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Mission
The mission of the College of Sciences STEM Research Conference is to serve as a forum for dissemination of new scientific knowledge and discussion of scholarly ideas to foster interaction among students, faculty, and the local industry and community. The conference invites poster and oral presentations of scholarly work from all disciplines. Sessions will be organized by discipline or by themes. All UTRGV undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff, as well as the public, are welcome to attend.
We welcome your feedback!
STEM Research Conference
The conference offers an opportunity to students to present their original research, scholarly activities and creative projects to the university community. It will consist of oral and poster presentations. We are excited to fully embrace the STEM idea by accepting science-related arts and creative projects into this year’s conference.
2025 Keynote Speaker
Dr. Constantine M. Tarawneh, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs
Director, University Transportation Center for Railway Safety
College of Engineering and Computer Science
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Conference Agenda
Download the agenda for the 2025 STEM Research Conference
| College of Engineering and Computer Science | ||
| Alfirio Trejo Jr | Biomedical Engineering | Dr. Dumitru Caruntu |
| Shayan Khosravi | Civil Engineering | Dr. Mohsen Amjadian |
| Kaichuang Zhang | Electrical Engineering | Dr. Ping Xu |
| Alexis Andaverde | Engineering Management | Dr. Hiram Moya |
| Miguel A. Martinez | Mechanical Engineering | Dr. Dumitru Caruntu |
| College of Sciences | ||
| Samantha Colunga | Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences | Dr. Engil Pereira |
| Priscilla Kissi-Appiah | Applied Statistics and Data Science | Dr. Zhuanzhuan Ma |
| Christine M. Vega | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Dr. Ying Jia |
| Emily Desiree Medelez | Biology | Dr. Pushpa Soti |
| Esther Owusu | Chemistry | Dr. Debasish Bandyopadhyay |
| Linoy Utkina | Mathematics | Dr. Luigi Ferraro |
| Manoj Chhetri | Interdisciplinary Studies (Physics) | Dr. Karen Martirosyan |
| Mya J. Brown | Ocean, Coastal, and Earth Sciences | Dr. Owen Temby |
| College of Sciences | ||
| Samantha Colunga | Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences | Dr. Engil Pereira |
| College of Engineering and Computer Science | ||
| Kaichuang Zhang | Electrical Engineering | Dr. Ping Xu |
| Name | Classification | Abstract Title | Topic |
| Lois Akosua Serwaa | Graduate | Exploring the specificity of CTP in regulating ParB-mediated DNA compaction using ATP As Control | Biochemistry |
| Jimena Garcia-Guillen | Graduate | Decoding Gene Interactions in Insect Embryos Through Highly Multiplexed Imaging | Biology |
| Sofia Ayala | Undergraduate | Habitat restoration, invasive species, and soil nutrients in the subtropical Tamaulipan Thornscrub | Biology |
| Claudia Garza | Graduate | Identification of Cadmium as a Structural and Functional Modulator of PSD-95 Regulating NMDARs at Postsynaptic Membranes | Chemistry |
| Brittany Griggs | Undergraduate | Green Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles using Native Rio Grande Valley Plant Extracts and their Antioxidant and Reduction Activity | Chemistry |
| Karla Sierra Flores | Graduate | Metakaolin/coal fly ash-based porous geopolymer for grouting applications | Civil Enginnering |
| Gaukhar Nurbek | Doctoral | A Deep Learning Framework for Complex Astrophysical Signal Detection. | Computer Science |
| Rebecca Muniz | Graduate | Detection of Microplastics in the Wild Gulf of Mexico Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) Collected from Texas Coast: A Depuration and Laboratory Study | Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences |
| Ines Mendiola | Undergraduate | Student Performance and Understanding of Very Large Scale Integration at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Electrical Engineering |
| Olga Ibarra-Sanchez | Graduate | Observer Error Assessment for Sex Estimation Using CT-Scans of the Femoral Head: A study of the New Mexico Decedent Image Database | Forensic Anthropology |
| Andy Torres | Doctoral | DACA Status Correlates with Traumatic Instances in a Sample of College Students in a US-Mexico Border Region | Health Sciences |
| Carlos Antonio Cisneros | Undergraduate | Exploring Myelin-Related Contributions to Reward Learning and Addiction in Nf1+/– Mice | Health Sciences |
| Amber Garcia | Doctoral | Synthesis of Nucleoside-passivated AuNPs: Utilizing Caffeine as a Competitor for the Active Site of Adenosine A1 Receptor | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Diego De Leon Galindo | Graduate | Synthesis of Highly Porous Carbon Nanofibers for Enhanced Li-ion Battery Performance | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Matthew Lin | High School | Examining the Effect of Iron-Manganese Concentrations and Thermal Cooling Rates on Na0.67FexMn1−xO2 Battery Performance | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Ashwin James | Undergraduate | Synthesis and Morphology of Polyaniline/Polystyrene Blend Nanofibers for Biosensing Applications | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Myrine Barreiro-Arevalo | Doctoral | A Mathematical Model to Study the Heredity of Protocells | Mathematical and Statistical Sciences |
