Biomedical and Health Sciences
The aim of this experiment was to expand upon the relationship established in previous studies between insulin-like signaling regulated autophagy in chemosensory neurons and lipid metabolism…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Europa is a satellite that has potential for life, as it actually has water. To sponsor further exploration, it is necessary to build a rover that will be able to traverse the terrain of Eur…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Nearly 60% of anticancer treatments are derived from naturally existing molecules. If total protein from the sponge Spirastrella cunctatrix is purified, kept in native conformation, and adde…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, approximately 39% of Americans live in coastal areas. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Maria, attention has been drawn to…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Interactions between NOD2 and TLR4 bacterial receptors play an important role in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Dysregulation of the NOD2 inhibition of TLR4 has been highly assoc…
Environmental Engineering
First Award
By 2050, global population is projected to reach 9 billion people. Farmers need to implement innovative methods like Precision Agriculture to produce 70% more food to feed everyone on existi…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
In most perennials, the flowering process is prolonged due to the extensive growth period, causing time gaps in plant research and cultivation. The purpose of the study is to assess the effi…
Energy: Chemical
Americans throw away 1 in 3 aluminum (Al) cans every year, worth ~$1 billion, although recycling scrap Al requires only 5% of the energy used to make new Al. The motivation behind this work…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Second Award
The majority of Western nations are living on unhealthy diets with high amounts of sugar and few nutrients. This diet, coupled with a lack of exercise, is associated with higher incidences o…
Microbiology
The main focus for this project is to develop silk fibroin solutions using the iron oxide nanoparticles to create a topical antibiotic that will be able to inhibit bacterial growth, withstan…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Second Award
It is evident that the tongue perceives tactile sensation, but little is known about the neurons that mediate this. Since tropomyosin receptor kinase C (TrkC) neurons are mechanosensory in s…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck is the 6th most common cancer worldwide. There are 60,000 new cases and 10,000 deaths a year within the U.S. It is caused mainly by smoking…
Embedded Systems
As a result of the many challenges blind people face in regards to touchscreen technology, proper assistive technology is essential for making touchscreens accessible to them. Screen readers…
Translational Medical Science
Fourth Award
Hypothesis: CT scans are used to determine extent of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but are costly and have radiation exposure. Recently, the FDA approved the use of serum biomarkers in TBI,…
Translational Medical Science
Acute myocardial infarction, otherwise known as a heart attack, is a major cause of death in the United States. Cardiac troponins, which are structural proteins unique to the heart, are sens…
Biochemistry
Third Award
Flaviviruses, such as the Zika and Dengue virus, are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses that have caused widespread epidemics and morbidity throughout the world. Little is known abo…
Environmental Engineering
Today, billions of plastic particles have entered the aquatic biomes of our planet. They will infiltrate, pollute, and slowly destroy our world for generations to come. As these plastics are…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
States and the CDC monitor accidental and intentional violent deaths to answer questions that are critical for the development of effective violence prevention strategies. The National Viole…
Engineering Mechanics
Third Award
Biologically inspired airfoil designs have recently become of increasing interest to the aerospace industry for their aerodynamic versatility. One approach involves mimicking the undulating…
Biomedical Engineering
Third Award
vonWillebrand Disease debilitates 4+ million people in the US with most subtypes induced by mutations of the von Willebrand Factor (vWF) multimeric glycoprotein responsible for hemostasis. I…
Animal Sciences
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sunscreen products containing Oxybenzone on the coral Acropora cervicornis. Experimental fragments of A. cervicornis were obtained…
Embedded Systems
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) use multiple space-based satellites and a GPS receiver to calculate your position on earth. Navigation is as simple as entering an address after which the so…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Sleep is a fundamental building block for human health, directly affecting mood, safety, and academic and physical performance. Despite this, only 20% of adolescents receive the recommended…
Energy: Physical
The world population has steadily increased, as has the demand for energy. To combat this increasing need for energy, energy harvesting research aims for cost reduction and efficiency. Howev…
Translational Medical Science
Liquid biopsy is a powerful tool to provide cancer genetics via detection of biomarkers like circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood to reduce cancer death through precision medicine and has…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Fourth Award
Lupine flour is a novel food ingredient derived from the endosperm of lupine beans and is increasing in popularity, primarily in Europe and Australia. Peanut allergy is the leading cause of…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fourth Award
In the arid West, conversion of intermittent streams to arroyos makes the already limited water even less available to the ecosystem. This study used two drones (one we designed and built in…
Physics and Astronomy
Can a computer program be applied to a small electromagnet so that when it is raised above a large electromagnet at different heights, the force will stay the same? The purpose of this exper…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
TSA screened more than 708 million passengers in 2015 (more than 1.9 million per day), which is 40.7 million more passengers than in 2014. A neural network is a form of machine learning that…
Systems Software
Blindness is a severe vision impairment that cannot be corrected. Over 12 million Americans are blind or visually impaired; this will double by 2030 (CDC, 2017). Blindness causes transportat…