Overhead of busy Student Research Poster Competition in progress

April 22, 2023

The annual Student Research Poster Competition is a signature event for the College of Engineering & Applied Science. Undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students showcase incremental and game-changing discoveries they’ve made through months and sometimes years of work in our labs with our faculty. They share their work with judges from industry, who provide invaluable feedback.

Award Categories

Student Research Poster (Graduate)

  • First Place
  • Second Place
  • Third Place

Student Research Poster (Undergraduate)

  • First Place
  • Second Place
  • Third Place

PLUS: $1,000 Michael Krauski Memorial Award; Learn More 

Student Bonus

All participating students who register and attend the competition will receive a premium branded North Face Castle Rock Soft Shell Jacket. Samples are available at the Student Services office.

Schedule

  • In-person event: Saturday, April 22, 2023 at UWM Union Ballroom
  • Posters and brief PowerPoint presentations are due Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at midnight.


UWM is one of only two R1-ranked research universities in Wisconsin, providing graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to work with top faculty on real-world research.

The Student Research Poster Competition was created to provide you with an opportunity to present your research to a professional audience of engineers and computer scientists, as researchers do at conferences.

All students who register and participate in the poster competition receive a premium College of Engineering & Applied Science Researcher shell jacket by North Face.

Students also had the opportunity to participate in the $1,000 Michael Krauski Memorial Award.

To participate:

  • Participant must be a student of our college or must have a research advisor from our college.
  • Research included in the poster must be extracurricular and not related to a required course.
  • Each poster must be submitted and defended by one student.
  • The following items must be submitted by the registration deadline:
Poster

Standard research poster dimensions are 44” wide x 36” high. We recommend your poster include two or three key findings with complex statistical results translated into simplified charts, tables and bulleted text to convey your findings as part of a focused and understandable story.

One student entry per poster. If a group worked on a research project, each of the students can enter their own separate poster that addresses a unique attribute of the research.

Template and Tips: Please use this template: 44x36GoldBgdBoxes. More tips for poster creation can be found here. You will need to upload a PDF file to register for the competition. PowerPoint has a native PPTX-to-PDF converter – just select “Save As,” then choose “PDF” as output format.

Conference Poster Workshops: If you are new to poster design, or would like some tips and recommendations, you will be happy to know that the Office of Undergraduate Research holds complimentary conference poster workshops for any interested UWM student. See their calendar for available dates.

File Naming Convention: Please do not use spaces, dashes, underscores, etc. in the names of the files. To make file names more legible, please capitalize only the first letter of each word in the file name. For example, if you have a file named my_poster-competition.pdf, you can rename the file in something like MyPosterCompetition.pdf. Pease keep the length of the file name to a minimum.

No Duplicate Work Accepted. If a poster was submitted for this competition in the past, it can’t be submitted a second time unless there is substantial advancement to the research and findings.

Intellectual Property: Please consult with your advisor to make sure the material you are presenting is not protected Intellectual Property (IP) that cannot be published at this competition. Most of the content for this event is not considered IP.

PowerPoint presentation

All students must submit a PowerPoint presentation. Students who progress to Round 2 (six graduate and six undergraduate) will present a 5-7 minute PowerPoint presentation about the objectives and findings of their research project, that was summarized on the poster.

Keep in mind that a 5-7 minute presentation is normally comprised of 3-5 slides. If you submit more slides than you have time for, you will not be able to complete your presentation which will affect your score.

Here is a link to a College of Engineering PowerPoint template for your use (optional). Download a copy and save your presentation with the title of your poster.

The UWM Office of Undergraduate Research holds oral presentation workshops. See their calendar for available dates.

    See Scoring Criteria (scroll to bottom of page)

    Judges from Industry Needed.

    UWM is proud to be an R1 Research institution, ranked in the top 3% of universities worldwide. The College of Engineering & Applied Science is unique in that both undergraduates and graduate students are encouraged to participate in research as part of their college experience.

    Do you enjoy learning about student research findings? Can you provide thoughtful and professional feedback to help students grow? If so, consider being a volunteer judge. A few hours of your time will have a big impact on our students. No previous judging experience is needed. You might even meet your next employee or inventor.

    Details:

    • The in-person event will include Round 1, Round 2, a complimentary lunch, and the Awards Ceremony.
    • In Round 1 you’ll review the work of three undergraduate or graduate students in one-on-one fashion.
    • In Round 2 you’ll review the work of the six undergraduate or graduate finalists as they present a PowerPoint deck to the entire audience.


