On April 16, 2025, over 300 undergraduate students shared their research and achievements through oral presentations, poster presentations, artistic exhibits, performances, films, interactive games, and more in the University Center.

Congratulations to all CBEE students who participated in the event!

Oral Presentations

Evalynn Ellison | Ultrasound-Responsive Phospholipid-Coated Microbubbles for Controlled Drug Delivery Across Mucosa | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Canan Dagdeviren

Poster Presentations

Shashane Anderson | Formal Verification of Thermodynamic Models With Lean 4 | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Tyler Josephson

Alvin Bett | Detecting PFAS in Baltimore Harbor Using Novel Passive Samplers | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Lee Blaney

Jacob Craft | Measuring the Selectivity Coefficients of 19 PFAS With Four Anion-Exchange Membranes | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Lee Blaney

Joshua Dayie | Engineering CRBN for Improved Assay and Structural Enablement Using DeNovo Protein Scaffolds | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Nicole LaRonde

Trevor Gibson | Hybrid Anion-Exchange Resins Improve the Uptake and Selectivity for (Ultra)Short-Chain PFAS in Drinking Water | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Lee Blaney

Elias Gilotte | Uncovering The Relationship Between Oxygen Availability and Energy Sources in Cell-free Protein Synthesis | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Govind Rao

Alexander Haibel | GraphARC: An AI Benchmark for Chemical Reasoning | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Tyler Josephson

Sydney Hofstetter | Sucrose Density Gradient Centrifugation Versus Anion Exchange for Exosome Sample Purification | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Jorge Almodovar

Jasmine Ives | Polychlorinated Biphenyl Monitoring in Maryland Fish | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Upal Ghosh

Tonderai Kodzwa | Effect Of Temperature On Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Ozgur Capraz

Peter Lombardo | Percent Viability Screens To Confirm Integral Cell Wall Signaling Kinases In Aspergillus Nidulans | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Terra Miley | Optimization Of Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Bioreactors With the Use of a Fluorescent Magnesium Biosensor | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Govind Rao

Meredith Morse | Characterizing The Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Library | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Tithi Prajapati | Noninvasive Wearable Device For Transcutaneous CO2 Based Early Detection Of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Venkatesh Srinivasan

Matthew Quintanilla | Characterization Of Transmembrane Transporters Linked To Cell Wall Stress Response | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Jessica Slaughter | Suite Of Bioinformatic-Analysis Apps For Better Understanding Dynamic Omics Data | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Maaike Swaters | Measuring Ion-exchange Membrane Properties That Control Nutrient Recovery By Donnan Dialysis | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Lee Blaney

Greeshma Tarimala | Using Gene Editing And Fluorescent Microscopy To Characterize The PrkA Kinase In Aspergillus Nidulans | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Mark Marten

Julia Van Der Marel | Monitoring Of NADH Concentrations In Cell-Free Systems | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Govind Rao

Benjamin Welling | Fabrications Of An Autonomous Chemically Powered Vehicle: (AIChE Chem-E Car) | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Neha Raikar

Zorah Williams | Utilizing Manganese-Oxide As An Electrode Material For Aqueous Zn-ion Batteries. | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Ozgur Capraz

Ariel Wilson-Gray | Production Of Extracellular Vesicles From Mammalian Cells Modulated By A Biomimetic Surface | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | Jorge Almodovar

Watch: A recap of URCAD 2024

UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) returned earlier this month for its 28th year, bringing together more than 400 student presenters and the broader university community for a day filled with posters, performances, demonstrations, and much more. 

With excitement and energy in the air of the University Center, undergraduate students—many accompanied by faculty mentors—presented a broad range of research and creative projects to peers, family, friends, and inquiring minds of all kinds. The day included a film festival, interactive video game demonstrations, musical performances, a photography and painting exhibition, as well as poster board and oral presentations from students across colleges. 

Among this year’s group of presenters was Chiad Onyeje ’24, chemical engineering, who explained the research he’s worked on for nearly three years to develop “spherical shells that we can use as internal Band-Aids” he said in this URCAD 2024 recap video. 

“URCAD is different from any other presentations that I’ve been able to give on my research thus far. It really felt like a celebration in comparison,” said Onyeje. “I could go in, have a good time, talk about my research to interested parties, and share why I love this project so much—because it can help people.”

Congratulations to all CBEE students who participated in the URCAD 2024!

Read more about all CBEE participants: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/cbee/posts/141053

On April 10, 2024, hundreds of research posters, oral presentations, dance performances, films, interactive games, and much more were hosted in the University Center and other venues around campus, all presented by UMBC’s undergraduate students. 

Congratulations to all CBEE students who participated in the event!

Alvin Bett | Influence of Solution PH On PFAS Accumulation in a Novel Equilibrium Passive Sampler | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

An Dang | Phosphate Recovery By Donnan Dialysis: Impact of Operating Parameters in a Batch-Recycle Reactor | Lee Blaney | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Casey Douglas | Phenotypic Characterization of an Aspergillus Nidulans ∆mpkA∆hogA Strain | Mark R. Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Evalynn Ellison | A Synthetic Data Generator to Accelerate Machine Learning Algorithm Development | Brandon DeKosky | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Elias Gilotte | Online ATP Monitoring in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Garrett Hill | Phenotypic Characterization of Aspergillus Nidulans Protein Kinase PrkA | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Raey Hunde | Advancing In Vitro Tissue Models: The Development of an Innovative High Throughput Model of the Colon | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Terra Miley | Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Magnesium Sensor to be Used in an Industrial Cell-Free Bioreactor | Govind Rao | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Meredith Morse | Characterizing the Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Library For Septation in Response to Cell Wall Stress | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Chiad Onyeje | Verification of Hemostatic Nanocapsules Through Rotational Thromboelastometry Analysis | Erin Lavik | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Tatiana Perez | Phenotypic Characterization of the Aspergillus Nidulans Double-deletion Mutant ΔmpkAΔnrc2 \ Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Matthew Quintanilla | High Throughput Screens to Discover Uncharacterized Cell Wall Signaling Kinases in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Andrea Sequeira | Characterization of ΔmpkAΔsnf1 Double Deletion Strain in Aspergillus Nidulans | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering