Trine students earn honors at STEM Symposium

Trine University students have been honored for projects presented at the university’s seventh annual STEM Research and Design Symposium, held Dec. 5 on the concourse of the MTI Center.

The symposium featured 44 student projects representing multiple academic departments. Projects included departmental freshman and research projects as well as Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU).

Awards were presented in the following categories:

Best Biomedical Engineering REU Project: Amy Apgar, a biomedical engineering major from Wickliffe, Ohio, “Probiotics Formulation and Delivery using Nanocultures.”

Best Undergraduate Research Project in Biomedical Engineering: Clay Dean, from Windham, Ohio, Sadie Edsall, from LaGrange, Indiana, and Trevor McKinnon, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, “Weight distribution variation from VR golf and real-world golf.” All three are biomedical engineering majors.

Honorable Mention, Research Project in Biomedical Engineering: Hannah Bodrie, from Columbia City, Indiana, Ryleigh Furlong, from Lakeville, Minnesota, and Caleb Koob, from Saline, Michigan, “The Effects of ACL Reconstruction on Sports Performance: A Biomechanical Study of Single-leg Vertical Jumps.” All three are biomedical engineering majors.

Honorable Mention, Research Project in Biomedical Engineering: Teresa Ashbrook, from Dewitt, Michigan, Tristen Moore, from Pine City, Minnesota, and Christian Preijers, from Laguna Niguel, California, “Investigating The Effects of Electrical Stimulation on HL-60 Cells.” All three are biomedical engineering majors.

Best Undergraduate Research Project in Exercise Science: Michael Dannah, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tyler Lackey, from Columbus, Ohio, and Andrew Delaney, from Lafayette, Indiana, "Slow Melodies to Quick Gains: Looking into the Impact of Music Tempo on Pushup Performance." All three are exercise science majors.

Honorable Mention, Research Project in Exercise Science: Arya Barnes-Kelley from Boise, Idaho, and Allaina Werstler, from Wooster, Ohio, “Training Your Balance Using Epic Rollercoasters.” Both are exercise science majors.

Honorable Mention, Research Project in Exercise Science: Mattie Clark, from Arlington, Texas, Lexi Lavdas, from Macomb, Michigan, and Carissa Kulpa, from Knox, Indiana, “The Final Countdown: Measuring the Response Time of College Students with BlazePods.” All three are exercise science majors.

Best Overall Informative Project: Nate Unsicker, a mechanical engineering major from Woodridge, Illinois, GraceeMae Keasler, a mechanical engineering major from Defiance, Ohio, Elliot Wannemacher, a computer engineering major from Defiance, Ohio, and Christopher Ferguson, a software engineering major from Defiance, Ohio, “Robotic Football.”

Best Informative Project, Multi-Departmental Engineering: Nate Unsicker, GraceeMae Keasler, Elliot Wannemacher, and Christopher Ferguson, “Robotic Football.”

Honorable Mention, Informative Project, Multi-Departmental Engineering: Abigail DeCamp, from North Vernon, Indiana, Brian Beerbower, from Fishers, Indiana, Clay Wilson, from Kokomo, Indiana, and Matthew Graber, from Goshen, Indiana, “Micromouse.” All four are computer engineering majors.

Best Informative Project, Chemical Engineering: Eden Diller, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, Takeshi Alvarez from Southlake, Texas, and Caterina Staton from Mongo, Indiana, “Green Briquette Optimization.” All three are chemical engineering majors.

Honorable Mention, Informative Project, Chemical Engineering: Travis Mersing from Swanton, Ohio, and Mark Civanich, from Valparaiso, Indiana, “Carmeuse Rotary Dryer Design.” Both are chemical engineering majors.

Best Freshman Project, Biomedical Engineering: Gretchen Culler from Delta, Ohio, and Kaden Curtis, from Swanton, Ohio, “What are Organs-On-Chips?” Both are biomedical engineering majors.

Honorable Mention, Freshman Project, Biomedical Engineering: Ayana Ihara from South Lyon, Michigan, and Keiton Klein, from Bellingham, Washington, “Phantom Limb Syndrome.” Both are biomedical engineering majors.

People’s Choice, Research Project in Biomedical Engineering: Margaret Armintrout, from Bonner Springs, Kansas, Ava Dobbins, from Barberton, Ohio, and Paige Hull, from New Lenox, Illinois, “Kinematics and kinetics of foot and ankle motion in relation to custom foot orthotics.” All three are biomedical engineering majors.

People’s Choice, Overall Project: Ayana Ihara and Keiton Klein, “Phantom Limb Syndrome.”

People’s Choice, Informative Project: Zaavan Clear, from Auburn, Indiana, Grace Sullivan, from Auburn, Indiana, and David Baden, from Hamler, Ohio, “Development of Process for Extracting Oil from Hops.” All three are chemical engineering majors.