    Questions?
     Contact Michelle Boehm at boehmmm@uwm.edu


    SCORING CRITERIA:

    Research (up to 50 points)
    • Research is original and innovative
    • Research has practical implications/research is relevant to current industry needs
    • Research methodology is sound (e.g., research process, data quantity is sufficient)
    • The result/conclusion of the research is clear and easy to understand
    Communication (up to 30 points)
    • Student clearly explains project, including initial problem or question, the process, and the result/conclusion
    • Student is able to explain the research in a way that is easily understood by those outside the subject area or without the specific technical expertise
    • Student speaks at an appropriate volume and pace
    • Student demonstrates enthusiasm for the topic

    Appearance & Presentation (up to 20 points)
    • Research is displayed in a logical way
    • Data is displayed in such a way that lends itself to clear interpretation
    • Pictures, digital images and graphs are of a high quality

    2023 Agenda:

    Saturday, April 22 at the UWM Union Ballroom, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee, WI 53211

    7:30-9:00 a.m.Continental Breakfast, East Ballroom

    7:30-8:15 a.m.Student Check-in

    8:00-8:45 a.m.    Judge Check-in

    9:00 a.m.        Welcome and Judge Orientation, East Ballroom

    9:45 a.m.        Round One Judging (All Students)
    Graduate: West Ballroom
    Undergraduate: Fireside Lounge

    10:45 a.m.      Networking – Students, Judges, Faculty, East Ballroom

    Students advancing to Round Two will be listed at the student registration table.

    11:15 a.m.      Round Two Judging (Students Who Advance)
    Undergraduate: Fireside Lounge
    Graduate: West Ballroom

    12:15 p.m.     Lunch, East Ballroom
    Andrew Graettinger, Associate Dean for Research

    1:00 p.m.        Awards Program, West Ballroom

    Congratulations to the winners (and their faculty advisors) of the 2023 Student Research Poster Competition. There were 65 poster participants and 69 judges from our college and across industry.

    The work of every student who entered in the 2023 competition is worthy of acknowledgment. Their research addresses many of society’s pressing challenges and illustrates the curiosity, passion and abilities of students who attend one of the nation’s top research universities. Congratulations to every student who entered this year’s competition and to all of the faculty advisors who supported and inspired these students in their research efforts.

    Finally, thank you to the judges and the many sponsors who helped make this event possible

    Click here to view a full list of student poster entries by department.

    2023

    Graduate
    First Place: Abul Borkot Md Rafiqul Hasan, ME (Research Advisor: Krishna Pillai)
    Second Place: Rawan Aqel, CEE (Research Advisor: Rani Elhajjar)
    Third Place: Mohsen Sabbaghi, EE (Research Advisor: George Hanson)

    Undergraduate
    First Place: Sonia Bendre, EE (Research Advisor: Rob Cuzner)
    Second Place: Weiling Xia, MS (Research Advisor: Xiaoli Ma)
    Third Place: Ian Smith, ME (Faculty advisor: William Musinski)

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award
    Walaa Saadeh, ME (Research Advisor: Ryoichi Amano)

    2022

    Graduate
    First Place: Dantong Qiu (Faculty advisor: Deyang Qu)
    Second Place: Farah Nazifa Nourin (Faculty advisor: Ryoichi Amano)
    Third Place: Xiaoyu Liu (Faculty advisor: Susan McRoy)
    Student Choice: Mohamed Abousabae (Advisor: Ryoichi Amano)

    Undergraduate
    First Place: Morgan Connaughton (Faculty advisor: Mahsa Dabagh)
    Second Place: Diego Avila (Faculty advisor: Matthew Petering)
    Third Place: Jameson Nedza (Faculty advisor: Xuefeng Bao)
    Student Choice: Rosalba Huerta (Faculty advisor: Konstantin Sobolev)

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award
    Mohamed Abousabae (Advisor: Ryoichi Amano)

    2021

    Graduate
    First Place:  Soudeh Mostaghimi (Faculty advisor: Mahsa Ranji)
    Second Place:  Syeda Mahmuda Noor (Faculty advisor: Qian Liao)
    Third Place: Abdel Rahman Salem (Faculty advisor: Ryo Amano)

