Graduate Research Forum Winners

Tuesday, the Pegasus Ballroom was packed with nearly 190 graduate students presenting posters at the Graduate Research Forum. Part of UCF’s Student Research Week, the Research Forum showcases the latest research from students, including cutting-edge technology and discoveries in arts, education, health and science.

Throughout the day, spectators and judges buzzed about the ballroom, connecting with student researchers about their projects and findings.  Congratulations to the eighteen students who were granted awards for their outstanding presentations in each of the categories as follows.

Congratulations to the 2012 Best in Category Graduate Research Forum Winners

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

Jeeyeon Hahm, Education PhD, Hospitality Education Track
Building a Sense of Community Through Annual Meeting and the Influence of Future Intentions
Mentor/Co-author – Deborah Brieter, PhD

EDUCATION

Theresa Becker, Education PhD – Instructional Technology PhD Track
Evaluating Improvisation as a Technique for Training Pre-Service Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms
Mentor – Rebecca Hines, PhD

Paloma Ferreira, Education EdD
The Role of Concept Mapping In Middle School Science Student’s Vocabulary and Comprehension
Mentor – Vicky Zygouris-Coe, PhD

Katie Miller, Education PhD – Exceptional Education PhD Track
Examining Pre-Service Teacher Perception of Response to Intervention Throughout Their Internship Experience
Mentor – Mary Little, PhD
Co-author – Jennifer Oseroff, EdS

ENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE, OPTICS, PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS AND MODELING AND SIMULATION

Tanmay Bera, Materials Science and Engineering PhD
Surface Engineering of Liquid Crystal Droplets for Biosensing Applications
Mentor/Co-author – Jiyu Fang, PhD

William Clark, Mechanical Engineering MSME
Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamic Study by Bench Top Experiment to Improve Mortality Rate with Ventricular Assist Devices
Mentor – Alain Kassab, PhD

Daeha Joung, Physics PhD
Reduction Efficiency Dependent Electronic Transport Properties of Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets
Mentor – Saiful Khondaker, PhD

Wenlang Liang, Materials Science and Engineering PhD
Printing Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystals into Two-Dimensional Ordered Arrays with Soft Lithography for Gas Sensor Application
Mentor – Jiyu Fang, PhD

Brandon Lojewski, Mechanical Engineering MSME – Miniature Engineering Systems Track
Multiplexed Electrospray: A Scalable Route for Nanotechnology
Mentor – Weiwei Deng, PhD
Co-authors – Weiwei Yang, Hongxu Duan, Johan Rodriguez

Biddut Sarker, Physics PhD
High-Performance Short Channel Organic Transistors Using Densely Aligned Carbon Nanotube Array Electrodes
Mentor – Saiful Khondaker, PhD

FINE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Lindsay Anderson, English MA – Literary Cultural and Textual Studies Track
The Journal of Madam Knight: A Transition Told Through Textiles
Mentor – Lisa Logan, PhD

Anne Ladyem McDivitt, History MA – Public History Track
Outreach Through Digital Marketing for the Sanford Student Museum
Mentor –Scot French, PhD
Co-author – Kelli Ordonia

LIFE AND HEALTH SCIENCES

Candice Baker, Biomedical Sciences PhD
Adrenergic Deficiency Leads to Impaired Energy Metabolism Co-incident with Mid-gestational Heart Failure
Mentor – Steven Ebert, PhD
Co-author – Kingsley Osuala, PhD

Jennifer Manis, Biology MS
Modeling Living Shorelines in a Wave Tank: Quantifying Wave Attenuation to Find the Most Effective Shoreline Restoration
Mentor – Linda Walters, PhD
Co-authors – Melinda Donnelly, Linda Walters, PhD, Stephanie Garvis, Paul Sacks; Steven Jachec, PhD, Florida Institute of Technology and John Stiner and Margo Schwadron, National Park Service

Nirav Shah, Biotechnology MS
Role of Akt1 and Akt2 in Ovarian Tumor Cell Growth and Metastasis
Mentor – Deborah Altomare, PhD
Co-author – Lina Spinel

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Angela Newland, Social Work MSW – MSW-Orlando Part-time Track
Part-Time Faculty in the School of Social Work
Mentor – Mary Ann Burg, PhD

Miguel Ubiles, Political Science MA – American and Comparative Politics Track
Affirmative Action in Higher Education and the Talented Twenty Program in Florida
Mentor – Andrea Vieux, PhD

Brittany Walter, Anthropology MA
Integrating the Differential Global Positioning System and Geographic Information Systems in Mapping Human Remains
Mentor – John Schultz, PhD

To see photos from the event, please visit our Facebook page here.