Recipients of the 2011 Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards make up the biggest class in the program’s five-year history. In all, 70 students will receive funding for 69 projects that cover a wealth of topics, including facial recognition, online communities, flexible electronics, public investment, energy transfer and social media marketing.
Dr. Bruce Gnade
This is almost a 50 percent increase from the 46 awards made last year and more than triple the 21 awards made when the program began in 2007.
“This program was developed to highlight the quality of research undergraduates are doing on campus,” said Vice President for Research Bruce Gnade. “What impresses me year after year is that the number of applications increases so much but the quality continues to be top-notch. It says a lot about our students and the culture of research here.”
This year also boasts the most participation from outside organizations. Program sponsor Raytheon Company helped fund the program and will send a judge to the Poster Contest Finals this spring. External judges also will be provided by Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T Foundry, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Mary Kay, PepsiCo Advanced Research, Pioneer Natural Resources, RIM, St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation Division, Tektronix Communications and Texas Instruments.
The complete list of student winners and their research projects are as follows:
| Student | Title | Faculty Advisor | School |
| Amber Counts | The Hero(ine) of Harry Potter: Helping the Secondary Student Re-examine the Role of the Female in the Hero’s Journey | Theresa Towner | A&H |
| Charles Cage | Offline Meetings’ Effects on Participation and Social Capital: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of an Online Community | Cuihua Shen | A&H |
| Alex Partin | Effects of Dequalinium on Protein Expression in the Amygdala | Lucien Thompson | BBS |
| Allyson Rice | Facial recognition: expert and novice comparison | Alice O’Toole | BBS |
| Angela Johnston | What Factors Influence Children’s Evaluation of Sources of Information? | Candice Mills | BBS |
| Dayra Lorenzo Mercado | The Role of 5HT1A Receptors in a Rat Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | Marco Atzori | BBS |
| Eric Meyers | Unilateral Neglect Rehabilitation Using Vagus Nerve Stimulation | Robert Rennaker | BBS |
| Francisco Garcia | The stress-induced cytokine Interleukin-6 decreases synaptic inhibition and excitation in the rat temporal cortex | Marco Atzori | BBS |
| Jessica Pruett | Effect of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Extinction Learning and Addiction Behavior | Sven Kroener | BBS |
| Kwok Im and Nicole Moreno | Neural Mechanisms of Speech Discrimination in Modulated Background Noise | Michael Kilgard | BBS |
| Lauren Houston | Exploration of Compensatory Strategies in Children with Specific Language Impairment | Mandy Maguire | BBS |
| Marissa Co | Investigation of the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in auditory working memory in rats | Marco Atzori | BBS |
| Srihari Lella | The role of dendritic localization and nonsense mediated decay of the activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein’s (Arc/Arg 3.1) mRNA in learning & memory | Jonathan Ploski | BBS |
| Timothy Daniels | A Study on the Importance of Noradrenergic Receptors in Divided Attention | Marco Atzori | BBS |
| Abhishek Raj | Utilizing the Shape Memory Effect to Enable Flexible Electronics | Walter Voit | ECS |
| Anita Chandrahas | Transcription activator like effectors (TAL Effectors) | Leonidas Bleris | ECS |
| Cody Morris | Title not specified | Wonjae Choi | ECS |
| Courtney Keeler | Quantification of the Effects of Polymerization Conditions on Thiol-ene Systems for Implantable Flexible Electronics | Walter Voit | ECS |
| Donguk Yang | Title not specified | Chiu Yun | ECS |
| Dongyoung Kim | Automated Method for Detecting Endocytosis and Exocytosis events from the Multifocal Plane Microscopy Image Data | Raimund Ober | ECS |
| Duc Le | Towards a Machine-Learning Based Image Diff Detection Algorithm | Yang Liu | ECS |
| Hoang Nguyen | Tunable Guided Mode Resonance Nano Grating-Based Label-Free Bio Sensor | Jeong-Bong Lee | ECS |
| Joon Sohn | Optically Transparent Super Hydrophobic Super Oleophobic Thin Film for Self-cleaning Surface Application | Jeong-Bong Lee | ECS |
| Kristen Genter | Development of Methods for Analyzing Chemical Images | Amy Walker | ECS |
| Mark Jackson | Exploiting World Knowledge for Computational Anaphora Resolution | Vincent Ng | ECS |
| Pragun Gupta | Delivery of volume modulated arc therapy to static and moving targets | Ovidiu Daescu | ECS |
