While their peers are hitting the beaches at Belmar and Seaside this summer, eleven NJIT undergraduate students are conducting research in such cutting edge areas as medical devices, space weather, and privacy in cloud computing. They are the first recipients of the Provost’s Summer Undergraduate Research Awards, a program designed by Ian Gatley, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, to give undergraduate student a comprehensive experience of research in the academic setting.

“We have lots of programs that allow undergraduate students to work on faculty research projects,” Gatley said. “In this program, students get to work on their own research ideas.”

He explained that students who compete for the Provost’s Summer Undergraduate Research Awards must design their own project and write a proposal explaining why the research is important, who will benefit from the findings, and what can be accomplished in the course of a 10-week summer program. He or she must find a faculty sponsor, solicit faculty letters of support and recommendation, compete with other students for funding, and finally, conduct the research as planned and present findings to an academic audience at a symposium on July 28. Awardees receive a $2800 stipend, but are not permitted to have any other job, on or off campus, or to take any courses, for the duration of the program.

“The students essentially become full-time researchers for 10 weeks,” Gatley said. “The research is their primary focus, with a minimum of other distractions.”

John Carpinelli, professor of electrical and computer engineering, chaired the selection committee. He said the faculty reviewers were very impressed with the quality of the proposals they received. “We originally only planned to give five awards, but the applications were so good that the Provost raised funds to support six more,” he said. In addition to the Office of the Provost, program sponsors included the New Jersey Space Grant Consortium, Sky Meditation Center (through the Department of Physics), and Newark College of Engineering. In addition, five of the students are supported by funds raised through the Albert Dorman Honors College. “Next year, we hope to get the proposals in earlier so that we can use them to solicit additional funds to include more students in the program,” he said.

The 2011 awardees and their projects are:

Nicole Antonicello, biomedical engineering major and Albert Dorman Honors scholar, is studying how changes in myelin – the material that forms a protective sheath around nerve cells – affect traumatic axonal injuries. Assistant Professor Bryan Pfister is her advisor.

Nihal Dayal, majoring in both physics and mathematics, is investigating structural changes induced by thermal fluctuations in novel solid state materials, with Assistant Professor Keun Ahn advising.

Electrical engineering major Pardyumna Dingari is working to improve a device invented by Gordon Thomas, professor of physics that diagnoses glaucoma by measuring eye pressure. Dingari is looking at the statistical accuracy of the device and testing ways to improve it, especially reducing noise in the circuit.

Gabriel Geraldo, Honors scholar and biomedical engineering major, is measuring shrinkage rates in stretch-grown axons, with Associate Professor Bryan Pfister advising.

Chemical engineering major and Honors scholar Elaine Gomez is developing a system for using ammonia scrubbing to remove CO² from combustion or process exhaust gas. Robert Barat, professor of chemical engineering, is her advisor.

Kevin Ly, biology major and Honors scholar, is studying a non-invasive portable glucose monitor using near-infrared spectroscopy. Distinguished Professor Atam Dhawan, electrical and computer engineering, and John Federici, professor of physics, are his advisors.

Biology major and Honors scholar Sameen Mian is studying species diversity in bee populations in the United States, particularly in areas that are maintained by power companies  for access to power lines, with Research Associate Kimberly Russell advising.

Sean Naughton, Honors scholar and mathematics major, is using modeling, computation, and experiment to study instabilities and defects in liquid crystals. Professors Lou Kondic and Linda Cummings are his advisors.

Physics major and Honors scholar Jeremy Raymar is studying space weather over the long term by converting and analyzing solar images taken on film to digital format. Once converted, the images can be analyzed using modeling and algorithms can be developed to predict the formation of sun spots. His advisor is Distinguished Professor Haimin Wang.

Julian Raymar, honors scholar and computer science major, is studying data security and privacy in cloud computing, with Assistant Professor Reza Curtmola advising.

Andrew Salerno, mechanical engineering major, is conducting experiments investigating the physics of spontaneous dispersion of particles that occurs when they come in contact with a fluid-force interface, a process important to a range of problems including pollen transport, the spreading of viruses and microbes on a water surface, and in many processed in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Professors Ian Fischer and Pushpendra Singh are his mentors.