Engineering student research competition sets standard for university research event

	Undergraduate and graduate students of engineering square off in the college's annual research exposition

Six students won prizes and seven more received honorable mentions during the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science Research Poster Competition on Thursday, February 22, 2007, in the University Center at Lehigh.
The competition, an annual event for Lehigh engineering undergraduates, has now been expanded to include a contest among graduate student researchers within the college. Although the college event is annual, this year it also serves as a qualifying round for the Lehigh University student research exposition that will take place as part of the campus celebration marking the inauguration of President Alice Gast.
According to David Wu, Dean of Engineering, the focus on inquiry-based learning is a vital component of a Lehigh education. “Lehigh is known for producing well-rounded thinkers who are, at the same time, hands-on problem solvers,” he says. “Our students are capable of diving right into complex, unstructured problems, since we immerse them in hands-on projects, research experiences, and internship opportunities throughout their years here. Equally important is the ability to communicate technical results and ideas concisely and clearly. An event like this is the perfect opportunity to reinforce these important lessons.”
Luminaries from across campus and the local community participated as judges for the events, including several members of the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Science: Drs. Walter Brown, Jackson Durkee, and Alan Pense, former dean of engineering Donald Bolle, chair of Lafayette’s engineering program David Veshovsky, and Agere Systems’ senior scientist Dr. Jeffry E. Moore.
Nearly 40 engineering students participated in the event, and the event’s organizers -- professors Wojciech Misiolek and Himanshu Jain from the department of materials science and engineering – are pleased to see the event continue to grow. “We’re delighted to see more competitors each year,” says Misiolek, “and the addition of the graduate competition will serve to strengthen the annual college event.” Misiolek added that the winners of the competition will receive prizes in the form of funding to attend professional conferences in their field.

	Dean Wu and undergraduate division winner David Bell '08

In the undergraduate portion of the event, David Bell’08 took first prize for his research into “Finite Element Analysis of Clinical Pressure-Flow Wave Forms in the Eustachian Tube.” David is advised by Professor Samir Ghadiali of Lehigh’s bioengineering program.
Nadine Kotlarz’07 took second prize for her presentation of work in “Optimizing the Safe Water System (SWS) for Point-of-Use Water Disinfection in the Developing World.” Nadine, a student within the civil and environmental engineering, is advised by Professors Kristen Jellison and Arup SenGupta of her department.
Third prize in the undergraduate competition went to Christopher Hsiao’08, for his research into “Nonlinear Analysis of High-Performance Structural System with Self-Centering Friction Damping Device.” Christopher is advised by Yunfeng Zhang of civil and environmental engineering.
Four undergraduate “honorable mentions” were also awarded, including those to Jennifer Deng’07, advised by Professor Pearson of materials science, Brian Gerard’07 working with Professor Misiolek, Brian Goldstein’07 and his advisor Professor Plebani of industrial and systems engineering; and Mike Szedlmayer’07, advised by Professor Joachim Grenestedt of mechanical engineering.

	Dean Wu and graduate division winner Peiyu Tan

On the graduate side of the competition, Peiyu Tan received first prize for research into “New Classes of Quantum Error Correction Codes.” Peiyu is advised by Professor Jing Li of electrical and computer engineering.
Second prize went to Julie Drzymalski of industrial and systems engineering, advised by Professor Nicholas Odrey. Julie’s research explores “An Intelligent System Approach for a Coordinated Supply Chain.”
Third prize was taken by Ta-Ko Chuang and research into the “World’s First Flexible AM-PLED Display.” Ta-Ko is advised by Professor Miltiadis Hatalis of electrical and computer engineering.
Honorable mentions in the graduate category were awarded to Brad Carnish, advised by Professor Hugo Caram of chemical engineering, Lee Blaney, advised by Professor Arup SenGupta of civil and environmental engineering, and Yang Yang, with advisor Professor Rick Blum of electrical and computer engineering.

