Engineering students receive fall UCARE grants for undergraduate research

Fifty-two students from the College of Engineering are among the 200 undergraduates awarded stipends by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to participate in research with a faculty mentor this fall.

Nebraska’s Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences Program (UCARE) supports undergraduates to work with faculty mentors in research or creative activities. Students receive stipends of $3,600 to engage in intensive research or creative activity for 10 hours per week. The students’ projects span academic disciplines including engineering, chemistry, modern languages and literatures, psychology, art and art history, architecture, special education, and fisheries and wildlife.

UCARE participants will present posters on their research and creative activities during Student Research Days, April 15-16, at the Nebraska Union. For more information on undergraduate research at Nebraska, click here.

Following is a list of Nebraska Engineering students by hometown who received fall UCARE awards, with their year in school, academic major(s) and project title.

Nebraska

Auburn

• Joshua Barker, senior, electrical engineering, “Hybrid Nanophotonic Materials Based on Single Photon Emitters in Hexagonal Boron Nitride.”

Blair

• Peter Lux, junior, mechanical engineering, “Polydopamine Coating of Nanoparticles for Increased Physical Properties in Liquid Metal.”

Elkhorn

• Jed Fuller, sophomore, architectural engineering, “Implications of Community Data Availability for Seismic Resilience Quantification for Informed-Decision Making.”
• Aiden Gnuse, junior, chemical engineering, “Structural Basis for the ResR-Dependent Transcriptional Regulation in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.”
• Sam Peterson, junior, chemical engineering, “Non-Alkaline Electrolytes for Zinc-Air Batteries.”

Grand Island

• Kenny Morales, sophomore, software engineering, “LifelineLinks: Nurturing Connections, Breaking Loneliness — An AI-Powered Journey into Senior Social Well-Being.”

Gretna

• Luke Schwaninger, junior, mechanical engineering, “Osteocyte Lacunar Properties in Postmenopausal Women Diagnosed With Long-Term Type 1 Diabetes.”

Hastings

• Joanne Vuong, sophomore, chemical engineering, “Identifying the Role of Parent-Child Interaction on Emotional Regulation.”

Kearney

• Hayden Wulf, senior, civil engineering, “Research in the Formation of Engineers Evidencing Epidemic Change in engineering Education.”

Lincoln

• Yasir Almotawa, junior, computer science, “Development of Web Application for Transcriptome Assembly Analysis and Improvement of Next-Generation Assembly Methods.”
• Jacob Ashman, junior, computer engineering, “Identifying Risk and Disease Markers for Delirium”
• James Cover, junior, biological systems engineering, “Learning Management System Feature Use Before, During and After a Disruption to Learning A Comparison of Two engineering Departments.”
• Tina Duong, senior, speech-language pathology, “Perspectives and First Impressions of Using Generative AI by Undergraduate Communication and Sciences Disorders Students.”
• Olivia Farmen, senior, biological systems engineering, “Analyzing the Effects of Breathing on Functional Transcranial Doppler Data with Linear Models.”
• Avery Florea, junior, biological systems engineering, “Wearable Ultrasound Device for Monitoring Blood Flow in the Middle Cerebral Artery.”
• Aden Hester, senior, computer science, “Testing and Implementing the CVM Algorithm Against Other Industry Standard Algorithms of Size Estimation.”
• Linh Hua, senior, chemical engineering, “Role of SRSF2 RRM C-terminal Residues in 7SK snRNA Recognition.”
• Alaa Ismail, junior, computer science, “Equitable Access to Civil Justice: Research Project.”
• Kumar Manchikanti, senior, computer science, “Differences in Microaggressions, Sense of Belonging and Self-Efficacy in Undergraduate Female Students Across Software engineering and Social Sciences.”
• Chloe Mann, junior, civil engineering, “First-Generation engineering Students: Passion vs. Stability.”
• Avery Penn, senior, computer science, “Visualization for Explanations in Decision Support.”
• Braxton Peters, junior, mechanical engineering, “The Effect of Housing Shape on the Vibration Mitigation Performance of a Nonlinear Vibration Absorber.”
• Aram Pirali, sophomore, chemical engineering, “Fabrication of van der Waals Material Heterostructures with Emergent Quantum Transport Phenomena.”
• Mayank Sharma, sophomore, computer science, “engineering a Graph-Based Genome Visualizer for Viral Species.”
• Elizabeth Westfahl, junior, electrical engineering, “Evaluation and Comparison of Multiomics Data Integration Using Probabilistic Graphs and Machine Learning.”

