Undergraduate, graduate students receive awards at Research Symposium

May 3, 2016 Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Research, Signature and Emerging Areas

Undergraduate and graduate students presented their work to audiences and faculty judges during the 2016 Student Research Symposium held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on April 27.

The winners and runners-up in each graduate category, as well as the winners of the special awards are:

Winners from the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) showcase section of the symposium

  • Best Exhibit: Morgan Cates, management, “Research and Practicum in Arts Management & Marketing: Managing Producer for School of Performing Arts Fundraiser/University Singers European Tour Coordinator,” advised by Laura Artesani
  • Oral Presentation: Jessica Moore and Brittany Seman, biochemistry and microbiology, “Infection Dynamics Between a Fungal Pathogen and its Host,” advised by Robert Wheeler, first; James Miller, Magdalena Blaszkiewicz, Caroline Curtis, Raymond Vallejo, Bethany Miles, Brenna Gerchman and Aidan Robichaud, biology and chemistry, “Impact of Dietary Fat Type and Amount on Metabolic Health,” advised by Kristy Townsend, tied for second; Monique Theriault, microbiology, “Immune Recognition of Candida albicans in Zebrafish, advised by Robert Wheeler, tied for second
  • Poster Presentation: Jacob Morris, chemical engineering and chemistry, “New Methods for Enhanced Optical Memory Data Storage,” advised by Howard Patterson, first; Andrew Hart, microbiology, “Isolation of the Enzyme Protein Acyltransferase,” advised by Robert Gundersen, second; Allyson Eslin, political science, psychology and economics, “The Impact of Economic and Psychological Metrics on Political Decision-Making,” advised by Caroline Noblet, tied for third; Ashley Soucy and Jeanne DuShane, biochemistry and microbiology, “Defining the Role of Cellular Ca2+ in JCPyV Attachment and Infection,” advised by Melissa Maginnis, tied for third

Winners from the Graduate Student Government’s Grad Expo section of the symposium

  • President’s Research Impact Award: Melissa Jankowski with adviser Rebecca Schwartz-Mette
  • Provost’s Innovative/Creative Teaching Award: Mark Congdon
  • Graduate Dean’s Undergraduate Mentoring Award: Magdalena Blaszkiewicz, first; Hannah Lawrence, second; and Kris Hoffman, third
  • GSBSE Special Awards (Graduate and Undergraduate): Andrew Hart, best poster; Jessica Moore, best oral
  • Best Art Exhibit: Alicia Champlin, “I Am Sitting…,” first; Eleanor Kipping, “Fishnets, Lace and Family Photos,” second
  • Best Pecha Kucha Presentation: Tamanna Ramesh, “Light-based Pasteurization to Ensure Fruit Juice Safety and Quality,” first; Katrina Daigle, second
  • Best Live Reading of Written Work: Yarissa Ortiz-Vidal, “Becoming a Minority”
  • Allied Health Oral Competition: Tamanna Ramesh, “Titanium Dioxide Assisted Ultraviolet Treatment for Inactivation of Pathogenic Bacteria in Grape Juice,” first; Heath Myers, second
  • Allied Health Poster Competition: Ruby Ann D’Salva-Bouton, “Usability Study of an Innovative Mobility Device”
  • Biomedical Sciences Oral Competition: Lindsey Avery, “The Role of Ift88 and Primary Cilia of Cardiac Progenitor Cells in Formation of the Outflow Tract During Cardiac Development,” first; Erin Carter and Jeanne DuShane, tied for second
  • Biomedical Sciences Poster Competition: Jacob Longfellow, “The Role of Neutrophil Cytosolic Factor 1 (ncf1) in Innate Immune Response to Influenza Virus Infection in Zebrafish,” first; Juyoung Shim, second
  • Education and Human Development Oral Competition: Billy Ferm, “Examining Students’ Abilities to Follow and Evaluate Qualitative Reasoning Chains,” first; Ashley Blanchard, second
  • Education and Human Development Poster Competition: Grace Gonnella, “Understanding How Students Use Contrasting Cases to Learn About Explicit Reasoning,” first; David Kerschner, second
  • Engineering and Information Sciences Oral Competition: Kenneth Bundy, “Analysis of Air Leak Spectral Signatures for Application to the International Space Station,” first; Chitra Manjanai Pandian, second
  • Engineering and Information Sciences Poster Competition: Lonnie Labonte, “Wireless Control Networks for Aerospace Vehicles,” first; Lydia Kifner, second
  • Natural Sciences Oral Competition: Megan Leach, “Pollen and Nectar Nutrition for Foraging Bees,” first; Andrew Galimberti and Janet Gorman, tied for second
  • Natural Sciences Poster Competition: Courtney King, “The Timing of the Last Glacial Maximum and Subsequent Recession Alongside Hatherton Glacier, Antarctica,” first; Meghan Capps, second
  • Physical Sciences Oral Competition: Stacy Doore, “A Room with a View: Designing Natural Language Interface Structures for Indoor Scene Description,” first; Christopher Bennett, second
  • Physical Sciences Poster Competition: Hari Prasath Palani, “Multimodal Access to Graphical Information for Blind and Visually-Impaired People using Touchscreen-based Devices”
  • Social Sciences, Humanities and Business Poster Competition: Arthur Adoff, “Frontier Strategies for Improving the Ability of Older Adults with Chronic Conditions or Disabilities to Successfully Age in Place,” first; Sara Lowden, second

There were no entrants in the Social Sciences, Humanities and Business Oral Competition.