Research Week 2023 boasts record participation

Student presenting during Research Week 2023.

UDC’s 2023 Research Week took place from April 3 to April 7. Building on the success of Research Week 2022, this year’s theme, “Serving Our Community Through Research,” celebrated the diversity and contributions of faculty across the research ecosystem at the University. UDC featured innovations from architecture, arts, agriculture, biology, business, education, engineering and the sciences, law, nursing and public policy. The national week-long celebration showcased students, faculty and their groundbreaking research. This event is organized by faculty members of the UDC Internal Research Council and UDC Research Week Planning Team.

On Monday, April 3, Dr. Victor McCrary, vice president for Research and President Ronald Mason Jr. kicked off the week with opening remarks, followed by remarks from Chief Academic Officer Dr. Lawrence Potter.

For Day 1, the School of Business and Public Administration (SBPA) took the reins. Hosted by Dr. Amit Arora, the presentation included an amazing display of technology with Dr. Anshu Arora, associate professor of Marketing, SBPA and Director of Social Robotics & Behavioral Research Lab hosting a workshop, titled “Managing Social Robotics and Immersive Technologies in the Classroom, along with guest speaker, Timothy Gifford, president and chief scientist at Movia Robotics. Dr. Arora’s work is a part of the SMARTER Research, funded by the National Science Foundation under the Research Initiation Award given to Dr. Arora.

Undergraduate student research presentations, which were all funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), included “Man vs. Machine: Cognitive or Artificial Intelligence by Arlene Marshall; “How Can Marketers Leverage Artificial Intelligence for Consumers?” by Camaren Rodgers; “Examining Human-Robot Interaction through Storytelling and Drama,” by Kayleah Shelton; “Does Human-Robot Interaction Affect Learning and Trust Building?” by Micah Hamilton; “Enhancing Sustainability in Supply Chain Logistics,” by Eduardo Bugay; “Ensuring Safety of the Food Supply Chains in the United States,” by Louis Mangeo.

The UDC Community College (UDC-CC) presented its research on Tuesday, April 4, and was hosted by Dr. Bushra Ahmad Saeed, division director of the Nursing, Allied Health, Life and Physical Sciences programs at UDC-CC.

Presentations included “The Importance of Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Environments,” by associate degree students Ruby Banongwie, Fogwe Fombo Winifred, Djine Victorine and Renee Kemp; and “Food and Health: A systematic Review of Urban Farm practices for health enhancement,” by Nkechi Iweriebori and Christopher Iweriebor.

Dr. Jinendra Ranka, director of the Defense Science Office, Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA), was a keynote speaker, as part of the UDC “Lunchtime Learning Webinar’ Series offered by Dr. Malva Reid, assistant chief academic officer for Graduate and Online Education and Academic Partnerships Another webinar given later that day was sponsored by the UDC Bio/Chem Club of the College of Arts and Sciences and featured an informative presentation given by Matt Simon, journalist for Wired Magazine, titled, “A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies.”

Dr. Bruce Ching, associate professor of law at the UDC David A. Clarke Law School introduced Interim Dean Twinette Johnson, who welcomed the audience to their presentations. Research projects included “Envisioning IRC §501(c)(3) Social Impact Cooperatives as a Strategy to Address Poverty,” by Professor Jerome Hughes; “Lessons from Pandemic Co-Parenting: Towards Family Mediation that Centers Low-Income, Never-Married Black Mothers,” by Professor Tianna Gibbs; and “Understanding Bias in Civil Procedure,” by Professor Masai McDougall.

On Wednesday, April 5, the UDC Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CAS) hosted an undergraduate research day, hosted by Professor Freddie Dixon.

“There were 42 presentations, the largest since the inception of undergraduate research day fifteen years ago,” said Dixon. “This is a testament to the dedicated UDC faculty who mentored an increasing number of students who gave outstanding presentations.” Faculty and graduate student poster and presentations from CAS were organized by Dr. Jillian Wendt. Presentations included: “The Effects of Exclusionary Discipline on Black High School Students, by Garrette Lewis-Thomas; “I am…Hippolyta: How Speculative Fiction Calls this Black Woman Teacher into a Currere Conversation”; by Professor Dowan McNair-Lee; “A Call to End Catcalling!”, by Tamara Cooke, Jasmine Gibson, Shawn Johnson, Najee Jones, Cybele Sanders, Jasmine Cousart and Dr. Andrea Adams.

The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) presented on Thursday, April 6, and was hosted by Dr. Amy Schweitzer, project specialist for Community Education. Presentations included: “Breaking Systematic Exclusion Through the Communal Involvement in Classical Music,” by Frederick Peacos; Neurodiversity and Sensory-Friendly Museum Design,” by Aaron Harris; “Safe Living: Helping Families Recover from Homelessness,” by Aurora Konda; “Vertical Urban Gardens in Vacant District of Columbia Buildings Windows Lounge” by Christine Allen.

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) wrapped up the event on Friday, April 7, with research hosted by Dr. Pradeep Behera. Presentations included “Experimental Investigation of Capillary Performance of Additively-Manufactured Lattice Structures for Fluid Wicking Applications (Research supported by NASA) Chance Eden & Ryan Walker; “Security Analysis and Governance of Internet of Things,” by Antione Searcy; “Moving towards PdNA Demonstration at Blue Plains AWWTP using Primary Sludge Fermentate” by Stephanie Fuentes; “Novel solar cell made with earth abundant magnetic materials” by Marzieh Savadkoohi and Claudia Bahamon Lopez.

Dr. McCrary said that he is extremely proud of all the participants.

“This year’s UDC Research Week 2023 posters and presentations speak to the genius and innovation of our students, faculty and staff,” he said. “Many thanks to the UDC Research Week 2023 Planning Team, President Ronald Mason, Provost Lawrence Potter and our student-faculty, staff who seek every day to make a difference. The overwhelming participation and the focus on research which brings benefits to our society, demonstrates that UDC is the District of Columbia’s Research Laboratory—Serving Our Community Through Research.”

For more information about Research Week 2023, please click here.