SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019

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SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
2019
       SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM
       UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
CONTENTS
    2019 SUMMER RESEARCH                                                                                           Center for Urban Science                                                    Junyi Sha ........................................................ 28
                                                                                                                                                                                               Anthony Chua .............................................. 28
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Mechanical Engineering
                                                NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Undergraduate                   and Progress                                                                                                                                         Martin Arbuzov...........................................47
                                                                                                                                                                                               Chinedu Odibeli .......................................... 29
                                                Summer Research Program provides a unique opportunity              Yitao Li ............................................................. 3                                                                             Anu Raghunathan ....................................47
                                                                                                                                                                                               Savannah Sookchan .................................. 29
                                                for undergraduate students to engage in research over the          Marija Trifkovic.............................................. 4                                                                                     Jeffrey Sun ................................................. 48
                                                                                                                                                                                               AhRam Cho ................................................... 30
                                                                                                                   Oorja Majgaonkar ....................................... 5                                                                                           Mariam Elgamal ........................................ 48
                                                course of the summer term. This program offers students                                                                                        Ankit Sharma ................................................ 30
                                                                                                                   Wangyue (Angie) Zhao ........................... 5                                                                                                   Nishant Aswani ......................................... 49
                                                far more than the traditional classroom experience; it allows                                                                                  Ruhana Amin ................................................ 31
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Michael Linares ......................................... 49
                                                them to work alongside faculty mentors and research                Chemical and Biomolecular                                                   Ziwei (Ava) Zheng ...................................... 31
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Ayden Wang .............................................. 50
                                                staff as well as PhD and masters students on cutting-edge          Engineering                                                                                                                                          Sampanna Bhattarai ................................51
                                                                                                                                                                                               Computer Science
                                                research projects. In addition to the work they do in labs,        Allie Karakosta ............................................. 6                                                                                      Duke Truong ................................................51
                                                                                                                                                                                               and Engineering
                                                students attend seminars focused on both academic and              Asma Khursheed ........................................ 6                                                                                            Ziyan An ........................................................52
                                                                                                                                                                                               Charles Chan ................................................. 32
                                                career development. They participate in a poster session in        Mrinalini Singh .............................................. 7                                                                                     Boris Arbuzov ............................................52
                                                                                                                                                                                               Kevin Chen ..................................................... 32
                                                collaboration with the NYU CAS Department of Chemistry’s           Dingyi Yang.................................................... 8                                                                                    Amrutha Ajjarapu .....................................53
                                                                                                                                                                                               Sicong Liu ...................................................... 33
                                                MRSEC Program, in which they present their work to other           Ali Hasan ......................................................... 8                                                                                Sam Richmond...........................................54
                                                                                                                                                                                               Kristel Fung ................................................... 33
                                                                                                                   Hyunjoo Kim.................................................. 9                                                                                      James Marbaix ...........................................55
                                                members of the research cohorts, faculty, staff, peers, and                                                                                    Yuxiang Chai ................................................. 34
                                                                                                                   Yanmeng Liu ................................................. 9                                                                                      Peerayos Pongsachai .............................55
                                                other outside attendees. Throughout the program, students                                                                                      Simon Oh ........................................................ 35
                                                                                                                   Si Yun Park ..................................................... 10                                                                                 Jeremy Kupupika .....................................56
                                                get to interact with numerous people of different levels from                                                                                  Nhi Pham Le Yen ......................................... 35
                                                                                                                   Chase Rosenberg ....................................... 11                                                                                           Marc Sorrentino .........................................57
                                                various areas and fields of study both within and outside of                                                                                   Khaing Su Yin................................................ 35
                                                                                                                   Tahany Moosa .............................................. 11                                                                                       Andy Garcia ...............................................57
    NYU, promoting an educational experience that advances Tandon’s i2e model of invention, innovation and                                                                                     Karen Zhou..................................................... 35
                                                                                                                   Azan Brar ....................................................... 12                                                                                 Vrishin Soman ...........................................58
                                                                                                                                                                                               Weileen Chen ............................................... 36
    entrepreneurship. Undergraduate students are afforded the opportunity to conduct this research during a        Dylan Aljovic ................................................. 12                                                                                   Ishtiaque Mahdi..........................................58
                                                                                                                                                                                               Junhan Xu ...................................................... 36
    10-week period, aiming to enhance and broaden their knowledge base by applying classroom learning to           Andrea Quispe.............................................. 13
                                                                                                                                                                                               Vienna Zhang ............................................... 36          Mechatronics and Robotics
    solve practical and contemporary problems and to better prepare them for lifelong learning.                    Rhea-Donna Reyes .................................... 13
                                                                                                                                                                                               Sofiia Barysheva ......................................... 37            Jack Spiegler ..............................................59
                                                                                                                   Neha Vasudevan ......................................... 14
                                                                                                                                                                                               Selina Zhang ................................................. 37
    Tandon’s faculty participation in this program is essential, as is the financial support provided by faculty   Jay Kang ......................................................... 14
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Technology, Culture and Society
    mentors and the Tandon School of Engineering. The gifts from several alumni donors have also propelled         Bonnie Lin ...................................................... 15        Electrical and Computer
                                                                                                                   Vi Dang ............................................................ 16                                                                              Gabriela Avila ............................................ 60
    the program’s success. This year marked the 8th year of the Thompson Bartlett Fellowship, in which 10                                                                                      Engineering                                                              Thomas (Sam) Granade ....................... 60
    of this summer’s female researchers were graciously supported by Mrs. Dede Bartlett whose father, Mr.          Katheryn Kornegay ................................... 16
                                                                                                                                                                                               Thy-Lan Nguyen Gale ............................... 38                   Paolla Bruno Dutra ....................................61
                                                                                                                   William Clarke............................................... 17
    George Juul Thompson, was a graduate of the Electrical Engineering program at the Polytechnic Institute                                                                                    Youssef Azzam ............................................ 39            Crystal Chen ................................................61
                                                                                                                   Christopher Oyuela ................................... 17
    of Brooklyn in 1930. Donors’ gifts allow us to engage more student researchers, faculty mentors, and                                                                                       Yash Agarwal ................................................ 39         Cartomou Feseru .....................................62
                                                                                                                   Alula Haile ...................................................... 18
    further strengthen this truly unique summer experience. 2019 marked the 2nd year in which students were                                                                                    Chunxiao Wang ........................................... 40             Haoran Wen ................................................62
                                                                                                                   Scott Lee ........................................................ 18
    given the opportunities to explore the entrepreneurial world of startups by working in the Tandon Future                                                                                   Ariana Cai ....................................................... 40    Ariana Bennett...........................................63
                                                                                                                   Alekhya Vutukuri ........................................ 19
                                                                                                                                                                                               Shashank Gupta .......................................... 41             Brandon LeMay .........................................63
    Labs with partial support of the institute for Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, the IIIE@Tandon,   Hanlu Xia ......................................................... 19
                                                                                                                                                                                               Simay Yazicioglu ......................................... 41            Sarah Yetman .............................................63
    sponsored by Dr. Kurt Becker.                                                                                  Farida Shaban............................................... 20
                                                                                                                                                                                               Munib Mesinovic ......................................... 42             Michael Zachor ......................................... 64
                                                                                                                   Navkawal Mattu ........................................... 20
                                                                                                                                                                                               Nurpeiis Baimukan ..................................... 42               Nicole Zhao ................................................ 64
    A special thanks also goes to Nicole Johnson, Assistant Dean for Opportunity Programs, who volunteered         Fariha Mahjabin............................................ 21
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Pooja Patel ...................................................65
    her time to mentor the TB Fellows, providing them with additional programming and engagement                   Zhengxing Wu ............................................. 21               Institute of Innovation,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Greta Solomon............................................65
    throughout the summer. She remains in contact with these students over time and often brings them                                                                                          Invention, & Entrepreneurship
                                                                                                                   Civil and Urban Engineering                                                                                                                          Alexander Wing ........................................66
    back to engage with younger Fellows. I would also like to acknowledge Sara-Lee Ramsawak, Director                                                                                          Michael Kochera .......................................... 43
                                                                                                                   Sara Alanis ..................................................... 22                                                                                 Emily Zhu.......................................................66
    of Undergraduate Academics & Global Programs, who has coordinated the Undergraduate Summer
                                                                                                                   Matthew Shen .............................................. 22              Mathematics
    Research Program and ensured that the program’s daily operations run seamlessly since 2013. Jen Piro,                                                                                                                                                               Technology Management
                                                                                                                   Ting Luo........................................................... 23
    Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs, joined in on the coordination efforts for the first time                                                                                     Tianyi Zhang ................................................. 44        and Innovation
                                                                                                                   Songyu Du...................................................... 23
                                                                                                                                                                                               Joey Cain ........................................................ 45
    this year and assisted with all of the programs enhancements and developments. She also coordinated            Shawn Olichwier ......................................... 24                                                                                         Faisal Karim .................................................67
                                                                                                                                                                                               Jiajie Wu ......................................................... 45
    all of this summer’s participant placements.                                                                   Andrew Hu ..................................................... 24                                                                                   Dan Shafman ..............................................67
                                                                                                                                                                                               Keyan Zhang.................................................. 45
                                                                                                                   Eric Gan ........................................................... 25
    Summer 2019 marked the 13th year of the program. Since its inception, over 900 students have
                                                                                                                                                                                               Yuying Chen .................................................. 46        Undergraduate and Graduate
                                                                                                                   Anel Orazgaliyeva ...................................... 25
                                                                                                                                                                                               Saranath Kannan ........................................ 46              Academics
    participated, and a large number of faculty members from a variety of departments have contributed.            Weiyao Xie ..................................................... 25
                                                                                                                                                                                               Tianyi Zhang ................................................. 46        Alan Lu ...........................................................68
    The abstracts published in this year’s volume are representative of the research done over the summer          Thomas Wang .............................................. 26
                                                                                                                   Lujie Zhao ....................................................... 26                                                                                Nicole Rebatta ...........................................68
    and celebrates the accomplishments of the undergraduate researchers. Congratulations to all of the
    student researchers who participated in the 2019 Undergraduate Summer Research Program. I look                 Eli Zhu .............................................................. 26
                                                                                                                   Eliot Brown..................................................... 27
    forward to future summers of more intellectual and scholarly activities.
                                                                                                                   Martin Buceta Bertini ................................ 27

