REU Program Preps Undergrads for STEM Careers

Twelve undergraduate students from eleven universities across the country successfully graduated from NYIT’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Now in its sixth year, the National Science Foundation-funded program gives undergraduate students the opportunity to use state-of-the-art research facilities where they conduct research with a faculty mentor.

From May 30 through August 3, the students, known as REU fellows, attended lectures led by industry experts and NYIT faculty who touched on topics including research approaches, the security of smartphones, wireless and social networks as well as public speaking and technical writing. They also delved into their own research (see list below).

At the end of the 10-week program, the REU fellows submitted a research paper, produced a research poster, and presented their findings in a final review to NYIT faculty and guests.

Beyond research opportunities and faculty mentorships, REU fellows also had the opportunity to network, take part in cultural and social activities, and visit notable labs, security centers, and corporations in and around New York City.

After completing the program, REU fellows left motivated and prepared to pursue STEM careers or continue their studies at the graduate level.

“We have had six years of a successful program with more than 60 REU alumni completing the program from universities across the United States as well as internationally,” said Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who also oversees the program. “Our REU fellows have been working hard on their research and are excited to share their findings.”

REU Fellow Research Projects:

• Project: Adversarial Text Generation for Google’s Perspective
  REU Fellows: Stephan Brown (NYIT), Edwin Jain (Tufts University), Jeffrey Chen (University of California Berkeley), Mohammad Baidas (NYIT), and Erin Neaton (University of Michigan)
  NYIT Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D. and Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.

• Project: Minimizing Cybersickness through Increased-Intensity Habituation
  REU Fellows: Erin Neaton (University of Michigan), Mohammad Baidas (NYIT), Jeffrey Chen (University of California Berkeley), Edwin Jain (Tufts University), and Stephan Brown (NYIT)
  NYIT Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D., Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.

• Project: Continuous Biometric Authentication in Haptic Cues
  REU Fellows: Dennis Agnew Jr. (Jackson State University), Stephen Sam (University of Connecticut), Angela Chan (The Pennsylvania State University), and Brittney Hill (Georgia State University)
  NYIT Faculty Mentors: Assistant Professor Paolo Gasti, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Kiran Balagani, Ph.D.

• Project: Game-Based Authentication: Mimicry Attack
  REU Fellow: Camera Finn (Hobart and William Smith Colleges)
  NYIT Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Jonathan Voris, Ph.D.

• Project: MalDetector: A Permission and Inter-Component Communication-Based Detection Approach
  REU Fellow: Evelyn Bailey (University of Pennsylvania)
  NYIT Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Wenjia Li, Ph.D.

• Project: Analyzing the Energy Cost of Cryptographic Ciphers on an Android Smartphone
  REU Fellows: Michael Bolot (University of Dallas)
  NYIT Faculty Mentor: Professor Tao Zhang, Ph.D. and Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.

• Project: The Effect of Net Neutrality on User—ISP Relationship
  REU Fellows: Guy Bar-Yossef (Cooper Union)
  NYIT Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor Anand Santhanakrishnan, Ph.D.