2023 PCEC Student Research Symposium an Outstanding Success!
The 2023 Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing’s Student Research Symposium on Friday, April 21 was an unparalleled success, with 144 student presentations by over 200 individual undergraduate and graduate students who conducted serious research with faculty mentors. In addition, 74 judges from industry and Georgia Southern faculty participated, allowing each poster to be judged at least five to six times based on a rubric that included how well the project goals were stated to how well the student interacted with the judge about the project.
$11,000 in prizes were awarded to those poster/projects deemed the best based on these rubrics. Long-time sponsors include Georgia Power (Innovation Awards), the Georgia Center of Innovation (Top Eagle Awards), and Gulfstream Aerospace (Top Female Researcher and Best IT Research). Last year, Southern Automation, Logistics and Technology (SALT) added Computing Awards, Crider Foods added awards, this year for Machine Learning/AI, and Hawk Measurement Systems added awards for Measurement Technology. This year, Kiewit joined our sponsors (Civil Engineering & Construction Awards), as did Rolls-Royce (Mechanical Engineering Awards), and Gulfstream added Engineering awards.
In addition, upon the occasion of the impending retirement of founding Dean Mohammad Davoud on June 30, 2023, Gulfstream honored Dr. Davoud with a model G-800, usually given only to executives associated with Gulfstream Aerospace who work on the specific project. The College’s Corporate Advisory Committee also honored Dean Davoud with a proclamation thanking him for his years of service to the College, industry partners, and the community.
And the winners are…
Innovation Awards
1st Place: Charles Pratt & Dylan Sims (BS MfgE) for: LiDAR and Stereo Machine Vision-based Off-road Navigation of Autonomous Rover
2nd Place: David Obando, Shaen Mehrzed, Kody Pierce & Timothy Sutton (MS MechE) for: Distance Estimation of Objects in Camera Image by 3D LiDAR Geometry Calibration
3rd Place: Valesia Davis (BS MechE) for: An Inexpensive, Lightweight, and Field-deployable High Performance Liquid Chromatography
Best Female Researcher
Lorna Kangethe ( MS IT)for: Network Intrusion Detection System with Machine Learning as a Service
Best IT Research
Daniel Ukene (MS IT) for: Evaluating Performance of Containerized Web Servers against Web Servers on Virtual Machines using Bombardment and Siege
Machine Learning/AI Awards
1st Place: Matthew Sands (MS MechE) for: Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring via High-speed Video Magnification
2nd Place: Anthony and Nathan Agcaoili (MS CS) for: Towards Realistic Driving Behavior in Robotic Cars: A Raspberry Pi-based Navigation System
3rd Place: Joseph Ajayi & Md Shakil Hossain (MS CS) for: An Evolutionary Algorithm Approach to Job Shop Scheduling Optimization: A Performance Comparison
Hawk Measurement Technology Awards
1st Place: Eric Pernell (MS MechE) for: Numerical Investigation on Aerodynamic Performance of the NACA 0012 With Leading Edge Cavity Vortex Generators
2nd Place: Md Wasif Hasan & Ali Akbor Topou (MS MechE) for: An Innovative Seal Concept for Aircraft Engines
3rd Place: David Obando, Luke Kroeger, Andre St. Pierre & Cole Milovanovic (MS MechE) for: Development and Performance Analysis of ADAS Systems in Smart Vehicle Navigation Platform
SALT Computing Awards
1st Place: Helen Adesola (MS IT) for: Securing Web Services (REST APIs) against Software Vulnerabilities using the AEP Approach
2nd Place: Muhammad Hasnain, Shehzed Khan & Cade Layser (MS MechE) for: A Diffusion-based Mathematical Modeling of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Chronic Wounds
