Spring Research and Arts Conference celebrates student innovation

As students set up their presentations inside the Wolford Family Athletic Center on Wednesday, April 15, they were ready to showcase their work to the campus community.

The annual Spring Research and Arts Conference at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was an opportunity to spotlight students’ work from across UTC on a wide range of topics.

Dr. Lisa Piazza, executive director of the UTC Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE), said the event is an ideal place for students to see how research works and the possibilities it offers.

“Some of these students I meet—believe it or not—are in orientation, and a year later are already presenting as first-year students or second-year students,” Piazza said. “We have such a depth and breadth that you can see all of the different projects—it’s just amazing.

“We do this for the UTC community. It’s really a great way to network, meet other people and see what’s happening on campus in terms of research.”

The conference welcomed 715 presenters, including 355 unique presentations from colleges across campus. Baylor School, Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, Tyner Middle High Academy and other local elementary, middle and high schools prepared presentations for the conference.

“The students, faculty and staff presenting here are projects that they’ve been working on for sometimes one to two years,” Piazza said. “It means a lot to them after they put in all this hard work doing their research to share it with the community.”

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A few of the projects from this year’s Spring Research and Arts Conference included:

Gracie Crooks, “Stabilizing Inverse Problems with Regularization and Optimization”

Junior Gracie Crooks, an applied mathematics major minoring in physics, examined how linear equations can be optimized to give “real and useful” results.

“If you wanted to do it as a cookie recipe where you have some part flour, some part sugar, some part chocolate,” Crooks explained, “when you’re solving it, you can actually see what parts of your recipe matter. Sometimes you find out that when you reduce it all down, you can get rid of all the extra stuff.”

This was her second research project since starting as an undergraduate at UTC, and Crooks said she doesn’t take it for granted.

She was the recipient of a SEARCH Award, a program that supports students across all disciplines in pursuing original research under the supervision of UTC faculty.

Crooks thanked Department of Mathematics Assistant Professor Ayça Çetinkaya for her guidance on the project and for the opportunity to explore a new research topic.

“These opportunities really provide a foundation for going to graduate school, future studies or really just enabling students to focus on what they’re learning and get the most out of it,” Crooks said.

Dr. Deborah A. McAllister, Dr. Jennifer R. Lynberg, Anna Grace L. Sorrells, Taylor L. Behrman, “Assessing the Programming Self-efficacy of Teachers Through Professional Development Using the Ozobot Evo Robot”

For Anna Grace Sorrells, the Spring Research and Arts Conference has become an annual event.

A graduate student pursuing an education specialist degree in school psychology, this was Sorrell’s second time presenting. This year’s research examined how the Ozobot Evo robot helped teachers incorporate robotics in the classroom.

“We held professional development sessions with teachers over the summer,” Sorrell said. “We taught them how they could implement this in the classroom. It’s basically learning computer science and coding.

“Then we measured their levels of self-efficacy, so logical thinking, cooperation, using algorithms, controlling the robot, and then debugging it. We measured those before and after the sessions and we found significant levels of improvement in all areas.”

Sorrell’s previous project was similar, focusing on incorporating artificial intelligence into the classroom. She said she enjoyed examining education from a different perspective.

“I don’t get to see a lot of teacher training in my career,” she said. “This was another side of education that I got to be a part of and I really enjoyed hearing the teachers’ feedback.”

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Jamie Wilson, Dr. Reetesh Ranjan, Dr. Murat Barisik, “Chemical Reactor Network-based Modeling of Silicon Carbide Deposition During Chemical Vapor Infiltration”

For senior mechanical engineering student Jamie Wilson, his research focused on validation.

Drawing on previous research, Wilson examined how the process of producing silicon carbide could be accelerated.

“Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is basically this huge equation that a computer can use to break the flow of fluid in a pipe or something like that down into small pieces that a computer can solve,” Wilson said. “CFD takes hours to solve, even on our supercomputer here at UTC. Each one of these simulations takes just 10 seconds.”

