UVA Engineering Research Symposium (UVERS)
Showcasing UVA Engineering Graduate Students' Research Excellence
UVERS is the Graduate Engineering Student Council's flagship annual event that highlights the groundbreaking research achievements from all departments and disciplines of the graduate body in UVA Engineering through poster and oral presentations.
Student presenters are judged based on technical merit, impact, significance of their research, and the clarity of their presentations. Alumni and friends of the engineering school are welcome to attend and participate in events throughout the day.
Upcoming: 19th GESC UVERS (2023)
[1] DATE AND DEADLINES
The abstract submission deadline is Feb. 3, 2023 (Fri.) - application closed
- **LINK TO SUBMIT ABSTRACT TO UVERS [Deadline: Feb.3rd, 2023]**
- See below for the lists of finalists and judges.
Abstracts will be graded (see detailed rubric) on Motivation & Purpose, Methods & Design, Results, Discussion & Conclusion, Writing, clarity & organization as well as Audience & Context (Note: UVERS audience is a broad School of Engineering audience)
As in previous years before the pandemic, GESC will host a competitive poster session and podium session for selected graduate engineering students from each department to present their research and be judged based on technical merit, impact and significance of their research, and the clarity of their presentation. The judge panels (abstract, poster and podium) will mainly consist of professors and post-docs from SEAS.
[2] AWARDS
- Podium session: $750 for the 1st place, $500 for the 2nd place, $250 for the 3rd place, selected from 9 finalists for the podium session
- Winners:
- 1st place: Charles Leroux (CHE)
- 2nd place: Jiacheng Guo (MAE)
- 3rd place: Jordan Reed (BME)
- Winners:
- Poster session: $500 for the 1st place, $300 for the 2nd place, $200 for the 3rd place, selected from 27 finalists for the poster session
- Winners
- 1st Place: Victor Wallemacq (MSE)
- 2nd Place: Ian Brummel (MSE)
- 3rd Place: John Kelly (MAE)
- Winners
- Other finalists: $50 for posters, $100 for podium presentations
[3] INVITED SPEAKERS AND PANELS:
[3.1] Lunch Speakers, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM:
- 12:10 PM - 12:30 PM, "From UVa to NIST – in 20 minutes, or less"
- Gery Stafford (https://www.nist.gov/people/gery-r-stafford)
- Research Chemist, NIST, Materials Science and Engineering Division
- UVA SEAS Alumni (MSE, Ph.D. 1980)
- Member of the American Chemical Society; the International Society of Electrochemistry; and a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society.
- Authored over 100 technical papers and a book chapter on the electrodeposition of aluminum alloys from chloroaluminate ionic liquids.
- Gery Stafford (https://www.nist.gov/people/gery-r-stafford)
- 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM, "Waves of tech innovation and their effect on the economy"
- Doug Garland (https://www.linkedin.com/in/douggarland/)
- Associate Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, SEAS, UVA.
- UVA SEAS Alumni (Systems, M.Eng. 1986; Systems, B.S. 1983).
- Held senior roles with Silicon Valley leaders like Google, Yahoo!, and Twilio.
- Doug Garland (https://www.linkedin.com/in/douggarland/)
[3.2] Fireside Chat (Panel), 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM:
- Topic: Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration
- Panelists:
- Frederick Epstein, Associate Dean for Research, School of Engineering and Applied Science (https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty/frederick-h-epstein)
- Blair Okita, ChE advisory board member and President at BioPCS Consulting, LLC (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bokita/)
- Sandhya Dwarkadas, Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science (https://engineering.virginia.edu/faculty/sandhya-dwarkadas)
- Amrie Grammer, Founder and President, AMPEL BioSolutions (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amrie-grammer-phd-1351551b/)
[3.3] Networking Session and Award Ceremony, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM:
- Host: James Smith (Professor in Civil Engineering and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, SEAS, UVA)
- Industry:
- Owens Corning
- AMPEL BioSolutions
- BioPCS Consulting, LLC
- ... and more companies...
