Congratulations to all of the students who presented at the 2024 VINSE Undergraduate Research Symposium! Our undergraduate researchers were able to share everything they accomplished during their individual research projects at Vanderbilt University over the past ten weeks.
The symposium, which was held in collaboration with the Chemical Biology/Chemistry NSF-REU, showcased 37 students from the following programs: VINSE NSF-REU, Chemical Biology/Chemistry NSF-REU, VINSE Tech Crew, VUSE Summer Research Program and the Vanderbilt University Summer Research Program.
Posters were evaluated by a panel of judges for an opportunity to win travel grants to support the cost of presenting posters at a National Conference. The winners are:
Best overall – $1,000 travel grant
David Flores, Penn State University
“Modulating the Infrared Response of 2D Materials for Nanophotonic Applications”
Mentors: Josh Caldwell, Jeb Bucher, Saurabh Dixit
Best overall – $1,000 travel grant
Hannah Crane, University of Pittsburgh
“Immunostimulatory Extracellular Vesicle Vaccine for Activation of Immune Responses”
Mentors: Jack Loken, Hayden Pagendarm, John Wilson
Best tech crew poster
Winston Nfor Kanjo Ndi, Vanderbilt University
“Optimizing PECVD Silicon Nitride Films for Advanced Electronics”
Mentor: Owen Meilander
Best layout
Kissamy Georges, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
“The effects of shear stress on BMEC cytoskeleton alignment”
Mentors: Daniel Chavarria, Ethan Lippmann
&
Noah Durlam, Valparaiso University
“Recreating the Preparation of Anishinaabe Rock Art: Investigating Silica-Hematite Bonding”
Mentors: Emma Endres, Janet Macdonald
Best use of graphics
Kendall Kelly, University of Mississippi
“Optimizing Bioadhesive Properties in siRNA Nanoparticles for Osteoarthritis Treatment”
Mentors: Amelia Soltes, Craig Duvall
Fan favorite
Maggie Marte, Clemson University
“Improving Fiber-to-Chip Edge Coupling Efficiency using Inverse Taper Waveguides”
Mentors: Chris Whittington, Sharon Weiss