.
Therefore, carefully choosing and using quality children's books is an indispensable
educational and child-rearing task. It is important to offer young children a range
of books about people like them and their family's as well as about people who are
different from them and their family. All of the books should be accurate and appealing
to young children.
Fortunately, there are some good anti-bias children's books, which are available as
a result of the ongoing activism of many individuals and groups over many years. However,
while choices have improved over past decades, the lack of quality multicultural kids
books currently being published has frustrated many communities. The number of children
of color in the United States continues to rise, but the number of books published
by or about people of color stays the same or even decreases.
This research analyzes the recently published children's books and investigates if the books reproduce or challenge societal biases and prejudices on different groups of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, economic class, disability, and sexual orientation. The goal of the research is to report the current state of children's books regarding its role to teach children anti-bias understanding and, ultimately, to educate children better with anti-bias education.
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College of Architecture and Construction Management
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Scholar: Sean Sadler, Civil Engineering
Mentor: Giovanni Loreto
Sustainable Building Materials of the Future: Architectural Forms and Structural Design
What will cities look like in 30 years from now? What is the future of building materials? This research project seeks to bridge the gap between material science and construction,
looking at sustainable approaches in designing new buildings and infrastructures.
It can take decades for a breakthrough in engineering from a lab to a building site.
This research embraces the need for innovative architectural forms while building
upon structural design principles to create a new generation of smart materials.
Students working on this research project will investigate the use of sustainable
approaches in building materials of the future to (1) achieve more economical construction,
(2) improve sustainability and resilience, and (3) advance architectural forms and
forces.
The goal is to advance our fundamental understanding of cementitious materials and
their construction in an effort to marry architectural form and structural design.
The last hundred years in architecture and civil engineering have been widely dominated
by the use of concrete, which became the second most consumed commodity after water.
Although concrete and cementitious materials have a low embodied energy (of approximately
0.90 MJ/kg), they are used in vast quantities. In 2019, cement production amounted
to approximately 3.2 billion tons, with production and usage accounting for almost
8-9% of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
This research aims to impact the embodied energy and the carbon emission associated
with new concrete constructions by possibly saving up to 30% in concrete volume compared
to an equivalent strength prismatic member. This research thus offers exciting opportunities
for engineers and architects to move towards a more sustainable construction industry.
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Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Scholar: Rosco Orozco, Biology
Mentor: Lara Smith-Sitton
Internships and the Job Market: How Remote Work Impacts College Student Careers
The National Association of Colleges and Employers defines an internship as "a form
of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom
with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. . . .giv[ing]
students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections
. . . giv[ing] employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent" ("Position
Statement" NACE). The American Association of Colleges and Universities and employers
universally recognize that internships are valuable, even essential, experiences for
college students with upwards of 96% of hiring managers opting to hire students with
one or more internships on their resumes over those who do not. Yet, we are living
in a changing world due to public health and economic concerns, especially during
the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted the global economy as well
as internships. This has also brought up forward concerns for college students and
employers about how to structure workspaces, who to recruit, and what jobs will exist
in the future. There is a need to not only understand the scope of the changes to
college internships in recent history as well as the landscape and opportunities for
the future.
Building on the research of Global Workplace Analytics, an organization that collects
data about telecommuting and remote work, this project will consider current data
that approximately 43% of the global workforce does a significant amount of work from
home as well as predictions that over 30% of the US workforce will continue working
offsite fulltime into the year 2021 . . . and into the future. This study seeks to
understand the changes in student internships, discern trends for the future, and
ascertain how to support students and employers engaged in remote internships. Through
an IRB-approved research protocol with surveys and student interviews the project
is guided by three key questions:
What were the experiences and perceptions of 石榴直播 student interns during the COVID-19
pandemic, particularly those performing remote internships? What preparation and/or support would have strengthened their experiences, and how
can this be incorporated into student internship courses? What is the likelihood of more remote internships in the future?
The research gathered will be disseminated through a scholarly publication, including
a journal article and book proposal about college internship program design. The student
will learn how to develop survey instruments, conduct interviews, and analyze data.
The student will also become an expert on the tools and practices that will help students
thrive in remote work internships and jobs. The data is essential to help faculty
and administrators, as well as students and employers, understand how to modify internships
for the future. In short, if more employers will be hiring remote workers, students
need to be prepared to work from home, understand how to get those jobs, and know
how to succeed outside of traditional office spaces. In addition, more information
is needed about best practices for remote internships and the future of the college
internships.
