Winners of the 2012 GradExpo

We had an excellent Grad Expo this spring, bringing together the talent and research from across the UMaine Graduate School community! Awards were granted in several categories: Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation, Intermedia and Pecha Kucha. The awards were $600 for first place, $300 for second place and $150 for third place. Innovation Center Awards were also given out, at $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third.

In addition, this year the Expo included the President’s Research Impact Award, which was given to the graduate student and advisor who best exemplify the University of Maine mission cornerstones of teaching, research and scholarship, and outreach. The $2000 Award was shared equally between the student and the student’s advisor.

The President’s Research Impact Award was granted to

Jennifer Hooper for her presentation “The Evolution of the ‘BAT Community Connector’ Mobile Phone App” and her advisor in the Intermedia MFA program, Professor Owen Smith.

The winners of the awards in each category were:

In the Intermedia division: 

Third place went to:
Johanna Cairns for her piece “Interview with Cheshire McGloun”
Second place went to:
Heather Perry for her piece “Self Portrait with Mom”
First place went to:
Amy Pierce for her piece “Over the Threshold”
In the Oral Presentation division, for Humanities: 

Third place went to:
Robert Hodges for his presentation “Stephen Salisbury: A Meditation on Education and Nationalism”
Second place went to:
Lisa Rude for her presentation  “Betty’s Husband for President: The Frankness and Influence of Betty Ford”
First place went to:
Rebecca White for her presentation “Poor, Sick, and On the Farm: Poor Relief in Early 20th Century Maine”
In the Oral Presentation division, for Social Sciences: 

Third place went to:
Christopher Bennett for his presentation “Life Span Development and the Spatial Image”
Second place went to:
Debra Allen for her presentation “Follow-Up on the National Survey of Student Engagement at UMaine: Examining the Threat of Nonresponse Bias”
First place went to:
Hollie Smith for her presentation “Framing the Alternative: Newspaper Coverage of Alternative Energy in Maine”
In the Oral Presentation division, for Physical Sciences and Technology: 

Third place went to:
Alexander Demers for his presentation “Carbon Nanofibers from Lignin”
Second place went to:
Saranya Kesevan for her presentation “Translating Photos of Indoor Scenes to Natural Language Description”
First place went to:
Bess Koffman for her presentation “Winds of Change: Ice Core Evidence for the Role of the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds in Regulating Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide”
In the Oral Presentation division, for Natural Sciences: 

Third place went to:
Kevin Neves for his presentation “Does Histidine Supplementation Prevent Cataract Formation in Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) Exposed to Elevated Levels of Dissolved Carbon Dioxide?”
Second place went to:
Maureen Correll for her presentation “Predicting Tital Marsh Bird Populations via Remote Sensing: A Potential Toll for Coastal Conservation”
First place went to:
Alper Kiziltas for his presentation “Utilization of Carpet Waste as Matrix in Natural Filler-Filled Engineering Thermoplastic Composites for Automotive Applications”
In the Pecha Kucha division:

Third place went to:
Peg Killian for her presentation “Grace”
Second place went to:
Jennifer Hooper for her presentation “The Evolution of the ‘BAT Community Connector’ Mobile Phone App”
First place went to:
Amy Pierce for her presentation “The Perfect Dress”
In the Poster Presentation division, for Physical Sciences and Technology:

Third place went to:
Abolfazl Razi for his poster “Study and Implementation of Distributed PCCC Coding for Binary Source Estimation Using Multiple Observations”
Second place went to:
Hari Prasath Palani– for his poster “Navigation Assistance for Visually Impaired Persons Using Touch-Based Devices”
First place went to:
Bjorn Grigholm for his poster “Ice Core Perspectives”
In the Poster Presentation division, for Natural Sciences:

Third place went to:
Saikrishna Mukkamala for his poster “Formate Assisted Fast Pyrolysis of Lignin”
Second place went to:
Nadir Yildirim for his poster “Cellulosic Aerogels Reinforced with Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC) for Structural Insulating Foams”
First place went to:
Yucheng Peng for his poster “Drying Cellulose Nanofibrils: In Search of a Suitable Method”
In the Poster Presentation division, for Social Sciences:

Third place went to:
Christopher Bennett for his poster “The Effects of Life Span Development on Spatial Updating of Haptic Arrays”
Second place went to:
Haley Engelberth for her poster “Fish Advisories for At-Risk Mainers: Does Knowledge Lead to Action?”
First place went to:
Karen Hutchins for her poster “Linking Knowledge with Action through Municipality-University Partnerships: Assessing Local Problems and Predicting Interest in Partnerships”
The winners of the Innovation Center Awards:

Third place went to:
Alper Kiziltas for his presentation “Utilization of Carpet Waste as Matrix in Natural Filler-Filled Engineering Thermoplastic Composites for Automotive Applications”
Second place went to:
Hari Prasath Palani for his poster “Navigation Assistance for Visually Impaired Persons Using Touch-Based Devices”
First place went to:
Amber Bratcher for her poster “Spirit: A Portable Biosensor for the Early Detection of Harmful Algal Blooms”