    Undergraduate
    First Place:  Hannah Ullberg (Faculty advisor: Pradeep Rohatgi)
    Second Place:  Marina Slawinski (Faculty advisor: Ionel Popa)
    Third Place (Tie): Morgan Connaughton (Faculty advisor: Mahsa Dabagh) and Corey Huffman (Faculty advisor: Mohammad Rahman)

    Senior Design Project
    First Place:  Evan Karsten, Kaitlyn Jankowski, Jarod Schneider & Riley Smeaton (West Drexel Avenue Redesign)
    Second Place:  Zachary Breider, Ismael Coello, Davan Siegfried & Hannah Ullberg (Time is Money: Reducing the Heat-Treatment Time for Lamellar Pearlite Steel)
    Third Place: Reed Blake, Abdulrahman Dunquwah, Ryan Harris, Anna Schenk & Noah Streich (I94 Offramp Improvement at Miller Park at General Mitchell Boulevard)

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award
    Soudeh Mostaghimi

    2020

    Graduate

    Undergraduate

    Senior Design Project Awards

    • First Place: Kaitlyn Bruckner, Annalyse Heinrich, Adan Hernandez, Guillermo Martinez, William Sterns
    • Second Place: Danielle Hawi, Daniel Jadrich, Dora Richardson, Elliott Szabo
    • Third Place: Saleh Almunyif, Benjamin Krolcyzk, Ryan McGonagle, Siew Choong Yip
    • Honorable Mention: Tyler Jankowski, Perry Spott
    • Honorable Mention: Ian Buck, Sam Lear, Kalila Master, Skyler Sandlin, Jake Vetsch
    • Honorable Mention: Evan Hicks, Jordan Jadin, Luke Kraus, Douglas Machkovech, Charles Quentin
    2019

    Graduate

    • First Place:Tianyao Ding
    • Second Place: Tarek ElGammal
    • Third Place: Mohammad Rizwen Ur Rahman
    • Honorable Mention: Hadi Akbarihaghighat
    • Honorable Mention: Ghazal Azarfar
    • Honorable Mention: Lizeth Ortiz Reyes
    • Students’ Choice: Farnaz Hajiahmadifoomani

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Anthony Pierson
    • Second Place: Andrew Thompson
    • Third Place: Violet Ahnen
    • Honorable Mention: Catelyn Scholl
    • Honorable Mention: Hella Willis
    • Honorable Mention: Patrick Zastrow
    • Student’s Choice: Miguel Jaimes

    Departmental Awards

    Graduate

    • Biomedical Engineering: Justin Womack
    • Civil & Enviromental Engineering: Shamsi Mosharraf Trisha
    • Computer Science: Namita Singh
    • Electrical Engineering: Farnaz Hajiahmadifoomani
    • Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering: Shabnam Lashkari
    • Materials Science & Engineering: Murtatha Jamel
    • Mechanical Engineering: Jingyu Si

    Undergraduate

    • Biomedical Engineering: Nicole Vigon
    • Civil & Enviromental Engineering: Rosalba Huerta
    • Computer Science: Nathan Kohls
    • Electrical Engineering: Nathan Swanson
    • Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering: Dora Richardson
    • Materials Science & Engineering: Olivia Rush
    • Mechanical Engineering: Anthony Pierson

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award: Anthony Pierson

    2018

    Graduate

    •  First Place: Marco Lo Ricco
    •  Second Place: Reed Heintzkill
    • Third Place: Mohsen Manjili
    • Honorable Mention: Shabnam Lashkari
    • Honorable Mention: Reihaneh Rostami
    • Honorable Mention: Saeed Yazdani
    • Students’ Choice: Yun Yuan

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Nisrit Pandey
    • Second Place: Hella Willis
    • Third Place: Joshua Myszewski
    • Honorable Mention: Jeff Becker
    • Honorable Mention: Danielle O’Hagan
    • Honorable Mention: Michael Stefik
    • Students’ Choice: Nisrit Pandey

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award: Janeé Pederson

    2017

    Graduate

    • First Place: Ali Bakhshinejad
    • Second Place: Yaojun Wang
    • Third Place: Soheil Hosseini
    • Honorable Mention: Axam Elyasigorji
    • Honorable Mention: Mohammad Rashidi
    • Honorable Mention: Yihan Xu
    • Students’ Choice: Sourav Das