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Scholar: Gabrielle Jones, Media and Entertainment
Mentor: Anna Weinstein
Women Genre Writers in Film and Television
In this project, students will research women鈥檚 work in writing for film and television. Students will research some of the top-ranked films (and series) in each decade and the genres where women have found the most success. Students working on this project will be searching for interesting women writers whose work was influential, well-received, or in some way intriguing in retrospect, but whose names are not commonplace to those who create, consume, or analyze film and television.
Student scholars will compile genres or categories of films or television shows that
women often wrote for (e.g., soaps, afterschool specials, teen movies, rom-coms, romance)
and gather information about the most compelling women from each decade.
This is an excellent opportunity for students with an interest in film and television, screenwriting, or women鈥檚 representation in media to explore online archives and obtain critical research skills. Students should be comfortable working independently and under faculty supervision and should be willing and eager to conduct most research on their own.
*Here are some interesting statistics about women鈥檚 work writing for film and television in the past few years:
- 2018: women accounted for 16% of all writers working on the 250 top-grossing films.
- 2019: women accounted for 19% of all writers working on the 250 top-grossing films.
- 2017-2018: women accounted for 25% of all writers working on broadcast network programs
- 2018-2019: women accounted for 35% of all writers working on broadcast network programs
*Data from San Diego State University鈥檚 Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film鈥檚 Celluloid Ceiling Report and Boxed-In Report.
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Scholar: Anna Anderson, Psychology
Mentor: Anisah Bagasra
Perceptions of COVID-19 among Religious Leaders: Implications for Health Messaging
in Faith Communities
The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions of COVID-19 among faith leaders,
specifically:
- What is the prevalence of religious interpretations of COVID-19 (the illness as a
result of sinful behavior, as a sign of the coming end of times/day of judgement,
the illness as a test from God, karma, etc.)?
- Where do faith leaders turn to for information about COVID-19?
- What protective health behaviors are faith leaders engaging in to avoid contracting
COVID-19 and what is their perceived risk of contracting the disease given their community
role?
- How do faith leaders translate their own beliefs and external messaging into communications
for their communities? To what extent do they view health communication as a responsibility
within their position?
This study will use anonymous surveys to examine perceptions of COVID-19 and health
behaviors related to COVID-19 among faith leaders from various faith backgrounds.
The second phase of the study will utilize virtual focus groups to discuss in depth
how health policy and religious policies, as well as theological interpretations of
illness and suffering intersect to impact how faith leaders communicate information
regarding COVID-19 to the religious communities they lead. This mixed method approach
seeks to gain descriptive evidence of the prevalence of religious and spiritual interpretations
of the disease, as well as understand how these interpretations shape faith leaders'
messaging, particularly health information and meaning attributions shared with their
communities. This study will use a multi-modal, mixed methods approach. Initial descriptive
research to measure perceptions of COVID-19, health protective behaviors used by faith
leaders, and how they communicate with their communities during social distancing
will be collected through an anonymous internet-based survey. This survey will be
distributed directly to faith leaders via email and through religious community hierarchy
(for example, a District Superintendent may be requested to share the survey link
with their pastors, or an imam may be asked to share the survey with other imams).
Additionally, participation will be solicited via Social Media, specifically Facebook
by posting on the Investigators page, and sharing on pages dedicated to religious
communities.
The second phase of the study will involve conducting 4 different focus groups with
6-8 participants through Zoom. These focus groups will last approximately 40 minutes
and allow for in-depth discussion of:
how religious perspectives, public health policy, and other factors influence how
faith leaders view Covid-19 and interpret the suffering caused by this illness how these interpretations translate into public communication with faith followers
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Scholar: Eunuce Baek, Psychology
Mentor: Kyung Hun Jung
Self-driving cars are coming but you still need driver-training programs
Summary: Self-driving cars are already on the road. However, they are not perfect.
Human drivers are still responsible for monitoring the driving status of the vehicle
and step in when it is necessary. Therefore, experts point the importance of research
on effective monitoring of the driving status by human drivers and smooth transfer
of control from a vehicle to the driver. In this driving-simulator project, we will
examine how human drivers behave when self-driving cars are malfunctioning. Specifically,
we will identify (1) the signs of malfunctioning/incapability of the self-driving
cars that are frequently missed by human drivers and (2) undesirable responses that
human drivers make when they attempt to regain control of the vehicle. Finally, we
will (3) generate a list of recommendations for a driver-training program that improves
the monitoring/handling ability of drivers.
