Dean’s Early Research Initiative Develops Next Generation of Engineers

Students from the Dean’s Early Research Initiative gather at the Engineering Research Building to present their posters and be recognized for their work throughout the program.
Students from the Dean’s Early Research Initiative gather at the Engineering Research Building to present their posters and be recognized for their work throughout the program.

Through the Dean's Early Research Initiative (DERI), high school students have an opportunity to immerse themselves in college-level engineering research. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows also have an opportunity to develop their mentorship skills by serving as advisors to help these high school juniors develop as engineers throughout their senior year.

Congratulations to the students below who took part in the Dean’s Early Research Initiative. View photos from the event on the VCU Engineering Flickr.

Anish Gutha
BugAimBot: Effectively Locating and Displaying Buggy Changesets
Advisor: Dostadin Damevski, Ph.D., Computer Science

Kyle Hedrick
Quantum Device Laboratory
Advisor: Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering

Kshitij Kokkera
An Empirical Study on the Propagation of Conspiracy Theories on Twitter
Advisor: Carol Fung, Ph.D., Computer Science

Nicholas Mabie
Measuring Contact Angle for Advanced Manufacturing of Essential Pharmaceuticals
Advisor: Mo Jiang, Ph.D., Chemical & Life Science Engineering
Graduate student advisor: Sunuk Kim

Valerie Mauskapf
Silica Aerogels: Synthesis, Processing, and Properties Information Architecture
Advisor: James Ferri, Ph.D., Chemical & Life Science Engineering

Diya Ram Mohan
Blockchain Data Collection Program
Advisor: Thang Dinh, Ph.D., Computer Science
Graduate student advisor: Phuc Thai

Jessica Nguyen
Extracellular Matrix Nanoparticles Modulate Immune Response to Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Lung Injury
Advisor: Rebecca Heise, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
Graduate student advisor: Franck Kamga Gninzeko

Chelsey San Juan
Measuring Contact Angle for Advanced Manufacturing of Essential Pharmaceuticals
Advisor: Mo Jiang, Ph.D., Chemical & Life Science Engineering
Graduate student advisor: Sunuk Kim

Trisha Taparia
Modeling and Simulation to Estimate Shoulder Muscle and Joint Forces During Wheelchair Propulsion
Advisor: Carrie Peterson, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering

Evan Tuckley
Investigating the Cause of Mineralization with Age in the Meniscus
Advisor: Jennifer Puetzer, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering

Isle van Duijl
Interactive Pipeline for Literature Based Discovery Using Knime
Advisor: Bridget McInnes, Ph.D., Computer Science

Andrew Vithoulkas
The Nuts and Bolts of an Autonomous Robotic System
Advisor: Patrick J. Martin, Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering

Halle Wulff
Fabrication and Characterization of Enzymatically Crosslinked Gelatin
Advisor: Vamsi K. Yadavalli, Ph.D., Chemical & Life Science Engineering
Graduate student advisor: Anne Katherine Brooks