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Ameralys Correa
    • Second Place: Emily Gerstein
    • Third Place: John Mortimer
    • Honorable Mention: Nisrit Pandey
    • Honorable Mention: Christopher Spiewak
    • Honorable Mention: Andrew Thompson
    • Students’ Choice: Anne Barlas

    Mike Krauski Memorial Award : Andrew Thompson

    2016

    Graduate

    • First Place: Ali Bakhshinejad
    • Second Place: Rex Chin-Hao Chen
    • Third Place: Fereshteh Bashiri
    • Honorable Mention: Nazanin Maani
    • Honorable Mention: Mandana Sheikhzad Saravani
    • Honorable Mention: Mahya Sheikhzadeh
    • Students’ Choice: Vikas Singh

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Emily Gerstein
    • Second Place: Aleksey Yermakov
    • Third Place: Anne Barlas
    • Honorable Mention: Robert Hansen
    • Honorable Mention: Trishika Santebennur
    • Honorable Mention: Christopher Spiewak
    • Students’ Choice: Gonzalo Couto-Lain
    2015

    Graduate

    • First Place: Erika Pliner
    • Second Place: Dongqing Pan
    • Third Place: Alexa Hernandez Principe
    • Honorable Mention: Junling Xie
    • Honorable Mention: Ahmad Pahlavan Tafti
    • Honorable Mention: Seyedmohammad Shams
    • Students’ Choice: Jingyi Zhang

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Jud Riggins
    • Second Place: Aleksey Yermakov
    • Third Place: Jesse Nechodom
    • Honorable Mention: Quinn Porter
    • Honorable Mention: Luke Steinbach
    • Honorable Mention: Steven Acker
    • Students’ Choice: Jud Riggins
    2014

    Graduate

    • First Place: Whitney Linz
    • Second Place: Qianyi Zhang
    • Third Place: Cunyu Zhao
    • Honorable Mention: Blake Johnson
    • Honorable Mention: Salman Karbasi
    • Honorable Mention: Junling Xie
    • Students’ Choice: Guihua Zhou

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Ryan Frazier
    • Second Place: Alexa Hernandez
    • Third Place: Aleksey Yermakov
    • Honorable Mention: Brady Moe
    • Honorable Mention: Matthew Cowap
    • Honorable Mention: Dung Pham
    • Students’ Choice: Brady Moe
    2013

    Graduate

    • First Place: Scott Muzenski
    • Second Place: Leah Enders
    • Third Place: Ahmadreza Baghaie

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Ryan Frazier
    • Second Place: Patrick Stepanski
    • Third Place: Alexa Hernandez

    2012

    Graduate

    • First Place: Carlton Reeves
    • Second Place: Zheng Ge & Patrick Kelly
    • Third Place: Reyhaneh Sepehr & Kevin Staniszewskie

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Elise Uphoff
    • Second Place: Patrick Stepanski
    • Third Place: Arielle Walker
    2011

    Graduate

    • First Place: Huilei Zhao & Qiang Zhai
    • Second Place: Justin Effinger & Joe Komorowski
    • Third Place: Rossana Rivero Guidez, Adrianna Eason, Alex Cain, Morteza Janbaz, Brandon Patterson and Nihar Talati

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Paul Sisneros
    • Second Place: Vitostix And Vijolom III, Guatemala
    • Third Place: Joe Balloni
    2010

    Graduate

    • First Place: Tan Liu
    • Second Place: Menaka Abeygunawardena
    • Third Place: Andrew Dressel

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Andrew Hastert & Hector Fuentes
    • Second Place: Joseph Pfannes
    • Third Place: EWB@UWM
    2009

    Graduate

    • First Place: Omar Martinez & Andrew Ruzek
    • Second Place: Marcia Silva & Sandra McLellan
    • Third Place: Michael Brzeski

    Undergraduate

    • First Place: Julie Cease
    • Second Place: Quejchip, Guatemala
    • Third Place: Taran Bedi & Tony Darelius, Sunderam Krishnan

    Thanks to our 2023 Sponsors

    Gold Sponsors

    Eaton logo

    Bronze Sponsors

    Logo for Dedicated Computing
    Generac logo
    GRAEF Foundation logo
    logo for We Energies Foundation
    The Family of Michael Krauski

    Aluminum Sponsor

    Interested in becoming a sponsor?

    Download the details here.

    Contact: Mike Andrew, Director of Corporate Relations andrewmg@uwm.edu