Students show off their academic passions at Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium

Working for anywhere between one semester and multiple years, Purdue University Fort Wayne students were able to show off their academic passions Friday during the 27th annual Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium. Representing a significant increase in participation from a year ago, 115 students combined forces to display 81 posters on the skybridge connecting Helmke Library and Walb Student Union. The work was judged by faculty members as hundreds of members of the campus community and others walked through to examine the results.

In the undergraduate division, a computer science team of Jacob Ridenour, Eric Bradshaw, Austin Shutt, Blake Cavender, Yashi Yadav, and Treyton Perkins was awarded first place for “Deploying CNN-Driven Image Steganography Techniques.” Amal Khalifa of the Department of Computer Science served as the faculty mentor.

Second place was awarded to biology majors Sadie Gerber and Josie Butler for “TnSmu1 Integration Site Changes in S. Mutans.” Lisa McLellan of the Department of Biological Sciences served as that team’s faculty mentor.

Junior Marissa Van de Weg received third place for “Speech-Language Pathologists’ Experiences with Nursing Diet Modification Practices: Trends and Clinical Implications.” The project was supported on the faculty side by Naomi Gurevich and Danielle Osmelak from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

In the graduate competition, Israt Mishu won first place for “Typtophan Improves the Growth of Tilapia Raised in Recirculating Aquaculture System.” Ahmed Mustafa from the Department of Biological Sciences served as Mishu’s faculty mentor for the submission.

Simone Haak won second place for “Babesia-secreted Extracellular Vesicles Modulate Host Immune Cell Response.” The project was sponsored by Jose Thekkiniath of the Department of Biology.

Graduate students Neel Singh, Daniyal Parveez, Koustav Mallick, and Sanidhya Sharma received third place for “PFW CS Chatbot” in a project sponsored by Zesheng Chen from the Department of Computer Science.

First introduced during the 2023 symposium, Dean’s Choice Award recipients were again selected.

Grad students Khusbu Rahman and Ankitha Sudarshan were honored by the Doermer School of Business for “Decoding Influence: Human vs. Virtual Influencers in the Era of Social Media Marketing.” Nichaya Suntornpithug of the Department of Marketing and Management was the project sponsor.

The College of Liberal Arts selected “A Tale of Two Communities” by senior Megan Peek and sophomore Catherine Witters, which was sponsored by Sherrie Steiner of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology.  

Senior Allison Adams received recognition from the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science for “Evaluating the Slaking and Disintegration Potential for Weak Rock Mass for Stability Analysis of Water Tunnels and Other Structures Built on Natural Slopes.” The project was mentored by Fawad Niazi and Aranzazu Pinan-Llamas from the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and the School of Polytechnic, respectively.  

Seniors Taylor Norman, Ellie Dart, and Linsi Kinney from the College of Science were selected for “Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Increases Impulsivity in Adolescent Male, but Not Female Rats.” The faculty mentor was Amy Perkins from the Department of Psychology.

The School of Education honored grad students Heather Demars, Courtney Kuhn, and Jonathan Bosk for “Self-Editing in Counselors-in-Training when Broaching Diversity.” Joel Givens from the Department of Counseling Education was the faculty mentor.

And senior Madison Foreman was awarded by the College of Visual and Performing Arts for “Ending Endometriosis,” with James Gabbard of the Department of Art and Design sponsoring her work.

The date for the 2025 symposium is March 21.