Olajide Adetunji, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, defended his dissertation titled “Analytical Methods for Monitoring Traumatic Brain Injury Biomarkers and Pharmaceutical Residual Solvents” in April 2024. His dissertation advisor was Dr. Paul Nam.
Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, CASE dean and professor of history and political science, took part in a panel discussion hosted at Villanova University by the Policy Studies Organization and the Digest of Middle East Studies. He also participated in an event convened by Syracuse University’s Middle Eastern Studies Program titled “The Israel-Iran Conflict: The Domestic and International Context.” He was interviewed on the Israel-Iran conflict by the German TV Deutsche Welle on April 17, and also published an article in Persian on the most frequently elected members of parliament in Iran since 1980.
Dr. Eric Bryan, professor of English and technical communication, was selected as Missouri S&T’s 2024 Research Fellow to Harris Manchester College’s Summer Research Institute in Oxford, England. While there in June, he will examine Old Norse manuscripts of the Boreal collection housed at the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford.
On April 2, Dr. Marco Cavaglia, professor of physics, presented a children's program about the science of the eclipse at the Rolla Public Library. His event drew a crowd of 30 audience members, and after the eclipse presentation, the children asked many questions about black holes.
Jessica Frame, a senior in psychological science, received an Honorable Mention from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high-achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers. Frame will continue her education next year in the Ph.D. program in neuroscience at the University of Iowa. Her mentor at S&T was Dr. Amy Belfi.
Dr. Rainer Glaser, professor of chemistry, Harmeet Bhoday, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, and Nathan Knotts published an article titled “Perfect Polar Alignment of Parallel Beloamphiphile Layers: Improved Structural Design Bias Realized in Ferroelectric Crystals of the Novel “Methoxyphenyl Series of Acetophenone Azines” in Chemistry - A European Journal 2024.
Dr. Sarah Hercula, associate professor of English and technical communication, gave a presentation titled "Accent prejudice toward smart home assistants" at the American Association of Applied Linguistics annual conference in Houston in March 2024, sharing the results of research conducted with professors Dr. Daniel Shank, Dr. Jessica Cundiff, and Dr. David Wright.
Dr. Halyna Hodovanets, assistant professor of physics, was selected as one of the 2024 Outstanding Referees by the American Physical Society.
Christopher Hogan, a Ph.D. candidate in mathematics, defended his dissertation titled “Dynamics and Inverse Problems for NonLinear Schrodinger Equations” in April. His dissertation advisor was Dr. Jason Murphy.
Dr. Beth Kania-Gosche, chair and professor of education, received a $40,279 grant from the State of Missouri: DESE for a project titled “Missouri S&T Child Development Center Expansion.” With this addition, the award totals $110,279.
Dr. Alanna Krolikowski, assistant professor of history and political science, published an article with Martin Elvis titled “Potential and perils: paths to protecting lunar sites of extraordinary scientific importance (SESIs) for astronomy before it is too late” in Philosophical Transactions A (March 2024) a journal of the British Royal Society. The paper was covered in this article in The Guardian and on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s radio program “As It Happens.” She also did an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that should air sometime soon.
Jackie Marling, career pathways regional consultant for the South Central Regional Professional Development Center, received a $14,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MO DESE) for a project titled “ASM Materials Camp – Teachers.”
Dr. Dan Reardon, vice provost of undergraduate education and professor of English and technical communication, performed the role of Maurice in Fine Linen Theatre's production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, March 22-30 at Leach Theatre on the Missouri S&T campus. Performances of the musical sold out nearly every night. This summer, Reardon will join the production team of Ozark Actors Theatre's 2024 season as backstage crew for The Sound of Music and in the cast of Clue.
Dr. V. A. Samaranayake, Chancellor’s Professor of mathematics and statistics, published an article titled “Bad stats: A regular series exploring slip-ups, snafus and salutary lessons from the world of statistics: The Wakefield Study and the autism debate” in Significance, May 2024.
Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, professor of history and political science, attended the American Research Center in Egypt's Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, April 18-21. In an object-based learning session, she presented her work on "Mapping the Heavens with Medieval Astrolabes." As the vice president of the chapter council, she also organized the plenary session for the graduate student fundraiser, as well as the 75th anniversary of ARCE, which involved a small exhibit of Joseph Linden Smith's original artwork.
Harish Singh, Ph.D. candidate in chemistry, defended his dissertation titled “Development of Catalytic Membranes and Composites for Energy Storage Devices and Nonenzymatic Biosensors” on April 4. His advisor was Dr. Manashi Nath.
Dr. Lia Sotiriou-Leventis, chair and professor of chemistry, and her group, recently published an article titled “CO2 Uptake by Microporous Carbon Aerogels Derived from Polybenzoxazine and Analogous All-Nitrogen Polybenzodiazine Aerogels,” in Chem. Mater, 2024.
Dr. Aaron Zalis, director of the South Central Regional Professional Development Center, received a $46,197 grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for a project titled “STEM Career Awareness Education.”
