Nearly 200 undergraduates gathered in Sayles Hall on August 6 and 7 to present the results of their research at the annual Summer Research Symposium sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College. More than 20 of the posters were from undergraduate researchers from the School of Engineering or were conducted under the guidance of engineering faculty members. Many of the projects are supported by Brown's Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRAs).
Engineering student presentations included:
Christina Andrews '17 (biomedical engineering) worked with Professor Christian Franck and presented a poster entitled, "Immunostaining To Detect Fibronectin Stripes on Polyacrylamide Hydrogels". Andrews received an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA).
Working with faculty mentor Domenico Pacifici, Kevin Argueta '17 (electrical engineering) presented his research on "Fabrication of Quasiperiodic Plasmonic Concentrators Using Nanoimprint Lithography". He received an UTRA.
Sarah Cowles '17 (chemical and biochemical engineering), Rebecca Lorick '18, Aryssa Medina '16 (mechanical engineering) and Ken Volkman '16 (mechanical engineering) conducted research with faculty mentors Jennifer Franck and Shreyas Mandre and presented a poster entitled, "Leading Edge Hydrokinetic Tidal Energy Prototype Assembly". Cowles and Lorick were supported by the Leading Edge Engineering Team, while Medina and Volkman both received Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRA).
Benjamin Ferleger '16 (biomedical engineering) presented a poster entitled, "Embedded System for Neural-based Control of an Autonomous Rover". He received an UTRA and worked with Assistant Professor David Borton.
Sophia Gluskin-Braun '17 (electrical engineering) presented her research on "Spira Engineering Camp: A Study in Mentoring". She worked with faculty mentor Karen Haberstroh and received an UTRA.
Tinotenda Gwisai '17 (biomedical engineering) received an UTRA and worked with Assistant Professor Anita Skukla. Her poster was entitled, "Topical Delivery of Repurposed Anthelmintic Drugs To Combat Wound Infections".
Stephanie Haro '17 (electrical engineering) conducted research with Professor Harvey Silverman and presented a poster entitled, "Detecting Pain vs. Non-Pain Cries in New Born Infants". She received an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA).
Eva Junquera '17 (mechanical engineering), Filip Simeski '17 (mechanical engineering) and Bernardo Ribeiro of Universidade Federal Fluminense worked with faculty mentors Kenny Breuer and Jennifer Franck and presented a poster entitled, "Tidal Energy from an Oscillating Hydropfoil: Experiments, Computations and Entrepreneurship". Junquera and Simeski both received support from UTRAs.
Chet Kilfoyle '17 (electrical engineering) presented his independent research, "A Compact USB-Powered High-Voltage Microfluidic Controller." He worked under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jacob Rosenstein.
Shababa Matin '17 (biomedical engineering), Maria Paredes '17 (biomedical engineering) and Dalia Ruiz '16 (biomedical engineering) conducted research with Assistant Professor Kareen Coulombe and postdoctoral research associate Fabiola Munarin. Their poster, "Optimization of Growth Factor Release from Alginate Microspheres in 3D Engineered Tissues for Angiogenic Therapy Applications" was supported by an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA).
Hayley McClintock '16 (biomedical engineering) worked with Assistant Professor Ian Wong and received an UTRA. Her poster was entitled, "Patterning 3D Microfluidic Biomaterials".
Samuel Moore '17 (chemical and biochemical engineering) presented his poster on "Explosive and Non-Explosive Modes of Graphite Oxide Thermal Exfoliation and Their Safety Implications". He worked under the guidance of faculty mentor Indrek Kulaots, and received an UTRA.
Matthew Petersen '17 (mechanical engineering) presented his poster, "Mechanical Characterization of Strain-Rate-Dependent Polyurethane Foams". He worked with
Assistant Professors Christian Franck and David Henann and received an UTRA.
Carlos Reyes '17 (electrical engineering) worked with Assistant Professor Jacob Rosenstein and received an UTRA. His poster was entitled, "Electronic Circuits for Dielectric Breakdown Nanopore Sensor Fabrication".
With support from an UTRA and Assistant Professor Ian Wong, Jonathan Rubins '16 (biomedical engineering) presented research on "Morphological Single-Cell Profiling of the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition".
Ryan Saenger '17 (mechanical engineering) worked with Assistant Professor Andrew Peterson and received an UTRA. He presented a poster entitled, "Looped-Oxide Catalysis".
With support from an UTRA, Jaekyung Song '17 (electrical engineering) presented research on "Controlling a Quadcopter Via Camera". His faculty mentor was Professor Allan Bower.
Sarah Syrop '17 (biomedical engineering) was granted an UTRA and worked under the guidance of Assistant Professor David Borton. She presented her poster entitled, "Modeling the Transmission of Electromagnetic Radiation through Radio Frequency Transparent Non-Human Primate Enclosures".
More than half of the students participating in the Summer Research Symposium received support for their research through Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRA). Generous support was also provided through several other programs including: American Physiological Society Fellowship, Brazil Scientific Mobility Program, Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Institute of International Education (IIE), Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Inovation (IMNI), Leading Edge Engineering Team, Linking Internships and Knowledge (LINK) Awards, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU), Rhode Island Hospital, Rhode Island IDeA Network for Excellence in Biomedical Research, Royce Fellows (Swearer Center for Public Service), Space Grant/NASA, Stein-Bellet Foundation, and Summer Research Assistantship in Biomedical Sciences.