Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Database

Our lab (ADIE) is looking for passionate undergraduate students working together! Our lab ADIE (adaptive design of immersive e-learning lab) is currently studying how immersive learning technologies support marginalized learners in STEM education. Educational technology is an academic discipline that addresses ways to utilize technologies to make our society, world, and education better. We believe that engaging digital platforms (e.g., VR and digital games) can help underrepresented students to be involved in education with pursuing the value of diversity, inclusion and equity. For instance, the major research project that our lab is doing is the design and development of a digital game-based learning platform aimed to enhance integrat...

The primary goal of this research is to conceptualize, design, fabricate, and deploy a robotic arm driven by the principles of tensegrity structures, providing a unique approach to robotic movement, flexibility, and adaptability. Tensegrity, a portmanteau of "tension" and "integrity", refers to structural systems that derive their stability from a balance between tension and compression components. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in applying the principles of tensegrity to the realm of robotics, primarily due to its potential advantages such as lightweight structures, increased flexibility, and adaptive resilience. Scope: Literature Review: Investigation of existing research related to tensegrity robotics, its prin...

Elucidation of the structure, function, and mode of action of metallobiomolecules.The elucidation of the structure, function, and mode of action of metallobiomolecules via: 1) spectroscopic, magnetic, kinetic and biochemical studies of the natural systems and 2) the synthesis and characterization of biomimetic inorganic complexes. Our research applies biochemical and synthetic and physical inorganic methods to characterize the function and properties of metallobiomolecules (naturally occurring molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, sugars, etc. that contain tightly bound metal ions). The presence of the metal ions gives these species unique magnetic and spectroscopic properties (such as color) that provide avenues (not available to t...

Advanced computational electronic structure methods will be used to calculate the geometries, vibrational frequencies, energetics, and excited state properties of important compounds of biological interest. Both correlated molecular orbital theory and density functional theory will be used. The focus of the work is on charging of peptides for explaining mass spectrometry results for both cationic and anionic peptides. The cationic work will focus on transition metal ion charging. Both types of studies are relevant to the study of the Human proteome....

The Summers research lab is always looking for motivated undergraduate students who are interested in performing research at the interface of engineering, microbiology, and biochemistry. Students will work on one of several projects related to genetic engineering of bacteria and yeast, including: (1) Elucidation of how bacteria recognize and respond to caffeine in their environment (2) Development of tools to engineer bacteria and yeast (3) Engineering bacteria to create high-value chemicals (4) Engineering yeast cells to produce high-value chemicals Students should expect to spend 6-10 hours per week in the lab. A commitment of at least one academic year is requested, but ideally students will continue to perform research in the l...

We are interested in developing a fundamental and predictive understanding of actinide chemistry in aqueous solution under conditions relevant to nuclear-waste storage and reprocessing of spent fuel to address aggregate and colloid formation. Intractable, small aggregates in nuclear-waste streams can impair clean-up, forcing a low-level waste stream to be treated as high-level waste, thereby increasing treatment costs. Metal oligomers, aggregates, clusters, nanophases and colloids are ubiquitous in aqueous chemistry. Thought to form via the condensation reactions of hydrolyzed metal ions, intrinsic dissolved aggregates or colloids are generally described as poly-dispersed hydroxides or hydrous oxides with varying stoichiometry and no well-d...

Use electronics circuit simulation software to design a dedicated low noise amplifier for novel detectors of elementary particles. Requires familiarity with relevant hardware (e.g., transimpedance amplifier) and software (e.g., LTspice)...