Materials Science
Materials have rapidly become scarce and costly due to several factors, including disease, deforestation, worker strikes, and more. This year-four continuation project improved molding techn…
Chemistry
Human activity and fossil fuel consumption continue to increase the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) content to extraordinary levels, compounding the greenhouse-gas effect and driving global…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Nicotine addiction is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports approximately 23.6 million Americans have a nicotine use disorder.…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
The current youth has been experiencing a decline in cognitive functioning, and many have attributed this to a Dopamine (DA) rewiring stemming from “easy” DA induction from online habits. Ho…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent social interaction deficits and repetitive behaviors. Current FDA-approved drugs reduce irritabili…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
The foundation of my research lies in my commitment to finding innovative, impactful solutions to real-world problems with Quantum science. I conducted independent research to identify and d…
Plant Sciences
As humanity ventures into extraterrestrial agriculture and advances controlled-environment farming, understanding how plants integrate directional growth cues under altered abiotic condition…
Biochemistry
Carrizo Cane, an invasive species affecting the health of Webb County's Rio Grande River and other southern U.S. waterways, presents significant ecological challenges. Instead of focusing on…
Materials Science
Quantum dots (QDots) are nanoparticles with a wide range of applications, including bioimaging, fluorescent labeling, and agriculture. Commercial QDots are synthesized using heavy metals, ma…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Over 10 million people live with Parkinson's Disease (PD), an incurable movement disorder that disrupts daily life. Freezing of Gait (FoG) affects 80% of advanced patients, causing sudden im…
Embedded Systems
Background: Grasping is a critical function for humanoid robots to automate mechanical labor. Current robotic grasping is limited by the inability to precisely set grasping conditions before…
Technology Enhances the Arts
Nearly 5% of the global population, or 430M people, require hearing loss rehabilitation, while in the U.S., about 11M people experience serious hearing difficulties. Many deaf individuals co…
Environmental Engineering
As global warming and climate change intensify, our planet continues to deteriorate. One of the most well-known ways of combating this problem is renewable energy sources. In many cases, ren…
Chemistry
As global hydrogen demands reached 20 million tons in 2024, electrolysis "the chemical process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen" remains one of the most promising methods for clea…
Physics and Astronomy
This experiment investigated the characteristics of the decoherence of qubits in photonic quantum computers and the effects of decoherence on the superimposed state of the qubit. Three diffe…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Climate change comes in many forms, sometimes from unexpected sources. Manure management facilities are some of the most overlooked, yet consequential facilitators of climate change, contrib…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Melatonin made by insects and plants regulates growth and development. Ecdysteroids like 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) promote maturation, molting and butterfly emergence through oxidative stress…
Embedded Systems
Over 57 million people worldwide live with an amputation, and more than 80% of them live in developing countries, where access to therapeutic remedy is especially constrained. To date, work…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Helicobacter pylori is a bacterial strain that attaches to gastric mucosal cells through its BabA adhesin, which begins growth of colonies that increase risk of peptic ulcers and gastric or…
Biochemistry
Amyloid-ß (Aß) extracellular plaques in the brain are a primary cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. Previous studies have focused on understanding cerebral Aß production and prevention. However, n…
Biomedical Engineering
Current lower limb prostheses rely on cumbersome procedures, need risky surgery, and are prohibitively expensive. As a result, many lower-limb amputees experience unnatural gait patterns and…
Translational Medical Science
CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative condition from repetitive head impacts in sports, lacks preventive interventions. This research examines curcumin and CoQ10's neuroprotective effects in…
Embedded Systems
Despite technological advancements in automation, the construction industry continues to primarily rely on manual labor. This project strives to implement autonomous masonry utilizing drones…
Biochemistry
At-home blood collection, such as the dried blood spots for fertility workups has been challenging due to low circulating Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) concentrations and dependence on traine…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD)score, a widely used tool, predicts 90-day waitlist-mortality but fails to account for post-transplant survival, leading to suboptimal organ allocatio…
Microbiology
C1 compounds—methanol, formaldehyde, and formate—are toxic environmental pollutants associated with hazardous spills, water contamination, and severe health effects, including blindness, can…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Nerve degeneration, due to acute injury and chronic neurodegenerative disease, causes devastating symptoms for millions of patients worldwide. No therapeutics to regenerate neurons exist, me…
Chemistry
This project investigated using fertilizer-rich agricultural runoff, mainly ammonia, for green hydrogen production. Instead of artificial setups, a system with soil, seeds, and urea solution…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
As the annual number of amputations continues to rise, limb loss continues to impede the daily lives of over 50 million people worldwide. Though several prosthetic options are available, mos…
Physics and Astronomy
As advancements in space technology progress, rocket design has become a critical field of study. This project investigates the optimal fin configuration for a two-stage rocket to achieve hi…