CEAS poster competition and 3MT winners light up the Union

A group shot of 10 people each holding an awards plaque. The three in front are on one knee.
Winners from the competition are (clockwise from top left), Duran, Hakim, Fahad, Momani, Benelmadjat (Three-Minute Thesis), Lulloff, Barabas, Senfleben, Kumar, and Hernandez. Not pictured: Ameen.

Hats off to the nearly 100 students who put their research and experiential learning discoveries on display at the college’s Student Research Poster Competition & Experiential Learning Expo on April 25.

Of the 96 poster entries, 65 were from graduate students, 20 were undergraduates, and 11 competed in the experiential category, including posters on internships, study abroad, student organizations or senior design experiences.

This year’s event was marked by an increase in the number of judges, compared to last year, including 40 judges from industry.

Another six finalists competed in the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT), an “elevator pitch” contest for doctoral research within the poster event, with five from mechanical engineering and one from materials science & engineering.

Thank you to sponsors of the event – Generac, the We Energies Foundation and the family of Michael Krauski.

A young woman shows her engineering research poster to a male judge.
Cat Pasterski, left, shows her poster on the college’s Prototyping Club to Dean Brett Peters. No pressure, Cat!
A younger man in a navy shirt (left) points out a fact on his engineering research poster to an professor/judge.
Professor Kishna Pillai, right, takes in research on immersive, virtual environments by undergrad Cole Tauscher.
A man with short dark hair, dark jacket and light blue shirt poses with an engineering research poster to one side.
This is Hamza Alnawafah’s second time presenting his work on a method to produce green hydrogen at the poster competition and he can attest the event’s impact. A judge who worked at Eaton Corp. saw his poster last year and it led to a recent job offer as he heads to graduation next month.
A young woman with sandy hair gestures as she explains her research poster to someone off-camera.
Haley Haasl discusses her undergraduate research, which concerns shape memory alloys.
A Black woman in a light blue suit, left, displays here engineering research posters to a judge, right. The poster is in the middle.
Nancy Melnik and Judge Yash Zode (’25 MS, computer science), flank Melnik’s poster
Two men standing side by side are looking at an engineering research poster.
Muhammad Fahad, left, discusses his work on traffic and pedestrian safety with an interested party.
A ballroom shot of the crowd, sitting at tables, assembles for an awards ceremony.
It was a packed house at the awards ceremony following the college’s Student Poster Competition & Experiential Learning Expo, a celebration of engineering and computer science research.

Below are the winners for 2026!

3MT honoring Michael Krauski:

Abdallah Benelmadjat, Mechanical Engineering. Advisor: Ryoichi Amano

Graduate Awards:

1st Place: Ahmad Momani, Computer Science. Advisor: Mahsa Dabagh

2nd Place: Md Azizul Hakim, Computer Science. Advisor: Jerald Thomas

3rd Place: Muhammad Fahad, Civil & Environmental Engineering. Advisor: Xiaowei Tom Shi

Undergraduate Awards:

1st Place: Michael Lulloff, Mechanical Engineering. Advisor: Ryoichi Amano

2nd Place: Michael Hernandez, Computer Science. Advisor: Tian Zhao

3rd Place, tie:

  • Mariah Senfleben, Materials Science & Engineering. Advisor: Ben Church
  • Mohith Kumar, Biomedical Engineering. Advisor: Pradeep Rohatgi

Experiential Learning

1st Place: Kamil Barabas, Civil & Environmental Engineering. Advisor: Konstantin Sobolev

2nd Place: Ryanna Duran, Civil & Environmental Engineering. Advisor: Wilkistar Otieno

3rd Place: Murtaza Ameen, Civil & Environmental Engineering. Advisor: Konstantin Sobolev