Dozens of students presented their research projects to the public during the 18th annual Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T this April.

The conference featured exhibitions from students in a variety of majors. Students were required to prepare either an oral presentation or a poster summarizing their research and had to be ready to take questions from judges and conference attendees.

First-place winners were awarded a cash prize of $500. Second- and third-place finishers received $250 and $100, respectively. Prizes for group projects were split equally among group members. Six students were awarded OURE Fellows Scholarships for ongoing interdisciplinary research projects.

For more information about the Undergraduate Research Conference, visit experientiallearning.mst.edu/ugrc/.

Oral Category:

Engineering:

First Place – Jackson Piontek, a senior in metallurgical engineering from Washington, Missouri, for research titled “Low Distortion Intensive Quench of Low-Alloy Steel.” The research advisor is Dr. Laura Bartlett, the Robert V. Wolf Associate Professor in Metallurgical Engineering.

Second Place – Grace Duong, a senior in environmental engineering from St. Louis, for research titled “Biocell Reactors: Cellulose Loss and Sulfate Removal.” The research advisor is Dr. Mark Fitch, associate professor of civil engineering.

Sciences:

First Place – Shay Pelfrey, a senior in biological sciences from Newburg, Missouri, for research titled “A Glimpse into Drought Tolerance in Soybean Bacteria.” The research advisor is Dr. Dave Westenberg, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of biological sciences.

Second Place – Alexis Baiter, a senior in environmental science from Pevely, Missouri, and Kathryn Zychinski, a senior in biological sciences from St. Louis, for research titled “Insecticide Toxicokinetic Responses in Two Lepidoptera.” The research advisor is Dr. Niranjana Krishnan, former assistant research professor of biological sciences at S&T.

Third Place – Samuel Hackett, a sophomore in chemistry from O’Fallon, Missouri, for research titled “Carbon Aerogels for High Capacity/Selectivity of CO2.” The research advisor is Dr. Chariklia Sotiriou-Leventis, chair and professor of chemistry.

Social Sciences:

First Place – Jessica Frame a senior in psychology and biological sciences from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “Aesthetic Judgements of Multimodal Stimuli.” The research advisor is Dr. Amy Belfi, assistant professor of psychological science.

Second Place – Brileigh Cates, a sophomore in applied mathematics from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, for research titled “Gender Bias in the Billboard Hot 40 Charts.” The research advisor is Dr. David Samson, assistant professor of music.

Poster Category

Engineering:

First Place – Brendan Crotty, a junior in mechanical engineering from Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Avery Lyons, a junior in engineering management from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “A Study of Machine Design – Additive Manufacturing.” The research advisor is Dr. Phillip Mulligan, assistant teaching professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Second Place – Joseph Nguyen, a junior in mechanical engineering from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “Pulse Density Modulation of Propulsion System.” The research advisor is Dr. Hank Pernicka, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of aerospace engineering.

Third Place – Ezekiel Allen, a sophomore in electrical engineering from Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and Michael Davis, a sophomore in electrical engineering from Louisiana, Missouri, for research titled “Detecting VOCs for Medical and Industrial Applications.” The research advisor is Dr. Rex Gerald, research professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Research Proposal

First place – Allie Dingfield, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Blair, Nebraska, for research titled “Density Fluctuation Measurements in Supersonic Flows.” The research advisor is Dr. Davide Vigano, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Second place – Carly Fox, a senior in engineering management from Stockton, Missouri, and Madison Holly, a senior in chemical engineering from Webb City, Missouri, for research titled “Optimization of TBR Distribution: A CFD Approach.” The research advisor is Dr. Jose Sebastian Uribe Lopez, post-doctoral teaching fellow in chemical and biochemical engineering.

Third place – Chase Johnson, a senior in engineering management from Chesterfield, Missouri, for research titled “AI Application in Kidney Transplant Healthcare.” The research advisor is Dr. Casey Canfield, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering.