3rd Place: Muhammad Hasnain, Shehzed Khan & Cade Layser (MS MechE) for: Multi Physics Computational Modeling and Optimization of Metal Hydrides-based Hydrogen Storage Systems
Civil Engineering & Construction Awards
1st Place: Tanvir Ahmed, Annie Benson, Gabriele Funes Gomez & William Loyed (MS CE) for: 3D Point-Cloud Models of Herald Plaza
2nd Place: Evan Hayes & Matthew Sands (BS CE) for: Estimation of Liquid Limit of Cohesive Soil using Vibration-based Imaging Analysis
3rd Place: Amelia McNamee & Noah Brack (MS MfgE) for: A Preliminary Study on the Impact of LME on Hot-dip Galvanized Structural Steel
Mechanical Engineering Awards
1st Place: Victor Buitimea, Valesia Davis, Madison Procyk & Winnie Mwangi (BS MechE) for: A Novel Magnetorheological Elastomer-based Artificial Pancreas
2nd Place: Andrew Brantley, Jacob Barton & Ekagra Verma (BS ECE) for: Next Generation Grounding Method for Gulfstream Aircraft
3rd Place: Charles Fricks (BS MechE) for: Analysis of Mass-reduced Airframe Wing Structures
Georgia Center of Innovation Top Eagle Awards – Graduate
1st Place: Tasnuva Farnaz (MS CE) for: Quantifying Inositol Phosphate Dephosphorylation to Understand the Role of Recalcitrant Organic Phosphorous Forms on Harmful Algal Blooms in Freshwater Systems
2nd Place: Surja Sarkar & Dziwodo Abotsi (MS MechE) for: Thermodynamic Evaluation and Performance Assessment of a 100 MW Waste Coal and Biomass Co-fired Power Plant
3rd Place: Damilola Elelegwu (MS IT) for: Comparative Analysis of Vulnerability Scanners for Effective Vulnerability Management
Georgia Center of Innovation Top Eagle Awards – Undergraduate
1st Place: Cassidy Hartog, Emma Murray & Nizam Uddin (BS CEC) for: Developing a Sustainability Framework for Processing Food Waste with Existing Anaerobic Digestion Infrastructure
2nd Place: Josiah Hacker, Hannah Walden & Astana Woody (BS CEC) for: Leveraging Low-cost Water Quality Sensors for Informed Microbial Analyses
3rd Place: Ryan Hunnings & Punghwa Lee (BS MechE) for: Queue Management System for University Dining Services
Gulfstream Aerospace Engineering Awards
1st Place: Nick Hackett, Cameron Miller & Jack Nemec (BS ECE) for Self-Positioning Directive Antenna System
2nd Place: Mario Machado, Amanda Weaver & James Willis (BS MechE) for: Investigating TDC High-speed Data Acquisition using a 3.6kHz Rotary Encoder to the Tenth of a Degree
3rd place: Shehzad Khan, Muhammad Hussain & Jairo Casa (MS MechE) for: Mathematical Modeling of Thermal Runaway in Lithium-Ion Batteries
Judges came from industry and educational partners all over Georgia and the Low Country: Gulfstream Aerospace, Barnsley Construction, SALT Savannah, Bulloch County Schools, Georgia Center of Innovation, Ramboll, Daniel Defense, US Army Corps of Engineers, GIW Industries, Hawk Measurement, Crider Foods, Plug & Play, Johnson Matthey, the Ginn Group, Claude Howard Lumber, Robins AFB, Howmet Aerospace, Kiewit, Georgia DOT, Burns & McDonnell, RepowerIT, JTEKT, and Rolls-Royce Power Systems, as well as Georgia Southern. Thank you.
Many thanks to the PCEC staff and students without whom the Symposium would not have occurred: Christine Barnes, Channing Beauman, Tiffany Courdin, Daniel Coursey, Angel Durant, Laurie Gunnerson, Traven Jackson, Jahangir Khairabadi, Brandon Long, Natasha Lovette, Adam Post, Nicole Protzman, BaJeah Rhoden, Damon Rice, Kathy Shepherd, and Dr. DeeDee Southerlin (photographer). Thank you Dr. Ryan Florin for assisting in tallying the votes! Thanks to the PCEC Research Committee for their assistance in setting up the rubric and determining the categories.
~ Barbara Gooby & Reinhold Gerbsch
Posted in CEC News
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing • P.O. Box 7995 • Statesboro, Georgia 30460 • 912-478-7412 • engrcomp@georgiasouthern.edu
