The Fall Conference agenda will be updated regularly as additional details are finalized.
(9:00 am)
| 10:00 AM | Bishrant Pant, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ahmad Kabir |
| "Glutamine as a Chemotactic Signal Enhances Salinity Tolerance in Tomato by Promoting Microbial Migration and Modulating the Root Transcriptome." | ||
| 10:15 AM | Justin Barrera, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Baisravan Homchaudhuri & Dr. Wenhao Yang |
| "Predictive and Safe Human-Aware Mobile Robot Navigation." | ||
| 10:30 AM | Claire DeLeon, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Matt Hoch |
| "Organic Waste Stream Amendments in Dredged Sediment: Enhancing Vegetative Biomass and Rhizosphere Microbiome Divergence for Coastal Restoration." | ||
| 10:45 AM | Nabila Mushtarin, Louisiana State University | Mentor: Dr. Asha Winfield |
| "Disclosure Under Pressure: A Typology of Maternal and Reproductive Health Storytelling Among Black Women in the U.S. South." | ||
| 11:00 AM | Mary O'Malley, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor |
| "ABC Transporters and Cell Death in Leishmania Drug Resistance. " | ||
| 11:10 AM | Kasey Kuch & Sawyer Wimer, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Hassan Zargarzadeh |
| "Evaluation of 2-D LiDAR Object Localization and Grasp-Confidence Estimation on a Low-Cost Stationary Manipulator Under Clutter." | ||
| 11:30 AM | Christopher Lowe, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Cristian Bahrim |
| "Coherent Interference of two lasers on a flint glass surfaces with an assisting energy background." | ||
| 11:45 AM | Carina Wyman, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Shannon Jordan |
| "Atopic Dermatitis: Exploration of Common Symptoms for Effective Medical Care." | ||
| 12:00 PM | Homero Tijerina, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Susantha Ganegamage & Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor |
| "Design and Preliminary Biological Evaluation of Novel Adrenergic Modulators for Improved Stress Response and Cardiovascular Stability." | ||
(12:20 pm in front of Galloway Bldg.)
(12:15 - 12:45 pm)
Galloway Bldg. Hallway
(12:45 - 1:30 pm)
| 1:30 PM | Sneha Jobby, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ananya Datta |
| "Elucidating the Roles of SPP1 and GLP-1 in Corneal Nerve Preservation in Type 1 Diabetic Mice." | ||
| 2:30 PM | Homero Tijerina, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Susantha Ganegamage & Dr. Mukund Seshadri |
| "Reprogramming Tumor blood vessels: Effects of Adrenergic receptor atagonist on hypoxia induced angiogenic signaling." | ||
| 2:45PM | Isabella Tran, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ian Lian |
| TBA | ||
| 3:00 PM | Afifa Islam, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ashiwini Kucknoor |
| "Functional Characterization of Leishmania Parasite-Derived lncRNAs in Amastigote Differentiation." | ||
| 3:15 PM | Ayna Arif, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Andrew Strick |
| "A Holistic Focus on Vertical Jump Performance: A Pilot Study." | ||
| 3:30 PM | Natalie Bean & Kelly So, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. J.T. Seaman |
| "Implications of Generative AI in Mental Healthcare." | ||
| 4:00 PM | Anya Williamson, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Raymond Doe |
| "Employment Outcomes and Career Aspirations in Individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Social Functioning." | ||
| 3:15 PM | Humza Arfeen, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Don Warren |
| "True Synergy in the Classroom: A Firsthand Look." | ||
| 3:30 PM | Stefano Chappuis, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Agim Kukeli |
| "Analysis of Price and Income Elasticities of Demand for Tennis Shoes: A Comparison of Nike and Adidas Brands." | ||
| 3:45 PM | Zachary Pierce, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Jesus Garcia |
| "Collective Decision-Making, Productivity, and Job Satisfaction: An Empirical study in the Age of Automation." | ||
| 4:00 PM | Maria Farias, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Lynn Maurer |
| "The United States in the Third Wave of Autocratization: Democratic Backsliding in a Federal System." | ||
