Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Over 80 million people face loss of upper-limb function. Yet noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG) prosthetic hand interfaces are limited to cumbersome, binary control due to severe signal…
Mathematics
This project focuses on the Repelling Propellers Problem, an unsolved problem proposed by Professor James Propp. The question investigates how same-sign, equally charged/spaced points behave…
Materials Science
In early January 2025, a series of wildfires spread across Los Angeles, devastating houses and forcing multiple families to evacuate their homes. These fires included the Sunset Fire, Palisa…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
In modern times, our planet has plunged into a crisis of energy, one where "clean" energy systems rely on Lithium-Ion Batteries, or LIBs, to store electricity. Due to the Lithium, Cobalt, an…
Software Design
Severe motor disabilities create a critical interaction gap, yet existing Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) suffer from signal instability, environmental sensitivity, and reliance on invasive…
Materials Science
Mini hydropower is rarely used in wastewater treatment because of expensive yet critical thermal blade coatings and maintenance in grit-filled, turbulent flows. This project tested whether c…
Embedded Systems
Each year, over 350,000 people in the United States experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and nearly 90% do not survive. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can triple survival ra…
Mathematics
Airlines have increasingly adopted flexible refund policies that allow passengers to cancel tickets in exchange for time-limited travel credits. While these policies reduce customer risk, th…
Biomedical Engineering
Understanding complex brain aneurysm geometry through detailed modeling for aneurysm behavior comprehension facilitates the prevention of focal dilation rupture in cerebral vasculature linke…
Biomedical Engineering
Central vision loss affects over 200 million worldwide, arising from macular diseases that result in central scotomas while peripheral vision remains largely intact. Current compensatory app…
Translational Medical Science
Can neuron resilience be predicted as topological failure of cellular identity? Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease marked by TDP-43 aggregation and moto…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
The ability to create and/or detect steganographic messages (messages hidden within images or other digital file types) is important for uses ranging from watermarking copyrighted materials…
Materials Science
Algae-derived Kappa-carrageenan (?CG) hydrogels show potential as renewable, biocompatible, and versatile materials for application in tissue engineering. It also gels easily with hydrogen b…
Biomedical Engineering
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of death globally, impacting 60 million people worldwide and leading to 17.9 million deaths. Traditional ventricular assist devices (VADs), a common sol…
Plant Sciences
This project investigated how allelopathic compounds from the invasive Cynara cardunculus (artichoke thistle) affect native species in the endangered coastal sage scrub habitat (CSS) at Blac…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
This research expands existing Olfactory Receptor (OR) studies, exploring their potential in cancer drug therapy and establishing a novel pipeline applicable to similar G protein-coupled rec…
Embedded Systems
The most significant weakness and vulnerability in the wildfire response chain lies in the early detection/reaction phase. The physics of wildfire growth are exponential. Any reduction in re…
Translational Medical Science
Brain tumors affect thousands annually, with approximately 95,000 primary brain tumor cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. Diagnostic imaging errors affect an estimated 40 million patients…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Early detection of falls is crucial as they are the leading cause of injury and death among elderly individuals. Prompt intervention is necessary to prevent serious consequences such as brok…
Systems Software
PDF-based stegomalware is a growing cybersecurity threat that disguises malicious payloads within the tree structure of PDF documents, exploiting features like embedded JavaScript, metadata,…
Physics and Astronomy
Turbulence is a natural phenomenon that serves as an underlying principle for many other fields, ranging from astrophysical studies of star formation to climate change modeling. Due to its c…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
T-cell malignancies contribute significantly to the high mortality rates of lung and colon cancers, two of the deadliest globally. Current CAR T-cell therapies, while promising, suffer from…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Anthropogenic open burning is known to release hazardous chemicals and has been associated with an increased prevalence of cardiopulmonary issues. For example, studies show that veterans who…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
Thirty-five million Americans have an implanted medical device (IMD), like a pacemaker. IMDs have a fixed battery life (~7-12 years), requiring invasive surgery to replace the battery, with…
Physics and Astronomy
A transit occurs when an exoplanet blocks the light from its host star to cause a unique dimming. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an all-sky scanning space telescope that…
Mathematics
How likely is it that we are one of the luckiest among many evolutionary possibilities? The NK model, a mathematical exemplar describing Wright's fitness landscapes, has provided great insig…
Embedded Systems
On average, every eight minutes a car hits a pedestrian, and every 70 minutes one is killed. The elderly, the hard of hearing, and those listening to music while exercising are at an increas…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Antimicrobial peptides are short-chain proteins known for their antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties. Each peptide has varying properties, though they have largely been tes…
Materials Science
Biomedical devices for personalized health monitoring are crucial for early disease detection and therapy, yet current devices are rigid and uncomfortable, causing issues with long-term wear…
Translational Medical Science
Oral cancer kills over 300,000 lives across the world every year, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a dominant type of oral cancer. Current diagnosis steps for OSCC typically involv…