With over 300 abstracts submitted in 2006, Meeting of the Minds is a spectacular celebration of undergraduate student research, featuring amazing projects from all across the university. The event is held annually in the spring and is coordinated by university's Undergraduate Research Office (URO.) Examples of past student projects include a model for predicting the condition of bridges, based on an inventory of Pennsylvania bridges; a low-cost victim-detection module for use on urban search-and-rescue robots; models of an anatomically correct robotic hand and a system for producing high-quality mine maps.

Special Competitions
The list below gives examples of special competitions held at Meeting of the Minds- with CASH prizes - that might be of particular interest to CIT students. Click here to get the complete list and see the competition criteria.

• Sigma Xi Poster Competition

• Annual Lockheed Martin ECE Undergraduate Project Awards

• CIT Honors Poster Competition

• Undergraduate Environmental Research Award

• Ford Motor Company Undergraduate Research Awards

• Bose Competition

The following Student Research Projects were funded by the Undergraduate Research Office for 2007 - 2008 academic year. They are listed alphabetically by department.

Biomedical Engineering
"Anatomic Modeling of Pediatric Patients"
Olusheun Ogunsunlade/Biomedical (SURF); Advisor: James Antaki

"In Vitro Biocompatability of resorbable Composite Implants..."
Ruchi Desai/Biomedical (SURF); Advisor Abiraman Srinivasan
Christine Ho/Biomedical (SURF); Advisor Abiraman Srinivasan
Special thanks to Advisor Abiraman Srinivasan for his financial support

Chemical Engineering

"Currency Reader for the Blind"
Jared Ross/MCS and Chem Eng (SURF); Advisor, Mark Friedman

"Examining the Effects of Carbon Nanotubes of Human Cells"
Katie Dolan/Chem Eng (SURG); Advisors Kris Dahl and Mohammed Islam

"Car Chassis Design"
Sudarsan Venktatachala, Youn Duk Nam, Chem. Eng (SURG); Advisor Jim Schneider

"Copper-Zinc Battery Design"
Melissa Bartel, Carlene Ulish, Chem. Eng (SURG); Advisor Jim Schneider

"Synthesis of Nanoparticles"
Melissa Bartel, Chem Eng (SURG); Advisor Nisha Shukla

"Fuel Cell Design"
Alia Lubers, Lisa Augustyniak, Chem Eng (SURG); Advisor Jim Schneider

"Examining the Effects of Carbon Nanotubes of Human Cells"
SiWei (Andy) Chang Chem Eng (SURF); Advisor Kris Dahl
Special thanks to Advisor Kris Dahl for SURF financial support

"Platinum Deposition on Gold Nanoparticles for Catalysis Applications"
Alia Lubers, Chem Eng (SURF); Advisor John Kitchin
Special thanks to Advisor John Kitchin for SURF financial support

"Synthesizing Metal Alloy Particles for Use as Fuel Cell Catalysts"
Carmeline Dsilva, Chem Eng (SURF); Advisor John Kitchin
Note: Support comes from Intel's First Year Research Experience (IFYRE)


Civil Engineering

"Microbial Interactions with Manufactured Carbon Nanoparticles"
Jennifer Lawrence, Civil Eng (SURF); Advisor, Kelvin Gregory

Electrical and Computer Engineering

"Design of a Controller to Synchronize Multiple High Powered Motors"
Hermant Sikaria, Winston Wan, ECE (SURG); Advisor, Susan Finger

"3D Body Position"
Yush Gupta, ECE (SURG); Advisor Tsuhan Chen

"Stereoscopic 3D LCD Display"
Yush Gupta, ECE (SURG); Advisor Tsuhan Chen

"Alternative Approach to Design and Fabrication of Larger Scale Water Strider Robots"
Akshay Jayaram, ECE (SURF); Advisor Metin Sitti

"Developing an Autonomous Antenna to Improve Wireless Signal Reception"
Gemma Easterling ECE (SURF); Advisor Pillai Padmani
Note: Support comes from Intel's First Year Research Experience (IFYRE)

"Investigating Power Management in a Robot Colony"
Suresh Nidhiry SCS, Aaron Johnson ECE, Kevin Woo ECE, James Kong ECE (SURG); Advisor George Kantor

"A Novel Input Device for Modeling 3D Computer Graphics"
Yen-Wen Liu CS, Peter Pong ECE, Ryan Wong IS (SURG); Advisor Anind Dey

Materials Science Engineering

"Analysis of Fracture Toughness of Metal Nitride Superlattices in Milling Applications"
Matthew Maurice, MSE (SURG); Advisor Paul Salvador

"Investigation of Printable Conductive Inks on Semiconductors"
Aswin Tejasukmana, MSE (SURF); Advisor Lisa Porter


Mechanical Engineering

"Design of a Controller to Synchronize Multiple High Powered Motors"
William Wedler, Mech Eng (SURG); Advisor, Susan Finger
Note: Partial Support from Ford Motor Company

"Performance Based Hull Design"
Andrew Moore, Michael Barako Mech Eng (SURG); Advisor Susan Finger

"Shape Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis for Use in Designing Optimal Solid Structures"
Andrew Choate, Mark Fuge, Mech Eng (SURG); Advisor Susan Finger

"Creating Integrated Polymerase Chain Reaction Devices Using Droplet-Based Microfluidic Technology"
Ramya Ramesh, Mech Eng (SURF); Advisor Shelley Anna

"Design of Nanocomposite Solid Barriers with High Thermal Resistance"
Takahiro Matsuura, Mech Eng (SURF); Advisor Alan McGaughey
Special thanks to Advisor Alan McGaughey for his financial support

"Molecular Dynamics Simulation"
Madhur Paharia Mech Eng (SURF); Advisor Alan McGaughey

"A Study of In Situ Self-replenishing, Self-repairing Solid Lubrication"
Jonathan Kyle Mech Eng (SURF); Advisor, C. Fred Higgs III
Note: Support comes from Intel's First Year Research Experience (IFYRE)