Developing a driver-training program for safer use of motor vehicles has evident importance
considering the noticeably high fatality on the road: for example, an average of 101
people was killed in motor vehicle crashes per day in 2018. Motor vehicle fatality
is also the leading cause of accident death among adolescents. This research project
was developed to reduce fatality on the road in the era of self-driving cars.
A self-driving car is a vehicle that can sense its environment and perform the dynamic
driving task with little or no human input. As an example of the self-driving technology,
a driverless-taxi service has been commercialized in the Phoenix metropolitan area
since December 2018. As expected, the technology has been developed with a promise
of offering safer and convenient travel. However, such promises have been betrayed
by fatal crashes and unexpected handover of vehicle control from the car to the human
driver especially when the driving conditions are difficult to handle.
In the field of aviation, although the autopilot technology has been developed decades
ago, human pilots are still required to monitor the status of the airplane and step
in when it is necessary. Similarly, human drivers of self-driving cars are expected
to recognize the signs of malfunctioning/incapability of the car and skillfully step
in when it is necessary. However, there is not enough research for improving such
abilities of human drivers.
In this project, we will examine how human drivers behave when self-driving cars are
malfunctioning using driving simulators with a steering wheel and brake/accelerator
pedals. The simulators will present various scenarios of malfunctioning/incapability
of the self-driving technology on computer screens where each scenario includes unique
signs of the malfunctioning. Participant drivers will be asked to monitor the driving
status of the car and step in when they believe it is necessary.
We will identify 1) the frequently missed signs of malfunctioning/incapability of
self-driving cars and 2) desirable/undesirable reaction patterns of human drivers
when they unexpectedly step in and control the vehicle. Finally, we will 3) generate
a list of recommendations for developing a driver-training program that improves the
drivers ability to recognize critical signs of incapability of self-driving cars and
how to react in such scenarios.
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Scholar: Kimberly Gomes, Psychology
Mentor: Brian Moore
Examination of Predictors of Resilience in Military Personnel
Studies examining resilience as a protective factor typically occur following trauma
exposure. Data were collected 1,000 deploying military medical personnel who were
then tracked through their deployment and upon their return to their home station.
The present project will analyze various psychological and social factors related
to resilience and trauma exposure across the deployment cycle.
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Scholar: Mireya Garcia- Cortez, Political Science
Mentor: Robin Smith Mathis
Joking, Juries, and Jurisprudence: Informal Communication in a Formal Workplace Setting
This project explores the use of humor to cope with workplace stress, particularly
the legal profession. For the purpose of this project, the legal profession has been
narrowed to the courtroom. Furthermore, we are interested in how judges, court reporters,
and attorneys communicate to cope. The courtroom is a tense workplace. Humor has long
been studied as a coping mechanism in a variety of demanding and emotionally draining
work scenarios. The litigation field (courtroom law) has a high burnout rate. This
project would frame an argument that informal communication and humor serve as survival
skills to persevere in a challenging profession.
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Scholar: Maygui Jean, Anthropology
Mentor: Evelina Sterling
Health Disparities: The Impact of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality on Health Outcomes
Our main goal is to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, being sick is a part
of life. Whether it is a sudden acute injury or a long drawn out chronic condition
or a serious life limiting disease, we will all experience the consequences of illness
in some capacity. While illnesses can be reduced to their biological causes and clinical
treatments, there is much more to being sick. Social factors, including race, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, and even issues like age, religion, and geography,
also play an important role in promoting health and preventing disease. Moreover,
social determinates of health, or conditions in the environments in which people are
born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, significantly affect a wide range
of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
My research projects are very multidisciplinary, combining aspects of biology, psychology,
sociology, public health, nursing, statistics, human services, education, business,
etc. These projects aim to shape how people think about and eliminate health disparities
through investigating how social, economic, environmental, cultural and lifestyle
factors contribute to differences in morbidity and mortality within certain populations
and communities. I currently have three large-scale National Institutes of Health
(NIH) funded projects specifically looking at the intersections of race, class, gender
and sexuality on chronic conditions utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research
methods. Additionally, I investigate how social issues related to systemic racism,
poverty, sexism, and homophobia contribute to lack of appropriate healthcare access.
