SE Texas Times

For a decade, the Lamar University Office of Undergraduate Research has championed undergraduate research and creative activities efforts at Lamar University. Established in 2012, the OUR grant program was the first undergraduate program sponsored by the university that offered research opportunities to undergraduate student willing to develop new ideas and explore their curiosity in the program’s laboratory facilities under a mentor’s supervision. As the program moves into the start of a new decade, Dr. Cristian Bahrim, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, reflects on the success of the program for the 2022 year.

This year, more than 33 proposals submitted by undergraduate students were reviewed by 52 faculty carefully selected for their expertise –– twice as many proposals as last year and the largest in any grant review effort, so far.  

“The quality of this year’s proposals was exceptional with a 70% acceptance rate for both STEM and Humanities, Arts, Social and Behavior Sciences, Education and Business proposals and 23 selected projects conducted by 26 students,” the director said. “All five academic colleges are part of the 2022-23 OUR grant program, which promises a rich and diverse panel of talks and posters presentations at our Annual Undergraduate Research Conference, EXPO 2023, on April 14, 2023.”

On Nov. 5, the Texas STEM conference celebrated its 10th year with young researchers from UT Austin, Rice University, UT Arlington and UTMB-Galveston, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Cornell University, Colorado School of Mines, Auburn University, Louisiana State University and Arizona State University. The program also included 25 presentations from graduate students from all the STEM academic areas and three special guests from prominent US companies: Dr. Jay Prigmore, an Electrical Quality Engineer and Technical Manager at Google Inc.; Mr. Alexander Bahrim, a Systems Engineer at NASA – Johnson Space Flight Center and Mr. Monir Hossain, a Senior Engineer at Entergy. The international component of this year’s conference brought an invited speaker from Germany: Dr. Raktim Haldar, an Alexander von Humboldt fellow at Leibniz University of Hannover.

On Nov. 19, OUR hosted their annual 19th annual HASBSEB conference with keynote speaker Dr. Juan Llopis, the vice-president of the University of Alicante, Spain. Llopis is a world-renowned academic researcher and a distinguished professor of business management, who was introduced by Dr. Juan Luis Nicolau, Marriott professor at Virginia Tech and one of the top five world experts in tourism management. Seventeen HASBSEB undergraduates presented their research while two eminent LU faculty, Dr. Don Warren and Dr. Mamta Singh, presented their programs. For the first time, the David J. Beck and Presidential Fellows presented their research in dedicated sessions at the conferences.

On Nov. 28, the program hosted their annual OUR Awards Ceremony honoring 17 undergraduate students for their research.

Best STEM SURF Projects for 2022

First Place: Lily Yoder, psychology major

Mentor: Dr. Edythe Kirk

Project: Research in human behavior – “The Effects of Positive Mood and Stereotype Threat on Memory Recall.”

Runner Up: Ian Sisson, chemistry major

Mentor: Dr. Paul Bernazzani

Project: Research in Sustainable Materials – Polymers “Iron-Cellulose Bioplastic Nanocomposite Research.”

Best STEM SURF Presentation

Winner: Ian Sisson, chemistry major

Mentor: Dr. Paul Bernazzani

Reseach: Sustainable Materials – Polymers –  “Iron-Cellulose Bioplastic Nanocomposite Research.”

Best Poster Presentation for Undergraduate Research

First Place: David Matherne, biology major

Mentor: Dr. Evgeny Romashets and Dr. Cristian Bahrim

Reseach: Geo-space Sciences – “Interplanetary Magnetic Cloud of April 17, 1999.”

Second Place: Tarin Hill, chemistry major

Mentor: Dr. Ozge Gunaydin

Reseach: Chemistry –  “Exploiting the hydrogen storage properties of ammonia borane with the addition of polyacrylic acid and calcium chloride: Thermal and kinetic studies.”

