May 16, 2023
For Immediate Release
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA – Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society presented awards for its 2023 Student Research Showcase. The virtual competition included 212 student presentations across 12 disciplinary categories. Monetary awards were given for first and second place winners in the high school, undergraduate, and graduate divisions. Additionally, a people's choice award was given to the presentation with the most likes on the competition website.
The Student Research Showcase is an annual virtual competition aimed to build students' science communication skills so they can convey the value of their research to technical and nontechnical audiences. Participants submitted abstracts for entry into the competition in early spring. During a month-long evaluation period, students built websites, videos, and slideshows to present their research to a panel of judges and public audiences. Judges' evaluations were based on how well the students communicated enthusiasm for their projects; explained the significance of their research; used text, charts, and diagrams; and responded to questions.
The four top winners with perfect scores will be re-evaluated by judges, with the top overall winner receiving an additional prize on May 22, 2023.
2023 Student Research Showcase Awards:
Overall Winner
Cate DeVane
Engineering
Hydrogel Material Characterization for Targeted Drug-Delivery Technologies
People's Choice Award
Nobuhiro Komatsuda
Human Behavioral and Social Sciences
School-Related Stressors and Psychosomatic Symptoms
Graduate Division
First Place
Vana Mahabir
Physiology and Immunology
Porcine Model of Transgender Men and PCOS
Second Place
Tracy Dubin
Human Behavioral and Social Sciences
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Impacting Working Memory
Undergraduate Division
First Place
Joseph Benevento
Environmental Sciences
Abundance and Diversity of Oyster Microbiomes
Second Place
Matthew Franolich
Environmental Sciences
Oyster Pathogen Monitoring Using Third Generation Sequencers
High School Division
First Place (4-way tie)
Cate DeVane
Engineering
Hydrogel Material Characterization for Targeted Drug-Delivery Technologies
Calvin Matthew
Engineering
3D Printing Personalized Knee Implants: Novel Biocomputational Models for Meniscus Tear Regeneration
Kaitlyn Wang
Physics & Astronomy
ExoScout: Discovery of the Smallest Ultra-short-period Exoplanets
Christopher Chen & Minghao Zou
Physics & Astronomy
Detecting Faint, Fast-Moving Near-Earth Objects
Second Place
Grace Zhou
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Non-Invasive Diagnostic for the Detection of Multiple Cancers