InnovateUNO Winners

Tolmas Prize

Tolmas Prizes were awarded to the overall best undergraduate presenters. These students may have presented a poster, oral presentation, work of art, performance, or film. The Tolmas Prizes were made possible by generous contributions from the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust.

First Place, $500

Norman Bennett
Category: Visual Arts
Title: The Haunted Halls of UNO
Mentor: Ben Samuel

Second Place, $300

Yash Desai with Floyd Andrus, Orianna Gearhart, and Brandon Smith
Category: Oral
Title: Solar Power Jump Starter
Mentor: Parviz Rastgoufard

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students presented for 15 minutes on any topic. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

The first place winner will be invited to present at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held virtually this spring. All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Yash Desai with Floyd Andrus, Orianna Gearhart, and Brandon Smith
Title: Solar Power Jump Starter
Mentor: Parviz Rastgoufard

Second Place, $100

Lena Messina
Title: Genotoxicity of Oil Photoproducts in Aqueous Environments
Mentor: Matthew Tarr

Additional Winners

Jeffrey Herring
Title: American Sign Language Translation Glove
Mentor: Parviz Rastgoufard

Hoang Nguyen
Title: Prediction of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Regions using Machine Learning Methods
Mentor: Tamjidul Hoque

Aasish Rijal
Title: An Effective Machine Learning Method to Predict Residues of DNA and RNA Binding Protein
Mentor: Tamjidul Hoque

Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts category, students present for 15 minutes on a work of art. They were judged on creativity, technique, and enthusiasm.

The first place winner will be invited to present at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held virtually this spring. All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Norman Bennett
Title: The Haunted Halls of UNO
Mentor: Ben Samuel

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students presented a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

August Lasseigne
Title: Excerpts from "I’m All Yours: A History of Women as Legal Property and the Modern Objectification of Women"
Mentor: Kalo Gow

Second Place, $100

Autumn Lee Montgomery
Title: Two Poems Written as a Tolmas Scholar, Spring 2021
Mentor: Jade Hurter

Film

In the Film category, students present a film or documentary they have made. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Sage Blackledge
Title: "Mother’s Always Right," A Narrative Short Film Project
Mentor: Katie Garagiola

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

Yash Desai with Floyd Andrus, Orianna Gearhart, and Brandon Smith
Category: Oral
Title: Solar Power Jump Starter
Mentor: Parviz Rastgoufard

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students present for 15 minutes on any topic. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Danielle Allen
Title: Synthesis and Catalytic Applications of recyclable palladium-ionic liquid@Halloysite nanocomposites for Green Mizoroki-Heck Coupling Reactions
Mentor: Mark Trudell

Second Place, $100

Chelsea Nelson
Title: Homeless Voices Across the Nation
Mentor: Bethany Stich

Third Place, $75

Mary Beth Kelly
Title: Response to COVID-19 and the Distribution of Paycheck Protection Program Loans Across Counties
Mentor: Eric van Holm

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students present a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

First Place, $200

Bryon Reiger
Title: Video Games as Drama
Mentor: Ben Samuel

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

Naw Safrin Sattar
Category: Oral
Title: Shared Memory Parallel Temporal Community Detection Using Permanence on Multi-Core Processors
Mentor: Shaikh Arifuzzaman

This year, all the winners of our Engagement Awards received prizes of $25.

Most-Named Mentor

The Most-Named Mentor award goes to the UNO staff or faculty member who mentored the most student presenters at InnovateUNO.

The honor went to Tamjidul Hoque, who mentored eight presentations.

MVPs, Faculty/Staff

These UNO staff or faculty members went the extra mile to view student presentations or respond in the symposium forums.

• Xueyan Liu watched nearly three hours of presentations
• Sarah Black and Ben Samuel engaged the most with students in forums

MVPs, Student

These undergraduate or graduate students went the extra mile to view student presentations or respond in the symposium forums.

• Nayan Howladar watched more than an hour of presentations
• Arwa Ibrahim and Talon Washington engaged the most in the forums

Tolmas Prize

Tolmas Prizes were awarded to the overall best undergraduate presenters. These students may have presented a poster, oral presentation, work of art, performance, or film. The Tolmas Prizes were made possible by generous contributions from the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust.