He explained that much of his research used data collected over 30 years ago as a basis for comparison with the new methods.

Wilson said it was “really fun” being able to conduct research as an undergraduate.

Alex Morris, Dr. Burch Oglesby, Dr. Elizabeth Hathaway, Dr. Kara Hamilton, “The Effect of Chronic Aerobic Exercise on Working Memory: A Study on Young Adults”

Senior exercise science major Alex Morris examined how physical activity is essential for optimal health, including cognitive function. Her research question was “How does chronic aerobic exercise affect working memory in young adults?”

The Knoxville, Tennessee, native conducted her study focusing on UTC students.

“I found a slightly higher score in the active group,” Morris said. “It wasn’t enough to be significant. I had a lot of factors that went into that, including a smaller group size and self-report data. But doing a literature review, I found that overall, most people who get higher exercise have higher cognitive function.”

This was Morris’s first time presenting at a Spring Research and Arts conference. She said she appreciated the opportunity to do research as an undergraduate.

“It was really cool, but definitely difficult to get participants,” Morris said. “Once I got everybody, it was cool to do the data analysis. Everybody who agreed to be part of my study was really nice.”

Terry Ellis, Dr. Bernadette DePrez, Lara Sanders, “Reduction of Post-Procedural Length of Stay for Uncomplicated Radial Percutaneous Coronary Interventions”

As Assistant Professor of Practice in the College of Nursing, Terry Ellis’ project examining same-day discharge after percutaneous coronary interventions allowed him to learn about research underway on campus.

Ellis is currently pursuing both a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Master’s of Business Administration.

“I’ve never actually been to a research event here at UTC, but I think it’s cool to see the diversity and all the different research being done, not specific to just one field,” Ellis said. “As a faculty here, I’m very well versed with what’s going on in the College of Nursing, but to see that it’s also being done amongst the rest of the colleges is really cool.”

The goal of his research was to achieve same-day discharge for patients using the American College of Cardiology checklist. Ellis partnered with Erlanger Hospital for his study.

He described the research process as a “whirlwind,” but enjoyed learning something new about the UTC community.

Dr. Khalid Tantawi, Ayden Black, Zach Hovey, Patrick Kent, Ben Mangrum, Trey Mastin, Ann McAbee, Andrea Ramirez, Will Whitney, “Solar-Powered Hybrid Cooling System for Lithium-Ion Batteries”

Senior mechatronics engineering student Trey Mastin presented a solar-powered hybrid cooling system designed to improve temperature regulation for lithium-ion batteries.

The project was created as an alternative to traditional cooling systems that rely on energy-intensive air conditioning units.

“It’s basically a solar-charged hybrid cooling system for a lithium-ion battery,” said the Cleveland, Tennessee native. “We’re taking a high-cost system that usually uses an AC unit and turning it into a system using a Peltier element.”

Mastin explained that the design combines multiple cooling methods, such as a radiator fan and antifreeze-based circulation.

“We thought it was really interesting to make a more cost-effective way of cooling lithium-ion batteries,” Mastin said. “It’s a lot easier to make, even if it’s a little less efficient.”

Mastin will continue developing the project for an upcoming SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta after earning recognition at regionals.

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William Moore, Gracen Landry, Dr. Ashley N. Howell, “Emotional Dysregulation as a Moderator of the Association Between Childhood Maltreatment and Reactive Versus Proactive Aggression”

Graduate psychological science students Gracen Landry and William Moore presented research exploring how emotion regulation and childhood experiences relate to different forms of aggression.

They examined whether troubles in emotion regulation influence the relationship between childhood adversity and reactive or proactive aggression.

“Reactive aggression is in the moment,” said the Chattanooga native Landry. “Proactive aggression is goal-directed, where there’s a plan behind it.”

