Graduate Symposium celebrates research, innovation, and collaboration

On August 23rd, graduate students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners gathered together for the 9th Annual Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Graduate Research Symposium. Research presentations were given in 4 research topics: Electronics and Devices, Soft Matter & Nanotechnology, Soft Matter & Biomaterials and Materials Mechanics and Characterization. In total 17 graduate students gave talks on their current research. An industrial panel comprised of scientists Cyndy Andela (Andela), Sushmit Goyal (Corning), Austin Hickman (Soctera), and Brian Peterson (Arkema) allowed students to discuss the challenges and benefits of industrial careers.

Both LATTICE and JEDI, two of MSE's graduate student organizations, held sessions during the day to introduce their missions and goals for campus and beyond. The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Initiative Team strives for inclusion and support to all students, especially BIPOC, URM, women, LGBTQ+, and otherwise marginalized groups in science and engineering. LATTICE, a graduate and professional student association, strives to foster a sense of community by organizing social and cultural events for graduate students and promoting academic and professional activities. Following the formal presentations, attendees gathered for a poster session where additional students presented their work.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support of industry sponsors: Avantor, Corning, Andela, Carrier, and Arkema; and Dr. Lei Tian Ph.D. '00 MSE who provided funding for the student presentation awards. We are also grateful to our graduate student planning committee members Somya Jain M.S., Manav Tathacharya M.S., Katherine Wang Ph.D., and Christina Yu M.S., for their organizational efforts to coordinate this year's event. 

Congratulations to this year's award winners: 

MSE Graduate Research Symposium Best Poster

Tiazne Li, Temperature-dependent Permittivity Characterization of 4H SiC at Millimeter-wave Frequencies

Dr. Lei Tian ’00 Prize for Best Presentation First Place

Yuhe Zhang, Monolayer Metal-Organic Frameworks in Ultrathin Membranes for Precise Molecular Sieving

Dr. Lei Tian ’00 Prize for Best Presentation Second Place

River Carson, Polariton formation in Magic Size Cluster system for tunable optical properties and future devices 

Dr. Lei Tian ’00 Prize for Best Presentation Third Place

Dong June Hang, Magic-Size Clusters in Ultrasmall, Amorphous Silica Nanoparticles