On Wednesday, April 17th, 2024, The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) hosted Undergraduate Research Day (URD) in the Stamp Grand Ballroom. This event empowered students to share their research experiences and outcomes while celebrating their dedication and passion for discovery.
More than 400 undergraduate students showcased their scholarly and creative work sharing 216 poster presentations. These presentations encompassed a range of disciplines, representing twelve UMD colleges, schools, and programs. A subset of these presentations have been captured in our DRUM collection for the event.
URD welcomed all members of the UMD community who engaged in meaningful conversations with students and fostered multidisciplinary collaboration. The enthusiastic engagement and support from the UMD campus and community contributed to the event’s success. Photos from the event can be found in the Office of Undergraduate Research’s Online Photo Repository.
Inaugural Excellence in Research Awards (ERA)
During URD, undergraduate candidates nominated by faculty research advisors for OUR’s Excellence in Research Awards (ERAs) were evaluated by a diverse group of UMD community members, including faculty and staff. The final award selection was determined by students’ meaningful engagement in their research disciplines, exhibiting resilience, creativity & creative problem-solving, and excelling in cross-field research communication.
We are happy to announce that the following students were selected for the 2024 OUR ERAs:
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
Animal Sciences: Ying-Rong (Megan) Liu (Defining how two avian dsRNA viruses affect lipid droplet formation in vitro)
Plant Sciences: Dalia Chen (The effect of temperature on a plant fungal pathogen.)
College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
Criminology and Criminal Justice: Sadie Storm (What is Justice? Coping Methods for Families of Lynching Victims)
Economics: Connor Bopst (Russian Wealth and The War with Ukraine: Evidence from the BIS)
Psychology: Sophia Moore (Age-related Differences Regarding Spontaneous Reasoning about Social Exclusion)
Psychology: Irene Navaleza (Attention! Data Helps Diagnoses: A machine learning approach to predicting ADHD)
Sociology: Levi Frazier (Gentrification and Community Cohesion in Washington, DC)
College of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences
Biological Sciences: Reina Patolia (Analyzing the Extracellular Structure of Lymph Nodes During Immune Response)
Biological Sciences: Julia Streit (Human ribosomal protein SA, S2, S3, S4, S6, S7 expression in a cell-free system)
Chemistry: Shannon Ganley (Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy System Design for Astrochemical Applications)
Computer Science: Sriman Selvakumaran (Exploring a Full Quantum Generative Adversarial Network for HEP Simulations)
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Aerospace: Nathan Roy (Affordable Natural Disaster Relief Robotics (ANDRR))
Bioengineering: Yassmin Abbouchi (Analyzing the Extracellular Structure of Lymph Nodes During Immune Response)
Bioengineering: Udit Gupta (The impact of matrix stiffness on brain endothelial cell-cell junction stiffness)
Bioengineering: Anushka Poddar (Advanced Single Cell and Bacteria Tracking in Host-Pathogen Interactions)
Fire Protection: Nicholas Mertz (Creation of Cool Diffusion Flames on Earth and their Applications)
We warmly congratulate all ERA recipients and express gratitude towards all who made URD a memorable and enriching experience. The enthusiasm for undergraduate research demonstrated during URD is instrumental in nurturing a culture of research and re-imagining learning at UMD.