Thank you for attending the FURI/MORE Virtual Symposium
Friday, April 16, 2021, 1–3 p.m. MST
Take the surveyLearn about our students’ research
Is this your first time attending a research symposium or poster session? You will have the opportunity to talk with our students about how they’re changing the world with innovative research and thoughtful experimentation. Use these conversation starters to make the most of your experience:
- What is your project about?
- How and/or why did you select this topic?
- What was the most enjoyable part of the project?
- What was the most challenging part of the project?
- How has your research experience impacted your degree or career trajectory?
- What new skills did you develop as a result of your project?
- What is one thing you learned during your project that you wish you knew before you started?
- What advice would you give a new Fulton Schools student?
Be sure to grab the flyer with these tips from the Fulton Schools Outreach team. Fill out the survey linked in the flyer for a chance to win swag!
Featured Projects
Kylie Welch
Electrical engineering
Implementing Bio-Inspired Frequency Detection on an FPGA
Utilizing fast, low-power fast Fourier transform algorithms will improve execution times required to analyze frequencies for remote sensing.
Mentor: David Allee
Program: FURI
Jesus Pena
Mechanical engineering
The Effectiveness of Hands-On Demonstrations on Understanding Statics Principles
Using 3D models and presentations will lead to a higher comprehension level of fundamental concepts for engineers.
Mentor: Jay Oswald
Program: FURI
Smith Wingfield Pittman
Environmental engineering
Use of Rabbit Fecal Matter for Lignin Degradation in Wastewater Treatment Systems
Cellulose predigested by microbial enrichment could improve valuable product recovery from anaerobic digesters at wastewater facilities.
Mentor: Bruce Rittmann
Program: GCSP
Alexis Hocken
Chemical engineering
Characterizing Nanocomposites for Customizable Cartilage Replacements
The characterization of nanocomposites could allow for cartilage replacements tailored for individual patients.
Mentor: Matthew Green
Program: FURI
Lauren Nicole Lossner
Biomedical engineering
Interictal Spike Depolarization in the Neocortex: Relationship to Action Potential Inactivation
Studying the effect of interictal spike depolarizations on action potential firing will help determine if they contribute to epilepsy.
Mentor: Bradley Greger
Program: FURI
Kelvin Tan
Electrical engineering
Algorithms for Maximum Power Point Tracking through Load Management
Developing an efficient algorithm for load management will accelerate the development of photovoltaics and their use in the energy sector.
Mentor: Meng Tao
Program: FURI
Parth Khopkar
Computer science
Control and Coordination of Multi-Robot Swarm Systems
Studying the control and coordination of robot swarms will improve their impact in areas ranging from search and rescue to interplanetary exploration.
Mentor: Heni Ben Amor
Program: MORE
Dean Spyres
Engineering (mechanical engineering systems)
3D Printed Indirect Ophthalmoscope Accessory for Mobile Device
Creating a 3D-printed eye-imaging device for mobile device cameras will reduce the episode of care for patients, provide greater use case flexibility, and enable more personnel to document a patient's condition.
Mentor: Troy McDaniel
Program: MORE
Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI)
The Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative enhances an undergraduate student’s engineering experience and technical education by providing hands-on lab experience, independent and thesis-based research, and travel to national conferences.
Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering (MORE)
The Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering is designed to enrich a graduate student’s engineering and technical graduate curriculum with hands-on lab experience and independent and thesis-based research.
Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP)
The Fulton Schools Grand Challenges Scholars Program combines innovative curriculum and cutting-edge research experiences into an intellectual fusion that spans academic disciplines and includes entrepreneurial, global and service learning opportunities. Students in GCSP conduct research in a grand challenges theme and are invited to present their research at the FURI Symposium.
Snapshot
Students from three signature programs present at the FURI Symposium: Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative, Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering and Grand Challenges Scholars Program. In Spring 2021, 118 students participated.
FURIprojects
FURImentors
MOREprojects
MOREmentors
GCSPprojects
GCSPmentors
Research themes
Students work on projects related to six different themes that represent the Fulton Schools’ core research disciplines.
Data
In an increasingly digital world, data collection is growing at a rapid pace. Fulton Schools faculty and student researchers are devising innovative approaches and tools that will help us better process, analyze, use, manage and access data. New computational tools, algorithms and data analysis techniques, including hardware and software approaches, machine learning, data analytics, data-driven decision-making and more will help advance scientific discoveries and collaborations across multiple fields where data use and capture is ubiquitous.
Education
We are engaged in advancing the ways we educate engineering students. The Fulton Schools’ research focuses on learning methods, cognitive theory and best teaching practices, as well as the integration of engineering concepts in K-12 educational programs to engage students early and educate our community about the impact engineering has on everyday life.
Energy
The urgency to discover and deploy new forms of carbon-reducing energy technologies has become an indispensable part of our economic and environmental landscape. The Fulton Schools’ research in renewable and alternative energy sources is multifaceted with efforts in solar and photovoltaic energy, biotechnology, low- and high-power energy storage, power electronics, electric power systems, batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
Health
The Fulton Schools’ efforts in health innovation range from understanding the causes behind Alzheimer’s disease and improving methods for predicting epileptic seizures to developing advanced biosensors, bioassays and lab-on-a-chip devices for clinical diagnostics. Additional areas of research exist in novel biological materials, neural engineering, biomedical informatics, drug-delivery systems, health care systems analysis and modeling, health monitoring devices and human rehabilitation technologies.
Security
As technology develops at a faster rate, there is a growing need to develop engineering systems to keep people and infrastructure secure, including securing cyberspace, developing secure communications, developing self-healing systems resilient to attack and identifying, monitoring and reducing threats. Fulton Schools researchers — faculty and students — are addressing issues of national defense, homeland security, border security, cyberwarfare and more, devising technology solutions as well as legal, policy and social implications.
Sustainability
The central thrust behind sustainability is the capacity of metropolitan areas to grow and prosper without destroying or depleting natural resources. The Fulton Schools’ research focuses on restoring and improving urban infrastructure, access to clean water and air, advanced construction techniques and management, environmental fluid dynamics, transportation planning, as well as geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering.Project count in the current symposium
Sponsored students
Some of our researchers get extra funding through grants, industry and alumni sponsors. To learn more about sponsorship, contact the Fulton Schools Development team.
Ahmad Family Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative Fund
Jalal U. and Syeda F. Ahmad and their children — Jaheen N., Raisa N. and Nafisah N., all of whom attended the Fulton Schools — established a fund to give back and support undergraduate students in their pursuit of knowledge and the advancement of research. Their endowment, which funds a materials science, mechanical, biomedical or electrical engineering student, was created to help more students have the life-changing experience of conducting research through FURI.
W. L. Gore & Associates
W. L. Gore & Associates is a uniquely creative, product leadership enterprise that has served a variety of global markets for 60 years, and provides innovative solutions that its associates stand behind. Gore established funds to support undergraduate students in the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative program and graduate students in the Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering program, and values student-driven research and developing relationships with students in the programs.
Featured mentors
Fulton Schools faculty members guide students through the research process in their role as FURI and MORE research program mentors.
David Allee, featured FURI mentor
“Dr. Allee has helped me apply my coursework to real-world problems. I appreciate how he offered his time when I needed help and communicated quickly through emails. Dr. Allee also connected me with another student who specializes in the software I was using, and I was able to learn skills that will be useful for other projects and coursework. Having Dr. Allee as mentor not only helped me learn about the importance of using low power devices for use in the field, but has made me interested in taking classes that relate to these topics.”
