Four PRISMS students' research posters have won awards from ISEC 202

Four PRISMS students received awards from the 10th IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC 2020) that was held virtually on August 1, 2020. Neelofar Tamboli's research on the Effect of Roundup on Planarian Locomotion received the 1st place in "Best Technology Innovation". Qiyang (Young) Zhou and Tianyue (Daniel) Cao were the 1st place in "Best Technology Innovation" and "Best Mathematical Research", respectively. Qiyang's research is on the Catalytic Ability of Ag-coated Ferromagnetic Microspheres Functionalized by TiO2. Tianyue studied the sample efficiency improvements for reinforcement learning algorithms. Jiale (Lucas) Lu won 2nd Place in "Best Science Research" for his project entitled Quality Control of Brand Name Aspirin Drug and Generic Aspirin Drug.

ISEC is known for featuring cutting-edge research and experiences with integrated approaches to the study of science, math, and technology through experiences and activities based in engineering and other design disciplines.

After the local exam in March, Qiyang (junior) and William (sophomore) were qualified for the USNCO national exam, representing PRISMS. Among the 800 participants who qualified for the first round, both William and Qiyang ranked above the 150th place and were invited to participate in the second round. After combining the scores from the first round and the second round, Qiyang was one of the top 20 students in the country and was invited to participate in the 2020 Chemistry Olympiad Virtual Study Camp in June.

PRISMS features a two-year research program in which each student is required to complete a research project of their own interest under the mentorship of PRISMS faculty.

Congratulations to Neelofar, Young, Daniel and Lucas.