First Place, $500

James Keen
Category: Oral
Title: Fourier Analysis of Data from Cricket Chirps
Mentor: Juliette Ioup

Second Place, $300

Ashleigh Gaude
Category: Visual Arts
Title: French Quarter Musician
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students presented for 15 minutes on any topic. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

The first place winner will be invited to present at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held virtually this spring. All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

James Keen
Title: Fourier Analysis of Data from Cricket Chirps
Mentor: Juliette Ioup

Second Place, $100

Nicole Webre
Title: Evidence-based Assessment of Temperament in Preschoolers: A Measure Development Project
Mentor: Yuliya Kotelnikova

Additional Winners

Paola Angel
Title: The Neurobehavioral Effect of Acetaminophen During Early-Life on Social Behavior in Mice
Mentor: Christopher Harshaw

Miyra Rosa
Title: Nanoplastics Degradation and Transport Mechanisms in Coastal Louisiana
Mentor: Malay Ghose Hajra

Mary Bordelon and Courtney Hull with Ade Marais, Ashley Sanders, and Kelli Nini
Title: Anterior Pituitary Volumes and Stress in Children with Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS)
Mentor: Elliott Beaton

Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts category, students present for 15 minutes on a work of art. They were judged on creativity, technique, and enthusiasm.

The first place winner will be invited to present at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held virtually this spring. All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Ashleigh Gaude
Title: French Quarter Musician
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

Additional Winner

William Vélez
Title: The Anarchist Art Book
Mentor: Anna Mecugni

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students presented a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, also held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Autumn Lee Montgomery
Title: “Passport,” an original poem

Second Place, $100

Michael Galanti
Title: The Music of Ordinary Objects
Mentor: Juliette Ioup, Brian Seeger

Film

In the Film category, students present a film or documentary they have made. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

All winners will be invited to present at the University of Louisiana System’s annual Academic Summit, held virtually this spring.

First Place, $200

Lada Egorova
Title: Raging Fire Screenplay
Mentor: Kalo Gow

Second Place, $100

Angel Bates
Title: Experimental Filmmaking: I think. Therefore, I’ll Never Be.

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

JoAnn Vuwith Jillian Lang, Elise Nichols, and Darnell Dickerson
Category: Oral
Title: How Can Netflix Facilitate Bonding with Customers During the Current Pandemic?
Mentor: Kyeong Sam Min

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students present for 15 minutes on any topic. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Brooke Diehl
Title: Studies directed toward the development of transition metal@halloysite nanocomposite materials for organic transformations
Mentor: Mark Trudell

Second Place, $100

Taylor Murphy
Title: The effect of short-term hypoxia on HIF expression levels in Fundulus grandis
Mentor: Bernard Rees

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students present a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

First Place, $200

Richon May
Title: Single Black Female
Mentor: David Hoover

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

Md Mohiuddin Sakib
Category: Oral
Title: Fate and transport of muddy shoreface sediments during storms in Louisiana: Implications for the morphodynamic trajectory of barrier Island and interior bays/marshes
Mentor: Ioannis Georgiou

Most-Named Mentor

The Most-Named Mentor award goes to the UNO staff or faculty member who mentored the most student presenters at InnovateUNO.

The honor went to Kyeong Sam Min, who mentored ten team presentations.

MVP, Faculty/Staff

This UNO staff or faculty member went the extra mile to drive up engagement in the symposium forums.

The honor went to Mark Trudell, who left the most comments of any judge.

MVP, Student

This undergraduate or graduate student went the extra mile to drive up engagement in the symposium forums.

The honor went to Brian Washington, who left the most comments of any student presenter, and to Bhupendra Acharya, who watched nearly three hours of presentation videos.

Tolmas Prize

Tolmas Prizes were awarded to the overall best undergraduate presenters. These students may have presented a poster, oral presentation, work of art, performance, or film. The Tolmas Prizes were made possible by generous contributions from the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust.

