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Engineering Vols Win at Virtual EURēCA 2020


EURēCA 2020, the 24th Annual Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement, was held in a virtual format on April 13. Engineering Vols took home several honors at this year’s virtual EURēCA awards ceremony on April 17, earning two golds, a silver, and a bronze from the Office of Undergraduate Research.

Several other engineering students nabbed research and design awards, bestowed by the college.

Students from across UT entered their undergraduate research, senior design projects, clinical projects, and creative achievements for judging in EURēCA. Each undergraduate college selects and awards their top students, ranging from first place to honorable mention.

“The online version of EURēCA went very smoothly this year for both students and judges,” said Associate Professor Kevin Kit, director of the college’s Cook Grand Challenge Honors Program. “I’m proud of our students for being responsive to last minute instructions and being able to adapt to the new format quickly and effectively. I’m also very appreciative of our judges for being patient with the process. It’s clear that our students and faculty are passionate about the benefits of undergraduate research.”

Judges for the TCE awards were: Amy Biegalski, David Donovan, Scott Emrich, Jamie Coble, Doug Aaron, Anahita Khojandi, Toby Boulet, Maik Lang, Mahshid Ahmadi, Laura O’Shaughnessy, Angel Palomino, David Keffer, Betsy Chesnutt, Mary Pile, Darren Maczka, Sankar Raghavan, and Roger Parsons.


Office of Undergraduate Research Awards

Gold

Kate Eikel
“Fine-Tuning Mechanisms of Crystal Growth for Large Scale Application”
Materials Science & Engineering; faculty mentor, Bin Hu

Kaitlyn Nelms and Mary Morris
“Poultry Farm Security Gate: Autonomous Vehicle Recognition System”
Biosystems Engineering; faculty mentor, Shawn Hawkins

Silver

Michael Buckley
“Finite Element Analysis of Laser-Cut, Tubular Robots for Surgical Applications”
Mechanical Engineering; faculty mentor, Daniel Rucker

Bronze

Logan Ashworth
“Rapid Autonomous Corn Phenotyping—Data Acquisition System (RACP-DAS)”
Biosystems Engineering; faculty mentor, Hao Gan


TCE Research Awards

First Place

Kate Eikel
“Fine-Tuning Mechanisms of Crystal Growth for Large Scale Application”
Materials Science & Engineer; faculty mentor, Bin Hu

Second Place

Michael Buckley
“Finite Element Analysis of Laser-Cut, Tubular Robots for Surgical Applications”
Mechanical Engineering; faculty mentor, Daniel Rucker

Third Place

Ryan Heldt, Rakesh Kamath, and Logan White
“Effects of Processing Parameters on Successive Melt-Pool Development in Laser-Fusion Processing of Ti-6Al-4V Alloys: An In-Situ Dynamic Synchrotron Radiography Study”
Materials Science & Engineering; faculty mentor, Hahn Choo

Merit

Jacob Reynolds
“Mechanical Feedback in the Active Search for Antigens by T Cells”
Chemical Engineering; faculty mentor, Steven Abel

Sara Wonner
“Mechanical Testing of Tungsten-Steel Laminate Composites for use in Fusion Applications”
Materials Science & Engineering; faculty mentor, Chris Wetteland

Jackson Wilt
“Rotating Nozzle for Additive Manufacturing Fiber Composites”
Mechanical Engineering; faculty mentor, Brett Compton

Thomas Davis
“Potassium-40 Background Suppression in KSr2I5:Eu2+”
Nuclear Engineering; faculty mentor, Eric Lukosi


TCE Design Awards

First Place

Kaitlyn Nelms and Mary Morris
“Poultry Farm Security Gate: Autonomous Vehicle Recognition System”
Biosystems Engineering faculty mentor, Shawn Hawkins

Second Place

Logan Ashworth
“Rapid Autonomous Corn Phenotyping – Data Acquisition System (RACP-DAS)”
Biosystems Engineering faculty mentor, Hao Gan