More than 240 undergraduates gathered in Sayles Hall on August 1 and 2 to present the results of their research at the annual Summer Research Symposium sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College.
Forty-one presentations were from undergraduate researchers from the School of Engineering, or were conducted under the guidance of engineering faculty members. Four more research posters were presented from students who attend other universities, but were supported in summer research by Brown engineering faculty. Many of the Brown projects were supported by Brown's Karen T. Romer SPRINT/Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRAs).
Brown’s Associate Dean of the College for Undergraduate Research and Inclusive Science, Oludurotimi Adetunji, opened the symposium Thursday by addressing the participants who had filled Sayles Hall with their poster presentations. “Your dedication and passion for research are truly to be commended. May this symposium inspire you to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge and to raise the transformative power of research in our pursuit of a just and peaceful future.”
Oren Van Allen ’26, a design engineering concentrator, said, “Through the UTRA program this summer, I have developed meaningful mentorship relationships with graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. These connections have not only broadened my perspective but also illuminated potential career pathways I might pursue after my undergraduate studies."
“Completing this summer research project within the Shukla Lab has been extremely rewarding,” added biomedical engineering concentrator Julia Patterson ’26. “It has allowed me to engage deeply with the scientific process, learning firsthand about the iterative nature of experiments. I gained practical skills in designing and conducting experiments as well as analyzing and interpreting data. This experience solidified my desire to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and continue biomaterials research.”
Anand Advani ’26 (applied math, computer science) presented the poster “Comparison of decoding methods for an intracortical Brain-Computer Interface.” Advani was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA and mentored by L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering Leigh Hochberg.
Elaine I. Savage Professor of Engineering Anita Shukla advised Jamiley Avila ’27 (molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry) on research titled “Effect of lipid nanoparticle composition on metabolic reprogramming of macrophages.” Avila was supported by the Presidential Scholars Program.
Mina Bahadori ’26 (materials science and engineering) presented the poster “Revealing arctic sea ice dynamics under cyclones using numerical simulations.” Bahadori was advised by Postdoctoral Research Associate Minki Kim and Senior Research Associate Daniel Watkins, and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Alice Cannon ’26 (mechanical engineering, music) presented the research “Wind turbine performance under turbulence using fractal based turbulence grids,” mentored by Professor Kenny Breuer. Cannon was awarded a SPRINT|UTRA.
Shayaan Chaudhary ’26 (biomedical engineering) was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA and presented research on “Light sheet optical tweezers as a force transducer for biological tissues.” Chaudhary was advised by Senior Associate Dean and Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor Kimani Toussaint.
Daniel Cheong ’27 (neuroscience, biomedical engineering) presented the poster “Effect of tissue-specific knockout of SLC13A5 on sleep patterns and epileptiform activity.” He was advised by the Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual and Associate Professor of Neurology Judy Liu, and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Richard Cheng ’28 (computer engineering) presented the research “Toward neural control of a wearable soft robotic arm using an intracortical Brain-Computer Interface.” Cheng’s work was advised by L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering Leigh Hochberg and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Diego Delgado ’26 (mechanical engineering) was advised by Assistant Professor Monica Martinez Wilhelmus and Senior Research Associate Nils Tack. He was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA to present the poster “Building a new generation of bioinspired underwater vehicles employing metachronal propulsion.”
Dalia Heikal ’26 (biomedical engineering) was advised by Associate Professor Kareen Coulombe and Ph.D. student Mark Daley on “Investigating the Dynamic Response of Human IPSC Cardiac Microtissues to Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity.” Heikal was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Emilia Herdes ’25 (biomedical engineering) presented the poster “Development of an automated microRNA detection system for early cancer diagnosis” She was advised by Professor Anubhav Tripathi and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Mia Kamisato ’27 (biomedical engineering) and Angelina Clark ’25 (biomedical engineering) worked together to present the poster “Self-healing flexible sensors for health monitoring.” The project was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA, and advised by Associate Professor Vikas Srivastava.
Damir Kulzhanov ’25 (computer engineering) presented the poster “Integration of the Redis key-value database with the embedded system for iBCI applications.” Assistant Professor of Engineering (Research) John Simeral advised the research, which was awarded a SPRINT|UTRA.
Heon Lee ’26 (computer science and mathematics) was awarded a SPRINT|UTRA and presented the poster “Symmetries and Fixed Points of Iterated Linear Optimization on the Elliptope.” He was advised by Professor Pedro Felzenszwalb.
Xavier Lee ’25 (electrical engineering) worked with Associate Professor David Borton on the poster “Benchtop and in-vivo evaluation of xDev: A software-defined neurotechnology development platform.” The work was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Zhuoyang Lyu ’25 (computer science, mathematics) presented the poster “Understanding cellular migration patterns using deep attention model.” Lyu was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA, and advised by Associate Professor Ian Wong.
Yareli Macias-Sanchez ’25 (biomedical engineering) and Campbell Thomas ’25 (biomedical engineering and computer science) were advised by Senior Associate Dean and Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor Kimani Toussaint and Physics Ph.D. student Rutendo Jakachira on the presentation “PPG device development for accurate blood oxygen measurement across skin tones.” The research was funded by a Research Assistantship in Biomedical Sciences.