    Peter Voltz
    Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Academics

B
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
FACULTY, OTHER MENTORS,                                                                             CENTER FOR URBAN SCIENCE
AND RESEARCH STAFF                                                                                  AND PROGRESS
FACULTY MENTORS                               OTHER MENTORS AND                                                                        Improved Iterative Closest Point Algorithm for
Center for               Mathematics          RESEARCH STAFF                                                                           Registration of Dense Urban Laser Scanning Point Cloud
Urban Science            Luciano Medina       Center for            Santiago Torres                                                    Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is an effective means to generate accurate, high-
and Progress                                                        Steven Armanios
                                              Urban Science                                                                            resolution, three dimensional (3D) models of the urban environment. To capture
                         Mechanical                                 Minhazur Bhuyian
Debra Laefer                                  and Progress                                                                             a 3D scene, a TLS scanner must be deployed at multiple stations around the
                         Engineering                                Yunjie Hu
                                              Vu Vo Anh                                                                                object of interest. Multiple scans are needed since data captured at each station
Chemical and             Nicholas DiZinno                           Jun Yuan
                                              Brittney O’Neill                                                                         is often incomplete due to occlusion. The 3D data derived from the separate
Biomolecular             Nikhil Gupta
                         Joo H. Kim
                                                                    Electrical                                                         stations are aligned and combined together to create a complete model of the
Engineering                                   Chemical and
                         Dzung Luong                                and Computer                                                       scene through a process called registration. Amongst many existing solutions,
Stephen Arnold                                Biomolecular          Engineering                                                        Iterative Closest Point (ICP) is one of the most commonly adopted point-
                         Maruizio Porfiri
Weiqiang Chen                                 Engineering                                                                              based registration algorithms. This iterative descent algorithm performs fast,
                                                                    Samrat Acharya
Bruce Garetz
                         Mechatronics         Chao Ma               Fraida Fund                                                        fine registration of two overlapping point clouds given that the datasets to be
Ryan L. Hartman                               Linru Xu
                         and Robotics                               Mustafa Ozkoc                                                      registered have a good priori manual alignment already. Thus, this project aims
Jin Ryoun Kim                                 Apratim Bajpai
                         Vikram Kapila                              Zhipeng Fan                                                        to further automate ICP-based point cloud registrations by performing a coarse
Rastislav Levicky                             Jie Tong              Mei Fu
Miguel Modestino                                                                                                                       registration step prior to the fine ICP registration. The coarse registration is based
                         Technology,          Omar Gowayed          Devansh Bisla                   YITAO LI
Jin Kim Montclare                             Yukun Liu                                                                                on several abstract representations of the complex point cloud, including the
                         Culture and
André Taylor                                  Filip Popovic         Institute of                    BS Sustainable Urban               surface normal vector distribution and the coordinate histograms of the data. The
Ayaskanta Sahu
                         Society                                                                    Environments 2021
                                              Edward Chau           Innovation, Invention,                                             algorithm is developed based on analyses of multiple real TLS datasets collected
Alexandra Seidenstein    Jonathan Bain                                                              Christian Brothers High School
                                              Yanxi Yang            & Entrepreneurship              Memphis, Tennessee, USA            around Washington Square and several subway stations in New York City.
                         R. Luke DuBois
                                              Vladislav Frenkel
Civil and Urban          Amy Hurst                                  Yefim Kelmanskiy                Faculty
                                              Yuxiang Gao                                           Debra Laefer
Engineering              Kathleen McDermott
                                              Daniela Blanco
                                                                    Igor Lev
Joseph Chow              Beth Noveck                                                                Other Mentor(s)
                                              Daniel Frey           Mechanical                      Vu Vo Anh
Chen Feng
                         Technology           Adlai Katzenberg      Engineering
Li Jin                                        Jaemin Kong                                           NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Andrea Silverman
                         Management                                 Kubra Akbas
                                              Jason Lipton
Cassandra Thiel          and Innovation                             Jordan Birnbaum
                                              Priya Katyal
                         Oded Nov                                   Daniel Alberto
                                              Kamia Punia           Burbano Lombana
Computer
                         Undergraduate        Jason Rohr            William Peng
Science and
                         and Graduate         Haripriya Kannan      Hyun Seok Shin
Engineering                                   Ingrid Paredes
                         Academics                                  Roni Barak Ventura
Win Burleson                                  Michael Scimeca       Xianbo Xu
Eugene Callahan          Yona Jean-Pierre
                                              Steven Farrell        Chiara Spinello
Justin Cappos                                 Mersal Khwaja         Matthieu Nadini
Fred Strauss
                                                                    Peng Zhang
Torsten Suel                                  Civil and Urban       Mert Karakaya
Enrico Bertini                                Engineering           Giovani Polverino
                                              Brian He              Alain Boldini
Electrical
                                              Mina Lee
and Computer                                  Gyugeun Yoon          Technology,
Engineering                                   Ruoyu Wang            Culture and
Yury Dvorkin                                  Siyuan Xiang          Society
Farshad Khorrami                              Xuchu Xu              Tega Brain
Shivendra Panwar                              Xi Xong               Fred DeJohn
Yao Wang                                      Mwale Chiyenge
Anna Choromanska                              Fiona Dunn            Technology
Quanyan Zhu                                   Mwanarusi Mwatondo    Management
Institute of                                                        and Innovation
                                              Computer Science
Innovation, Invention,                                              Mark Cartwright
                                              and Engineering
                                                                    Graham Dove
& Entrepreneurship                            Gustavo Almeida
Kurt Becker                                   Gustavo de Oliveira   Undergraduate
                                              Preston Moore         and Graduate
                                              Robert Ohale          Academics
                                              Jeremy Rowe
                                                                    Professor Nick DiZinno
                                              Ryan Rozbiani
                                                                    Assistant Dean Melinda Parham