I work with both patients and healthcare providers to identify and combat barriers
to care for many underserved populations. My research projects also include research
questions related to ethical decision-making, cultural competency, health literacy,
and behavior change. Because you cannot separate mental and physical health, my projects
focus on both as well as the influence of physical health on mental health and vice
versa. Given the current opioid crisis, I also try to integrate the impact of substance
use disorders on many health outcomes, which is even further compounded by issues
of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Since 石榴直播 is located at the crossroads of urban
and rural living, I also stress how geography contributes to people's experiences
with health and illness.
In addition to collecting both qualitive and quantitative data to better understand
health disparities, I am also interested in actually developing and implementing new
programs and approaches to promote health, prevent disease, and ensure health equity.
This includes self-management interventions, educational programs, and policy improvements.
Instead of being restricted to a traditional laboratory, the world is my lab. My research
collects data from real people in the real world, allows us to pivot our research
questions depending on the findings, and supports interventions and programs that
will benefit people right now, contributing to a healthier world.
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Scholar: Roger Otway, Psychology
Mentor: Evelina Sterling
Health Disparities: The Impact of Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality on Health Outcomes
Our main goal is to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, being sick is a part
of life. Whether it is a sudden acute injury or a long drawn out chronic condition
or a serious life limiting disease, we will all experience the consequences of illness
in some capacity. While illnesses can be reduced to their biological causes and clinical
treatments, there is much more to being sick. Social factors, including race, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, and even issues like age, religion, and geography,
also play an important role in promoting health and preventing disease. Moreover,
social determinates of health, or conditions in the environments in which people are
born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, significantly affect a wide range
of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
My research projects are very multidisciplinary, combining aspects of biology, psychology,
sociology, public health, nursing, statistics, human services, education, business,
etc. These projects aim to shape how people think about and eliminate health disparities
through investigating how social, economic, environmental, cultural and lifestyle
factors contribute to differences in morbidity and mortality within certain populations
and communities. I currently have three large-scale National Institutes of Health
(NIH) funded projects specifically looking at the intersections of race, class, gender
and sexuality on chronic conditions utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research
methods. Additionally, I investigate how social issues related to systemic racism,
poverty, sexism, and homophobia contribute to lack of appropriate healthcare access.
I work with both patients and healthcare providers to identify and combat barriers
to care for many underserved populations. My research projects also include research
questions related to ethical decision-making, cultural competency, health literacy,
and behavior change. Because you cannot separate mental and physical health, my projects
focus on both as well as the influence of physical health on mental health and vice
versa. Given the current opioid crisis, I also try to integrate the impact of substance
use disorders on many health outcomes, which is even further compounded by issues
of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Since 石榴直播 is located at the crossroads of urban
and rural living, I also stress how geography contributes to people's experiences
with health and illness.
In addition to collecting both qualitive and quantitative data to better understand
health disparities, I am also interested in actually developing and implementing new
programs and approaches to promote health, prevent disease, and ensure health equity.
This includes self-management interventions, educational programs, and policy improvements.
Instead of being restricted to a traditional laboratory, the world is my lab. My research
collects data from real people in the real world, allows us to pivot our research
questions depending on the findings, and supports interventions and programs that
will benefit people right now, contributing to a healthier world.
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Scholar: Cristy Kennedy, Interactive Design
Mentor: Sara Doan
Messages Gone Viral: How Infographics about COVID-19 Spread on Social Media
Have you ever wondered why people share some visuals about COVID-19 online and not
others? What makes a good message about COVID-19 to share on social media? Come and
work with Dr. Doan to find out! You'll learn about what visual design principles encourage
people to engage with health information online by gathering a collection of charts,
graphs, and infographics from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You'll use nVivo, a software available through the university, to collect and tag
these images. Next, you'll learn to sort these social media posts to understand what
types of written messages (encouraging behavior like mask wearing, sharing statistics,
etc.), visual design tools (like color, contrast, typography), and types of posts
(an infographic, a chart, etc.) are engaged with most online. After we make our research
categories into a formal codebook, you'll learn how to conduct inter-rater reliability,
a way of testing our codebook with outside users to make sure that it makes sense
outside of the original coding. Then, we'll write about, and hopefully publish, our
results to help designers, public health officials, and people who run social media
campaigns use our work to design more engaging posts about how to help people understand
and stop the spread of COVID-19.
