WORCESTER, Mass. – March 24, 2008 – Worcester Polytechnic Institute has announced the winners of the awards for the best posters presented at the third annual WPI Graduate Research Achievement Day (GRAD),which was held on on March 19.
GRAD gives students the opportunity to present their research to peers, faculty members, and the WPI community at large, and promotes the exchange of information and ideas across a wide variety of disciplines. More than 175 students participated this year. Monetary awards and certificates were presented to the top posters in the following categories: engineering, the life sciences and bioengineering, and the sciences.
The winners, in each category are:
Engineering Division
1st Place (tie)
Nayef Alsindi, a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering from Malden, Mass., for “Cooperative Localization Bounds for Indoor Ultra Wideband Wireless Sensor Networks,” advised by Professor Kaveh Pahlavan. Originally from Bahrain, Alsindi received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
1st Place (tie)
Saurabh A. Vilekar, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering from Worcester, Mass., for “Fabrication of High-Performance Membrane-Electrode-Assembly (MEA) for Proton-Exchange-Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells,” advised by Professor Ravindra Datta. Vilekar received a B.Chem. degree in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, India.
2nd Place (tie)
Adam C. Broders, a master’s candidate in electrical and computer engineering from Worcester, Mass., for “Combining Renewable Energy Plants to Improve Energy Production Stability,” advised by Professor Alexander E. Emanuel. Originally from Bolton, Mass, Broders received a BS in electrical and computer engineering from WPI.
2nd Place (tie)
Natalie L. Pomerantz, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering from Worcester, Mass., for Characterization of the H2S Poisoning of Electroless Deposited Layers of Pd for Hydrogen Separation in Coal Gasification,” advised by Professor Yi Hua Ma. Originally from Reading, Pa., Pomerantz received a BS in chemical engineering from Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.
Life Sciences and Bioengineering Division
1st Place
Katie A. Bush, a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering from Worcester, Mass., for “Improving Bioengineered Skin Substitutes: Controlling the Extracellular Matrix to Direct Epithelialization,” advised by Associate Professor George D. Pins. Originally from Olean, N.Y., Bush earned a BS in biomedical engineering from the University of Rochester in New York.
2nd Place
Joshua A. Strauss, a master’s candidate in chemical engineering from Needham, Mass., for “Measuring the Binding of E. coli to Antimicrobial Peptides with Applications for Water and Food Safety,” advised by Associate Professor Terri A. Camesano. Strauss received a BS in chemical engineering from WPI.
3rd Place
Piyush R. Ramuka, a master’s candidate in biomedical engineering from Worcester, Mass., for “Adaptive Noise Cancellation in Pulse Oximetry: Feasibility for Real-time Applications,” advised by Professor Yitzhak Mendelson. Originally from Mumbai, India, Ramuka earned a BE degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Mumbai.
Science Division
1st Place
Emily J. Evans, a PhD candidate in mathematical sciences from Marlborough, Mass., for “Numerical and Analytical Results for Fractal Boundary Value Problems,” advised by Professor Umberto Mosco. Evans received a BS in economics from the University of Utah.
2nd Place
Karen E. Works, a PhD candidate in computer science from Suffield, Conn., for “An Efficient Multi-Route Approach to Query Processing,” advised by Professor Elke A. Rundensteiner. Works earned a BA in elementary education at the State University of New York at Geneseo and an MS in computer science at Union College.
3rd Place
Rudra P. Kafle, a PhD candidate in physics from Worcester, Mass., for “Theoretical Analysis of Single- and Double-Reflection Atom Interferometers in a Weakly confining Magnetic Trap,” advised by Professor Alex A. Zozulya. Originally from Nepal, Kafle received a BSc and an MSc in physics from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.