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                3
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
Graphical User Interface Design for Retrieving                                                                           Statistical Distribution of Large-Scale Aerial
                                       and Viewing Massive Remote Sensing Data Sets                                                                             Laser Scanning Data
                                       Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a method which uses light pulses                                                  Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing data are instrumental in
                                       to obtain a digital representation of an object, location, or region. Laser                                              a wide range of urban mapping, planning, engagement activities. The current
                                       beams emitted from a source are reflected off the targeted surface. The                                                  generation of equipment allows multi-pass data sets of 100s of points per
                                       coordinates of the points of reflection are determined by a combination                                                  square meter generating unprecedented densities and quality. Computing the
                                       of the scanner’s position and the return characteristics of the laser beam.                                              statistical distribution of such datasets is a convenient way to gain preliminary
                                       Data sets gathered from this technique contain billions of points making                                                 understanding of the data and perform a basic quality assurance, as well as
                                       their storage, processing, and visualization highly demanding.                                                           providing insights for future data storage and post-processing strategies.
                                                                                                                                                                While manual analysis is easy to perform to derive statistical distributions and
                                       Retrieving and visualizing large LiDAR data sets are challenging. Strategies
                                                                                                                                                                related insights, such approaches are highly limited in their scalability.
                                       have been undertaken including gridding and subsequently tiling the
                                       data to make it more manageable. However, such strategies introduce                                                      In this work, algorithms are devised and implemented to determine
                                       discontinuities and/or redundancies at tile boundaries and become                                                        the relevant statistics and histograms. The approach is applied to
                                       problematic when features beyond the data of a single tile are sought.                                                   increasingly larger groups of data determine the scalability barriers with
    MARIJA TRIFKOVIC                   To overcome such difficulties, this project focuses on developing a Graphical    OORJA MAJGAONKAR                        respect to time and memory bottlenecks. These insights are then used
    BS Computer Science 2022                                                                                                                                    to develop a distributed computing solution based on MapReduce.
                                       User Interface (GUI) for LiDAR data retrieval and visualization. The GUI is an   BS Computer Science 2021
    Mathematical Grammar School                                                                                         American International School
    Belgrade, Serbia                   access gateway to a distributed spatio-temporal database system Ariadne
                                                                                                                        in Abu Dhabi
                                       3D. The particular functionality being developed will support selection of       Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
    Faculty
    Debra Laefer                       a projected two-dimensional region and visualization of all data in three        Faculty
                                       dimensions, for the selected area. The goal is an efficient GUI for retrieving   Debra Laefer
    Other Mentor(s)
    Vu Vo Anh                          and visualizing LiDAR data which avoids processing irrelevant points.            Other Mentor(s)
    NYU Tandon School of Engineering                                                                                    Vu Vo Anh
                                                                                                                        NYU Abu Dhabi

                                                                                                                                                                Autonomous Occlusion Detection in LiDAR Data
                                                                                                                                                                Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a remote sensing method to collect
                                                                                                                                                                highly accurate and precise shape data of an object or a surface. LiDAR
                                                                                                                                                                is used to detect different landscapes or project sites. The data can be
                                                                                                                                                                collected by aerial sensors mounted on planes or helicopters so that a large
                                                                                                                                                                area can be covered efficiently from a high elevation. They can also be
                                                                                                                                                                collected by terrestrial scanners based on the ground or mobile platforms.
                                                                                                                                                                A common form of LiDAR emits a laser beam towards a surface of interest
                                                                                                                                                                and measures the time for the reflections to come back to the sensor.

                                                                                                                                                                However, water reflections, glass refractions, and low albedo surfaces results
                                                                                                                                                                in laser pulses either being absorbed or reflected in an incorrect position.
                                                                                                                                                                These missing laser pulse returns can lead to void regions in LiDAR data.
                                                                                                                                                                The goal of this project is to generate an algorithm that can automatically
                                                                                                                                                                extract the outline of occlusions caused by water bodies, including rivers,
                                                                                                                        WANGYUE (ANGIE) ZHAO                    pounds, and roof top puddles. The output generated by this algorithm
                                                                                                                                                                can be used to help with rooftop maintenance and city maintenance.
                                                                                                                        BS Computer Science 2022
                                                                                                                        Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
                                                                                                                        La Cañada Flintridge, California, USA
                                                                                                                        Faculty
                                                                                                                        Debra Laefer
                                                                                                                        Other Mentor(s)
                                                                                                                        Vu Vo Anh
                                                                                                                        NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR
    ENGINEERING
                                       Engineering Personalized CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy                                                                          Spatial Signaling and Mechanical Sensing facilitates
                                       Through Leukemia-On-A-Chip                                                                                                 Sweat Gland Development
                                       B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common cancer in                                                   Sweat glands play an important role in body temperature regulation. Congenital
                                       childhood and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. Adoptive                                             diseases like Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and injuries like major skin
                                       CD19 CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) T-cell transfer has emerged as a successful                                           burns, result in damaged sweat glands. Inadequate thermoregulation can lead
                                       FDA-approved therapy for B-ALL patients. Despite this, the durability of patient                                           to high body temperature that may also result in death. Currently, we do not
                                       remission remains unpredictable largely due to CAR T-cell immunological resistance                                         have any treatments available to repair damaged sweat glands. Our aim is to
                                       and insufficient target engraftment from the dynamic, immunosuppressive and                                                understand the underlying mechanisms of sweat gland development and establish
                                       protective leukemic bone marrow (BM) niche/microenvironment. Herein, we                                                    a reliable ex-vivo regeneration system using bioengineering technologies.
                                       engineered a three-dimensional microfluidics-based, “biometric” niche model
                                                                                                                                                                  The structure of a sweat gland consists of a duct that forms in the skin’s
                                       (termed “Leukemia-On-A-Chip”) that contains key immune populations and
                                                                                                                                                                  epidermis and grows inwards into the dermis where it differentiates into the
                                       essential tumor-immune-stroma intercellular communications. This “Leukemia-
                                                                                                                                                                  coil. Using skin samples from mice footpads, we observed sweat glands at
                                       On-A-Chip” platform allows visualization between the interactions of B-ALL
                                                                                                                                                                  different developmental stages and identified that the skin’s varying stiffness
                                       leukemia blasts with the bone marrow microenvironments ex vivo. Preliminary
                                                                                                                                                                  environments can impact sweat gland formation by altering its dermal thickness.
                                       investigations are necessary before in-depth analysis of the microdevice.
    ALLIE KARAKOSTA                                                                                                            MRINALINI SINGH                    It was found that the thickness of the dermis decreases with increasing stiffness.
                                       Therefore, we have deeply studied the relationship between the genetic-specified
    BS Chemical and Biomolecular                                                                                               BS Biomolecular Science 2021       The duct of the sweat gland grows longer in stiffer substrates while the coil only
                                       B-ALL subtypes and immunophenotype of tumor-associated macrophages,
    Engineering, MS Chemical                                                                                                   Jnanodaya PU College               grows in softer substrates. Using this information, we are studying the effect of
    Engineering 2021                   which could be further interrogated to elucidate the immunosuppressive cues             Mysuru, India                      different gene signalling pathways on sweat glands. Taken together, our research
    Glenbrook South High School        in regulating CART-cell therapy. We believe this leukemic BM niche model can
    Glenview, Illinois, USA                                                                                                    Faculty                            integrates mechanical and biological perspectives of sweat gland formation.
                                       be applied to optimize and screen efficient CAR T-cell therapy, which will finally      Weiqiang Chen
    Faculty                            improve disease-free long-term survival in pediatric and adult B-ALL patient.
    Weiqiang Chen                                                                                                              Other Mentor
                                                                                                                               Jie Tong
    Other Mentor(s)
    Chao Ma                                                                                                                    NYU Tandon School of Engineering

