Meet student researchers advancing AI, manufacturing and more
This article is part two of a two-part series highlighting student researchers presenting at the Fall 2024 Fulton Forge Student Research Expo on Monday, Nov. 18. Read part one. Learn more about the expo.
Enhancing software engineering education, developing new artificial intelligence models for cybersecurity, improving semiconductor material performance, advancing additive manufacturing capabilities and better understanding soft robotics control are just some of the ways Arizona State University students are addressing real-world challenges through hands-on research.
Undergraduate and graduate students in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU have several opportunities to conduct research that has real-world impact. Through individual projects mentored by Fulton Schools faculty members, students apply their classroom knowledge, build new skills and forge meaningful advances in the research themes of data science, education, energy, health, security, semiconductor manufacturing and sustainability.
In the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative, also known as FURI, and the Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering, or MORE, programs, participants conceptualize ideas, develop plans and investigate research questions during a semester.
Students participating in the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, or GCSP, can apply for additional funding to conduct research through the GCSP research stipend program. Conducting research is one part of the rigorous GCSP competency requirements designed to prepare students to solve the world’s most complex societal challenges.
These three programs enhance students’ ability to innovate, think independently and solve problems in their communities. They also benefit from the technical and soft skills they gain, which prepare them for their careers and the pursuit of advanced degrees.
Each semester, students who participate in FURI, MORE and the GCSP research stipend program are invited to present their findings at the Fulton Forge Student Research Expo. Learn more about five of the researchers participating in the fall 2024 event.
Meet them and more than 115 other student investigators at the Fall 2024 Fulton Forge Student Research Expo, which is open to the public, on Monday, Nov. 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Memorial Union on the ASU Tempe campus.
Ruben Acuna (left) and Devanshi Tushar Prajapati (right). Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU
Devanshi Tushar Prajapati
After earning an undergraduate degree in information communication technology, Devanshi Tushar Prajapati was looking for a more specific direction to take her graduate studies. As a software engineering graduate student, she found an opportunity to use her skills to help improve programming education through MORE. With her mentor, Ruben Acuna, an assistant teaching professor of software engineering, Prajapati is developing a code analysis method to help instructors better teach programming skills.
Alexander Ng (left) and student researcher Stefan Stealey-Euchner (right). Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU
Alexander Ng
Alexander Ng is interested in computer security and using automation to make tasks easier. Combining these interests, the computer science senior is working on research to advance artificial intelligence, or AI, capabilities in security contexts. With faculty mentor Stephanie Forrest, a professor of computer science and engineering, Ng’s FURI research project involves creating an AI model that generates understandable code. Working under the theory that you can’t secure what you can’t understand, Ng seeks to create explainable models better suited for cybersecurity-related tasks.
Daniel Abreu (left) and Nick Rolston (right). Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU
Daniel Abreu
Electrical engineering senior Daniel Abreu was interested in expanding his skills outside his major’s typical curriculum and learning something practical, so he joined the FURI program. Under the guidance of Nick Rolston, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, Abreu is looking for a new way to interpret and understand material diffusion — a factor in the aging process of semiconductor devices. His project, which he has been working on since spring 2024, is sponsored by the semiconductor foundry TSMC. Sponsorship provides additional funding for undergraduate students to conduct exceptional semiconductor-related research.
Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU
Arick Nitzsche
Arick Nitzsche likes studying manufacturing engineering because it’s all about continuous improvement, making things run efficiently and ensuring cost-effectiveness. As a junior, he got involved in the FURI program to work on research that aligns with his interests. With faculty mentor Xiangfan Chen, an assistant professor of manufacturing engineering, Nitzsche’s project aims to improve the process of 3D printing complicated shapes while also using multiple types of materials.
Wenlong Zhang (left) and Raj Kodithyala (right). Photographer: Erika Gronek/ASU
Raj Kodithyala
Raj Kodithyala, a senior in the robotics concentration of the engineering major, has always loved the field of robotics and wanted to pursue research when he joined ASU. As part of the FURI program, he is working on better understanding and predicting how a soft robotic arm moves with faculty mentor Wenlong Zhang, an associate professor of manufacturing engineering.