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Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology
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Scholar: Marceline Lewis, Computer Engineering
Mentor: Sandip Das
On-board Wave Energy Harvesting for Sustainable Boats and Ships
Ocean wave is an abundant source of clean energy which offers great advantages over other renewables, such as its availability during both day and night times and much higher energy density compared to wind and solar. Currently, there are no viable or commercial technology available to harvest wave energy by individual boats and ships. In the United States only, there are more than 87,000 commercial fishing vessels and more than 100,000 recreational fishing boats. The world fishing fleet exceeds four million vessels, most of which are gasoline powered and release tons of polluting, toxic and greenhouse gases into the environment. In this project, we propose a novel hybrid wave energy conversion (HWEC) device that can be easily integrated and retrofitted into a boat or a ship to harvest renewable energy from the ocean waves and produce on-board electric power. This technology will reduce the dependence on gasoline 鈥 thus reducing the polluting and greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the global warming effects. The aim of this project is to design and fabricate a prototype of the proposed magneto-piezoelectric hybrid wave energy conversion device by applying electrical engineering and energy conversion principles resulting in a low-cost, modular HWEC device that can be easily retrofitted inside a fishing vessel or any other types of boats or ships 鈥 mounted underneath the decks, onto the floors or virtually anywhere on the vessel to produce clean electrical energy. The technology is scalable and could be easily adapted to next generation of all-electric commercial vessels, as well as navy ships. The first-year research scholar will gain valuable knowledge on renewable energy harvesting techniques from ocean waves, receive hands-on training and develop important and useful engineering research skills through this project.
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Scholar: Harrison Iles, Mechatronics Engineering
Mentor: Yusef Mahmoud
Minimizing Power Losses in Solar Photovoltaic Systems
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electric power by converting sun light into
electric power. Due to its cleanness and sustainability, there has been growing interest
in building solar PV projects over the world replacing traditional fossil fuels-based
power plants. One of the problems facing solar PV projects is their lower efficiency.
A major factor limiting their efficiency is partial shading which occurs when part
of a solar system is shaded by a tree, cloud..etc. This project is to reduce the power
losses experienced by solar PV systems when they are partially shaded. The project
uses a novel algorithm that optimizes power extraction during partial shading.
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Scholar: Bryanna Willis, Computer Engineering
Mentor: Cyril Okhio
STEM Mentor-Protege Program with Marietta Schools using the Texas Instrument TI-RSLK
as a Tool
With existing relationships with Marietta Schools and the Development assistance from
Texas Instruments TI, this effort will use the Texas Instrument Robotic System Learning
Kit (TI-RSLK), to foster and further develop the pathways for a STEM Mentor-Protege
Program between the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Students & Faculty,
and the Marietta Schools' Teachers and Middle/High School students (especially Females
& Minority students), to create and nurture a sustainable STEM-Pipeline. This can
then be further developed to also provide a foundation for possible responses to RFPs
from Agencies such as the National Science Foundation NSF, in the foreseeable future.
In the broader sense, this Research effort will lay the foundation for a Sustainable Mentor-Prot茅g茅, STEM-Student-Pipeline (especially for Females and Minority students). Students working on this project would be exposed to both the foundations and deeper understanding of how electronic system design works. They will also be involved in the processes of affordable Design, Build & Test activities.
The TI-RSLK will allow students working on this project to learn about Robotic Systems
and the Engineering Applications associated with them. Texas Instruments will supply
the Project with several TI-RSLK Robots for Hands-On activities throughout the effort.
At the end of each Program period, students would have demonstrated the value of the
following: Mentoring relationships and the role that gender plays in STEM mentoring,
particularly cross-gender mentoring relationships and whether they encourage positive
socialization to the field in the same manner as same-gender mentoring relationships.