Third Place: Ian Sisson, chemistry major

Mentor: Dr. Paul Bernazzani

Research: Sustainable Materials – Polymers – “Iron-Cellulose Nanocomposites: A Potential Replacement for High Strength Plastics.”

Best Beck Fellow Talk

Winner: Zaid Mohammed

Mentor: Dr. Ian Lian

Research: Medicine – “Role of Autophagy Receptors in Cancer.”

Best Poster Presentation at Master Level

Winner: Elizabeth Claire Alexander, master candidate in biology

Mentor: Dr. Miriam Vasefi

Research: Biology – “CBD Mechanisms of Action at the Human 5-HT1A Receptor.”

Best Poster Presentation at Doctoral Level

Winner: Rishi Bharadwaj, doctoral candidate in electrical engineering

Mentor: Dr. Cristian Bahrim

Research: Optoelectronics – “Comparison of the Interference Patterns between Non-Coherent and Coherent Laser Beams Illuminating the Same Dielectric Surface.”

Best Talk at Doctoral Level

Winner: Premkumar Ravishaker, doctoral candidate in industrial & systems engineer

Mentor: Dr. Berna Eren-Tokgoz

Research: Oil Industry – “Increasing The Oil and Gas Pipeline Resiliency using Image Processing Algorithm.”

Runner Up: Prasad Pawar, doctoral candidate in chemical engineering

Mentor: Dr. Clayton Jeffryes

Research: Bioprocessing – “Demulsification of Tight Crude Oil-Water Emulsions Under Microwave Radiation in Presence of Chemical Demulsifiers.”

Best SURF HASBSEB Projects for 202

Winner: Margo Eugenio, teacher education major

Mentor: Dr. Mamta Singh

Project: Research in teacher education – “Social-Emotional Learning & Culturally Responsive Teaching: Do Preservice Teachers have the Skill, Knowledge, & Awareness to Support Student Achievement? An Exploratory Study!”

Runner Up: Chaley Cleckley, teacher education major

Mentor: Dr. Mamta Singh

Project: Research in teacher education – “Genetic Technology and the use of an Oral Debate Method on Questioning Ethics in the Classroom”

Best SURF HASBSEB Presentation

Winner: Margo Eugenio, teacher education major

Mentor: Dr. Mamta Singh

Project: Research in teacher education – “Social-Emotional Learning & Culturally Responsive Teaching: Do Preservice Teachers have the Skill, Knowledge, & Awareness to Support Student Achievement? An Exploratory Study!”

Best Presidential Fellow Presentation

Winner: Taliah Belcher, finance major

Mentor: Dr. Gevorg Sargsyan

Project: Research in finance – “Impact of Militarization on Growth of Countries.”

Best Non-OUR Sponsored Research – In Progress

Winner: Zainab Almohsin

Mentor: Dr. Millicent Musyoka

Project: Research in deaf studies – “Understanding Deaf Saudi Mothers Experiences: A Three-Dimensional Narrative Inquiry Structure.”

Runner Up: Louis Bryan, mechanical engineering and mathematics major

Mentor: Dr. Margo Gage Witvliet and Dr. Stuart Wright

Project: Research in environmental health – “Examining Trends (2018-2022) in TCEQ Air Emission Event Data that Occurs Near Charlton-Pollard Elementary School.”

Best Non-OUR Sponsored Research – Early Phase

Winner: Jasmine Boone, corporate communications major

Mentor: Mr. Andre Favors

Project: Research in symbolism in commercials – “An Analysis of Pepsi’s ‘Live for Now’ Commercial via Burkeian Dramatistic Lens.”

Best Presentation in the Study Abroad Contest

Winner: Emily Alvarez, business major

Mentor: Dr. Gevorg Sargsyan and Dr. Komal Karani

Winner: Miriam Chavez, business major

Mentor: Dr. Gevorg Sargsyan and Dr. Komal Karani

Project: Research in symbolism in commercials – “Study Abroad at the University of Alicante, Spain”

Original source can be found here.