[4] MEETING PROCEDURE, Mar.16, 2023
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM Registration - Main Newcomb Ballroom Front Desk
10:00 AM - 11:45 AM Podium Session-1 (5 presentations) - Commonwealth Room
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM Coffee break - South Meeting Room
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Lunch With Speakers - Ballroom
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Podium Session-2 (4 presentations) - Commonwealth Room
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM Coffee and Snack Break - South Meeting Room
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM Poster Session - Main Lounge
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Panel Discussion (Fireside Chat) - Ballroom
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Award Ceremony and Networking Session (with refreshments) - Ballroom
[5] GESC Academic Committee 2022-2023
- GESC Academic co-chairs:
- Israt Jahan Duti (CHE, id8nu@virginia.edu)
- Akhil Shekar (ECE, as8hu@virginia.edu)
- Academic committee members:
- Sid Shenoy (CPE), Yunkai Sun (MSE), Harsh Anand (ESE), Mikhail Arefev (MSE), Prashanth Wagle (CS), Candace Lei (BME), Tyler Daspit (MAE), Sami Felton (BME), Reagan Portelance (BME), Anushruti Huilgol (CS)
[6] Finalists
- Podium
- Session-1, 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM, Commonwealth Room
- 10:00AM - 10:20AM, Charles Leroux (CHE):
- Transport Property Modulation via Solvent Specific Behavior in Cross-Linked Non-Aqueous Membranes
- 10:20AM - 10:40AM, Mohammad Samin Yasar (CPE):
- Learning transferable representations for nonstationary environments
- 10:40AM - 11:00AM, Abdullah-Bin Siddique (EE):
- Improving the Maturity of Cardiomyocytes through Nanowire Integrated Diaphragms for Mechanical Stimulation
- 11:00AM - 11:20AM, Mohamad El Iskandarani (ESE):
- Investigating the Effect of Time Pressure and Reward Value on Visual Search Behavior in a Real-World Virtual Environment
- 11:20AM - 11:40AM, Jiacheng Guo (MAE):
- Hydrodynamics of dolphin in forward propulsion
- 10:00AM - 10:20AM, Charles Leroux (CHE):
- Session-2, 1:10 PM - 2:30 AM, Commonwealth Room
- 1:10PM - 1:30PM. Jordan Reed (BME):
- A novel role for fat distribution GWAS genes in adipocyte differentiation and Wnt signaling
- 1:30PM - 1:50PM. Ana Estrella-You (Civil):
- Rechargeable gels designed to release chlorine for inactivation of pathogens in water
- 1:50PM - 2:10PM, Fateme Nikseresht (CS):
- Adaptable Sensor-free Occupancy Detection using WiFi Fine Time Measurement
- 2:10PM - 2:30PM, William Moffat (MSE):
- Investigation of Laser Ablation Coating Removal for Steel Surface Cleaning and Coating Adhesion
- 1:10PM - 1:30PM. Jordan Reed (BME):
- Session-1, 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM, Commonwealth Room
- Poster (2:45PM-4:00PM, Main Lounge)
- Delaney Fisher (BME): Focused Ultrasound Blood-Brain Barrier Opening Controls and Prevents Cerebral Cavernous Malformations
- Mackenzie Grubb (BME): High-Throughput Hydrogel Platform for the Investigation of YAP/TAZ Signaling in Senescent Fibroblasts
- Areli Rodriguez (BME): Cell-scale pores in microporous annealed particle (MAP) hydrogel implants promote regeneration in volumetric muscle loss injuries
- Rhea Braun (CHE): Using Agent-Based Modeling to Evaluate the Role of Shear Flows in Limiting Bacterial Chemotactic Response to NAPL Chemoattractant Sources Under Flow Near an Interface
- Anukriti Shrestha (CHE): Effects of Domain Size and Support Composition on the Reactivity and Reducibility of Oxide-supported Tungsten Oxide Clusters
- Jenna Sumey (CHE): Hydrogel mechanics regulate fibroblast DNA methylation and chromatin condensation
- Wade Fritzeen (Civil): An Integrated Assessment of Leading Pathways Toward A Decarbonized Petrochemical Sector
- Suzanne Nguyen (Civil): Applying Electrochemical Levers to Drive Carbonate and Crystalline Calcium Silicate Hydrate (CCSH) Formation in a Lower-Carbon Calcium Silicate Cement System
- Jamie Harris (Civil): Improving Silver-Based Household Water Treatment with a Novel Copper Addition
- Xingbo Fu (CPE): Federated Graph Learning with Graphless Clients
- Binchi Zhang (CPE): Adversarial Attacks on Fairness of Graph Neural Networks
- Sergiu Mosanu (CPE): FreezeTime: System-level Emulation through Architectural Virtualization
- Galen Harrison (CS): Predictability of Vaccination Surges and Google Search Trends
- Md Aashikur Rahman Azim (CS): UnifiedSense: Enabling Without-Device Gesture Interactions Using Over-the-shoulder Training Between Redundant Wearable Sensors
- Spencer Keefer (CS): Dynamic Vibrotactile Controller Toolkit
- Sree Sourav Das (EE): SnSe2: A promising candidate for thermoelectric applications
- Yimin Gao (EE): AI-RISC: Scalable RISC-V processor with quantized AI extensions and system-level emulation
- Yushun Dong (EE): On Structural Explanation of Bias in Graph Neural Networks
- Adrian Savovici (MSE): Direct Evidence of the Novel L1’ Phase in Bulk Fe-Pd Alloys
- Ian Brummel (MSE): Technique for Measuring the Fundamental Mechanisms of Ion Conductivity Across Grain Boundaries
- Victor Wallemacq (MSE): Copper ion release in copper-based alloys: implications on the transmission of coronaviruses from human contact with fomite surfaces.
