Meet student researchers advancing AI, manufacturing and more

What made you want to get involved in MORE?

I had been looking to do a research project that would give me more exposure than just a final presentation. MORE gives the opportunity to present your project on a bigger stage. Exposure is important because it allows me to share my work with a wider audience. This can lead to valuable feedback and potential collaborations in the future.

How will your research project impact the world?

My project is concentrated on improving teaching methods for software engineers. The impact will be better course structures and methods to make learning software engineering easier. I noticed that many students struggle with certain programming concepts. Our work aims to identify these problem areas. This could lead to more effective learning and better-prepared software engineers entering the workforce and industrial offices.

Have there been any surprises in your research?

Yes, I didn’t expect to draft an Institutional Review Board proposal, but it was a unique process that was fun to learn. An IRB proposal is required for research involving human subjects, and we needed one because our project involves analyzing student data. The process taught me about ethical considerations in research and how to protect participants’ rights.

How do you see this experience helping with your career goals?

The career I am looking forward to is in data science, which is what I am doing my research in. Data science is important because it helps us make sense of the vast amounts of information we generate daily. It has applications in many fields, from health care to finance. I’m interested in working in industry research, where I can apply data science to solve real-world problems.

Along with that, I am sure meeting new people with similar goals will help me advance and gain more knowledge about my field.

What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?

No dataset is worthless. No matter how small a dataset is, there is always some inference you can gain from it. For example, in our project, even a small sample of student code submissions revealed common patterns in how students approach certain programming tasks. This insight helped us identify areas where additional instruction might be beneficial. The most interesting thing we discovered in the dataset so far is that error types — like “Indentation,” “NeedBraces” and “WhitespaceAround” — appear frequently across all modules, suggesting these are common challenges for students.

Learn more about Devanshi Tushar Prajapati’s fall 2024 MORE project.

Why did you choose the project you’re working on?

I have always been curious about semiconductor materials, especially since that has been the buzzword for the past decade, and even more so in the past two years or so. Materials classes are fairly far into the electrical engineering degree, so this program was a great way to get some early experience that I wouldn’t have normally gotten so soon.

How will your research project impact the world?

I want to see if there is a new way to characterize aging in semiconductor materials that hasn’t been used yet. Hopefully, this will aid in finding new perspectives to take into account when manufacturing semiconductor materials.

Have there been any surprises in your research?

Last semester, when trying to find relationships in material diffusion, some results were a bit unusual compared to other research projects. The plots are supposed to be largely linear and are used to help calculate donor densities throughout a material. This semester we are taking strenuous measures to make sure that discrepancies due to human error aren’t present and instead trying to narrow down and see if the discrepancy is due to the materials or the aging process.

How do you see this experience helping with your career or advanced degree goals?

The practical experience this program has given me has been a good talking point with recruiters when looking for internships. At a recent career fair, some recruiters have asked me about my experience in this research so it was nice being able to talk about the ins and outs of this project and what I learned from it.

What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?

The best advice I have gotten from my mentor is to always be flexible when performing research. For example, going into an experiment, we might have a preconceived notion of how results should look, but we might get results that are unexpected. In these situations, my mentor reminds me to look at the research from a different angle or remove preconceived notions to consider something that may not have been taken into account going into an experiment.

Why should other students get involved in FURI?

I think other students should get involved with this program because it allows undergrads to better connect with professors, PhD students and other fellow students as well. I think it’s also a great way to get some practical experience that might not otherwise be offered in a traditional class.

Learn more about Daniel Abreu’s fall 2024 FURI project.

What made you want to get involved in FURI, and why did you choose the project you’re working on?

I wanted to explore new opportunities in the robotics world and understand what research work is like. I chose my project because I get to learn, explore new software and design tools, and apply my previous skills to a project with future impact.

How will your research project impact the world?

This research aims to improve human-robot interactions by making robotic systems more predictable, reliable and safe. By focusing on soft robotic manipulators, which offer more flexibility and adaptability than rigid robots, the project seeks to reduce the risks of injury and improve the robots’ ability to operate in dynamic environments.

Did you have a particular “aha!” moment during your project?

I didn’t necessarily have a big “aha!” moment since my project is cumulative over time. I had a series of “aha!” moments when I discovered why a certain electrical component couldn’t be wired this way, how to eliminate a huge code redundancy or a critical step I missed in the modeling approach. I learned how to troubleshoot systematically through an iterative approach.

Have there been any surprises in your research?

In my project, I found that using simple, linear models to represent a complex, nonlinear system is more challenging than expected because nonlinear systems don’t respond proportionally to inputs. This required breaking the system down into smaller, simpler parts to better understand its behavior. By tackling the problem step-by-step, I could make progress without being overwhelmed by the complexity.

How do you see this experience helping with your career or advanced degree goals?

This experience has provided valuable exposure to industry and research tools, including motion capture software and Robot Operating System 2, or ROS 2. Additionally, I have developed proficiency in MATLAB for data post-processing using various advanced toolboxes. These skills will be highly applicable in future roles focused on automation, robotics and system control.

What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?

It is OK to start small for now and go big later. Don’t jump around without a concrete plan and expect results.

Why should other students get involved in FURI?

FURI gives students the chance to explore fields they might not have experience in, helping them discover new interests and develop useful skills. It also builds adaptability and problem-solving abilities that are valuable for research and future jobs.

Learn more about Raj Kodithyala’s fall 2024 FURI project.