    NYU Tandon School of Engineering
    *Honors Fellow

                                       Smart Fingerprint: Optical Imaging of Latent
                                       Fingerprints through the Detection of Glucose
                                       in Human Perspiration
                                       Fingerprints consist of patterns of ridges and furrows that is an inverse of the
                                       pattern on the fingertip. Fingerprints also consist of natural secretions from the
                                       pores in the skin. Using the glucose secreted in the human perspiration a fingerprint
                                       pattern can be optically visualized. Moreover, a correlation between the blood
                                       glucose levels and the amount of glucose in the secretions from the pores of skin
                                       also exists indicating blood glucose levels can be deduced from a fingerprint.

                                       Using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) gel on a glass substrate as a chip, a pattern
                                       of silver nanoplates was created. When incident light was shone onto them, the
                                       conduction band electrons oscillated to give a characteristic initial light intensity
                                       detected by the camera. When a sample solution containing glucose was loaded
                                       onto the channel on the jell, along with the enzyme glucose oxidase a spike
    ASMA KHURSHEED                     was observed in the light intensity. Current research is looking for a correlation
    BS Computer Science 2021           between the glucose concentration and the change in light intensity to detect
    Faculty                            different amounts of glucose in the perspiration and hence in the blood.
    Weiqiang Chen
    Other Mentor(s)
    Linru Xu
    NYU Tandon School of Engineering

6                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      7
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
Crystal alignment during laser-induced nucleation                                                                          Inhibition of amyloid aggregation
                                         of supersaturated solutions using pulsed lasers                                                                            Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most widespread neurodegenerative
                                         Nucleation is the initial step of the formation of a new thermodynamic phase,                                              disease, affecting a significant portion of the world’s population over age, where
                                         and has significant economic value. It is often used to produce high-value solid                                           the combined cost of PD is estimated to be nearly $25 billion per year in the United
                                         materials, such as laser crystals and pharmaceuticals. Common methods for                                                  States alone. The aggregation of a-Synuclein (aS), a 140 residues protein naturally
                                         inducing nucleation involves applying external perturbations, such as ultrasound                                           found inside of neurons, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of PD. aS is a primary
                                         and mechanical shock. Non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation (NPLIN)                                                   component of abnormal neuronal aggregates called Lewy bodies, which are the
                                         is a relatively unexplored technique which allows the nucleation process takes                                             hallmarks of PD. As an amyloidogenic protein, aS monomers aggregate to form toxic
                                         place at a specific time and location as well as at a much faster rate. Such high                                          soluble oligomers that further develop into fibrils that are rich in b-sheet structure.
                                         speed control might lead to a refreshing prospective of crystallization in various
                                                                                                                                                                    There have been many studies on the effect of metal ions on neurodegenerative
                                         industries, and more characteristics of this phenomenon are yet to be examined.
                                                                                                                                                                    diseases, primarily focused on their role for redox cycling and initiating oxidation
                                         The goal of this project is to explore the alignment of the urea crystal during non-
                                                                                                                                                                    stress. Metal ions, such as Cu2+, act as mediators of neurotoxicity and provide
                                         photochemical laser-induced nucleation. Urea is a needle-shaped crystal, which
                                                                                                                                                                    a suitable pharmacological target for the treatment of neurodegenerative
                                         is ideal for studying the crystal alignment as it well illustrate its orientation.
                                                                                                                                                                    diseases. In this study, the effect of Cu2+ and resveratrol and AM17 on aS
    DINGYI YANG                          The backbone assumption of the project is that during NPLIN the                        HYUNJOO KIM                         aggregation has been characterized using Thioflavin T fluorescence, TEM,
                                         orientation of the initial crystallite that nucleates is directly related to the                                           native-PAGE, SDS-PAGE and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Resveratrol is
    BS Chemical & Biomolecular                                                                                                  BS Chemical & Biomolecular
    Science 2021                         polarization of the laser. The process of nucleation would be recorded                 Engineering 2020                    a chemical compound naturally found in berries and grapes, and AM17, is an
    Shenzhen Middle School               and the image of the initial crystallite would be analyzed to study the                Paul VI Catholic High School        ionophoric derivative of resveratrol. Reservatrol is known to act as an anti-
    Shenzhen, China                                                                                                             Fairfax, Virginia, USA
                                         correlation between the crystal alignment and laser polarization.                                                          amyloidogenic and fibril-destabilizing polyphenol and its derivative, AM17,
    Faculty                                                                                                                     Faculty                             is hypothesized to interact with Cu2+ to enhance this inhibitory effect.
    Bruce Garetz                                                                                                                Jin Ryoun Kim
    Other Mentor(s)                                                                                                             NYU Tandon School of Engineering
    Omar Gowayed
    NYU Tandon School of Engineering

                                         Catalyzing Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions Using                                                                                  Amyloid Aggregation
                                         Cyclodextrin Supported Palladium Complex                                                                                   Many globular proteins are structurally well-ordered and functionally essential to
                                         This project aims to evaluate the performance of a cyclodextrin-supported                                                  many biological processes such as enzymatic activities, transportation of materials
                                         palladium complex (DACH-Pd-β-CD) in catalyzing Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling                                               as well as other uses. Unlike intrinsically disordered proteins such as α-Synuclein
                                         reactions in a continuous-flow micro-reactor. A Suzuki-Miyaura reaction uses a                                             and β-Amyloid which are natively-unfolded with their amyloidogenic sequences
                                         palladium catalyst to combine organohalides and boronic acids. Using DACH-                                                 being relatively more exposed, the hydrophobic and potentially amyloidogenic
                                         Pd-β-CD to catalyze these reactions is desirable since it uses environmentally                                             sequences of globular proteins tend to be buried inside as a result of protein folding.
                                         friendly solvents, can be reused multiple times, produces excellent yields, and                                            Through an amyloid aggregation prediction algorithm, TANGO, we surveyed
                                         has low catalyst loading. All of these qualities show its potential applications                                           various globular proteins for their amyloid aggregation potential, which was also
                                         in green chemical synthesis. Previous research has shown that DACH-Pd-                                                     experimentally examined. A functional activity of a selected globular protein and
                                         β-CD is extremely effective at catalyzing Suzuki reactions in batch systems.                                               its amyloid aggregation propensity under native conditions were examined.
                                         This project evaluates its performance in a continuous-flow system.