- Mentoring relationships and the role that gender plays in STEM mentoring, particularly
cross-gender mentoring relationships and whether they encourage positive socialization
to the field in the same manner as same-gender mentoring relationships
- The role of gender in different types of mentoring models and in the terms of mentoring
relationships (i.e., formal or informal). For instance, studies could examine whether
males and females in STEM fields receive the same benefits through formal and informal
e-mentoring programs or whether mentoring relationships that utilize the citizen model
facilitate the retention of females within STEM disciplines
- The elements of successful mentoring relationships formed by females in STEM disciplines
to provide a more holistic picture of what factors need to be included in the design
of such mentoring programs for maximum benefits
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Scholar: Dylan Stacy, Biology
Mentor: Yizeng Li
Mechanical responses of lipid vesicles under different hydraulic environment
Mammalian cells are protected by a plasm membrane made of lipid bilayers. This membrane is highly deformable under various mechanical conditions, creating different morphologies for cells. My prior studies have shown that the responses of cells are highly sensitive to extracellular hydraulic pressure, which is particularly prominent when cells reside in confined spaces. Although cells are living systems that respond actively to environments, they as enclosed vesicles respond passively to physical conditions in the first place. Differentiating the passive and active responses will help us better understand how cells adapt to environments and carrier out functions. It is challenging to differentiate the two types of responses in living cells; however, using liposomes will enable us to focus the study on the passive responses.
In this interdisciplinary study, we will use both mathematical and experimental models
to study the responses of passive liposomes. In particular, we will construct liposomes
and observe their morphologies and motility under various hydraulic environments.
The mathematical models will be developed on continuum mechanics and will be programed
in MATLAB. The prediction from mathematical models will serve as guides to further
design meaningful experiments.
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Scholar: Graham Quasebarth, Civil Engineering
Mentor: Philippe Sucosky
Exploring the Effects of Spaceflight Microgravity on Blood Flow and Cardiovascular
Disease
Long-duration spaceflight poses multiple hazards to human health, including physiological
changes associated with microgravity. A recent study reported the existence of blood
flow abnormalities in the jugular veins of six astronauts participating in long-duration
spaceflight missions aboard the International Space Station, and an occlusion in the
vein of one more. Although the cause-and-effect relationships between microgravity,
blood flow alterations and cardiovascular disease have not yet been elucidated, it
is well known that the vasculature is sensitive to its surrounding mechanical environment.
Abnormalities in the fluid stresses imposed by blood flow on the surface of blood
vessels for example are known to trigger inflammatory responses that may lead to cardiovascular
disease. In this context, the hemodynamic alterations resulting from spaceflight microgravity
may trigger a biological response leading to disease. Testing this hypothesis requires
the characterization of the stress environment experienced by the vasculature under
microgravity. To address this research need, we propose to develop computational fluid
dynamics models of the human carotid bifurcation under unit gravity and modeled microgravity
conditions, and to quantify their fluid stress characteristics on the arterial wall.
This work will enable future investigations of the risk posed by spaceflight microgravity
on cardiovascular disease.
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Scholar: Derek Price, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Ayse Tekes
Development of Wire Actuated Monolithic Soft Gripper Positioned by Robot Manipulator
Robotic grippers integrated with end effectors have been widely used to pick and place
targeted objects or assemble parts in the automation industry. Grippers are commonly
attached as an end effector to the multi-link robots to change its orientation, and
the performance of the gripping motion highly depends on the design of the gripper
itself. Rigid mechanisms designed by traditional links and joints exhibit low performance
compared to compliant mechanisms due to the friction, clearance, and backlash. A mechanism
is said to be underactuated if the number of actuators is less than the degrees of
freedom of the system and adaptive if the mechanism response adopts to the new environment.
This project aims to design and develop an adaptive wire actuated compliant gripper mimicking human hand. The compliant gripper will be oriented through a 2D link robot. The configuration of the robot will be actuated by servo motors. The robot and the gripper will be 3D printed using polylactic acid (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).
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Scholar: Sky Papendorp, Mechatronics Engineering
Mentor: Amir Ali Amiri Moghadam
Development of soft fluidic sensor for body motion sensing
Stroke rehabilitation is very important for recovery after stroke. The patients need to exercise regularly and their progress should be monitored. Thus, development of body motion sensors which can detect the motion and performance of patients would be very important. The sensor data can be sent to medical centers to monitor the progress of the patients. This project aims to develop soft motion sensors which can safely interface with human body to measure large motions/deformations.
The proposed soft sensors generally consist of a patterned balloon and a fluidic pressure sensor. As the balloon being stretched and deformed the internal pressure of the balloon will change. Consequently, the pressure reading can be correlated to deformation of balloon to create a motion sensor. The balloons can be fabricated from thermoplastic materials or silicons by means of molding, and thermoforming. Figure 1 demonstrates a prototype of a motion sensor as a hand motion detector.