First Place, $500

Robert Loveland
Category: Poster
Title: Cross-Coupling of Acyl Chlorides Catalyzed by Palladium Encapsulated Halloysite
Mentor: Mark Trudell

Second Place, $300

Mary Adams
Category: Visual Arts
Title: Heavy
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Poster Presentations

In the Poster category, students stood alongside their poster for an hour and a half, answering questions and discussing their methods with symposium attendees. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Robert Loveland
Title: Cross-Coupling of Acyl Chlorides Catalyzed by Palladium Encapsulated Halloysite
Mentor: Mark Trudell

Second Place, $100

Jessy Mogren with Gaige Hargrave
Title: People vs. Place
Mentor: Steven Mumford

Third Place

Kourtney Weaver with Kes Lynn Joseph
Title: Investigation of the amino acids responsible for isomerase activity in the bilin lyase MpeW from Synechococcus sp. A15-62
Mentor: Wendy Schluchter

Fourth Place

Kathleen Mendoza
Title: The Economic Effects of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Centers in Louisiana
Mentor: Emma Morley

Fifth Place

Leah Tevis
Title: Flow and sediment dynamics through complex emergent vegetation
Mentor: Robert Mahon

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students presented for 12 minutes and then answered questions for three minutes. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Mohammad Hamed
Title: Effects of Donor Macrosteatosis and Post-Transplant complement activation on Early Allograft Dysfunction
Mentor: Paul Thevenot

Second Place, $100

Mitchell Maurin with Daniel Elfert
Title: The Maurin Elfert-1 Hybrid Rocket Engine
Mentor: Kim Jovanovich

Third Place

Miyra Rosa
Title: Ecological Restoration Along Bayou St. John, New Orleans
Mentor: Malay Ghose Hojra

Fourth Place

Hannah Rubiano
Title: UNO Campus Rainworks Challenge 2019
Mentor: Gianna Cothren

Fifth Place

Bennett Price
Title: Prey naiveté: assessing anti predator responses of native poeciliids to invasive cichlids
Mentor: Martin O’Connell

Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts category, students stood alongside their work of art for an hour and a half, answering questions and discussing their vision with symposium attendees. They were judged on creativity, technique, and enthusiasm.

First Place, $200

Mary “Molly” Adams
Title: Heavy
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Second Place, $100

Zenobia Zeno
Title: The Longest I’ve Committed to a New Year’s Resolution
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Third Place

Dwayne Kennedy, Jr.
Title: MM
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Fourth Place

Sage Sigler
Title: Still Life: A Self Portrait
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

Fifth Place

Emma Waguespack
Title: Influences
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students presented a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

First Place, $200

Henry Goldkamp
Title: Selections from Bad Beach
Mentor: Carolyn Hembree

Second Place, $100

Seth Robichaux
Title: Cabaret Performance
Mentor: L. Kalo Gow

Film

In the Film category, students presented a film or documentary they have made. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Jordan Johnson
Title: Dean Cundey, Cinematographer

Second Place, $100

James Pardue
Title: The Dance: The Process of Christopher Doyle

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

Emily Patrolia
Category: Visual Arts
Title: Baby Elephant
Mentor: Jeffrey Rinehart

Poster Presentations

In the Poster category, students stood alongside their poster for an hour and a half, answering questions and discussing their methods with symposium attendees. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Hoang Tao with Samantha Romain, Jessica Williams, Hannah Rubiano, Trinity Powell, and Faisal Mallum
Title: Green Infrastructure Privateer Ecowalk
Mentor: Tara Lambeth and Monica Farris

Second Place, $100

Heather Glass
Title: Disaster Preparedness Card Game Project
Mentor: Steven Mumford

Oral Presentations

In the Oral category, students presented for 12 minutes and then answered questions for three minutes. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Jumanah Hamdi
Title: Studies directed toward the development of transition metal@halloysite nanocomposite materials for organic transformations
Mentor: Mark Trudell

Second Place, $100

Allison Haertling
Title: Climate and Coastal Gentrification in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana: A Paradox
Mentor: Marla Nelson

Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts category, students stood alongside their work of art for an hour and a half, answering questions and discussing their vision with symposium attendees. They were judged on creativity, technique, and enthusiasm.

