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Colloquium

Undergraduate Research and Creativity Colloquium

The annual Undergraduate Research and Creativity Colloquium offers students the opportunity to present their outstanding projects to the campus community. Sponsored by the Honors Program, the Colloquium is organized into concurrent panels that take place over four sessions. Each panel includes multiple student presenters.

Each year, students present their senior theses, academic essays, science experiments, business plans, art works, teaching internships, musical talents, engineering projects, and much more. This celebration of academic excellence is attended by classmates, family members, faculty, and administration.

Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.
Student presenting at the colloquium.

2026 Spring Colloquium Schedule

Wednesday, April 8, 12:45-6:15 p.m.
Reception 6:15-7 p.m.
1877 Club, University of Hartford

Please see below for a list of presentations taking place during the Undergraduate Colloquium.

Room A: Health
Moderator: Dr. Gengyun Le-Chan

  • MELINA HAYNES (A&S, '26) | ENI POTOLI (A&S, '28): Melanomacrophage Cells in the Atlantic Cod as Indicators of Environmental Quality
  • AIDEN QUEE (ENHP, '28) | NICOLE AMOAH (ENHP, '28) | ELIZABETH JOHNSON (ENHP, '28) | ALEXA FRENDO-JONES (ENHP, '28) | ISHITA YASMIN (ENHP, '28) | MARIA WALDRON (ENHP, '28): Exercise Attenuates Hyperglycemia and Enhances Survival in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice
  • BENJAMIN VROEGINDAY (ENHP, '26): Moderate-intensity exercise enhances overall fitness and muscle adaptations in a person with type 1 diabetes: A case report

Room A: Pushing Boundaries in Science, Technology & Engineering
Moderator: Dr. Ahmed Bensaoud

  • JAMES LADINO (CETA, ’26) | SPENCER BEANE (CETA, ’26) | NOAH PENDLETON (CETA, ’26): Accelerated Construction and Rehabilitation Using Prefabricated Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) and Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Laminates
  • MAHMOUD BENSAOUD (CETA, ‘28): Quantum Computing and Software-Based Cybersecurity: Preparing for the Post-Quantum Era
  • BRI DURSO (A&S, ‘26): Simulator Software for Accessible and Intuitive Rapid Prototyping of Transformation Optics Metamaterial Lensing

Room B: Literature in Culture and Art
Moderator: Dr. Rashmi Viswanathan

  • RALLY BRYAN (HAS, ’26): It’s Still Alive! - The adaptation of Frankenstein in American culture through art
  • SEQUOIA HORNSBY (A&S, ’26): How do Youth Interpret Fiction? Where we might be losing them

Room C: Issues in Health
Moderator: Dr. Kristamarie Pratt

  • RHIANNON LARA (A&S, ‘26): Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus in Musical Instruments and Musicians
  • KAYLA CIAMPI (ENHP, ’26): Lower Extremity Functional Tests: Do they relate?

Room A: New Materials in Engineering
Moderator: Dr. Song Wang

  • SEKANI SPENCE (CETA, ‘28) | DEBORAH TAIWO (CETA, ‘28): Concrete FRP Interfacial Bond
  • KYLE ECKERT (CETA, ‘27) | NICHOLAS KRUPA (CETA, ‘27): Automated Frequency-Swept Metamaterial Characterization Using a Vector Network Analyzer and Software Defined Radio

Room B: Gender, Sexuality, and the Brain in Science
Moderator: Dr. Andrew Koob

  • OLIVIA MOSHER (A&S, ‘26): Preventing Obscurity: Archiving and Teaching Women's Contributions to Psychology
  • ALYSSA GOUVAN (A&S, ‘26): Calcium release in iPSC-Derived APOE3 and APOE4 Astrocytes after Alpha- Synuclein Exposure
  • MADISON CHEN (ENHP, ‘26): Occupational Therapy and Sexology: A Meshing of Fields

Room A: Pushing the Boundaries of Physics & Engineering
Moderator: Brian Wells

  • ANDREW RITTENBERG (A&S, ‘27): 3D Printed Metamaterial Lens Design Using QCTO for X-Band Applications
  • PARKER LAFRAMBOISE (CETA, ‘27) | THOMAS YONKERS (A&S ‘27) | FRANK VILLANI (CETA, ‘27): Pathways for Producing Beam Steering Metasurfaces
  • GILAD SOLOMON (A&S, CETA, ‘26) | KIDEN SCRUTON (CETA, ‘26): Circle Inversions

Room B: Bodies & Health
Moderator: Dr. Linda Yamamoto

  • GRACE MOHR (ENHP, ‘26) | JAYDEN CASTRO (ENHP, ‘26): The Effects of Habitual Caffeine Consumption on Body Composition in College Students
  • SAMANTHA MENGWASSER (ENHP, ‘26): The Effects of Hydration Levels on the Human Liver
  • MARIAH NICHOLS (ENHP, ‘26): The Relationship Between Functional Movement Screen Scores and Injuries in Collegiate Track Athletes