U of A Students Shine at Arkansas Academy of Science Centennial Meeting

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Faculty and students from multiple universities across the state recently gathered on the University of Arkansas campus for the 100th meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science. The academy works to promote science and the dissemination of scientific information in Arkansas.

Student oral and poster presentation competitions were held as part of the event and U of A students performed well, placing in nearly every category of competition.

"It was such an honor to host the centennial meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science on our campus," said R. Paneer Selvam, the organization's vice president. "The caliber of research students in our state are conducting is truly incredible. I am grateful we had the opportunity to highlight that research as part of our meeting."

The U of A undergraduate student winners and their respective categories were:

• Jordana K. Thibado, first place, chemistry (oral), chemistry major
• Madeline Meier, first place, chemistry (poster), chemistry major
• Clint Bush, first place, field and ecological biology (poster), biology major
• Santoshi Nandivada, first place, physics (poster), physics major
• Joseph Sirrianni, first place, computer science (oral), computer science major
• Stephanie Sandoval, first place, engineering (poster), electrical engineering major
• Armin Mortazani, second place, chemistry (poster), chemistry major
• John Cale, second place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (oral), biology major
• Olivia Caillouet, second place, field and ecological biology (oral), horticulture major
• Harpreet Kaur, second place, physics (poster), physics major
• Julie Cains, second place, geosciences (oral), art and geology major
• Loren Anthony, third place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (oral); horticulture major
• Maxwell Martin, third place, engineering (oral), mechanical engineering major

The U of A graduate student winners and their respective categories were:

• Venkatesan Rajagopalan, first place, chemistry (oral), doctoral student in cell and molecular biology, advised by Roger E. Koeppe
• Julie Davis, first place, chemistry (poster), doctoral student in chemistry, advised by Suresh Thallapuranam
• Addison C. McCarver, first place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (poster); doctoral student in cell and molecular biology; advised by Daniel Lessner
• Priyanka Sharma, first place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (oral); doctoral student in cell and molecular biology; advised by Ralph Henry
• Mehrshad Mehboudi, first place, physics (oral), doctoral student in microelectronics-photonics, advised by Salvador Barraza-Lopez
• Ang Li, first place, computer science (poster), doctoral student in computer science, advised by Qinghua Li
• Prashanth Ravishankar, first place, engineering (oral), doctoral student in biomedical engineering, advised by Kartik Balachandran
• Thach Pham, first place, engineering (poster), doctoral student in electrical engineering, advised by Fisher Yu and Gregory J. Salamo
• William Travis Garmon, first place, geosciences (oral), master's student in geology, advised by Adriana Porta
• Ryan Rogers, second place, chemistry (oral), doctoral student in chemistry, advised by Feng Wang
• Bhuvan Pathak, second place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (poster); doctoral student in cell and molecular biology; advised by Vibha Srivastava
• Brandy Garret Kluthe, second place, field and ecological biology (oral), doctoral student in environmental dynamics, advised by Steve L. Stephenson
• Kinnary Patel, second place, physics (oral), doctoral student in physics, advised by Surendra P. Singh
• John Philbrick, second place, geosciences (oral), master's student in geology, advised by Gregory Dumond
• Megan Lord, second place, geosciences (poster), master's student in crop, soil and environmental dynamics, advised by Brian Haggard
• Matthew Young, second place, engineering (oral), doctoral student in electrical engineering, advised by Hameed Naseem and William Oliver
• Rebecca Mickol, third place; molecular, cellular and medical biology (oral); doctoral student in space and planetary sciences; advised by Timothy Kral
• Jasmina Burek, third place, engineering (oral), doctoral student in mechanical engineering, advised by Darin Nutter
• Huong Tran, second place, engineering (poster), doctoral student in electrical engineering, advised by Fisher Yu and Gregory J. Salamo
• Yiyin Zhou, third place, engineering (poster), doctoral student in microelectronics-photonics, advised by Fisher Yu and Gregory J. Salamo
• Dorine Reed Bower, third place, geosciences (oral), doctoral student in environmental dynamics, advised by Steve L. Stephenson
• Bradley Klee, third place, physics (oral), doctoral student in physics, advised by William G. Harter
• Thekrayat Al Abdulaal, third place, physics (poster), doctoral student in microelectronics-photonics, advised by Gregory J. Salamo