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Scholar: Charles Koduru, Mechatronics Engineering
Mentor: Muhammad Hassan Tanveer
Biology to Biotechnology - Mimicking BATS sensing behaviors on Mobile Robots
In mobile robot research, the robot needs to answer three main questions in order
to make it navigate.
- Where am I?
- Where am I going?
- How do I get here?
In order to address these questions on the Robotic Platform, we follow guidelines
for the environmental model, for the interpretation and examination of the environment,
for the location and condition of the system and for the planning of the movement.
As we see, BATs navigation in the forest will resolve all the above questions by merely
transmitting a sound wave and having to know the environment by hearing the echo.
In the first part of the project, we will concentrate on creating a simulation environment like a forest and making our robot maneuver through acoustic laws.
The second step is to verify this strategy with a real robot and how fast the sensor
is responding. But, on a larger scale, we can solve a lot of payload problems on robots and only
set up a simple acoustic sensor to get to know the whole area.
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College of the Arts
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Scholar: Alexis Lyons, Art History and Anthropology
Mentor: Jessica Stephenson
Building a Digital Database to Document Photography and Carved Ivories
Establishing an organized database is foundational to documenting, preserving, presenting
and interpreting historical materials. For this project, the student will collaborate
with the faculty member in the ongoing development and analysis of a digital database
to record photographs and carved ivory sculptures produced during the late 19th century
in the Congo, Central Africa. These materials are housed in archives and museum collections
throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. While a single or digital
images may capture an archived photograph, each carved ivory sculpture is documented
through hundreds of digital records that collectively capture the details of each.
With thousands of carved ivories housed in museum collections, the digital database
continues to grow. While travel restrictions due to Covid-19 has put a temporary halt
on onsite production of digital records by the faculty member, the organization, refinement,
cataloging and analysis of already collected records continues.
Over the course of the year the student will contribute to the development of this
database by editing, organizing and cataloging digital records and analyzing archival
content to develop thematic clusters for conference presentation and potential publication.
By conducting this work the student will contribute to the first-ever visual database
on early colonial-era photographs and carved ivories from the Congo. This database
serves as the primary source for the writing of a postcolonial African Congo history
in counterpoint to established colonial narratives. The database will be utilized
by source archives, museums and scholars in the field and serves as reference material
for historical research and future publication. This is an opportunity for a student
to gain experience in developing primary research skills relevant to archives, art
history, history, anthropology, and museum collections management and to hone technical
skills in image editing.
Students interested in this project should be comfortable working with MAC computers
and have a firm working knowledge of programs such as Excel, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
Students in African and African Diaspora Studies, French, History, Anthropology, Art,
Art History and Education are particularly welcome. Students should be able to work
independently and under supervision through virtual meetings. An ability to read French
is beneficial, but not required.
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Scholar: Brandon Portalatin, Music Education
Mentor: Peter Fielding
Broadening the Western Music Theory Canon
Working with faculty, students will help survey a variety of print music sources of
underrepresented composers and music genres in the Western Music Theory canon. Project
will evaluate, identify, and classify musical examples and excerpts to augment existing
introductory undergraduate music theory and aural skills course materials. In addition
to assembling materials to augment existing 石榴直播 curriculum, materials will be shared
through a wider academic and educational readership, as possible.
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Scholar: Katie Kosowski, Vocal Performance
Mentor: Peter Fielding
Broadening the Western Music Theory Canon
Working with faculty, students will help survey a variety of print music sources of
underrepresented composers and music genres in the Western Music Theory canon. Project
will evaluate, identify, and classify musical examples and excerpts to augment existing
introductory undergraduate music theory and aural skills course materials. In addition
to assembling materials to augment existing 石榴直播 curriculum, materials will be shared
through a wider academic and educational readership, as possible.
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College of Computing and Software Engineering
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Scholar: Tyler Holmes, Computer Science
Mentor: Kun Suo
Building Modern Services with Security Assurance in the Edge Infrastructure
This project aims to address these critical security issues by using adaptively data-driven
execution model in the cloud-edge systems, including various IoT devices, and revisiting
how they affect resource management and energy consumption. It also helps in learning
and usage of resource control as the IoT devices should be capable of running two
or different applications on the same time. The goal of this project is to explore
the possible solutions to improve the security of the modern edge services and propose
solutions to advance the reliability of the edge infrastructures.