Maya Magavi ’25 (computer science) presented the poster “Detecting sleep deprivation in working environments.” She was mentored by Assistant Professor (Research) Marissa Gray, and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
The poster “Current advancements in hydrogel-based immunotherapeutic drug delivery for targeting tumor microenvironments” was presented by Chigozie Manu ’26 (chemical engineering). Manu was advised by Associate Professor Vikas Srivastava and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
“Quantum chemical effects at the iron electrode in an iron-air battery” was presented by Keyan O’Donnell ’25 (chemical engineering). O’Donnell was advised by Associate Professor Andrew Peterson and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Jay O'Neill ’26 (electrical engineering) presented the poster “Limiting the impact of ionic strength and pH on graphene oxide-based films as a novel controlled release system.” O’Neill was advised by Professor Robert Hurt and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Julia Patterson ’26 (biomedical engineering) presented the poster “Polymer-coated gelatin nanoparticles as an antibiotic-free treatment for staphylococcus epidermidis infections.” She was mentored by Elaine I. Savage Professor of Engineering Anita Shukla and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Adelaide Poulson ’26 (health and human biology) presented the poster “Development of a 3D in vitro model of ovarian cancer and design of lipid nanoparticles for drug delivery into solid tumors.” Poulson was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA and was mentored by Assistant Professor Theresa Raimondo.
Timothy Pyon ’25 (neuroscience, computer science) presented “Selective lower extremity muscle activation with epidural electrical stimulation in individuals with spinal cord injury.” Pyon was advised by Associate Professor David Borton and supported by the Borton Lab.
Santiago Romo ’26 (electrical engineering) was advised by Professor Kenny Breuer to present the poster “Aerodynamic loads and power optimization in ornithopter flight: Insights from varying wingbeat frequency, pitch angle, and wind speed.” Romo was supported by the Presidential Scholars Program.
“Optimization of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for therapeutic RNA delivery to cancer cells” was presented by Lizeth Sanchez ’25 (biomedical engineering). Sanchez was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA and advised by Assistant Professor Theresa Raimondo.
Roselyn Santana ’27 (mechanical engineering) and Samantha Zhang ’27 (neuroscience) were awarded a SPRINT|UTRA, and presented the poster “The effect of SETD2 pathogenic variants on stem cell pluripotency and morphology in autism spectrum disorder.” They were advised by Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry Sofia Lizarraga.
Emma Slaght ’26 (mechanical engineering) and Julia Granato ’25 (engineering physics, computer science) presented “Simultaneous localization and mapping in the context of humanitarian demining.” The team was advised by Professor of Engineering and Computer Science Nora Ayanian, and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Working with Elaine I. Savage Professor Anita Shukla, Jared Sonkin ’26 (biomedical engineering) presented a poster titled “Development of an esterase-responsive hydrogel for treatment of topical wound infections.” Sonkin was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Clara Tandar ’25 (bioengineering, international and public affairs) was advised by Associate Professor Eric Darling and presented the research “Laboratory medicine cell-like microparticles with tunable mechanochemical properties for drug delivery systems.” She was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Oren Van Allen ’26 (design engineering) presented the research “Polymer addition for improved removal of short-chain PFAS by dissolved air flotation,” which was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA. He was mentored by 250th Anniversary Professor of Engineering Kurt Pennell.
Alan Wang ’27 (computational and applied mathematics) was advised by Assistant Professor Monica Martinez Wilhelmus and Senior Research Associate Daniel Watkins. He presented the poster “Uncertainty quantification for satellite observations of sea ice motion,” and was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Alex Wang ’27 (engineering) teamed with Ph.D. student Anoop Kiran (fluids and thermal sciences) to present “The effect of ground proximity in dynamic quadrotor flight.” Wang’s work was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA and Professor Kenny Breuer advised the project.
Fan Ze Wang ’26 (biomedical engineering) was awarded a Royce Fellowship for summer research and presented his work on “Instrumentation design for remote activation of retinal neurons in rabbits.” Associate Professor Jonghwan Lee advised.
Ray Wu ’27 (electrical engineering) was supported by a Space Grant/NASA and a SPRINT|UTRA to present the poster “3-Axis helmholtz cage for spacecraft attitude determination.” He was mentored by Adjunct Associate Professor Rick Fleeter.
Lingwen Zhang ’25 (electrical engineering) presented a poster titled “Fabrication of a Ge quantum dot photodetector prototype on an oxide-covered Si wafer.” He was advised by Professor Alexander Zaslavsky and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Ruiyang Zhu ’26 (biomedical engineering) was advised by Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Professor Thomas Roberts and presented the poster “Soleus muscle swelling in cold temperatures.” Zhu was supported by a SPRINT|UTRA.
Salena Zhu ’27 (biomedical engineering) was advised by Michael G. Ehrlich, MD Professor of Orthopedic Research Qian Chen and supported by a SPRINT|UTRA. Zhu’s poster was titled “Investigating the sex dimorphism in osteoarthritis using a transgenic mouse model.”
Sorensen Family Dean and Professor of Engineering Tejal Desai, Postdoctoral Research Associate Deblin Jana, Associate Professor Nora Ayanian, Associate Professor Dan Harris, Associate Professor Kareen Coulombe and graduate student Mark Daley also mentored students from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Rhode Island, Minerva University and Morehouse College in projects. These were collaborations through the University's Leadership Alliance through its Summer Research – Early Identification Program, which helps guide outstanding students to Brown graduate programs. The results of this summer research were presented at the symposium as well.