UMass Dartmouth Office of Undergraduate Research awards grants student researchers

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) recently announced the Summer 2022 grant award recipients. The grant awards are given to student researchers to fund their proposals for research projects alongside a faculty supervisor. The Office of Undergraduate Research works with students begin and fund research projects that aim to solve problem, make new discoveries, interact with research faculty outside of the classroom, and demonstrate a student’s intellectual dedication and academic skills.

The Summer 2022 recipients are:

Ashleigh Anderson – Chemistry

  • Supervisor: Professor Sivappa Rasapalli 
  • Title: Development of Oroidin based Antibacterial Efflux Pump and Biofilm Inhibitors via Synthesis of Linker Modified Analogues 

Jillian Andruk - Chemistry

  • Supervisor: Professor Sivappa Rasapalli 
  • Title: Synthesis of Ecliptamines and its analogues for Antibacterial and Anti-Hyperglycemia Purposes 

Viktoriya A Balabanova - Mechanical Engineering/Physics

  • Supervisor: Professor Caiwei Shen 
  • Title: Characterizing the Friction Induced Triboelectric Effect of Polymers 

Vanessa Barreto - Nursing

  • Supervisor: Professor Emily Gesner  
  • Title: The Effect of Stress on the Cardiovascular System in Nurses  

Haleigh Nogueira - Biology

  • Supervisor: Professor Michael Sheriff 
  • Title: The Influence of Lethality on the Magnitude of Prey Response to Predation Risk 

Payton Parker - Mechanical Engineering

  • Supervisor: Professor Caiwei Shen 
  • Title: Development of a Thermoplastic Polymer Electrolyte-based Structural Supercapacitor

Zachary Pereira - Bioengineering

  • Supervisor: Professor Milana Vasudev  
  • Title: Development of Genetic Engineering Tools for the Iricent Bacteria Cellulophaga lytica 

Abdul Raffae - Mechanical Engineering

  • Supervisor: Professor Banafsheh Seyed-Agha Zadeh 
  • Title: Owl-Inspired Experimental Study on Flow-Induced Vibration Suppression with Aerospace Applications

Christian Ray - Bioengineering

  • Supervisor: Professor Lamya Karim 
  • Title: Determining the Effects of Vitamin B6 on Type 2 Diabetic Bone

Carmen Zhan - Accounting

  • Main Supervisor: Associate Dean Chan Du; Secondary Supervisor: Judith Farrar, archivist at the Barney Frank archives at UMassD.  
  • Title: Congressman Barney Frank and his Contributions to the South Coast Immigrant Communities