Illinois Tech undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students who have done research, Interprofessional Projects Programs (IPROs), and other professional project work during the last year were invited to present their work at the Illinois Tech Welcome Week Student Project Showcase held on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, in the McCormick Tribune Campus Center Ballroom.
The showcase celebrated the excellent work conducted by Illinois Tech students and introduced new students to our research community, and highlights opportunities to get involved themselves.
This annual event is co-sponsored by the Office of Research and the Office of Student Life and was coordinated by Patrick Fina, Nick Menhart, and Scott Pfeiffer.
Special thanks to our faculty and staff judges.
Armour
Abhinav Bhushan — BME Faculty
Mohammad Heidarinejad — CAEE Faculty
College of Computing
Nicole Beebe – College of Computing Dean
Yuhan Ding – Applied Math Faculty
Lance Fortnow – Computer Science Faculty
Jeremy Hajek – Information Technology and Management Faculty
Oliver D. Michel – Computer Science Faculty
Lan Yao – Computer Science Faculty
Lewis
Nick Menhart – Biology Faculty
Indika Edirisinghe — Food Science and Nutrition Faculty
Jeff Wereszczynski – Physics and Biology Faculty
Winners:
Undergraduate
1st place – tie
Rishi Goyal, Dr. Ken Tichauer, and Cody Rounds
Intraoperative detection of cancer spread to tumor draining lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer
Ellie Post, Settimio Pacelli and Georgia Papavasiliou
Pro-Angiogenic Peptide-loaded Hydrogel Nanoparticle Ointment Emulsion Formulations for Diabetic Wound Healing
2nd place – tie
Jesus Perez and Emily Leiner (Physics)
Using NASA’s TESS Telescope to Study the Rotation of Stars in a Multiple Star System
Benjamin Ameku (Physics) – Characterization of Nanoparticle-Based Radiopharmaceuticals
Graduate
1st place – tie
Alex Barrett (Grad-Physics) Alaina Thompson-Humiston, and Owen Wood (UG-Physics)
A novel superconducting material for improved quantum circuits is analyzed through x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Muhammad Talha Talib (Grad), David Cooper, Joseph DePaolo-Boisvert, David Minh
Mechanism of Arrestin Recruitment through the Beta 2 Adrenoreceptor
2nd place
Charles Florance, Alyssa Kinser, Raed Chehade (Grad – Law) – ClaimPig – The Fender-Bender Money Sender (™) is one half AI-driven legal technology and one half small claims litigation finance company that democratizes motorists’ access to legal help with their diminished value claims.