- John Kelly (MAE): Hydrodynamic Benefits of Fish Swimming in Large Schools
- Rachel Newman (MAE): Biomechanical Considerations for a Cartilage Implant for Repair of Femoral Articular Cartilage Injury
- Ruoxi Chen (MAE): Cotton-Derived Fe/Fe3C-Encapsulated Carbon Nanotubes for High-Performance Lithium−Sulfur Batteries
- Zeyu Mu (ESE): Cooperative Platooning with Mixed Traffic on Urban Arterial Roads
- Giovanna Camacho (ESE): Can't We Just Agree with the HAT? Agreeableness in Human Agent Teaming
- Zhiyuan Wang (ESE): CAMSA: Context-Aware Micro-Interventions for Social Anxiety
[7] Judges
- Abstract selection judges
- Zongli Lin (Professor, CPE)
- Gustavo Rohde (Professor, BME & CPE)
- Miaomiao Zhang (Professor, CPE)
- Tanvir Ferdousi (Post-doc, CPE)
- Tommy Tracy (Research Scientist, CS)
- Tianhao Wang (Professor, CS)
- Yangfeng Ji (Professor, CS)
- Abdullah Maghrabi (Post-doc, CS)
- Andreas Beling (Professor, EE)
- Harry Powell (Professor, EE)
- Kyusung Lee (Professor, EE & MSE)
- Mona Zebarjadi (Professor, EE & MSE)
- Gavin Garner (Professor, MAE)
- Daniel Quinn (Professor, MAE & CPE)
- Robert Salazar (Professor, MAE)
- Tariq Iqbal (Professor, Systems & CS)
- John Hott (Professor. CS)
- Sifat Moon (Post-doc, Systems)
- Majid Shafiee-Jood (Professor, Civil)
- Negin Alemazkoor (Professor, Civil)
- Arsalan Heydarian (Professor, Civil)
- Phillip Taylor (Professor, CHE)
- Lakeshia Taite (Professor, CHE)
- Rachel Letteri (Professor, CHE)
- Nick Vecchiarello (Professor, CHE)
- Chris Paolucchi (Professor, CHE)
- Ji Ma (Professor, MSE)
- Stephen McDonnell (Professor, MSE)
- Tao Sun (Professor, MSE)
- Robert Kelly (Professor, MSE)
- Mohammad Mazharul Islam (Research Associate, BME)
- Mete Civelek (Professor, BME)
- Podium judges
- Avik Ghosh (Professor, ECE)
- Giovanni Zangari (Professor, MSE)
- James Aylor (Professor Emeritus, ECE)
- Gery Stafford (NIST)
- Nikolaos Sidiropoulos (Professor, ECE)
- Samuel Lake (Assistant Director of Research Communication, UVA)
- Poster judges
- Julianne Quinn (Professor, ESE)
- Donald Griffin (Professor, BME)
- Kelly Oman (Assistant Director of Research Communication, UVA)
- Luca Kim (Post-doc, CHE)
- Zhuoran Gan (Post-doc, CHE)
- Hossein Nouri Alavijeh (Post-doc, CHE)
- Daniel Rau (Post-doc, MSE)
- Kate Owen (AMPEL BioSolutions)
- Samantha Rubeck (Owens Corning)
- Brandon Williams (Owens Corning)
- Grace Jang (Owens Corning)
ABOUT UVERS
This flagship GESC event exists to showcase the excellent graduate student research in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at UVA. It serves as an experiential professional development opportunity for graduate students in the school of engineering at UVA through:
Discovering the state of art research in different fields.
- Finding possibilities for their research to be implemented in a professional setting and translated to industrial applications.
- Promoting inter-departmental collaboration and networking opportunities.
- Fostering efficient communication skills by presenting their research to audiences of diverse backgrounds from various technical perspectives.
During each symposium, GESC will host a competitive poster session and podium session for selected graduate engineering students from each department to present their research and be judged based on technical merit, impact and significance of their research, and the clarity of their presentation.
The GESC academic co-chairs and the GESC academic committee will be responsible for the logistics of UVERS. The judges (for poster and podium sessions) and the abstract grading committee members will mainly consist of Post-docs and professors from each SEAS department.