April 2026: Statler Circuit Department Digest and Awards

Research Week

Innovation was in the air as we wrapped up the 2026 WVU Research Week! From cutting-edge posters to inspiring presentations, the Statler College Poster Symposium spotlighted the incredible research happening across our Engineering Disciplines.  

2026 Poster Symposium Winners! 

GRADUATE WINNERS

Md Arman Ansari / Graduate - Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Sustainable Recover of Rare Earth Elements from and Acid Mine Drainage Using Biochar-Based Adsorption

Snehitha Reddy Baddam / Graduate - Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Breaking Thermal Barriers in Natural Gas Conversion via Pulsed-Microwave Catalysis for Non-Equilibrium Integrated Ethylene and Ammonia Production

Sarah Herbert / Graduate - Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Determining Essential Components of an iPSC-derived in vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Model for Ischemic Stroke Research

Paola Perez-Vega / Graduate - Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Effects of polyelectrolyte surface modification for the selective recovery of same-sized nutrient ions for fertilizer applications

Paroma Chatterjee / Graduate - Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Graph-based Intelligent Digital Twin for Spatiotemporal Prediction and Adaptive Resilient Control

Gavin Baker / Graduate - Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering
Deep Reinforcement Learning Control of Space-Based Lasers for Orbital Debris Remediation

UNDERGRADUATE WINNERS

Adalaide Hickey / Undergraduate - Industrial and Management Systems Engineering IMSE - Supply Chain Optimization and Profitability Analysis of Wastewater Solids to Fertilizer

Rapid Fire Thesis Competition:

This year the organizers of research week conducted a Rapid Fire Thesis Competition. The parameters of the competition were to present of each thesis within 5 minutes. The following sections to cover are required: introduction - what the problem is that is being solved, the methods used and the key results from the research ending with one sentence to describe what each presenter was must excited to share with audience. Below are the winners.

1st place 
Trevor Smith (MMAE ; Advisor - Yu Gu) / Topic : Robotic Pollination to Support Bees and Food Security

2nd place 
Alina Devkota (LCSSE ; Advisor - Prashnna Gyawali) / Topic : Heart disease detection using AI

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Fernando Lima, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and his Ph.D. students, Claudemi Nascimento, whose paper on hybrid modeling (AI/ML + first-principles) was selected as the cover of the AIChE Journal in April 2026. Dr. Lima was also selected as the CAST (Computing and Systems Technology Division) Programming Chair of AIChE, a role in which he will oversee all CAST division sessions from 2026 to 2029. 

Negar Farhang Doost, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student, received a Community Engaged Research Award from the WVU Center for Resilient Communities. 

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Zachary Taylor, a computer engineering student, was selected as a 2026 SMART Scholar. The SMART Scholarship is one of the nation’s premier STEM programs, offering up to five years of tuition support, practical experience through internships, dedicated mentorship, and guaranteed employment with the Department of Defense. 

Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering

Students in the Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) Department, finished 18th out of 98 universities in the Design Build Fly Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition (the top 20%) held in Wichita, Kansas, this past week! 

Students in the  EcoCAR Team have been selected to participate in the next Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition, the EcoCAR Innovation Challenge. More than 25 universities applied, and only 10 were chosen.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Ali Saajedian, a Ph.D. student in petroleum and natural gas engineering, earned 2nd place for his research project, “Next-Generation AI Tools for Enhancing Flow Assurance and Leak Detection in Pipeline Networks,” at the SPE-AADE Joint Pints and Posters event in Canonsburg, PA.