They said one of the most surprising findings was that emotion dysregulation was more strongly linked to proactive aggression than expected.

“We expected it to relate more to reactive aggression,” she said. “But the data showed otherwise.”

Moore said the results emphasized how complex emotional and behavioral systems are.

“Sometimes we find things we don’t expect,” Moore said. “That supports the importance of science.”

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Nadia Binte Asif, “Multi-view Spatial Temporal-Type Learning for Heterogeneous Municipal Service Systems”

Graduate student Nadia Binte Asif researched artificial intelligence to predict how long municipal service requests take to be completed.

The computer science students’ project analyzed data from 311 municipal service systems that handle non-emergency requests, aiming to improve transparency around service timelines.

“As soon as a resident submits a request, how long will it take?” asked Asif. “Our goal was to estimate that service time.”

The system includes machine learning techniques to model spatial and temporal relationships in service data. It also includes transformer-based architectures, encoders and large language model components.

Asif said the research could potentially support “smart city” development by helping cities decide resources more efficiently.

“If we know which region needs service next, we can efficiently dispatch resources,” she said.

Griffen Akkerman, Coulter Johnson, Tj Fields, Owen Smith, Elijah Hedrick, Dr. Ahad Nasab, “Pan-Tilt Mechanism for a Robot Camera”

Senior mechatronics technology student Griffen Akkerman from Milton, Tennessee, presented a pan-tilt robotic system designed to improve a camera’s range of motion on an existing robot.

The mechanism allowed the camera to move in multiple directions, improving its field of view and overall function.

“We’re supposed to be able to pan it left and right, up and down to give the camera more FOV (field of view),” Akkerman said.

Akkerman ultimately chose the project due to his background in robotics. The system used 3D-printed components integrated into a working model, with the design going through multiple iterations before becoming the final product.

“The best part is just designing it,” he said. “Whatever I make, I’ll also get to keep for my own robot.”

The next steps for the project will include integrating the motors into the system and testing the structure’s reliability while the robot is in motion.

Anna Sherrill, Dr. Azad Hossain, “Monitoring Chlorophyll-a Values in the Tennessee River Using Landsat Imagery and Google Earth Engine”

Graduate environmental science student Anna Sherrill presented research using NASA satellite imagery to monitor water quality in the Tennessee River.

The project estimated chlorophyll levels to improve early detection of environmental risks by using remote sensing data and modeling tools.

“We’re developing estimation models using NASA satellites to provide an early indication of harmful algal blooms,” said the Chattanooga native.

Sherrill said coordinating field sampling with satellite timing and weather conditions has been the biggest challenge.

“We have to take samples on the same day the satellite passes over,” she said. “That takes planning and communication.”

The research addresses a gap in regional environmental monitoring, Sherrill explained, as water quality in the Tennessee River is addressed only through limited modeling focused on basic measurements.

“There has been no remote sensing model development for water quality in this region,” Sherrill said. “We want to fill that gap.”

Lani Chastain, “Communicating Science Through Art”
Adjunct physics faculty member and graduate student Lani Chastain joined a panel and presented on techniques drawn from the arts to make complex scientific concepts more accessible.

“My presentation focuses on science communication techniques, particularly in astronomy, that are drawn from the arts in order to help researchers and educators effectively communicate complex science,” Chastain said.

She explained that her presentation idea developed from her experience with public outreach and her interest in interdisciplinary work between science and art.

“Over the years, I have come to find that incorporating art and artistic techniques into my astronomy outreach to the public has made concepts more approachable for those without technical training in the field,” she said.

Chastain said she hopes her presentation will encourage more collaboration between the science and art fields.

“I hope to convey that the work and techniques used in science and art are intertwined, and the two fields are much more alike than they are different,” Chastain said.

Learn more

2026 UTC Spring Research and Arts Conference

Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE)

SEARCH Award

Visit UTC

How to apply

Photo Gallery by Angela Foster