| Sagar Shah | Thermomechanical Characterization of Thiol-Ene based Substrates for Implantable Flexible Electronics | Walter Voit | ECS |
| Stuart Harrell | Privacy Threats in Database Outsourcing | Murat Kantarcioglu | ECS |
| Taewoo Ha | A method for realistic image display using the user position for virtual reality | Wooram Park | ECS |
| Tam Tran | Whisper Speech Recognition using Audio and Visual Data | Carlos Busso | ECS |
| Christine Cepelak | A Progressive Community in Dallas | Lloyd Dumas | EPPS |
| Nathan Eacret | When Is Inequality Fair? An Experimental Study of Redistribution | Catherine Eckel | EPPS |
| Saheli Nath | Civic Engagement in Low Income and Minority Neighborhoods, and the Role of Public Investment | James Murdoch | EPPS |
| Samuel Teichelman | A Quantification of the True Effectiveness of a Global Economy | Xin Li | EPPS |
| Sepanta Saidi | Variability in United States Public Sentiments to Islam | Ka-Yiu Ho | EPPS |
| Tyler Andrew | Junk Science in the Texas Court System | Anthony Champagne | EPPS |
| Alec Moore | Machine Learning and Bias Correction of MODIS Aerosol Optical Depth | David Lary | NSM |
| Asja Radja | The Study of Energy Transfer from Giant NQDs to JAs and Development of NIR type nanocrystals | Anton Malko | NSM |
| Avi Levy | Non-radiative energy transfer into nanometer-scale thin semiconducting films | Yuri Gartstein | NSM |
| Christopher Moore | A Study of Hepatic Pyruvate Metabolism Using Dynamic Nuclear Polarization | A. Dean Sherry | NSM |
| Chuan-I Chang | Spectroscopic techniques to Saving Burn Victims | Robert Glosser | NSM |
| Citlally Ramirez | Cerion Mitochondrial DNA: Isolation and Genome Mapping | Dennis Miller | NSM |
| Collin Chiles | Energy Transfer Between Quantum Dots and Silicon | Yves Chabal | NSM |
| Daniel Kuddes | Light Emitting Electro-chemical Cell Optomization | Jason Slinker | NSM |
| Elaine Chien | Fabrication of electrospun carbon nanofibers with improved surface area as electrodes for supercapacitors | John Ferraris | NSM |
| Emily Butler | Bringing satellites into the geoscience classroom | Georgia Fotopoulos; | NSM |
| Hiu Kam | Mesoporous Carbon Fibers via Electrospinning | Kenneth Balkus | NSM |
| Jacob White | Parallel Tandems of Organic and Solid State Excitonic Solar Cells with Carbon Nanotube Interlayers | Anvar Zakhidov | NSM |
| John Veloria | Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms of the Cytotoxicity of Short Amyloidogenic Peptide Sequences | Gail Breen | NSM |
| Jordan Claytor | Magnetostratigraphic investigations of the uppermost Triassic/lowermost Jurassic Moenave Formation, American Southwest | John Geissman | NSM |
| Juan Juarez | Title not specified | Yves Chabal | NSM |
| Katherine Bierschenk | Using Fluorescent Microscopy to Measure the Effects of Phage Display Peptides on Calcium Oxalate Monohydrate Crystal Growth | Bruce Gnade | NSM |
| Marissa Miller | A Novel Quorum Sensing System in Sinorhizobium meliloti | Juan Gonzalez | NSM |
| Martin Huynh | Synthesis of Di-block Copolymers of P3HT and Alkenyl-Substituted Polythiophenes by Grignard Metathesis Polymerization for OFETs | Mihaela Iovu | NSM |
| Melissa Cisnero | New Materials Through Coupling Cyclic Peptides with Amphiphilic a-Helices | Gregg Dieckmann | NSM |
| Melissa Collini | Synthesis of an Anion Binder | John Sibert | NSM |
| Sabin Kshattry | Using T2 Exchange to Design Molecule-Specific MRI Contrast Agents | A. Dean Sherry | NSM |
| Sasha Burrowes | Bioinformatics framework for conceptual mapping of relationships between folic acid and common neural tube defects | Mehmet Candas | NSM |
| Shawn Hall | Short-chain fatty acids as a potential factor in the etiology of autistic spectrum disorders | Ruben Ramirez | NSM |
| Sussana Elkassih | Synthesis and Characterization of Conjugated Polymers Containing Phenothiazine for PLED Application | Mihaela Iovu | NSM |
| Triet Nguyen | Design Modifications of Reversible Cyclic Peptides for Improved Carbon Nanotube Dispersions: A Molecular Modeling Approach | Steven Nielsen | NSM |
| Tyler Hughes | Toxicity and Dispersibility of Carbon Nanoparticles | Rockford Draper | NSM |
| Victoria Lee | The Role of Heat Shock Factors and Heat Shock Proteins in Neurodegeneration | Santosh D’Mello | NSM |
| Vij Devika; | Dissecting the molecular events mediating oxygen regulation of SWI-SNF complex under hypoxia | Li Zhang | NSM |
| Xuhui Ning | Luminescent Gold Nanoparticles with pH dependent membrane absorption for tumor targeting | Jie Zheng | NSB |
| Yasmin-Pei Chau | Optimization of Allosteric Interactions | John Burr | NSM |
| Zachary Johnson | Social Media Marketing Return on Investment: Tracking and Measurement | BPS Murthi | SOM |