Specifically, this project will help you achieve the following outcomes: 1) Understanding
the techniques and concepts of using these IoT devices for better implementation;
2) Analyzing the semantic gaps in the cloud and the edge, and design augmented abstractions
to bridge the gaps; 3) Using the data-driven execution model to provide effective,
efficient, and secure components; 4) Increasing the fundamental understanding of cloud-edge
systems in resource management and energy control.
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College of Science and Mathematics
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Scholar: Stephanie Sam, Biology
Mentor: Melanie Griffin
Molecular cargo delivery into bacteria; delivering the goods
Common bacteria are very easy to grow and study in a research lab. They are interesting because many have useful abilities such being able to degrade toxic waste products, producing antibiotics or for food production, such as yogurts and cheese. It is also relatively easy to manipulate bacteria to do even more useful things we want them to through genetic engineering. Of course, there are also some bacteria that are harmful to humans. Our lab is investigating a molecular approach that may allow us to modify good bacteria or selectively target harmful ones for destruction. The Griffin lab has recently demonstrated that a cell-penetrating molecule called TAT-CaM, developed in the lab of Dr. Jonathan McMurray at 石榴直播 for mammalian cells, can be used to deliver cargo proteins into eukaryotic fungal cells. We want to now determine if this molecule can also be used in bacterial cells. We seek to determine the diversity of the cargoes accepted for delivery and the limitations of what can be moved that are both beneficial and toxic. This is of particular importance if this system is to be used for industrial and biotechnology processes as well as for the potential therapies against medically-relevant bacteria.
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Scholar: Genevieve Doxakis, Biology
Mentor: Martin Hudson
How to make a brain in three easy steps
The Hudson lab at 石榴直播 is broadly interested in: (1) understanding
how cells in the body become neurons; and (2) how neurons connect to one another to
make neural circuits and how those circuits control an animal's behavior. To do this,
we primarily use the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for these studies.
Nematode worms have many advantages for studying the nervous system. First, they have
an invariant cell lineage, which means that whenever a cell divides, we know exactly
what its daughter cells are going to be. Second, they're see-through, which means
that we can actually see neuronal cell bodies and axon bundles without having to dissect
the animals. Third, we can use fluorescent reporter genes to label individual cells
in the worm's brain. Finally, we can use genetics to change the underlying genes required
for nervous system development and function. By creating mutations that change the
fate of a neuron or the shape of an axon, we can figure out which genes are required
for making the nervous system and how that affects behavior. Is this relevant to humans
and human neurological disorders? Oh yes! The genes required for shaping the worm's
nervous system are the same genes required to shape the human nervous system. As such,
we can look at the worm version of human disease genes and understand what the consequences
are for mutating that particular gene and how it affects nervous system development
and function. We have two main projects on-going in the lab. The first one is to examine
a class of proteins called transcription factors to figure out how they affect whether
a cell becomes a neuron or something else. Second, we are examining how sensory neural
circuits connect together, and whether defects in nervous system connectivity lead
to behavioral defects.
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Scholar: Isabel Ouko, Mathematics
Mentor: Glenn Young
Environmental Impact on Decision Making in Ecological Communities
Evolutionary game theory (EGT) is a mathematical framework through which we can study
decision making in ecological communities. As the name suggests, EGT borrows ideas
at the heart of game theory, which can be very generally defined as the study of decision
making in competitive situations. By considering interactions between individuals
occupying the same ecological niche as games, we can utilize the extensive toolset
offered by classical game theory to understand when these individuals should cooperate
or when they should "defect" as the terminology goes. Researchers have made great
strides over the past 50 years both expanding the mathematical understanding of EGT,
and applying it to study a wide range of biological systems, from bacterial communities
to social vertebrates to cancer cells.
This project will focus on a recent branch of EGT that couples game theoretic decision
making with a simple model of the surrounding environment. These so-called "ecol-evolutionary"
models allow us to study environmental impact on ecological interactions, and helps
address important questions related to environmental uncertainty due to climate change,
over-harvesting or overgrazing, or simply environmental effects of the seasons. Students
will help develop mathematical models, study systems of differential equations both
analytically and using computer software (MATLAB), and possibly study simple stochastic
systems (if interested!).
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