2018 Outstanding Presentations

At the 2018 NC State University Annual Spring Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium, students had the option to sign up to have their poster and presentation evaluated by judges (faculty and Post-docs) from the various NC State College’s.  The judges selected the top presentations/presenters from the combined poster sessions.  The outstanding presentations selected by the judges at the spring symposium receive a certificate and are invited to a reception on April 25, 2018 by the local NC State University chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

Congratulations to the following NC State University student presenters (arranged alphabetically by last name of lead presenter):

Zaid Ali, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, mentored by Omer Oralkan, Project Title:  Focused Ultrasound Neurostimulation using Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers.

Anna Beam, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Animal Science, mentored by John Gadsby, Project Title: Prostaglandin F-2α (FP) receptor regulation by TNF-α in the porcine corpus luteum.

Nicholas Biondo, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Animal Science, mentored by Belinda Akpa, Project Title: What physicochemical properties are good predictors of drug sequestration? An investigation in support of lipid resuscitation.

Micki Brown, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Psychology, mentored by Elan Hope, Project Title: Evaluating Relationships between Delinquency and Anxiety, Depression and Stress in Black Adolescents.

Christian Michael Capobianco, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Animal Science, mentored by Anthony Blikslager, Project Title: The Role of Na+/H+ Exchanger Isoforms in the Recovery of Porcine Intestinal Barrier Function.

Alexa DeFalco, College of Education, Elementary Education, mentored by DeLeon Gray, Project Title: Impact of Teachers Motivational Instructional Strategies on Student Engagement.

Summer Dudick, College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering, mentored by Saad Khan, Project Title: Exploring the Development of Material Properties in Photopolymerizable Ionic Liquids.

Jessica Hernandez, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Psychology, mentored by Lynne Baker-Ward, Project Title: Perceptions of School Experiences: Insights from Second Grade Narratives.

Rahul Kathard, College of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, mentored by Ashley Brown, Project Title: Analysis of Fibroblast Traction Forces on Thin Films.

Michael Aaron Keeler, College of Sciences, Chemistry, mentored by Gavin Williams, Project Title: Biosensor-Directed Evolution for Polyketide Extender Unit Production.

Mario Lopez, Camila Bueno Almeida, Leah Jamison, Joe Mauro, Alexandria Plisco and Brianna Robinson, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Food Science, mentored by Gabriel Harris, Project Title: Cocoa Butter Phospholipids in Dark Chocolate.

Sean Maloney, Kimberly Ha,  Risigan Logendra, Elise McDow, Kyle Pennington, Cassidy Whisnant, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Bioprocessing Science, mentored by John Sheppard, Project Title: Analytical Comparison of Optimized Conditions for Yeast Fermentation to Create a Kombucha-Like Product versus Traditional SCOBY Fermented Kombucha.

Catie Mason, College of Sciences, Neurobiology, mentored by Leslie Sombers, Project Title: Real-Time Striatal Measurements of Oxidative Stress and Dopamine in the Dyskinetic Rat During Chronic L-DOPA Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.

Ashley Maurice and Ngoc Nguyen, College of Textiles, Fashion and Textile Design, mentored by Katherine Annett-Hitchcock, Project Title: Protective Workwear for Agricultural Workers.

John McGarrahan, College of Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, mentored by Elizabeth Dickey, Project Title: Technique Development for Studying Origins of Microcracking in Multilayer Ceramic Actuators due to Inhomogeneous Stresses.

Elaine Sophia McNatton and Danielle Pavic, College of Sciences, Genetics, mentored by John Frampton, Project Title: Effect of the Auxin Antagonist PCIB on Somatic Embryo Maturation of Two Fir Species.

Royston William Murray and Brandon Tung, College of Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, mentored by Scott Palmtag, Project Title: 20-Year Core Life Extension for Load-Following Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors.

Grace Adora Nsonwu, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Anthropology & English (LWR), mentored by Shea McManus, Project Title: American Woman: An Ethnographic Study of Muslim American Women, Resilience, and Faith.

Kasey Nicole Potts, College of Sciences, Biology conc. in Integrative Physiology and Neurobiology / Psychology, mentored by Leslie Sombers, Project Title: Electrochemical Characterization of Opioid Peptides.

Ashley Samuelson and Nila Veerabagu, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Animal Science, mentored by Natalie Cooke, Project Title: Evaluation of the User Experience of Virtual Reality Conflict Management Training Videos for Nutrition Education.

John Selwanes, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Plant Biology, mentored by Marcela Rojas-Pierce, Project Title: Characterization of the membrane contact site protein VAP in hypocotyl gravitropism.

Kathryn Margaret Tamburro, College of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, mentored by Jacqueline Cole-Husseini, Project Title: Contributions of Forelimb Unloading to Neonatal Bone Deformities in the Rat Shoulder.

Jesse Tehrani, College of Sciences, Biological Sciences – Molecular, Cellular, Developmental, mentored by Michael Cowley, Project Title: Bisphenol-A Exposure Decreases Imprinted Gene Expression Independent of Classical Imprinting Regulatory Mechanisms.

Evan Walsh, College of Sciences, Biological Sciences, mentored by Michael Cowley, Project Title: Maternal over nutrition and metabolic syndrome susceptibility in F2 generation mice.