Ben Bazarsuren | Designing Structural Members Using Bio-Inspired Design Primitives | Mechanical Engineering | Paris Von Lockette

A.J. Boyd | Creating Table-top Narrations from Fine-tuned Large Language Models | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Lara Martin

Jalen Brown | Addressing Inefficiencies in Campus Services Through the Development of a Smart Campus Application | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Roberto Yus

Adah Harding | Platelet Circulatory Age and Traction Force Generation | Mechanical Engineering | Molly Mollica

Jasmine Ives | Polychlorinated Biphenyl Monitoring in Maryland Fish | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Upal Ghosh

Meredith Morse | Characterizing the Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Library | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Yazlin Moujalled | Smart Orchard Management: Leveraging Computer Vision for Advanced Species Classification | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Pratik Chaudhari

Gerald Ndawula | Knowledge-Infused Learning for Developing a Mental Health Diagnostic Copilot in Healthcare Systems | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Manas Gaur

Leah Prince | Analyzing Multivariate Time Series Amalgams of Physiological Data in ICUs for Sepsis in Adults | Information Systems |Patricia Ordóñez

Arianna Richardson | Virtual Reality's Role in Understanding Factors Affecting Education | Information Systems | Anita Komlodi

Noah Santiago | Beyond IP Masking: How Digital Fingerprinting Defeats VPN Privacy Obscurity | Information Systems | Bill Ryan

Jessica Slaughter | Suite of Bioinformatic-Analysis Apps for Better Understanding Dynamic Omics Data | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Joy Ware | Cultural Dimensions Represented in Panama | Information Systems | Sidas Saulynas

Zorah Williams | Utilizing Manganese-Oxide as an Electrode Material for Aqueous Zn-ion Batteries | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Ozgur Capraz

Ariel Wilson-Gray | Production of Extracellular Vesicles From Mammalian Cells Modulated by a Biomimetic Surface | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Jorge Almodovar

Michael Ack | Impact of E-Cigarette Aerosol Exposure on the Morphology of the Anterior and Posterior Olfactory Epithelium | Biological Sciences | Weihong Lin

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 1

Suzi Agyako-Wiredu | Dendronized Gold Nanorattles Loaded with Doxorubicin as a Drug Delivery Platform | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Marie-Christine Daniel

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 10:00-11:00 | POSTER 4

Kiah Alabi | The Role of RWP-RK Transcription Factors in the Evolution of Cell Differentiation in Volvox Carteri | Biological Sciences | Stephen Miller

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 4

Kafui Ameko | BEYOND THE CLOUDS: POTENTIAL IMPACT OF E-CIGARETTE AEROSOL EXPOSURE ON THE MOUSE OLFACTORY SYSTEM | Biological Sciences | Weihong Lin

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 2

Daniel Amon-Kotey | Evaluating User Interactions with AI Creative Tools | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Richard Souvenir

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 10:00-11:00 | POSTER 8

Ajeetha Arudchandran | Investigating the Mechanisms underlying Convergence of the neural Folds | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

Oral Presentation | UC 204 | 10:40-10:55

Ben Bazarsuren | Designing Structural Members Using Bio-Inspired Design Primitives | Mechanical Engineering | Paris Von Lockette

Oral Presentation | UC 204 | 2:00-2:15

Nicholas Bartolomeo | Evaluating the Effects of Hurricanes on Rent Affordability Across Florida | Mathematics and Statistics | Kelsea Best

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 9

Rusham Bhatt | Standardizing Genome Sequencing Analysis for Detection and Interpretation of Genetic Variants in M. Tuberculosis | Bioinformatics and Computational Biology | Maha Farhat

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 11

Brianna Byrd | Characterizing the Behavioral Role of GPR155 in a Knockout Mouse Model | Biological Sciences | Laurie Sutton

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 10:00-11:00 | POSTER 20

Jalene Campbell | Investigating the Effectiveness of Estradiol Replacement Methods | Biological Sciences | Tara LeGates

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 10:00-11:00 | POSTER 22

Kevin Carbajal Rodriguez | Shortcuts to Adiabaticity in a System of Two Linearly Coupled Quantum Harmonic Oscillators | Physics | Sebastian Deffner

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 15

Mufaro Chiduza | Investigating the Impact of E-cigarette Exposure on Olfactory Guided Behavior and Cognitive Performance in Mice | Biological Sciences | Weihong Lin

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 27

Kendall Clark | Investigating Tissue-Specific Gene Upregulation in Zebrafish Embryos Under Hypoxia | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 28