    ALI HASAN                                                                                                                   YANMENG LIU
    BS Chemical & Biomolecular Science                                                                                          BS Chemical & Biomolecular
    2020                                                                                                                        Engineering 2021
    Middletown High School                                                                                                      Chongqing Foreign Language School
    Middletown, New York, USA                                                                                                   Chongqing, China
    Faculty                                                                                                                     Faculty
    Ryan L. Hartman                                                                                                             Jin Ryoun Kim
    Other Mentor(s)                                                                                                             Other Mentor(s)
    Yukun Liu                                                                                                                   Edward Chau
    Filip Popovic                                                                                                               Yanxi Yang
    NYU Tandon School of Engineering                                                                                            NYU Tandon School of Engineering
    *Honors Fellow

8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             9
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
Plasmonic-based Microfluidic Biosensor for Immune
                                                                                                                                                                  Cell Phenotyping
                                                                                                                                                                  During the progression of immune-related diseases, rapid and precise monitoring
                                                                                                                                                                  of the state of the immune system has a crucial role in personalizing a patient’s
                                                                                                                                                                  treatment protocol. By tracking the secretion of cytokines, small proteins
                                                                                                                                                                  secreted by specific cells in the immune system, from frequently sampled human
                                                                                                                                                                  blood, the course of a disease can be monitored. The current gold standard in
                                                                                                                                                                  immunoassay technology is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or ELISA,
                                                                                                                                                                  which is a plate-based immunoassay that measures the quantity of a specified
                                                                                                                                                                  antigen in a sample. However, ELISA relies on fluorescent labeling, large sample
                                                                                                                                                                  volumes, long-term sample incubation, and time-consuming manipulation
                                                                                                                                                                  processes that make real-time, multiplexed cytokine measurements impossible.
                                                                                                                                                                  Given ELISA’s limitations, immune monitoring for clinical decision-making is
                                                                                                                                                                  made impractical. In recent years, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-
                                                                                                                                                                  based microfluidic biosensing has gained popularity as a promising approach
                                                                                                                             CHASE ROSENBERG                      for the real-time refractometric detection of binding events between an antigen
                                                                                                                             BS Chemical & Biomolecular           and antibody. LSPR offers a label-free solution to the multiplexed analysis of
                                                                                                                             Engineering 2021
                                                                                                                             Lenape Valley Regional High School   cytokine concentration and even offers potential for sensor miniaturization.
                                                                                                                             Stanhope, New Jersey, USA            This project focuses on the development of a highly-sensitive LSPR-based
                                                                                                                             Faculty                              biosensing interface that, when integrated with a high-throughput microfluidic
                                                                                                                             Weiqiang Chen                        platform, can measure the concentrations of secreted cytokines in real-time.
                                                                                                                             Other Mentor(s)
                                                                                                                             Linru Xu
                                                                                                                             NYU Tandon School of Engineering
                                                                                                                             *Honors Fellow

                                    Unravelling Immune Cell Mechanobiology                                                                                        Nucleation of glycyl-glycine dipeptide
                                    through Force Measurement                                                                                                     using optical tweezers
                                    Macrophages are essential to the immune system and perform various defensive                                                  Optical tweezing is a method that uses laser trapping due to radiation pressure
                                    functions in the body such as phagocytosis of bacteria, and are crucial to                                                    generated by a tightly focused laser beam. It is a useful method of trapping and
                                    inflammation and healing. These macrophages present themselves in different                                                   manipulating micrometer and nanometer sized particles in solution without
                                    phenotypes which arise from the differentiation of macrophages through                                                        mechanical contact. Previous research using the optical tweezing method with
                                    various chemical and metabolic signalling pathways. We study the phenotypical                                                 glycine (a peptide) and heavy water (deuterium oxide) has been conducted and
                                    differences of RAW 264.7 and Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages (BMDM), which                                                    shows crystallization upon tightly focusing a continuous wave (CW) laser at the
                                    are murine macrophages. Macrophages have shown to be mechanosensitive,                                                        air/solution interface. However, a dipeptide has yet to be studied. Glycyl-glycine
                                    as they perform differently under different physical environments. Hence, we                                                  is the dipeptide of glycine and is the simplest dipeptide. A continuous wave (CW)
                                    study the differences between the various phenotypes by using home-made                                                       laser will be used in this experiment to observe crystallization and nucleation of a
                                    micropillars to measure differences in cell forces. Micropillars are force sensors                                            gly-gly solution after tightly focusing the beam at the air/solution interface. Both
                                    that are made using polydimethylsiloxane gel in the lab. The deflections on these                                             saturated and supersaturated solutions of gly-gly will be nucleated to compare
                                    pillars caused by cell movement can be measured and the cell force can then be                                                the results to those of glycine. Crystal structures will be determined using XRD.
                                    calculated by taking into account the stiffness and size of those pillars. Differences
 SI YUN PARK                                                                                                                 TAHANY MOOSA
                                    in macrophage phenotypes are also studied using various immunostaining
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular         techniques in order to visualize the various genes expressed in each phenotype.          BS Biomolecular Science 2021
 Engineering 2021                                                                                                            The Bronx High School of Science
 Nanyang Junior College                                                                                                      New York, New York, USA
 Singapore, Singapore
                                                                                                                             Faculty
 Faculty                                                                                                                     Bruce Garetz
 Weiqiang Chen
                                                                                                                             Other Mentor(s)
 Other Mentor                                                                                                                Omar Gowayed
 Apratim Bajpai
                                                                                                                             NYU Tandon School of Engineering
 NYU Tandon School of Engineering
                                                                                                                             *Thompson Bartlett Fellow

