UREP Spotlights Innovative Student Research
On May 8, faculty, staff, and industry partners gathered at the New York City campus to watch students from the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences present their cutting-edge research projects at the eighth annual Undergraduate Research and Entrepreneurship Program (UREP) showcase.
UREP is an innovative program where high-achieving students in groups of two to four spend an academic year completing a research project of their choice. Teams receive $500 to cover the cost of materials. Throughout the year, they regularly met with a faculty mentor who guided them from the project鈥檚 conception to the final presentation. Over 300 students have participated in UREP since the program鈥檚 inception in 2018.
After months of hard work, the 28 student researchers were ready to demonstrate the fruits of their labor. The showcase kicked off with welcoming words from Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, who thanked the faculty mentors for their support and Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., professor and UREP director, for her dedication to the program and the students. 鈥淗er commitment to fostering undergraduate research opportunities is evident in the quality and diversity of the projects we see today.鈥�
Beheshti then congratulated the student presenters for their excellent projects. 鈥淵our work exemplifies the mission of this college, which is using engineering and technology to solve meaningful problems and serve society,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s you present your work today, take pride in what you鈥檝e accomplished. You contributed to knowledge, developed essential skills, and worked collaboratively, qualities that will serve you well far beyond this event.鈥�
The nine teams presented their research and answered questions from the panel of judges and industry professionals. Project topics covered relevant issues in sustainability, accessibility, cybersecurity, biotechnology, and safety.
Three teams were selected as winners:
- Most Innovative: 鈥淪imulation of Dynamic Wireless Charging Roads in NYC鈥�
Student researchers: Ziad Ghanem, Luis Jaco, Daniel Chung
Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
- Best Teamwork: 鈥淣IRS Muscle Monitoring鈥�
Student researchers: Maleshia Motilall, Christian Calvo, Eric Tzul, Joshua Saikin
Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
- Best Presentation: 鈥淢odular, Scalable, Low-Energy Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination System: A Self-Assembled Solution for Residential and Small-Scale Use鈥�
Student researchers: T鈥檙on Strapp, Shan Caballes, Dani Gulino, D鈥檙on Strapp
Faculty mentor: Ehsan Kamel, Ph.D.
When asked how it felt to win the Most Innovative award, Chung explained that UREP was never about the award. 鈥淲hat was important to us was presenting the information with accuracy and with lots of influence, so people wouldn鈥檛 just understand what we were doing, but also how it could be applied to real life as well. I was really surprised by the award but I鈥檓 very grateful that I got to work with these gentlemen.鈥�
鈥淲e started this project because there are so many issues with the existing systems,鈥� said Gulino, who was part of the winning team for Best Presentation. 鈥淚t was fun to look into it, see what needs to be adjusted, and go through a lot of trial and error with calculations to find the best method. We did work really hard, but everyone else here did a great job. We鈥檙e very proud of ourselves, and we owe a lot of this to Dr. Kamel.鈥�
The event concluded with a poster presentation, where each team provided further details and answered questions about their research.
2025 UREP Projects and Teams
- Project: 鈥淥bject Detection to help aid the visually impaired鈥�
Student researchers: Matthew Nemirov, Ali Junaid, Muzzi Diack
Faculty mentor: Reza Amineh, Ph.D.
- Project: 鈥淰ehicular Cybersecurity Research Group鈥�
Student researchers: Jeff Lin, Meng Cheng Ma
Faculty mentor: Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
- Project: 鈥淢uscle Activity Analysis via MMG鈥�
Student researchers: Gianmarco Garcia, Oscar Cruz, Skyler Espinoza, Beniamin Borowski
Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
- Project: 鈥淧encil Grip鈥�
Student researchers: Adriana Oleksak, Naeleen Zamora, Madalina Cupsa, Ezequiel Caceres
Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
- Project: 鈥淒igital Pathology to Identify Changes Associated with Kidney Cancer鈥�
Student researchers: Aiesha Ayaana Hamid, Patricia Yap, Thien Phuc Le
Faculty mentor: Michael Walsh, Ph.D.
- Project: 鈥淥ptimization of Gun-Shot Detection Systems鈥�
Student researchers: Adriana Oleksak, Beniamin Borowski, Daniel Plotkin
Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
By Sophie Yoakum
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