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Undergraduate research serves a unique and important role in engineering and computing education. Through research, students learn that they can discover real-world solutions to some of today’s most difficult challenges. They hone their scientific knowledge and work in teams learning to collaborate and delegate.
To celebrate these endeavors and share their findings, students, guests, and judges gathered at Dewberry Hall on May 1 for the college’s Seventh Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research. Projects tackled questions of cybersecurity, healthcare, autonomous systems, machine learning, and more.
Mechanical engineering student Mohammad Arif Khogiani, described the competition as an amazing platform. “Connecting with high-tech companies like General Dynamics Information Technologies and other DoD contractors was an invaluable experience," he said.
I highly recommend CEC students participate in this event to gain research experience and showcase their work. - Mohammad Arif Khogiani, Team Poseidon Team Lead
The annual celebration started as a way to highlight student creative work in the school. “We envisioned an event displaying not just individual student mentored research, but also senior design projects, course projects at any level, and work by our student organizations," said Sharon Adamus, associate dean for undergraduate programs. "We had to suspend it for a few years because of the pandemic, but we were delighted to be back this year with some incredibly impressive projects.”
Corporate partners and alumni volunteer judges evaluated the presentations for cash awards of $1,000 per team. During the evaluation period, the judges asked questions and the students described their research with posters and demonstrations. Many teams produced videos to help the audience and judges see the research in action.
“[I was] very impressed with all of the submissions at the recent College of Engineering and Computing student research competition," said Greg Kozy, a judge from Deltek. "The innovative ideas utilizing current technology, combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning, blended with practical application to many problems facing the world today was inspiring. The students at GMU should be proud of their results and excited about their futures.”
Winning Teams
People’s Choice:
Using IT to recycle and reuse USBs with Film Photography Waste – Enrique Ramos-Chavez IST
Outstanding Project 1:
Myoelectric Prosthetic Arm Simulator as a Research Platform and Outreach Tool – Akhil Srirama, Arvin Zapanta, Khalid Assamawy, Mohammed Bhuiyan, all BIOE
Outstanding Project 2:
Design of a Vegetation Entrainment Detection System for Autonomous Surface Vehicles – Phu Nguyen, Shankar Srinivasan, Weeja Yahyapoor, Rayaan Kobrosli, all SYST
Outstanding Project 3:
Mitigating Security Risks in the Software Supply Chain: A Continuous Inspection Framework within Azure – Anisha Dawadi, Hajar Al-Ali, Sun Young Park, Rashik Ilham, Austin Suchotinunt, all CYSE
Outstanding Project 4:
GMU Defend The Republic: Multi-Ball Capture – Chigozie Erondu ME, Nicholas Ronio ME, Faisal Almasri ME, Bruce Alan Macnicol CPE, Yechan Lee ECE, John Little CPE
Outstanding Project 5:
Designing, Simulating, and Building of Sprint Capable Unmanned Underwater Glider – Mohammad Arif Khogiani, Erick Rivas, Afnan Shahmirzadi, Gustavo Guedes, all ME