Student Researchers Awarded, Inducted at IFoRE

November 15, 2023

Student winners were inducted into Sigma Xi after winning Top Presenter awards at IFoRE '23.

Sigma Xi inducted 52 students as new members of the Society during a banquet ceremony on Saturday, November 11, 2023. The students were award recipients for oral and poster presentations at the second annual International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE) in Long Beach, California. Cash prizes were given along with commemorative medals and membership to the Society, including one year of paid dues. Over 250 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students attended the conference and research was presented in oral and poster format. A judging committee of Sigma Xi members evaluated the presenters on their scientific thought, methods, and communication skills.

In addition to the judges’ awards, the DC chapter of Sigma Xi sponsored two Student Choice Awards, voted on by fellow participants. Congratulations to all winners and presenters!

Oral Presentation Winners

High School
Anagha Iyer—American Heritage School

Undergraduate
Vereena Salib—Oakland University

Graduate
Luke Sundquist—Georgia Southern University 

Interdisciplinary Research

President-elect Awards
Suwaida Tawheed—Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
Kevin Liu—High Technology High School
Caroline Broude—Williams College
Brendon Murphy—Virgina Commonwealth University
Dewan Haque—Louisiana State University

Poster Presentation Winners

High School

• Agriculture, Soil, & Natural Resources:
  Nikhil Vemuri— North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

• Cell Biology & Biochemistry:

• Maya Behura— American Heritage Palm Beach 

• Chemistry:
  Aishwarya Deshpande— American Heritage School Palm Beach

• Engineering:
  Ricardo Victorio— The Academy of Science and Technology

• Environmental Science (tie):
  Jack Cole—Pine Crest School
  Dannie Restrepo—Pine Crest School

• Geosciences:
  Blair Joselson—Pine Crest School

• Human Behavioral and Social Sciences (tie):
  Emma Colarte Delgado—American Heritage School Broward 
  Joshua Martoma—Pine Crest School

• Math & Computer Science:
  Annika Sachdeva—Pine Crest School

• Microbiology & Molecular Biology:
  Jason Zhang—Del Norte High School

• Physics & Astronomy:
  Minghao Zou and Christopher Chen—Valley Christian High School

• Physiology & Immunology:
  Aden Jamal—Pine Crest School
  

Undergraduate

• Cell Biology & Biochemistry:
  Praise Oo—University of California, Irvine

• Chemistry:
  Hovnan Simonyan—California State University, Northridge

• Ecology & Evolutionary Biology:
  Tyler Swiatkowski—University of Minnesota

• Engineering (tie):
  Glenda Rodrigues & Santos Giordani—SUNY New Paltz - State University of New York
  Molly Vue—Oakland University

• Environmental Science:
  Isabel Suarez—University of California, Irvine

• Human Behavioral and Social Sciences:
  Doris Serrano— Swarthmore College

• Math & Computer Science:
  Way Zheng—University of Southern California

• Microbiology & Molecular Biology:
  Caroline Curtin—Saint Joseph's University

• Physics & Astronomy:
  Katherine Kudla—Providence College

• Physiology & Immunology:
  Shamsa Roshan & Briana Toyloy— College of Mount Saint Vincent

Graduate

• Agriculture, Soil, & Natural Resources:
  Jaden King—Auburn University

• Cell Biology & Biochemistry:
  Saul Ruiz—Oakland University

• Chemistry:
  Olanrewaju Olafuyi—Jackson State University

• Ecology & Evolutionary Biology:
  Danielle Dorsen—Oakland University

• Engineering:
  Srihari Balaji—Columbia University

• Environmental Science:
  Maygan Palacios— Georgia Southern University

• Geosciences:
  Ismaila Ibrahim—Ball State University

• Math & Computer Science:
  Lisasha Poudel—Institute of Medicine

• Microbiology & Molecular Biology:
  Morgan Markel—Oakland University

Interdisciplinary Research Categories:

• Advances in Computation (Cyber Security, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence):
  Manasvi Pinnaka—Basis Independent Silicon Valley

• Biology and Biotechnology (Understanding the Brain, Origins of Life (Assembling Tree of Life), Understanding Biological Systems):
  Saul Ruiz—Oakland University

• Design, Construction, and Manufacturing (Improving Urban Infrastructure, Innovations in Manufacturing, Advanced Materials):
  Srihari Balaji—Columbia University

• Engineering (Making Solar Energy Affordable, Engineering Tools for Scientific Discoveries such as Lasers, Cameras, or Software):
  Glenda Rodrigues &  Santos Giordani—SUNY New Paltz - State University of New York

• Environmental Challenges (Providing Access to Clean Water, Mitigating Climate Change, Food Security, Managing the Nitrogen Cycle, Sustaining Clean Air, Preserving Biodiversity):
  Jacob Federici— American Heritage School Broward

• Human Health (Advancing Drug Design and Limiting Drug Resistance, Advancing Health Informatics, Advancing Vaccines, Preventing Pandemics, Cancer Detection and Therapy)
  Maya Behura—American Heritage Palm Beach

• Human Sciences and Policy:
  Doris Serrano—Swarthmore College

• Tools for Science, Education, and Personalized Learning
  Philip Chung—California State University, Northridge

• Understanding the Universe (Astronomy and Space Sciences):
  Katherine Kudla—Providence College