Omaha:

• Bruce Baker, junior, chemical engineering, “Hydrophobic Thin Films and Surface Texturing for Improved Anti-Icing.”
• Chayse Comer, sophomore, mechanical engineering, “Micro/Nanoscale Thermionic Energy Conversion Measurement System.”
• Gracie Kerr, senior, mathematics, “Research in the Formation of Engineers: Evidencing Epidemic Change in engineering Education.”
• Gael Perez Alvarez, junior, electrical engineering, “Magneto-Resistive Sensors for Potential Space Applications.”
• Cameron Scheet, sophomore, software engineering, “Visualization for Explanations in Decision Support.”
• Jordan Taylor, junior, pre-mechanical engineering, “Enhancing Predictive Accuracy in Tornado Community Resilience Models Through Hindcasting and Post-Event Reconnaissance Data Analysis.”
• James Thomson, sophomore, electrical engineering, “Development of a Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing System for Real Time Quantification of Reactive Species.”
• Sara Wallace, senior, biological systems engineering, “Effect of Thioether and Thiol-Based Nanoparticle Treatment on the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE Pathway in Traumatic Brain Injury.”
• Alyssa Waller, senior, biological systems engineering, “In Vitro Modeling and Investigation of Glioblastoma Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability.”
• Joshua Wichman, junior, mechanical engineering, “Selective Stretch Loading Mechanotransduction Device for Cancer Cell Metastasis.”
• Carston Wiebe, sophomore, computer engineering, “Visualization for Explanations in Decision Support.”

Papillion

• Ethan Stowell, junior, computer science, “Geophysical Mapping and Tectonic Evolution of the Kolbeinsey Ridge.”

Sidney

• Daniel Bashtovoi, junior, biological systems engineering, “Wearable Ultrasound Device for Monitoring Blood Flow in the Middle Cerebral Artery.”

Elsewhere

Maple Grove, Minnesota

• Michael Dejournett, junior, software engineering, “Assessing the Accuracy of Research-Grade and Webcam-Based Eye Trackers for Different Tasks.”

Edmond, Oklahoma

• Drew Medina, sophomore, computer science, “Testing and Implementing the CVM Algorithm Against Other Industry Standard Algorithms of Size Estimation.”

Dresher, Pennsylvania

• Peyton Kullmann, senior, mechanical engineering, “Improvement of Surgical Stapler for Minimally Invasive Colorectal Resection.”

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

• Taetum Baxa, junior, biological systems engineering, “Characterizing the Effect of Pulse Frequency on Endothelial Cell Phenotype Under Constant Shear Stress.”
• Sam Goddard, senior, electrical engineering, “Evaluation and Comparison of Multiomics Data Integration Using Probabilistic Graphs and Machine Learning.”
• Truman Stoller, senior, mechanical engineering, “Thermal Management of Hotspots in Electronics via Pool Boiling With a Dielectric in Dually Functionalized Silicon for Energy Efficiency Enhancement.”

McKinney, Texas

• Emily Fitzpatrick, senior, mechanical engineering, “Improving Retention in engineering: Understanding How engineering Students' Perspectives Influence Their Experience in Statics.”
• Geoffrey Sanderson, junior, architectural engineering, “Post-Earthquake Functionality Assessment of Structural and Non-Structural Components in Instrumented Buildings:A Model-Data Fusion Approach.”

Trophy Club, Texas

• Faith Peterson, sophomore, mechanical engineering, “Atomic Force Microscopy of Nanostructured Materials.”

Paulinia, Brazil

• Francisco Tramonte Bisneto, senior, mechanical engineering, “Effect of Laser-Processed Surfaces on Wetting, Crystallization and Morphology of Polymers.”

Yueqing, China

• Haoze Zheng, junior, computer science, “Sequence Motif Generator by Machine Learning on Phosphorylated Proteins.”

Bogota, Colombia

• Sofi Morales, senior, biological systems engineering, “Quantification of Nitric Oxide Near Mitochondria for Healthy and Diseased Cells.”

Mumbai, India

• Ved Patel, junior, biological systems engineering, “The Impact of Obesity on Satellite Cells Action in the Skeletal Muscle.”

Thanh Hoa, Vietnam

• Linh Khanh Truong, senior, computer science, “Explore the Interpretability for Graph-Based Deep Learning Models in Gene Regulation.