Sciences – Section 1 (individual project);

First place – Natalie Cummins, a sophomore in biological sciences from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “eDNA Metabarcoding Murvey in Missouri Wetlands.” The research advisor is Dr. David Duvernell, chair and professor of biological sciences.

Second place – Samuel Schrader, a senior in physics from Hailey, Idaho, for research titled “Radon-Carbon Nanoparticle Design.” The research advisor is Dr. Carlos H. Castano Giraldo, associate professor of nuclear engineering.

Third place – Katharine Gray, a sophomore in chemistry from St. Louis, for research titled “Dbf2 and Cytokinesis.” The research advisor is Dr. Katie Shannon, teaching professor of biological sciences.

Sciences – Section 2 (group project):

First place – Emma Puetz, a senior in geology and geophysics from Rolla, Missouri, and Audrey Williams, a senior in geology and geophysics from Farmington, Missouri, for research titled “Comparison of Three Microvertebrate Assemblages.” The research advisor is Dr. Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, professor of geology and geophysics.

Second place – Zachary Alton, a senior in physics from Webster Groves, Missouri, and Carly Brown, a senior in physics from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “Measurement of Microwave Photon Size.” The research advisor is Dr. Yew San Hor, associate professor of physics.

Third place – Arrie Gamble, a first-year student in environmental sciences from St. Robert, Missouri, Rhys Timpe, a senior in biological sciences from Lake St. Louis, Missouri, and Sage Wood, a junior in biological sciences from Jefferson City, Missouri, for research titled “Terrestrial Insect Diversity at Fort Leonard Wood.” The research advisor is Dr. Robin Verble, associate professor of biological sciences.

Social Sciences:

First place – Sophie Firle, a first-year student in biological sciences from Festus, Missouri, and Gemma Flores-Olivas, a senior in electrical engineering from Topeka, Kansas, for research titled “Effects of Ally Confrontation on Target Outcomes.” The research advisor is Dr. Jessica Cundiff, associate professor of psychological sciences.

Final scholarship payments were awarded to two fall 2022-spring 2023 students:

Gabrielle Hightower, a senior in biology and psychology from Kansas City, Missouri, for research titled “Eavesdropping on the Microbial World.” The research advisor is Dr. Dave Westenberg, Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of biological sciences.

Dylan Johnson, a senior in biology from Liberty, Missouri, for research titled “Insect Diversity at Fort Leonard Wood.” The research advisor is Dr. Robin Verble, associate professor of biological sciences.

The 2023-24 OURE Fellows scholarship recipients are:

• Megan Benkendorf, a junior in applied mathematics from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for research titled “Numerical Studies on Bose-Einstein Condensates.” The research advisor is Dr. Yanzhi Zhang, associate professor of mathematics and statistics.

• Erik Bergstrom, a junior in biological sciences from Riverside, Missouri, for research titled “Mathematical Analysis of C. Elegans Population.” The research advisor is Dr. Andrea Scharf, assistant professor of biological sciences.

• Grace Duong, a senior in environmental engineering from St. Louis, for research titled “Floating Treatment Wetlands for Urban Runoff.” The research advisors are Dr. Mark Fitch, associate professor of civil engineering, and Dr. Dev Niyogi, professor of biological sciences.

• Jessica Frame, a senior in psychology and biological sciences from Rolla, Missouri, for research titled “Modality’s Effect on Aesthetic Ratings of Poetry.” The research advisor is Dr. Amy Belfi, assistant professor of psychological science.

• Steven Karst, a senior in physics from Ballwin, Missouri, for research titled “Enhancing Galaxy Surveys with Machine Learning.” The research advisor is Dr. Shun Saito, assistant professor of physics.

• Clare Koerkenmeier, a junior in biological sciences from Aviston, Illinois, for research titled “Data Analysis Pipeline of C. Elegans Dynamics.” The research advisor is Dr. Andrea Scharf, assistant professor of biological sciences.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.