Darrell Davis | Age Related Changes in Aromatase Expression in the Ventromedial PrefrontalCortex, Claustrum, and Nucleus Accumbens | Biological Sciences | Todd Gould

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 10:00-11:00 | POSTER 32

Joshua Dayie | Engineering CRBN for Improved Assay and Structural Enablement Using DeNovo Protein Scaffolds | Engineering CRBN for Improved Assay and Structural Enablement Using DeNovo Protein Scaffolds |Nicole LaRonde

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 33

Nathan Dayie | Filter Bank Common Spatial Pattern on Motor Imagery EEG Data | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Ramana Vinjamuri

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 34

Shenali De Silva | RNA SEQ Screen Reveals a Subset of Tailbud Genes Expressed in the Posterior Tail Bud | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 21

Jeremiah Destry | The Effect of Temperature on Asexual Reproduction in Hydra Vulgaris | Biological Sciences | Aide Macias-Muñoz

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 310 | 9:20-9:35

Olivia Edoigiawerie | Examining Childhood Adversity, Trauma Exposure, and Protective Factors in Caregivers of Infants | Psychology | Kay Connors

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 40

Evalynn Ellison | Ultrasound-Responsive Phospholipid-Coated Microbubbles for Controlled Drug Delivery Across Mucosa | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Canan Dagdeviren

Oral Presentation | UC 310 | 3:00-3:15

Caly Ferguson | Using Computational Simulations to Inform Mutagenesis in Connexin Proteins | Mechanical Engineering | Kafui Dzirasa

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 24

 Raine Gibson | Leveraging Longitudinal Datasets to Improve Genetic Associations with Alcohol Use | Biological Sciences | Luke M. Evans

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 28

Elias Gilotte | Uncovering the Relationship Between Oxygen Availability and Energy Sources in Cell-free Protein Synthesis | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Govind Rao

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 29

Lily Handwerger | WNT Signaling Regulators in Cell Lines Derived from a Genetically Engineered Mouse Model of Aggressive Prostate Cancer | Biological Sciences | Charles Bieberich

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 49

Lesley Hernandez | Optimization of In-Vitro Capping in the Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Michael Summers

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 1:00-2:00 | POSTER 40

Jessica Hoffman | Characterizing the Role of Zinc Finger Protein 217 in Ovarian Carcinogenesis | Biological Sciences | Achuth Padmanabhan

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 204 | 11:20-11:35

Aeon Kaplowitz | Exploring Linker Functionalization in Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for Curcumin Encapsulation and Release | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Lisa Kelly

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 47

Aditi Katragunta | N-MYC Downstream Regulated Gene 1A, a Candidate Generalist Stress Protein That Responds to Hypoxia and Salinity Changes | Biological Sciences

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 48

Oluwaseun Kintunde | Evaluating the Function of Set6 in Proteostasis | Biological Sciences | Erin Green

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 60

Tonderai Kodzwa | Effect of Temperature on Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Ozgur Capraz

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 10:00-11:00 | Poster 61

Jacob Lombardo | Next-Generation Scalable and Environmentally Friendly MXene-Tetrahedrite Flexible Thermoelectric Generators | Mechanical Engineering | Deepa Madan

Oral Presentation | UC 204 | 9:20-9:35

Rileigh Mansfield | Parameter Identifiability, Sensitivity, and Estimation for a Cholera Model | Mathematics and Statistics | Kathleen Hoffman

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 204 | 1:40-1:55

Emmanuel Mekasha | Exploring Mutational Resilience of Transcription Factor Binding Site Specificity Mechanisms | Bioinformatics and Computational Biology | Ivan Erill

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 59

Deeya Mistry | Sex Differences in Stress Susceptibility and Synaptic Protein Expression | Biological Sciences | Tara LeGates

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 204 | 2:20-2:35

Jackson Moore | Diurnal Cycle of Cloud Cover in the Amazon Rainforest from an All-sky Imager | Physics | Henrique Barbosa

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 1:00-2:00 | Poster 59

Yazlin Moujalled | Smart Orchard Management: Leveraging Computer Vision for Advanced Species Classification | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Pratik Chaudhari

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 2

Lea-Pearl Njei | Muscarinic Receptor Regulation of Human Colon Cancer Cell Microtentacle Formation | Biological Sciences | Jean-Pierre Raufman

