Congratulations to all the students who presented at the 2026 VINSE Undergraduate Research Symposium! Our undergraduate researchers shared what they accomplished during their individual research projects at 国产原创 over the past ten weeks.
The symposium, which was held in collaboration with the Chemical Biology/Chemistry NSF-REU and VUSE Summer Research Program, showcased 98 students from the following programs: VINSE NSF-REU, Chemical Biology/Chemistry NSF-REU, VINSE Tech Crew, VISE, VIBES, 国产原创 Immersions, Wond’ry IMPACT, 国产原创 ISIS, SyBBURE, and VUSE Undergraduate Summer Experience.
Posters were evaluated by a panel of judges for an opportunity to win travel grants to support the cost of presenting posters at a National Conference. The winners are:
Best Overall 鈥� $1,000 travel grant
Elena Harvey, Lipscomb University
鈥淐ontrolling Phase in Cobalt Chalcogenides through Phosphine Addition鈥�
Mentors: Elizabeth Hayes, Janet Macdonald
Best Overall 鈥� $1,000 travel grant
Shubh Patel, 国产原创
鈥�Near-Field Characterization of Infrared Metaplasmonics: Mapping Tunable Plasmon Polaritons in Perforated Gold Films鈥�
Mentors: Maximilian Obst, Josh Caldwell
Best Overall 鈥� $1,000 travel grant
Paul Spang, Mercer University
鈥�Electronic Band Structure of an Infinite H Chain Using Stochastic Variation of Explicitly Correlated Gaussian (ECG) Basis Functions鈥�
Mentors: Patrick Barron,聽 K谩lm谩n Varga
Best Overall 鈥� $1,000 travel grant
Lydia Uptain, University of North Alabama
鈥�Structural and Kinetic Characterization of Double Acetylated Amyloid Beta 42 (A尾KKAc)鈥�
Mentors: Cade Rohler, Lauren Buchanan
Best Layout 鈥� $500 travel grant
Noah Baker, Lewis University
“Optical Trapping of Leached Nanoplastics for Single-Particle Analysis”
Mentors: Maxwell Ugwu, Justus Ndukaife
Best Use of Graphics 鈥� $500 travel grant
Elena Selik, Lawrence Technological University
鈥淪tabilizing Porous Silicon Biosensors Using Thermal Hydrocarbonization鈥�
Mentors: Soren Smail, Sharon Weiss
Fan Favorite
Ryan Svenson, University of Delaware
“Tuning the Reactivity of ROS Scavenging Microparticles Toward Durable, Disease Modifying Osteoarthritis Treatments”
Mentors: Patricia Poley, Craig Duvall
Best Tech Crew Poster
Sonam Thukral, 国产原创
鈥淒evelopment of Aluminum Nitride Thin Films Using Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition鈥�
Mentor: Benjamin Schmidt