Below is the full list of competitors, projects, and advisors.
Undergraduate Competition
E. David Bell, MEM (1st)
“Finite Element Analysis of Clinical Pressure-Flow Wave Forms in the Eustachian Tube”
Advisor: Prof. Ghadiali
Nadine Kotlarz, CEE (2nd)
“Optimizing the Safe Water System (SWS) for Point-of-Use Water Disinfection in the Developing World”
Advisors: Profs. Jellison and SenGupta
Christopher Hsiao, CEE (3rd)
“Nonlinear Analysis of High-Performance Structural System with Self-Centering Friction Damping Device”
Advisor: Prof. Zhang
Jennifer Deng, MSE (Honorable Mention)
“Evaluation of the Quasi-Steady State Model for Near Hermetic Optoelectronic Packages”
Advisor: Prof. Pearson
Brian Gerard, MSE (Honorable Mention)
“Measuring Surface Strains in Magnesium Alloy AZ31”
Advisor: Prof. Misiolek
Brian Goldstein, ISE (Honorable Mention)
“Present and Future: The Economic and Environmental Feasibility of Biofuels”
Advisor: Prof. Gardiner
Mike Szedlmayer, MEM (Honorable Mention)
“The Design and Testing of Micro Air Vehicles”
Advisor: Prof. Grenestedt
David Brown, BioE
“The Cooperative Binding of Ligands to Biopolymers”
Advisor: Prof. Lorenzi
Regina Du, ECE
“SiO2 Induced Atomic Interdiffusion in Semiconductor Nano Heterostructures”
Advisor: Prof. Ooi
Nathan Eichenlaub & Jeffrey Kauffman, ECE
“Electrical Characterization of SONOS Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory (NVSM) Devices”
Advisor: Prof. White
Dave Heefner & Emily Cohen, CSE
“Building a Better Electronic Voting System: VVPAT”
Advisor: Prof. Lopresti
Cliff Jones, CEE
“Experimental Evaluation of Precast Diaphragm Connectors”
Advisor: Prof. Naito
Mark McLean, MSE
“Characterization of Stresses in Thin Films at Low Temperatures”
Advisor: Prof. VInci
Ipek Ozkanoglu, ISE
“Zoellner Seat Arrangement”
Advisor: Prof. Thiele
Magdalena Swierczewska, BioE
“Controlling Cell Interactions to Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Assemblies”
Advisor: Prof. Rajagopolan
Catherine Vishton, ECE
“Optical Coherence Tomography Source Characterization”
Advisor: Prof. Ooi
Graduate Student Presenters
Peiyu Tan, ECE (1st)
“New Classes of Quantum Error Correction Codes”
Advisor: Prof. Li
Julie Drzymalski, ISE (2nd)
“An Intelligent System Approach for a Coordinated Supply Chain”
Advisor: Prof. Odrey
Ta-Ko Chuang, ECE (3rd)
“World’s First Flexible AM-PLED Display”
Advisor: Prof. Hatalis
Brad Carnish, CHE (Honorable Mention)
“Enhanced Reactions in a Novel Chromatographic Reactor”
Advisor: Prof. Caram
Lee Blaney, CEE (Hoorable Mention)
“Arsenic Crisis in Indian Subcontinent: A Local Solution to a Global Problem”
Advisor: Prof. SenGupta
Yang Yang, ECE (Honorable Mention)
“Energy-Aware Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks for Signal Detection”
Advisor: Prof. Blum
Jennifer Woodby, MEM
“Modeling Off-Center Current Drive for NTM Stabilization”
Advisor: Prof. Schuster
Cheng Chen, CEE
“Development of Hybrid Effective Force Testing Method”
Advisor: Prof. Ricles
Shen Dillon, MSE
“Grain Boundary Complexion: A New Concept for Kinetic Engineering”
Advisor: Prof. Harmer
Sreya Dutta, MSE
“Novel Oxidation Induced Sub-Surface Features at the Aluminum-Sapphire Interface”
Advisors: Pros. Chan and VInci
Chao Gao, CSE
“Automated Transport and Retrieval Systems (ATRS): Personal Mobility Independence for Wheelchair Users”
Advisor: Prof. Spletzer
Menal Guzelsoy, ISE
“Real-Time Mixed-Integer Linear Programming”
Advisor: Prof. Ralphs
Pinar Keles, ISE
“Evaluating Portfolios of Multi-Stage Investment Projects with Approximate Dynamic Programming”
Advisor: Prof. Hartman
Oya Mercan, CEE
“Real-time Hybrid Testing of Large Scale Structures”
Advisor: Prof. Ricles
Michael Moll, Chang An, & Pingping Xiu, CSE
“Document Image Content Extraction”
Advisor: Prof. Baird
Lan Nie, CSE
“Incorporating Trust into Web Search”
Advisor: Prof. Davison
Elizabeth Ross, CHE
“Tuning the Electronic and Molecular Structures of Catalytic Active Sites with Oxide Nanoligands”
Advisor: Prof. Wachs