10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       11
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
AZAN BRAR                           Understanding and Optimizing Organic Electrosynthesis                                                                    Photocatalytic Hydrogel Reactors for Removal
 Not Pictured
                                     of Hexamethylenediamine with Membrane Electrode                                                                          of Organic Contaminants from Aqueous Solution
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular
 Engineering, MS Chemical            Assemblies (MEA’s)                                                                                                       In this study, a technology to remove and degrade contaminants from wastewater
 Engineering 2020                    Nylon 6,6 is a widely used synthetic polymer found in textiles, plastics, and                                            is presented. A photocatalytic hydrogel was created to overcome reactor design
 The Doon School
                                     automotive parts. Its main precursor, hexanediamine (HMDA), is industrially                                              limitations in existing light-driven treatment methods. It is made of titanium
 Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
                                     produced by hydrogenating adiponitrile (ADN). This is done in unsafe                                                     dioxide (TiO2) as a photocatalytic nanoparticle, acrylic acid, hydroxyethyl
 Faculty
 Miguel Modestino                    processes requiring not only high pressure but also temperature. The                                                     methacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and DMPA molded to form a
                                     electrohydrogenation of ADN to HMDA has a wide potential to provide safer                                                channel with an inlet and outlet, allowing continuous processing of wastewater.
 Other Mentor(s)
 Daniela Blanco                      and more efficient production routes for this important Nylon precursor.                                                 Methylene blue was employed as a model contaminant. The properties of this
                                     However, several challenges need to be addressed, including mass and charge                                              continuous flow reactor allow for the diffusion of organic molecules through
 NYU Tandon School for Engineering
                                     transport limitation as well as problems with low energy efficiencies.                                                   the reactor walls and degradation of those molecules by encapsulated
                                                                                                                                                              photocatalytic particles. The removal of contaminants is determined by the
                                     MEA’s are innovative reactor configurations that eliminate the use of inorganic
                                                                                                                                                              diffusion (previously studied) and the UV-driven degradation of contaminants.
                                     electrolytes and metal plate electrodes while avoiding the undesired mix
                                                                                                                                                              Since the degradation rate depends on UV light, TiO2, and methylene blue
                                     of product streams and reducing mass and ionic transport limitations.
                                                                                                                                                              concentration, the amount of TiO2 in the hydrogel was changed in order to
                                     This research studies the formulation of how to setup catalyst inks and the          ANDREA QUISPE
                                                                                                                                                              further understand its effect. To quantify the effect of direct photolysis, without
                                     fabrication of the MEA’s and their potential use for the electrohydrogenation        BS Chemical & Biomolecular          the effects of contaminant absorption and degradation, impermeable PDMS was
                                     of ADN to HMDA. Studies on the effect of operating cell conditions and               Engineering 2021
                                                                                                                          John P. Stevens High School         used as a flow reactor. Finally, a solution containing a real organic contaminant,
                                     ink formulation are carried out to develop a better understanding of the
                                                                                                                          Edison, New Jersey, USA             Norfloxacin, was used to asses device performance in more relevant conditions.
                                     limitations of the system which will help optimize its performance levels.
                                                                                                                          Faculty
                                                                                                                          Miguel Modestino
                                                                                                                          Other Mentor(s)
                                                                                                                          Adlai Katzenberg
                                                                                                                          NYU Tandon School for Engineering
                                                                                                                          *Thompson Bartlett Fellow

                                     Analysis of Silica Microsphere Fabrication for use in                                                                    Investigating the Influence of Solvent for the Use of
                                     Whispering-Gallery Mode Biosensing                                                                                       an Activated Aluminum Alloy for Birch-like Reductions
                                     Since the late 20th century, the idea of label-free biosensing through the use                                           There is a growing need in the chemical industry for alternative pathways to
                                     of whispering-gallery mode (WGM) biosensors has allowed for the resonant                                                 novel chemical reactions used for organic synthesis, as they often require
                                     detection of various biomolecules. When a microsphere is placed onto the                                                 toxic reagents and dangerous environmental conditions. For instance, the
                                     surface of a shaved optical fiber—with a laser tuned into the fiber—, resonant                                           Birch Reduction is useful in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries due
                                     modes with corresponding resonant peaks were formed due to light coupled                                                 to its novel mechanism that reduces stable conjugated aromatic systems, like
                                     into the microsphere by frustrated total internal reflection (TIR), forming a                                            benzene, into unconjugated systems. However, its most common procedure
                                     circumnavigating wave known as the WGM. The near-field light-matter interaction                                          requires sodium metal and liquid ammonia, which are considered dangerous
                                     allows for the detection of said biomolecules via a resonance wavelength shift.                                          reagents due to their reactivity and toxicity. Prior research has shown that Birch
                                                                                                                                                              reductions can be performed without ammonia using silicon-stabilized sodium
                                     Generating optimal resonant peaks is the most critical factor in determining the
                                                                                                                                                              particulates. Inspired by successful alternative pathways to the Birch Reduction,
                                     overall functionality of a microsphere. Factors such as the size and sphericity
                                                                                                                                                              this work explores the reducing capabilities of an activated aluminum powder
                                     determine whether an integer number of wavelengths is fitted inside the
                                                                                                                                                              on varying functional groups including alcohols and carboxylic acids, and
                                     microsphere, which is required in order to produce WGM resonance. We will analyze
                                                                                                                                                              on unsaturated and conjugated systems. Variations in reaction duration and
 DYLAN ALJOVIC                       how manufacturing of the microspheres affect their physical properties and their     RHEA-DONNA REYES                    proton source for the tested reductions were also studied. The demonstration
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular          functionality during biosensing. These properties include the quality factor (Q)—    BS Chemical & Biomolecular          of successful reductions with Al particles would constitute the first recorded use
 Engineering 2021                    which determines the sharpness of peaks—, the separation and depth of the resonant   Engineering & Chemistry 2020
 Indian Hills High School                                                                                                 James S. Rickards High School       of aluminum-based heterogeneous organic reductions, opening opportunities
                                     modes, and the sensitivity of the resonances to binding of biomolecules, with the
 Oakland, New Jersey, USA                                                                                                 Tallahassee, Florida, USA           for the development of novel and safe pathways for organic transformations.
                                     ultimate goal of discovering the optimal specifications needed for biosensing.
 Faculty                                                                                                                  Faculty
 Rastislav Levicky                                                                                                        Miguel Modestino
 Stephen Arnold
                                                                                                                          Other Mentor(s)
 Other Mentor(s)                                                                                                          Daniela Blanco
 Vladislav Frenkel
 Yuxiang Gao                                                                                                              NYU 3 + 2

 NYU Tandon School of Engineering                                                                                         *Thompson Bartlett Fellow

12                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  13
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
Conductivity Effects of Methanesulfonic Acid                                                                                  Exploring the Effect of pH on Protein-Engineered
                                    on a Cerium Redox Flow Battery                                                                                                Coiled-Coil Hydrogels
                                    As fossil fuels verge on the edge of depletion, renewable energy sources, like solar                                          Self-assembling biomaterials have proven to be useful in various fields including
                                    and wind, are suitable replacements to fossil fuels— with limitations. For instance,                                          drug delivery, gene delivery, and tissue engineering. More recently, self-assembled
                                    solar power can only be utilized until sunset. In order to supply energy around the                                           hydrogels exhibiting thermoresponsive sol-gel behavior have been gaining
                                    clock, energy storage devices are essential. Factors considered when evaluating                                               traction as carriers of small hydrophobic molecules. Our lab has previously
                                    a grid scale energy storage device include high energy density, affordability,                                                designed Q, which is an engineered variant of the coiled-coil domain of cartilage
                                    scalability, and lengthy cycle life. One of the main forms of energy storage,                                                 oligomeric matrix protein (COMPcc). The surface charge of the parent protein
                                    lithium-ion batteries, excels in some aspects, but is not scalable or affordable. An                                          was re-distributed by swapping the N- and C-termini of COMPcc, allowing for
                                    upcoming form of energy storage, redox flow batteries, fulfills much of the criteria                                          lateral fiber assembly. Here, we demonstrate that Q nanofibers can undergo
                                    mentioned, like having a lengthy cycle life and being scalable. A redox flow battery                                          physical entanglement to form hydrogels at low temperature. Additionally,
                                    is an electrochemical cell where redox species dissolved in electrolytes react at                                             we are examining the effect of pH on the self-assembly and gelation of Q.
                                    electrodes, with the two sides separated by a membrane. This study concentrates                                               The secondary structure, fiber assembly and gelation properties of Q will be
                                    on optimizing a promising flow battery that uses Ce(III)/Ce(IV) and H2 as the redox                                           characterized through the use of circular dichroism spectroscopy, transmission
                                    pair, methanesulfonic acid as the electrolyte, Nafion 117 as the membrane. One of                                             electron microscopy and rheology, respectively. Future studies will focus on
 NEHA VASUDEVAN                                                                                                                BONNIE LIN
                                    the factors affecting the system’s performance is the proton conductivity of the                                              investigating the encapsulation and release of a small hydrophobic molecule.
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular         membrane. This will be studied under different environments using techniques               BS Biomolecular Science 2021
 Engineering 2022                                                                                                              Suffern High School
 West Windsor-Plainsboro            such as electrochemical impedance, FTIR, and solution uptake experiments.                  Suffern, New York, USA
 High School North
                                                                                                                               Faculty
 Plainsboro, New Jersey, USA
                                                                                                                               Jin Kim Montclare
 Faculty
                                                                                                                               Other Mentor
 Miguel Modestino
                                                                                                                               Priya Katyal
 Other Mentor(s)
                                                                                                                               NYU Tandon School of Engineering
 Daniel Frey
 NYU Tandon School of Engineering
 *Thompson Bartlett Fellow