| Joel Williams | Graduate | Mathematical Modeling of Neurodegenerative Prion Diseases in One-Dimensional Neuronal Networks | Mathematical and Statistical Sciences |
| Noah V. Mireles | High School | Social Science | Mathematical and Statistical Sciences |
| Haily Martinez | Undergraduate | Solving Differential Equations with Linear Algebra | Mathematical and Statistical Sciences |
| Javier Isai Ramirez | Graduate | Nonlinear Mechanics and Failure Mechanisms of Composite Nanofiber Mats | Mechanical Engineering |
| Chun (Cathy) Xu | Undergraduate | STEM Education and Student Research Involvement in Cognitive Impairment Study | Medical Sciences |
| Miguel Lopez | Graduate | Regional Disparities in the Diagnostic Age of Skin Carcinomas: An Analysis of the Rio Grande Valley | Medical Sciences |
| Wendy Mendoza | Doctoral | Compact Objects and the Physics of Accretion Survey (COPAS) | Physics & Asronomy |
| Martha Asare | Doctoral | AI-enhanced Real-time Additive Manufacturing Defect Detection Method | Robotics & Artifical Inteligence |
| Akua Sekyiwaa Osei-Nkwantabisa | Graduate | Implementing and Evaluating an AI-Powered Visual Decision Support System to Improve Antibiotic Usage Among Physicians with a Built-in Alert Warning System | Robotics & Artifical Inteligence |
| Name | Classification | Abstract Title | Topic |
| Stella Aime Rios | Graduate | Investigating the Ability of Foxo1 to Maintain Stem Cells | Biochemistry |
| Andrea Aldaba | Undergraduate | Simulating Surface Maturation of Exogenous Organic Material on Europa | Biochemistry |
| Christine Vega | Graduate | Cloning and Heterologous Expression of nAChRs and a Unique Spider Venom Toxin | Biology |
| Ana Angelica Mendez | Undergraduate | Do Water Lilies Entice Insects To Their Death? | Biology |
| Ismael Lamas Jr. | Graduate | Synthesis and Characterization of Composite Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering: An Investigation on Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility | Biomedical Engineering |
| Marissa Silva | Undergraduate | Plantar pressure distribution altered during walking in individuals with hammertoe deformities | Biomedical Engineering |
| Tushar Deb Nath | Graduate | Is the UTRGV Campus a Chemical Storage? Chemical Profiling of the Ethanolic Extract of the On-Campus Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) Galls | Chemistry |
| Uzzi Jachin Hann Guasa | Undergraduate | Utilizing Au-NPs in Enzyme Immobilization: Evaluation of Catalytic Stability, Reusability, and Industrial Application | Chemistry |
| Shayan Khosravi | Graduate | Development of Novel Friction-Based Mechanical Metamaterials for Vibration Control of Railways and Surrounding Structures | Civil Enginnering |
| Pedro de Jesus Fonseca Ortiz | Doctoral | Spam Email Detection Using Machine Learning Techniques | Computer Science |
| Jannatul Ferdaus | Graduate | A Knowledge Graph Approach to Predict Phosphatase-Substrate Association | Computer Science |
| Sunakhi Sahoo | High School | Decoding Diabetic Heart Failure Through Gene Expression Patterns and Predictive Modeling | Computer Science |
| John Justin Rodriguez | Graduate | Effects of Agrivoltaic Installations on Soil Moisture in a Subtropical Semi-arid Climate | Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences |
| Nicolas Rodriguez | Undergraduate | Evaluating Trophic Dynamics in the Resacas of Brownsville, Texas: Exploring the Link Between Chlorophyll-a Concentrations and Secchi Disk Transparency | Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences |
| G M Mehedi Hossain | Graduate | Sonochemically Synthesized ZnO Nanowires (NWs) based Non-invasive Glucose Sensor | Electrical Engineering |
| Emilio Chavez | Undergraduate | Zinc Oxide Nanofiber Growth using Forcespinning Technique | Electrical Engineering |
| Dreida Villegas | Undergraduate | InBody Body Composition Analysis: Revolutionizing Fitness, Health, and Wellness | Health Sciences |
| Sophia Leslie | Doctoral | Nanoparticle-Based Delivery of FOXO1 Inhibitor AS1842856 for Targeted Glioblastoma Therapy | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Rodrigo Benavides | Graduate | Effects of current density in alloy fiber batteries | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Hana Elnahas | Undergraduate | Orodispersible Nanofiber Diosgenin-Based Glioblastoma Therapy: In-silico Anti-EGFR Screening and Drug Release Modeling | Materials Science and Engineering |
| Octavio Guevara | Graduate | Sediment transport on rippled beds from particle-informed high-fidelity simulations. | Mechanical Engineering |
| Emmanuel Evaristo Sanchez | Undergraduate | Relaxation Time of Continuous Release Gravity Currents | Mechanical Engineering |
| Victor Abiye Bob-Yellowe | Doctoral | The Role of Magnesium in Inflammatory Bowel Disease | Medical Sciences |
| Efe Martins | Undergraduate | Designing a Hierarchically Porous Lipoderm™-Based Thermosensitive Hydrogel for Enhanced Skin Penetration | Medical Sciences |
| Miriam Ramos Arevalo | Doctoral | Improving LIGO Calibration Monitoring Tools: A Comparative Study | Physics & Asronomy |
| Casandra Sauceda | Graduate | Development of Boron Nitride Based Composites for Enhanced Gas Sensing Applications | Physics & Asronomy |
| Eric Thomas Cano | Undergraduate | Technique to Solve Fractional Differential Equations | Physics & Asronomy |
| Miguel Espinoza | Undergraduate | Solar Tracking and Energy Monitoring System | Robotics & Artificial Intelligence |