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’s conception to the final presentation. Over 300 students have participated in UREP since the program’s 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. “Her commitment to fostering undergraduate research opportunities is evident in the quality and diversity of the projects we see today.”

Beheshti then congratulated the student presenters for their excellent projects. “Your work exemplifies the mission of this college, which is using engineering and technology to solve meaningful problems and serve society,” he said. “As you present your work today, take pride in what you’ve accomplished. You contributed to knowledge, developed essential skills, and worked collaboratively, qualities that will serve you well far beyond this event.”

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: “Simulation of Dynamic Wireless Charging Roads in NYC”
  Student researchers: Ziad Ghanem, Luis Jaco, Daniel Chung
  Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.

• Best Teamwork: “NIRS Muscle Monitoring”
  Student researchers: Maleshia Motilall, Christian Calvo, Eric Tzul, Joshua Saikin
  Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

• Best Presentation: “Modular, Scalable, Low-Energy Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination System: A Self-Assembled Solution for Residential and Small-Scale Use”
  Student researchers: T’ron Strapp, Shan Caballes, Dani Gulino, D’ron 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. “What was important to us was presenting the information with accuracy and with lots of influence, so people wouldn’t 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’m very grateful that I got to work with these gentlemen.”

“We started this project because there are so many issues with the existing systems,” said Gulino, who was part of the winning team for Best Presentation. “It 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’re very proud of ourselves, and we owe a lot of this to Dr. Kamel.”

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: “Object Detection to help aid the visually impaired”
  Student researchers: Matthew Nemirov, Ali Junaid, Muzzi Diack
  Faculty mentor: Reza Amineh, Ph.D.

• Project: “Vehicular Cybersecurity Research Group”
  Student researchers: Jeff Lin, Meng Cheng Ma
  Faculty mentor: Wenjia Li, Ph.D.

• Project: “Muscle Activity Analysis via MMG”
  Student researchers: Gianmarco Garcia, Oscar Cruz, Skyler Espinoza, Beniamin Borowski
  Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

• Project: “Pencil Grip”
  Student researchers: Adriana Oleksak, Naeleen Zamora, Madalina Cupsa, Ezequiel Caceres
  Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.

• Project: “Digital Pathology to Identify Changes Associated with Kidney Cancer”
  Student researchers: Aiesha Ayaana Hamid, Patricia Yap, Thien Phuc Le
  Faculty mentor: Michael Walsh, Ph.D.

• Project: “Optimization of Gun-Shot Detection Systems”
  Student researchers: Adriana Oleksak, Beniamin Borowski, Daniel Plotkin
  Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.

 By Sophie Yoakum