| 4:15 PM | Sohanur Rahman, Lamar U. | Mentor: Mr. Paul Howell |
| "Migration Policy Uncertainty and International Student Access: An Empirical Analysis." | ||
| 3:00 PM | Evan Wolford, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. William Quade |
| "The 'FilmTuber' Era: A New Wave of Filmmaking." | ||
| 3:15 PM | Evan Wolford, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Nicki Michalski |
| "The Evolution of the One-Shot in Filmmaking." | ||
| 3:30 PM | Chelsey Gallagher, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Yan Yan |
| "The Role of AI-Generated Visual Supports in Early Literacy: Teacher Perspectives." | ||
| 3:45 PM | Anna Rodriguez, Lamar U. | Mentors: Dr. Yan Yan & Dr. Jill Killough |
| "Impact of Summer Nutrition Assistance Programs on Student Outcomes: An Analysis of Texas Program Data." | ||
| 3:55 PM | Kenidy Bennett, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Mamta Singh |
| "Body Image and Eating Behaviors: Examining the Relationship Between Body Image Perceptions and Nutritional Habits Among College Students." | ||
| 3:15 PM | Gabriel Kalala, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ivan Ojeda-Ruiz |
| "Low-Rank Truncation in Dynamic Mode Decomposition for Stock Market Analysis." | ||
| 3:30 PM | Kamaile Hernandez Linkee, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Sujing Wang |
| "The Impact of AI Reliance on Undergraduates’ Ability to Develop Code." | ||
| 3:45 PM | Lakshana Wickramasinghe, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Kushani De Silva |
| "Efficient Exploration of Multimodel Posterior Distributions Through Hybrid Optimization and MCMC Sampling." | ||
| 4:00 PM | Kamaile Hernandez Linkee, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ivan Ojeda-Ruiz |
| "How Can Spectral Clustering Be Fair?" | ||
| 3:05 PM | Ms. Kamayani Richhariya | Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. |
|
Industry Presentation: "Inside the Fab: Wafer Process Engineering for Optical Communication Devices." This talk gives an overview of wafer process engineering in optoelectronics, focusing on backside thinning, where wafers are reduced to a target thickness while preserving surface quality and mechanical integrity. Drawing on my experience as a Wafer Process Shift Engineer at Applied Optoelectronics, it covers key challenges (thickness uniformity, surface damage, wafer handling), how engineers monitor and improve results, and how a physics and applied mathematics background supports problem solving in manufacturing, with perspective for students considering careers in photonics and semiconductor industries. Ms. Richhariya earned her B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from SUNY Oswego and currently serves as a Wafer Process Engineer at Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. She completed undergraduate research at NASA Goddard (hyperspectral microwave photonics instrument, solar wind data analysis), the Institute for Quantum Computing (semiconductor device characterization and process automation), and Drexel University (nEXO experiment). Ms. Richhariya was also a 2025 TEAM UP Together Scholar. |
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| 3:30 PM | Suraj Jadhav, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley |
| "Relationship Between Discharge Current and Actuation Range in Electron-Beam Actuated Microstructures." | ||
| 3:45 PM | Milad Hosseinzadeh, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Ebrahim Seidi |
| "Effect of Printing parameters on the Mechanical Behavior of 3D-Printed Polymer Composites." | ||
| 4:00 PM | Gopi Raju Makkena, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Clayton Jeffryes |
| "Extraction and Degradation of PAHS and PFAS in Aqueous Systems." | ||
| 4:15 PM | Sinthuja Nadesananthan, Lamar U. | Mentor: Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam |
| "Bioremediation of Real Acid Mine Drainage from Berkeley Pit Using Galdieria sulphuraria." | ||
| 3:00 PM - | Virtual Session with 15 Student Presenters | Mentor: Dr. Margot Gage |
(5:30 - 6:00 pm)
Director, Learning & Research
Learning & Research Librarian, Assistant Professor, Mary and John Gray Library