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 6

Munachiso Nkeonye-Mbaekwe | Identifying Ectopic Synapses in Neuromuscular Junctions of Drosophila Larvae with Candidate Autism Genes Manipulations | Biological Sciences | Fernando Vonhoff

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 7

Asantewaa Nyanteh | Microheater Arrays to Modulate Stiffness for Dynamically Turnable Friction | Mechanical Engineering | Kevin Turner

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 10

Emmanuel Omole | Investigating MCB-613 as a Post-Translational Regulator of USP15 in Ovarian Cancer Cells | Biological Sciences | Achuth Padmanabhan

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 12

Brandon Onochie | SMYD3 Inhibition Used to Identify and Block Main Metastatic Pathways Within Prostate Cancer | Biological Sciences | Erin Green

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 12

Gabriel Otubu | Ndrg1b Regulates N-cadherin Trafficking in Response to Hypoxia | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 204 | 10:20-10:35

Daisy Parry | Determining a Role for The MicroRNA, Bereft, During Border Cell Migration | Biological Sciences | Michelle Starz-Gaiano

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 15

Tithi Prajapati | Noninvasive Wearable Device for Transcutaneous CO2 Based Early Detection of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Venkatesh Srinivasan

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 15

Matthew Quintanilla | Characterization of Transmembrane Transporters Linked to Cell Wall Stress Response | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 16

Aliyyah Roberson | Novel Dual-mode Fluorescence and Phosphorescence Probes for Ratiometric in Vivo Oxygen Sensing | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Marcin Ptaszek

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 20

Ariana Rodriguez | Investigating the Interaction Between HIV-1 RRE S1A, Rev, and Gag: Binding Mechanisms at the Purine-Rich Bulge | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Michael Summers

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 2:30-3:30 | POSTER 21

Turibius Rozario | UMBC Multidisciplinary Capstone: Design and Development of an Autonomous Fixed-Wing UAV For Long-Range Payload Delivery | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | E.F. Charles LaBerge

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 22

Gia Oriana Santos | LLM-Assisted IoT Knowledge Graph | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Roberto Yus

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 24

Sebastian Seda | Durable & Flexible Chitosan-Based Polymer Gel Electrolyte for Rechargeable Zinc Manganese Dioxide | Mechanical Engineering | Deepa Madan

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 27

Nigel Seymour | A Data-Informed Model of Dengue Transmission | Mathematics and Statistics | Kathleen Hoffman |

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 28

Mesha Shajahan | Optimizing Cell-Free Biomanufacturing to Facilitate Personalized Immunotherapy Production in Clinical Settings | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Govind Rao

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 2:30-3:30 | POSTER 25

Evan Sheldon | Periodic Solutions and Resonance in Wave-Heat Systems | Mathematics and Statistics | Justin Webster

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 31

Felix Siewe | Investigating Hypoxia Induced Sensory Hair Cell Regeneration in Zebrafish Neuromast | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 29

Jessica Slaughter | Suite of Bioinformatic-Analysis Apps for Better Understanding Dynamic Omics Data | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 33 

Kieran Soliday | Optimized INeuron Reprogramming from Dermal Fibroblasts for Investigating Pathogenic Variants in Rare CNS Diseases | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | May Christine Malicdan

ORAL PRESENTATION | UC 310 | 9:40-9:55

Marelen Soto | Multi-Dimensional Mural: A Live Performance of Art, Sound, and Movement | Biological Sciences | Weihong Lin

AUDIO-VISUAL EXHIBIT | UC BALLROOM STAGE | 2:00-2:30

Aryan Srivastava | Analyzing the Conservation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Rev Response Element Through a Computational Approach | Michael Summers

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 11:00-12:00 | POSTER 35

Greeshma Tarimala | Using Gene Editing and Fluorescent Microscopy to Characterize the PrkA Kinase in Aspergillus Nidulans | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 35

Ayeoritse Tuedon | Evaluating Cell Viability in a 3D Liver Model Constructed With Thiol-Modified Hydrogels | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Chengpeng Chen

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 39

Pavan Umashankar | Characterizing the Role of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 15 (MAPK15) in Ovarian Cancer | Biological Sciences | Achuth Padmanabhan

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 2:30-3:30 | POSTER 40

Sydnee Vance | Identifying Areas of Convergence Between Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampal Pathways in the Nucleus Accumbens | Biological Sciences | Tara LeGates

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 2:30-3:30 | POSTER 41

Julia Van Der Marel | Monitoring of NADH Concentrations in Cell-Free Systems | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Govind Rao