                                    Self-Assembling Protein Biomaterials
                                    for Ocular Drug Delivery
                                    Photochromic ligands, such as diethylamine-azobenzene-quaternary-ammonium
                                    (DENAQ) bearing an azobenzene moiety, have been shown to treat degenerative
                                    blinding diseases caused by the progressive loss of rod and cone photoreceptors.
                                    DENAQ photoisomerizes from trans to cis in picosecond upon exposure to visible
                                    light and impacts the biological activity of transmembrane channels of the retinal
                                    ganglion cells. DENAQ can restore light sensitivity on voltage gated ion channels in
                                    retinas, but needs to be re-administered consistently. To enable this drug to persist
                                    longer in retinas, we introduce a protein engineered biomaterial, Q, in which its design
                                    is based on the coiled-coil domain of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMPcc).
                                    Using DNA recombinant technology, we have designed Q so that the homopentamer
                                    has an optimal surface charge distribution that contributes to its ability to self-
                                    assemble into nanofibers at pH 4 and further assemble into microfibers upon
                                    binding to small hydrophobic molecules. We have demonstrated that Q successfully
 JAY KANG                           binds DENAQ into the hydrophobic pore to produce microfibers of 19.23 ± 7.01
 BS Biomolecular Science, MS        μm size, protecting DENAQ. The impact of DENAQ on the protein conformation
 Biotechnology 2021
 Francis Lewis High School          is evaluated via circular dichroism spectroscopy. Sustained release of DENAQ
 Fresh Meadows , New York, USA      from Q fibers will be studied for its potential application in photopharmacology.
 Faculty
 Jin Kim Montclare
 Other Mentor(s)
 Kamia Punia
 NYU Tandon School of Engineering

14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      15
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM UNDERGRADUATE ABSTRACTS - THIRTEENTH ANNUAL 2 019
Micropatterned, Highly Conductive, Solution-                                                                                       Synthesis of Novel Two-Dimensional Graphene-like
                                    Processed MXene Foils                                                                                                              Nanomaterials for Catalysis and Energy Applications
                                     Two-dimensional Titanium Carbide (MXene) has gained increasing attention                                                          Recent studies have shown that commonly used industrial catalysts have the
                                    in research this past decade, demonstrating outstanding performance                                                                potential to be improved through colloidal synthetic methods and doping to
                                    in electrochemical energy storage and other applications. MXenes,                                                                  produce a low-cost, highly active hybrid material. Current industrial processing
                                    synthesized by hydrofluoric acid etching from precursor MAX phase, is                                                              methods are expensive and are imprecise at targeting harmful chemicals that
                                    generally processed using vacuum-assisted filtration or spin-casting into                                                          are produced in refining processes. Working in the nanoscale is promising since
                                    transparent conducting films, supercapacitor electrodes, and high-strength                                                         we are able to create a more active catalyst with more control over the end
                                    composites. In this work, MXene films are fabricated by drop-casting onto                                                          result, giving rise to the possibility of fine tuning catalysts to selective industrial
                                    polystyrene; this hydrophobic substrate causes MXene-MXene interactions                                                            processes. The key to unlocking the full potential of these hybrid materials
                                    to be stronger than MXene-substrate interactions, producing foil-like films                                                        lies in maximizing the available active surface area to influence important
                                    that can be removed from the substrate. Sheet resistance, thickness, and                                                           reactions to occur such as hydrodeoxygenation, hydrodenitrogenation, and
                                    thus conductivity, depend greatly on concentration of MXene dispersion. At                                                         hydrodesulfurization. With the potential to produce powerful catalysts at a fraction
                                    concentration of 3 mgmL-1, film thickness is 4.2 µm, and conductivity is 26,500                                                    of the cost, our group has targeted molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and has been
                                    Scm-1, surpassing standard measurement for MXene film conductivity.                                                                working on producing single nanosheets of MoS2 through colloidal synthesis
 VI DANG                                                                                                                                                               with Cobalt and Nickel as our tested dopants. Our approach has been to create
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular          Despite numerous studies on MXene free-standing films, not much attention is
                                                                                                                                                                       said nanosheets through colloidal synthesis and to characterize our samples via
 Engineering 2020                   directed at patterning films due to limited versatility of vacuum filtration methods.
 New Milford, Connecticut, USA                                                                                                                                         X-Ray Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy and Linear Sweep Voltammetry
                                    For this project, we design and prepare micro-structured polystyrene substrates
                                                                                                                                                                       in hopes of producing cost-effective, consistent, and alternative catalysts that
 Faculty                            with highest microscale resolution possible, resulting in films that exhibit mirror-
 André Taylor                                                                                                                                                          could optimize current processing methods in chemical manufacturing.
                                    images of substrate structures. Using this technique, we can envision introducing
 Other Mentor(s)                    a new approach in MXene micropatterned film synthesis that is scalable and allows
 Jason Lipton
                                    greater accessibility and throughput for preparing MXene-based materials in a
 NYU Tandon School of Engineering   diverse range of applications.

                                    Quantifying the Transition from Pristine to LiTFSI-
                                    doped Spiro-OMeTAD using Space-Charge-Limited
                                    Current Measurements
                                    Though perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have reached efficiencies comparable to
                                    silicon solar cells, these have only occurred with lab-scale devices. To further
                                    improve performance, researchers must understand the different layers in PSCs.
                                    Spiro-OMeTAD is an organic semiconductor used as a hole-transport layer due to
                                    its non-reactivity and relatively high conductivity when doped with a lithium salt,
                                    LiTFSI. While Spiro-OMeTAD has been thoroughly characterized in its pristine
                                    state, LiTFSI-doped Spiro-OMeTAD is not well understood. Spiro-OMeTAD has
                                    been characterized with space-charge-limited current measurements to determine
                                                                                                                            WILLIAM CLARKE                             CHRISTOPHER OYUELA
                                    its charge-carrier mobility and doping density—its data often fitted with over-
                                    simplified analytical models. When LiTFSI is added, both charge-carrier density         BS Chemical Engineering 2021               BS Mechanical Engineering 2021
                                                                                                                            Oakton High School                         Eastlake High School
                                    and the apparent mobility increase. This seems contradictory as the mobility            Vienna, Virgina, USA                       Chula Vista, California, USA
                                    of semiconductors usually decrease as doping increase, a possible artefact
 KATHERYN KORNEGAY                                                                                                          Faculty                                    Faculty
                                    from fitting with simple analytical models. Using a drift-diffusion model, we will      Ayaskanta Sahu                             Ayaskanta Sahu
 BS Physics 2020
                                    characterize the transition between different doped states in Spiro-OMeTAD and          Other Mentor(s)                            Other Mentor(s)
 Faculty                            investigate the effect on its mobility and charge-carrier density. Ultimately our       Steven Farrell                             Steven Farrell
 André Taylor                                                                                                               Mersal Khwaja
                                    goal is to compare results found from using the drift-diffusion model with other                                                   Mersal Khwaja
 Other Mentor(s)                    simple models to determine whether both mobility and charge-carrier density truly       Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State   San Diego State University
 Jaemin Kong                                                                                                                University
 Jason Rohr                         increase as the semiconductor is doped and how this relates to PSCs performance.

