Student Design Showcase Awards Celebrate Innovation and Academic Acuity

Winning projects recognize biomedical engineering and Alzheimer’s research 

MELBOURNE, FLA. — With more than 160 different posters and exhibits on display at the Northrop Grumman Engineering & Science Student Design Showcase at Florida Institute of Technology on April 7, judges surveyed a wide variety of outstanding science and engineering scholarship to settle on final winners.

Science and engineering judges from Northrop Grumman said they were impressed by the quality of the students’ work.

Bob Dietl, who oversaw the engineering judging for the first time this year said, “The creativity and innovation were nothing but first class.”

And Mark Nichols, who oversaw science judging (also for the first time this year) added, “We were blown away by the amount of effort students put into this.”

The four most prestigious awards handed out after the showcase were the President’s Cup awards and the Engineering Champion and Science Champion “best in show” awards from Northrop Grumman.

The winners in the 2017 showcase were:

From the College of Engineering:

• President’s Cup award winner: “CARACAL 3D Biomedical Reconstruction,” Pamela Forero, Daniela Friere, Cameron Hume, Prabhuti Kharel and Rahmatul Mahmoud.
• Northrop Grumman Best in Show winner: “Stellaris Glucose Monitor,” Trevor Schmitt, Kevin Aiosa, Fernanda Charbonneau and Brandon Boucher.

From the College of Science:

• President’s Cup award winner: “Trimethyl Amine N-Oxide & Protein Aggregation,” Benjamin Orris.
• Northrop Grumman Best in Show winner: Pattern Recognition Applied to a Cancer Database and COPASI Modeling for Melanoma Gene Analysis,” Nicardo Cameron and Alexia Pearah.

There were also awards given to each department and/or discipline within the two colleges.

For the College of Engineering, those recipients were:

Aerospace Engineering: “Project Cerberus Spacecraft Prototype” Evelyn Stein, Larissa Balestrero, Veronica Echazabal, Zackary Gurdon-Cobham, Justin, Moody, Zachary Paryzek, Max Skuhersky and Kineo Wallace.

Biomedical Engineering: “CROM: Continuous Resistance Orthotic for Microgravity,” Benjamin Cooley, Jake Sheroff, Amy Gutierrez, Matthew Kraska,

Charles Curt and Ikechukwu Asomugha.

Chemical Engineering: “Nanoparticle Production Plant,” James Barr, Victoria Cowdrick, Rossy Espinal and Patrick Mulcahy.

Civil Engineering: “XXX Manufacturing Facility/Fray Engineering Solutions,” Michael Cherry, Jonathan Grant, Dane Fray, Randall Waters and Marcus Mancini.

Computer Engineering: “myTFF: Parent-Approved Communication Device,” David Elliott and Emily Broom.

Computer Science: “Simple Segmentation of Small Networks (S3N),” Aaron Nies and Stephen L’Allier.

Construction Management: “Grey Shell Proposal for FIT Academic QAD Renovation,” Ryen Forry, Benjamin Abell, Jahad Al Araimi and Sami Altoiabi.

Electrical Engineering: “Duct Sterilization,” Spencer Tuttle and Doug Schoeller.

Marine & Environmental Systems: “Development of Expendable Low Cost Electric Field Meters,” Nicholas Burton and Mahra Al Ruwaishdi.

Mechanical Engineering: “Formula SAE,” Ashton Tassinari, Asher Patton, Diego D’Ignazi, Giovani Alfieri, Harry Brown, Isreal Rivera, Justin Butinsky, Matt Walsh, Mohamed Almarzooqi, Odrik Ferrer, Preston Seward, Roberto Martienz, Saeed Almansoori, Saeed BinThaleth, Yifan Qiuan, Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Abdulmajeed Alali and Alex Frosted.

Multidisciplinary: “CARACAL 3D Biomedical Reconstruction,” Pamela Forero, Daniela Friere, Cameron Hume, Prabhuti Kharel and Rahmatul Mahmoud.

Ocean Engineering: “S.A.T.I.R.E ROV,” Karen Diaz, Miguel Perilla, Suzanna Trujillo and Bruce Walker.

For College of Science, those recipients were:

Biology of a Changing Planet: “Factors Affecting Anuran Presence in Brevard County, Florida,” Sebastian Martinez and Palomera Baez.

Cellular & Molecular Biology: “Inorganic Pyrophosphatase (pyp-1) Modulates Paralysis in an Alzheimer’s Disease Model,” Jasmin Pimentel and Lindsey Barrett.

Marine Science & Aquaculture: “The Effect of Probiotics in Fishes,” Dave Schlarman and Samantha Paitsel.

Chemistry: “Development of a Synthesis for a Four-Carbon-Bridged Carbazolopyridinophane as a Sensing Method for Gaseous Hydrazine,” Daniel Schultz.

Mathematical Sciences: “Finite-Interval Overdamping: Phenomena, Analysis & Applications,” Daniel McCormick.

Physics: “Quality Control Testing of Large Area GEM Detectors for CMS Muon Endcap Upgrade,” Sarah Arends, Jerry Collins, Mehdi Rahmani and Stefano Colafranceschi.

Astronomy & Astrophysics: “3D Visualizations of Extragalactic HI Radio Sources on Kilo-Parsec Scales,” Alicia Harris.

Space Sciences: “Characterizing Exoplanets via Planet-Planet Interactions,” Mackenzie Kane.

Sustainability: “Solar Design Alternatives for a Proposed Academic Quad Rebuild,” Aasav Harania, Daniel Oliva and Michael Garofalo.

Overall, the showcase included projects and posters developed by hundreds of undergraduate students, working on their own or in teams, from academic departments throughout the College of Science and the College of Engineering.

Participating students, who must conceive, research and/or design and implement their projects, gain hands-on experience in applying science or engineering knowledge and the fundamental principles of their respective majors.

Jeff Reed, who led the entire team of Northrop Grumman judges at the event said, “What I’ve seen at this year’s showcase is nothing short of incredible.”