POSTER PRESENTATION | UC BALLROOM | 11:00-12:00 | POSTER 40

Christian Verastegui | Void Spot Assays as a Noninvasive Method for Detecting Prostate Inflammation in a Mouse Model of CP/CPPS | Biological Sciences | Charles Bieberich

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 45

Zorah Williams | Utilizing Manganese-Oxide as an Electrode Material for Aqueous Zn-ion Batteries | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Ozgur Capraz

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 44

Ariel Wilson-Gray | Production of Extracellular Vesicles from Mammalian Cells Modulated by a Biomimetic Surface | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Jorge Almodavar

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 11:00-12:00 | Poster 45

Briana Young | Gadd45ba, a Regulator of Blood Cell Production in Response to Anoxia | Biological Sciences | Rachel Brewster

Oral Presentation | UC 204 | 10:00-10:15

Nathan Zekarias | Predicting Social Determinants of Health Using Machine Learning on Environmental Data | Computer Science and Electrical Engineering | Marzyeh Ghassemi

Poster Presentation | UC Ballroom | 2:30-3:30 | Poster 52

Reposted from UMBC News: https://umbc.edu/quick-posts/students-celebrate-engineering-and-computing-week-with-fun-and-networking/

A multidisciplinary team of UMBC researchers was recently awarded $3.8 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop new computational methods for assessing the feasibility of scientific claims. The project is motivated by the speed and volume of new developments in science and the need for tools to help evaluate the soundness of new claims.

“Some scientific claims are peer reviewed by independent experts, but others, such as from company press releases, or papers posted to pre-prints sites, are not,” says Frank Ferraro, an associate professor of computer science and lead researcher on the award. And even when science is peer-reviewed, there can still be errors, Ferraro notes. For example, recent research highlighting the danger of flame retardant chemicals leaching from black plastic into food was widely reported on, before it was discovered that an error in the paper led to a significant overstating of the exposure risk. 

An AI science assistant 

The idea of an AI assistant specifically designed to tackle complex research questions has been catching on recently. OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, recently debuted their “DeepResearch” tool, which the company says can use reasoning to synthesize large amounts of online information and complete multi-step research tasks.

Ferraro says the tool he and his colleagues hope to develop should stand-out from other approaches by employing a strongly iterative process, necessary to really take apart and analyze claims. The tool will break down a scientific claim into constituent sub-claims, and apply a wide range of evidence and reasoning approaches to assess the feasibility of each one. 

The team, which includes UMBC faculty Tejas Gokhale, computer science and electrical engineering, and Tyler Josephson, chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, as well as colleagues from Stony Brook University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Cambridge, will develop and test the tool on three leading areas of scientific research: materials science, AI, and quantum computing.

“It’s a little meta that the AI will be analyzing AI,” Ferraro says. More than 20 UMBC undergrads, grad students, and post-docs will take part in the project. “They’ll get opportunities to network with peers on a highly relevant topic,” Ferraro says. “They’ll be helping guide the national conversation on these issues.”

Reposted from UMBC News: https://umbc.edu/quick-posts/students-celebrate-engineering-and-computing-week-with-fun-and-networking/

Where can UMBC engineering and computing students mingle with friends and mentors over sweet treats, test their knowledge and design skills in friendly competition, and network with potential employers? If it’s February, the answer is the annual Engineering and Computing Week, a traditional celebration of technology, held each year at UMBC to coincide with National Engineers Week. 

The UMBC chapter of the engineering honors society Tau Beta Pi, in collaboration with various student engineering organizations on campus, organizes the week of activities each year. This year, the line-up of events featured a mix of social activities, such as painting and crafting, presentations from student organizations, and chances for teams to compete in games testing engineering knowledge and design skills.

UMBC chapters of the Information Systems Security Association, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, Engineers without Borders, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers all helped organize sessions. UMBC CyberDawgs, a group of UMBC students who share a common interest in cybersecurity, also participated. 

Students could also join faculty, staff, and alumni from the College of Engineering and Information Technology at an evening reception at the Guinness Brewery near UMBC to socialize and network.

“I think the biggest success from the week was the great turnout and engagement we got from the students,” says August Phelps, a mechanical engineering senior and vice president of the UMBC chapter of Tau Beta Pi.

He says the event showcases the wide variety of engineering-focused student organizations at UMBC, which hold events throughout the year and offer great opportunities for students to develop leadership skills and form lasting connections with their peers. 

“I hope attendees left feeling more connected as a community,” he says.