 Pomona College

16                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           17
CsPbCl3 nanoparticles as x-ray scintillators                                                                                 High-Performance Solution Processable Silver Selenide
                                    for early stage cancer detection                                                                                             Thin Films for Optoelectronic Applications
                                    Cesium Lead Chloride nanocrystals (CsPbCl3) with perovskite crystal structure                                                Thin-film optoelectronic devices fabricated from colloidal quantum dots (CQDs)
                                    have shown high conversion efficiency (80%) in converting ultraviolet photons                                                represent a promising avenue to sustainably achieve new levels of performance
                                    into visible photons. This property to convert high energy into low energy photons                                           and scalability. CQDs are studied for advantages such as size-tunable bandgap
                                    makes these nanocrystals a potential candidate for scintillators. A scintillator is                                          transition, the availability of low-temperature manufacturing methods and mid-
                                    a section of indirect flat panel photodetector that converts X-rays (20 KeV) into                                            IR absorption. The advantage of the mid-IR spectral response is that detectors
                                    low energy visible photons, which are then detected by a photodetector and are                                               do not require an illumination source for imaging and can see through airborne
                                    electrically read out in the Integrated Circuit. This indirect photodetector is very                                         obstructions. Previously, Hg chalcogenides were studied for mid-IR absorption.
                                    crucial in medical applications to image in real-time and improvement of this device                                         However, there exists a potential threat to the environment and public health
                                    increases the chance of early-stage cancer detection. The current state-of-the-art                                           through improper use and disposal of Hg-containing CQD devices. Recent
                                    scintillator (CsI:Tl) suffers from low quantum efficiency due to the spectral mismatch                                       research has adopted Ag2Se nanocrystals, an alternative to toxic Hg-based
                                    with the photodetector (amorphous-Selenium (a-Se)). That is, a-Se lacks effective                                            materials, as they share similar surface chemistry with Hg chalcogenides.
                                    absorption of photons emitted by CsI:Tl at 550 nm. Thus, our focus is on CsPbCl3
                                                                                                                                                                 In the project, Ag2Se NCs were colloidally synthesized using silver and selenium
                                    owing to its spectral match with the a-Se photodetector at 400 nm. We proceed
 ALULA HAILE                                                                                                                 ALEKHYA VUTUKURI                    precursors in trioctylphosphine and oleylamine. NCs were deposited as thin
                                    with a facile colloidal synthesis technique to synthesize CsPbCl3 nanocrystals and
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular                                                                                                  BS Chemical Engineering 2020        films on silicon substrates by spin coating. Colloidally synthesized Ag2Se
                                    treat the samples with CdCl2 to increase their stability. The crude CsPbCl3 and the
 Engineering 2021                                                                                                            Nine Education                      nanoparticles have long carbon chain ligands that are electrically insulating.
                                    stabilized-CsPbCl3 are further structurally, and optically characterized followed by     Hyderabad, India
 Faculty                                                                                                                                                         Exchanging these long-chain ligands with shorter, more polar ligands improves
                                    the measurement of quantum efficiency and spatial resolution of the overall device.
 Ayaskanta Sahu                                                                                                              Faculty                             charge transport through the film. Fourier Transmission Infrared Spectroscopy
                                                                                                                             Ayaskanta Sahu
 Other Mentor(s)                                                                                                                                                 and ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy were used for optical
 Haripriya Kannan                                                                                                            Other Mentor(s)                     characterization and X-ray diffraction for structural characterization.
 Ingrid Paredes                                                                                                              Michael Scimeca
 Michael Scimeca
                                                                                                                             National Institute of Technology,
 NYU Tandon School of Engineering                                                                                            Warangal, India

                                    Colloidal Synthesis and Characterization                                                                                     Synthesis of Tin Phosphide Quantum Dots
                                    of Metal Phosphide Nanoparticles                                                                                             Semiconductor nanoparticles, also known as quantum dots, have wide potential
                                    Nanoscale semiconductors exhibit a variety of size-dependent optical, electronic,                                            applications in many fields, such as medical imaging, quantum computing, and
                                    and structural properties that make them highly beneficial for use in optoelectronics,                                       energy storage. Their potential comes from their display of quantum confinement,
                                    charge storage, and other electronic applications. To date, a large number of                                                a phenomenon by which we can manipulate their optical and electronic
                                    multicomponent semiconductor nanocrystals with various stoichiometries (I-III-                                               properties by changing their size. This phenomenon is unique to nanoparticles
                                    VI, I-V-VI, etc.) have been synthesized through numerous methods. Unfortunately,                                             and impossible for bulk materials and simple atoms. While a number of synthetic
                                    existing systems rely on use of materials that are expensive to process, such as                                             techniques exist to generate nanoparticles, we use bottom-up colloidal synthesis
                                    GaN. Such issues have motivated the exploration of II-IV-V2 (II: Zn; IV: Sn, Ge; V:                                          in our lab. Colloidal synthesis provides better control and precision of the final
                                    P) semiconductor materials. In this work, we emphasize the development of zinc                                               product compare with other nanoparticles synthesis techniques, such as plasma
                                    tin phosphide (ZnSnP2), a p-type semiconductor consisting of environmentally                                                 synthesis. By changing parameters such as temperature, concentration and
                                    benign and earth-abundant elements that has shown promise as a solar cell                                                    the growth time, the synthesis stages can be optimized. SnP (tin phosphide) is
                                    material due to its high carrier concentration and ideal direct band gap. At the                                             one example of semiconductor nanoparticles. However, due to its challenging
                                    moment, synthesis of stable zinc tin phosphide remains elusive, as thermodynamics                                            synthesis, its applications and properties remain unknown. One potential
                                    preferentially favors formation of binary compounds such as zinc phosphide and                                               application of SnP scientists are looking for is anode materials for Na-ion batteries.
 SCOTT LEE                          tin phosphide. The goal of our research is twofold: develop an understanding of the      HANLU XIA                           The goal of this study is to find the optimizing condition to grow phase pure
 BS Chemical & Biomolecular         reaction kinetics and thermodynamics underlying binary and ternary phosphide             BS Chemical & Biomolecular          SnP and to explore the application of SnP as an anode of Na-ion battery.
 Engineering 2020                                                                                                            Engineering 2022
 Leonia High School                 syntheses, and employ tunability of the material’s optoelectronic properties
                                                                                                                             ED. W Clark High School
 Leonia, New Jersey, USA            via composition, size, and phase for practical use. We present x-ray diffraction,        Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
 Faculty                            transmission electron microscopy and preliminary optoelectronic characterization.        Faculty
 Ayaskanta Sahu                                                                                                              Ayaskanta Sahu
 Other Mentor(s)                                                                                                             Other Mentor(s)
 Ingrid Paredes                                                                                                              Haripriya Kannan
                                                                                                                             Ingrid Paredes
 NYU College of Arts & Science/
                                                                                                                             Michael Scimeca
 Tandon School of Engineering 3+2
                                                                                                                             NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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