{"id":75837,"date":"2026-04-08T08:09:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=75837"},"modified":"2026-07-15T17:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:04:15","slug":"everything-i-learn-i-want-to-be-able-to-directly-apply-a-transfer-students-approach-to-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/everything-i-learn-i-want-to-be-able-to-directly-apply-a-transfer-students-approach-to-research\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEverything I learn, I want to be able to directly apply\u201d: A transfer student\u2019s approach to research\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Matthew

Matthew Thomae is a mechanical engineering major and a student in the Innovations in Honors program. Photo by Brittney Sparn.<\/p><\/div>\n

Matthew Thomae takes on a lot of responsibilities as a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A mechanical engineering major, Innovations in Honors student and ambassador for the UTC Honors College, Rocket Mocs team member and undergraduate researcher\u2014all impressive, but not unheard-of feats for someone who is a junior in college\u2014Thomae is balancing a full slate of academic and extracurricular commitments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomae, however, only arrived at UTC in the fall of 2025 as a transfer student from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for more academic opportunities in terms of research,\u201d said Thomae, who lives in Chattanooga with his family. \u201cI also wanted to be closer to a bigger city because Dayton is pretty small.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That search led him to UTC, where he quickly found what he had been looking for.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe engineering department is really big, <\/span>and<\/span> so I was excited about that,\u201d he said. \u201cComing to campus and touring, getting to meet all the faculty, they were <\/span>super<\/span> helpful and <\/span>super<\/span> informative.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed getting connected with them and then staying home as well. Financials were a big role.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomae\u2019s path to mechanical engineering wasn\u2019t always clear. He started college as a business major before realizing he was more interested in how things work than how they are managed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I realized was I really enjoyed learning and engineering is so vast and broad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt helps in almost every field, and every company has engineers and has things that they build. I wanted to understand the <\/span>technical how things are built, why things are built.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where his love for research comes in. Thomae is currently working on two Honors College research fellowships, both focused on <\/span>quantum-related technology.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For one project, he is working with Dr. Zihao Wang, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, exploring deep learning and artificial intelligence model creation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLast semester, we focused on a model that was taking images, and images get blurry for random reasons,\u201d Thomae explained. \u201cBut once you have a blurry image, if you don\u2019t have the initial image, it\u2019s really hard to get the details back.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are working to <\/span>develop<\/span> a model that would take the blurry image and <\/span>produce<\/span> a clear image using AI. While AI can \u201cmake it look pretty,\u201d according to Thomae, it\u2019s usually inaccurate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for more structural integrity and physics behind it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat way it can be used for <\/span>X-rays<\/span> and other medical imagery like CT scans because if the AI model makes up information that it doesn\u2019t have, then it\u2019s not accurate to the patient and it\u2019s not helpful for the clinicians.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To resolve this, they worked on a model that took the image and generated what it \u201cfeels\u201d like a perfect image is. Using blur estimation, the model works through a continuous refinement process.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it would compare how close the original blurry image was to the fabricated image, and then from there, it would complete that cycle and get closer and closer and closer to perfection,\u201d Thomae said.<\/span><\/p>\n

His second research project is with Associate Professor Murat <\/span>Barisik<\/span>, director of the Nanoengineering Center within the UTC Research Institute.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing really cool research in nanotechnology, which is a rapidly evolving and new field that we have the computational power to look at things on the nano scale,\u201d Thomae said. \u201cWe\u2019re working with artificial intelligence to better predict material properties on a macro scale using model structures and nanoporous materials on a really small scale.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Thomae encountered the UTC Rocket Mocs team at an event, it piqued another one of his research interests.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAerospace is something that\u2019s really interesting to me because it\u2019s kind of on the cutting edge of research and it\u2019s also <\/span>somewhere<\/span> that I think we\u2019re rapidly expanding in as a society,\u201d <\/span>he said<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He has already helped build mini rockets that the team will launch later this semester.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRocket Mocs was a way for me to see if this is a field that I really am interested in or would I rather do nanotechnology or something like that?\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Exploring his interests beyond the <\/span>Engineering and Computer Science<\/span> building is something Thomae described as an important part of his college experience. It\u2019s why he <\/span>applied<\/span> to join the Innovations in Honors program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also why he became an Honors College ambassador, so that he can share his experiences with others.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt allowed me to branch out and make connections with people,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a freshman, you\u2019rekind of automatically brought together with different events. As a transfer, not so much.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been cool to meet like-minded people who are also serious about learning and putting their all in <\/span>and putting effort into classes and assignments<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Matthew

Matthew Thomae builds birdhouses with classmates and students at the Carver Community Center as part of an Innovations in Honors project. Photo by Clara Paulson.<\/p><\/div>\n

Thomae is currently in Dr. Jordan King\u2019s Innovation Lab, where he is working with his classmates to improve two Chattanooga community centers. His group is helping to beautify and <\/span>make Carver Park\u2014which connects Carver Community Center and Community Haven<\/span>\u2014safer for the young children who walk through the area.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their efforts include installing a bulletin board, a crosswalk and birdhouses with distance markers,\u201call to try to draw people into the area and give them a reason to come and treat the park as a destination, not just a throughway,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Thomae, experiences like these\u2014along with research opportunities\u2014<\/span>are what connect<\/span> classwork to something tangible.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think learning without having an application for what you\u2019re learning isn\u2019t very beneficial,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything I learn, I want to be able to directly apply.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomae\u2019s deep curiosity has been part of who he is for a long time. H<\/span>e was homeschooled until middle school because, \u201cI asked lots and lots of questions,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He wanted to understand \u201cnot just that it works but why it works,\u201d and that research opens doors to future opportunities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne is higher education, like getting a master\u2019s or Ph.D. in something I\u2019m interested in,\u201d he said. \u201cBut also, can I take what I\u2019m learning in class and use it to further the academic field or design something? Make something? That\u2019s what is interesting and enjoyable to me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more<\/h4>\n

UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science<\/a><\/p>\n

UTC Honors College<\/a><\/p>\n

Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Thomae takes on a lot of responsibilities as a student at UTC as a mechanical engineering major, Innovations in Honors student and ambassador for the UTC Honors College, Rocket Mocs team member, undergraduate researcher and transfer student.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2000,"featured_media":75897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,70,59,122493,122313,12745,12740,48007,124930],"tags":[125878,126923,125701,123827,123826,127070,127098,117231,124832,126866,124776,123328,126783,123829,70328],"class_list":{"0":"post-75837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","9":"category-education","10":"category-experiential-learning","11":"category-honors-college-2","12":"category-mechanical-engineering","13":"category-research-academics","14":"category-students","15":"category-transfer-students","16":"tag-brittney-sparn","17":"tag-bryan-college","18":"tag-clara-paulson","19":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","20":"tag-cultivating-a-culture-of-innovation","21":"tag-goal-1-1-expand-utcs-educational-footprint-strategic-plan-2030","22":"tag-goal-1-3-placement-strategic-plan-2030","23":"tag-innovations-in-honors","24":"tag-jordan-king","25":"tag-matthew-thomae","26":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","27":"tag-murat-barisik","28":"tag-nanoengineering-center","29":"tag-operating-with-excellence","30":"tag-rocket-mocs","31":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n\u201cEverything 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