For George Washington University Provost Steve Lerman, an undergraduate research project with a faculty mentor was the “transformational experience” of his academic career.
“I didn’t come from a family where anyone was an academic, and certainly no one had the temerity to go on to get a Ph.D.,” he said to more than 100 students, faculty members and guests at the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s eighth annual Student Research and Development Showcase awards ceremony, held in the Marvin Center on Wednesday. “It was the research experience that ignited for me a passion for discovery that I really didn’t know I had.”
Wednesday’s R&D Showcase was a testament to the power and impact of student research.
Eighty-four participants presented their projects (many of which are still ongoing) to SEAS alumni, professors and engineering professionals. Eight undergraduate and graduate student winners received a total of $17,500 in prize money, and an additional $5,000 was awarded to the winners’ faculty mentors.
With a record number of participants, sponsors and funding, this year’s showcase was the biggest one to date—so big, in fact, that for the first time, the awards ceremony was moved to a separate location in order to make room for more poster boards in the Grand Ballroom.
“I am always talking about how SEAS is on a roll, and I believe that,” said SEAS Dean David Dolling. “This is just one more piece of evidence.”
The first-place prize, worth $5,000, was awarded to Bhaven Mehta, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who was advised by Professor Mona Zaghloul. Using a technique called localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), Mr. Mehta is developing highly sensitive chemical gas sensors for detecting dangerous leakages.
Propagating SPR has been used in the past for gas sensing purposes, but because it involves moving parts, it is difficult to make a portable device with this technique. Mr. Mehta was challenged to create a sensor that would exhibit high sensitivity, ease of operation and portability.
“This type of sensor is unique, because it will be able to detect very, very small concentrations of gas molecules,” Mr. Mehta said. “They can have applications in many different industries—food, automotive, pollution control and green house monitoring, for example.”
Christopher Blower, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, won the $4,000 second-place award for his project involving the development of an aircraft wing design that could improve the flight capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAVs) in hazardous environments. His adviser is Assistant Professor Adam Wickenheiser.
UAVs, used primarily for surveillance and reconnaissance, are often required to fly at low altitudes in cluttered environments. In the past decade, the demand for improved maneuverability, stability and controllability has become a driving factor for UAV development. Subsequently, there has been focus on the evolutionary adaptations of avian flight due to their wing morphing techniques. Mr. Blower said he was motivated to design an aircraft wing within a collective environment that would be modeled off of a bird’s flow manipulation technique.
“The aircraft wing is mimicking the structure and design of a bird’s wing, similar to how birds contract their muscles to adjust the orientation and tension in their feathers,” Mr. Blower said. “To our knowledge, nobody has designed wings that are of this complexity in their shape and configuration.”
The entrepreneurship prize, worth $2,000 and new to the showcase in 2013, was awarded to Benjamin Holmes, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Professor Lijie Grace Zhang is his adviser. Using 3D bioprinting, Mr. Holmes aimed to create a scaffold for osteochondral regeneration.
Osteochondral injuries— injury to the smooth surface on the end of bones and the bone underneath it—are especially difficult to treat because they encompass two different types of tissue, requiring special mechanical and hierarchical tissue structure considerations. There are shortcomings associated with many of the traditional methods that have been employed to treat various osteochondral lesions. To solve this problem, Mr. Holmes created a biologically inspired 3D tissue via 3D bioprinting for improved osteochondral tissue regeneration.
“A traditional method for multi-tissue devices is that you glue or fuse two different materials together. They work well in a petri dish, but then they come apart before tissue can grow or the wound can heal,” Mr. Holmes said. “With our construct, we’re able to maintain something that is continuously fused together.”
Upon finishing his Ph.D. program, Mr. Holmes would like to pursue a startup venture based around 3D printing for cartilage and bone tissue repair.
“Why I wanted to be an entrepreneur, to be frank, is because this field doesn’t really exist commercially. Tissue engineering is really a deficiency. It’s been a field in academia, but it’s just barely starting to make it in the real world,” he said.
Hasan Goktas, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received third place and $3,000 for his project on the novel resonator cell for both portable biosensors and high quality filters for cell phones, advised by Dr. Zaghloul.
The award for best undergraduate presentation and $2,000 went to Elizabeth Hubler for her evaluation of synthetic self-oscillating models of the vocal folds, a project advised by Professor Michael Plesniak.
A full list of winners, including three runner-up recipients, can be viewed on the SEAS website.
CEO of LGS Innovation Kevin L. Kelly, M.S. ’98, was the R&D Showcase keynote speaker. During the awards ceremony, he spoke to students about how to define and how to manage innovation, relating theories and laws of physics to human potential and behaviors.
One of the theories associated with relativity is the relation association between density and gravity—an immensely dense object has the ability to bend light and energy. This same thing happens with people, Mr. Kelly said.
“If you want to build support for your program, you need to build your specific gravity, you need to increase your density,” he said.
He encouraged students to, be patient, showcase their talents, establish their “essential elements,” find their passions and “don’t fake it.”