Biochemistry major Zayda Dominick presented research on antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli during the 2025 Spring Research and Arts Conference. Photo by Angela Foster.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Spring Research and Arts Conference returns to campus on Wednesday, April 15, bringing together hundreds of student researchers, faculty mentors and community partners to present their work and share ideas across disciplines.
This year’s conference, which will take place at McKenzie Arena and the Wolford Family Athletic Center, will feature 352 unique presentations and 710 presenters, highlighting projects from across the University as well as research contributions from visiting high school students.
Presented by UTC’s Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE), the annual conference serves as the University’s largest showcase of student and faculty research and creative work.
URaCE Executive Director Lisa Piazza said the conference offers an opportunity for the entire campus community to gather in one place to share the work occurring in laboratories, classrooms and field sites throughout the year.
“This is really our one moment each year when the entire research community at UTC comes together in the same space,” Piazza said. “Students from every college are presenting work they’ve been developing with faculty mentors, and it gives people a chance to see the incredible range of ideas and creativity happening across campus.”
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For more information, visit the UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference webpage.
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In addition to the presenters, more than 500 students are expected to attend through organized class visits, giving them a chance to experience the conference environment even if they are not yet conducting research themselves.
Piazza said those visits often serve as an entry point for students who may not yet see themselves as researchers.
“For many students, this might be the first time they see someone their own age presenting original work,” she said. “That moment can be powerful. They start to realize that research is something they can do, too.”
This year’s Spring Research and Arts Conference will feature 352 unique presentations and 710 presenters, highlighting projects from across the University as well as research contributions from visiting high school students.
The conference extends beyond UTC’s campus. This year’s event includes high school presenters representing seven area schools, including Baylor School, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, Brainerd High School, Tyner Middle High Academy, Girls Preparatory School, East Hamilton High School and Signal Mountain Middle High School.
According to Piazza, inviting younger students to participate helps create early pathways into research and encourages them to begin thinking about college-level inquiry.
“It’s exciting to see high school students presenting alongside UTC undergraduates and graduate students,” she said. “They get a chance to see what research looks like at the next level, and our students get to share their experience and mentor them in that environment.”
Throughout the day, poster and oral presentations will span a wide range of topics—from engineering and data science to health sciences, business, education and the arts.
Several special sessions will also highlight emerging areas of study, including panels on applied mathematics, artificial intelligence in teaching and learning, and the intersection of science and art.
Another session will introduce campus resources related to geographic information systems, led by Charlie Mix and Nyssa Hunt in the UTC Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science, giving participants an overview of tools available to support geospatial research and mapping projects.
The conference will also feature the Mocs Innovate! Innovators Showcase, where faculty and researchers will present early-stage innovations ranging from artificial intelligence tools to urban data systems and emerging technologies.
The Mocs Innovate! presenters and their innovations:
- Megan Cales, coordinator of career engagement in the Decosimo Success Center, Gary W. Rollins College of Business: Upgrading the Brooks Band wearable to include a clip-on microphone to enhance voice capture
- Dr. Mehdi Khaleghian, postdoctoral research fellow, Center for Urban Informatics and Progress: Multispectral drone system to enhance urban infrastructure and agricultural intelligence
- Dr. Shahnewaz Karim Sakib, assistant professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science: AI system for course design and management for accreditation
- Dr. Maged Shoman, research assistant professor, UT–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute, Center for Urban Informatics and Progress: Systems platform for predicting grocery demand and short-range autonomous robots for delivery from microhubs
- Dr. Weidong Wu, professor of civil engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science: Crash-free web interface for statistical analysis and report generation
UTC’s annual Spring and Research Conference serves as the University’s largest showcase of student and faculty research.
Piazza said the showcase helps demonstrate how research ideas can evolve beyond initial discovery.
“One of the things we want people to see is how a research idea grows,” she said. “Sometimes it starts with a student poster or a small faculty project and eventually becomes something with broader impact. The conference lets people see those ideas in their early stages.”
Pulling off an event of this scale requires coordination from across campus. Piazza said this year’s conference will include 130 volunteers—75 students and 55 faculty and staff members—along with 10 faculty moderators leading oral presentation sessions.
The conference’s impact, though, ultimately comes back to the students standing beside their posters or presenting their findings.
“When students present their work, they’re telling the story of what they’ve discovered and what they’ve learned along the way,” Piazza said. “Those experiences build confidence and help them see themselves as contributors to knowledge, not just consumers of it.
“Whether they go on to graduate school, medical school or directly into the workforce, they leave with the ability to ask questions, analyze information and communicate ideas. Those are skills that stay with them long after the conference ends.”
Learn more
UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference webpage
MOCS Innovate! mini-grants help researchers take the next step