First Place, $200

E Marshall
Title: Blatant: An Altar to Urge
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

Performing Arts

In the Performing Arts category, students presented a work of musical or dramatic art. They were judged on performance and presentation.

First Place, $200

Danielle James
Title: Every Heart Sings a Song
Mentor: L. Kalo Gow

Second Place, $100

Justin Davis
Title: Monologue
Mentor: L. Kalo Gow

Film

In the Film category, students presented a film or documentary. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation.

First Place, $200

Michael Billiot with Ryan Herring and Lada Egorova
Title: DenCITY, More or Less
Mentor: Marla Nelson

Second Place, $100

Robbie Morgan
Title: The Cinematography of Lance Acord

Privateer Choice

Symposium attendees voted for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.

First Place, $50

Md Rakibul Islam
Category: Poster
Title: Entity Based Aspect-Oriented Opinion Mining in Software Engineering
Mentor: Minhaz Zibran

Most-Named Mentor

The Most-Named Mentor award goes to the UNO staff or faculty member who mentored the most student presenters at InnovateUNO. This was the first year that the Office of Research presented this award.

The honor went to Cherie Trumbach, who mentored nine presentations with a total of 25 presenters and co-presenters.

Louisiana Sea Grant hosted a Coastal Connections Competition open to graduate students from UNO and Tulane University. Students from a broad range of disciplines presented on issues concerning coastlines. Each university’s top two presenters received $500 in travel grants.

University of New Orleans Winners

Judges' Selection

Alahna Moore

Fan Favorite

Allison Haertling

Tulane University Winners

Judges' Selection

Maricel Beltrán-Burgos

Fan Favorite

Stephen Formel

Oral Presentations

1st place, $200 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

2nd place, $100 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

3rd-5th place, no cash prize but invited to ULS Academic Summit

First

High Macroinvertebrate Diversity at Different Scales in Deep Sea and Shallow Water Environments

Earth & Environmental Sciences

Catalina Rubiano

Mentors, Craig McClain (LUMCON) Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Clifton Nunnally (LUMCON)

Second

The Work of Bradford Young

Film and Theatre

Darian Martin

Third

Mathematical Literacy and the Secondary Student

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Adam Poyner , Cynthia Ybos, Patricia Austin

Mentor, Thomas Wright

Fourth

How many consumers prefer an expert over a non-expert for an iPhone ad?

Management & Marketing

Nicholas Smith , Kayla Freeman, Mahagony Keen, Suhail Melendez

Mentor, Kyeong Sam Min

Fifth

The Interview

Alyssa Newsham

Mentor, Laszlo Fulop

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Poster Presentations

1st place, $200 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

2nd place, $100 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

3rd-5th place, no cash prize but invited to ULS Academic Summit

First (tie)

Correlation of Block Design Task Proficiency and Dorsal Pathway White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Psychology

Jade Jenkins

Mentor, Tracey Knaus

First (tie)

Characterizing the Function of Bilin Lyase Isomerase MpeV in Marine Synechococcus sp. RS9916

Biological Sciences

Jacob Frick , Lyndsay Carrigee

Mentor, Wendy Schluchter

Third

The Effects of Fusion Tags on Recombinant MpeW Protein Solubility

Biological Sciences

Kourtney Weaver , John Hunter

Mentor, Wendy Schluchter

Fourth

Restaurantville's Asian Fusion

Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration

Christian Cheramie , Vivian Tong

Mentor, Yvette N Green

Fifth

Osteria Italiano Restaurant Concept

Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration

Kayla Brown , Michael Swadener

Mentor, Yvette N Green

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Performing Arts

1st place, $200 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

2nd place, $100

First

Ophelia Street from “Gloria”

Emelie Lasseigne

Mentor, Kalo Gow

Second

Bloodsuckers (short story collection)

Henry Goldkamp

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Film

1st place, $200

2nd place, $100

First

The Interview

Alyssa Newsham

Mentor, Laszlo Fulop

Second

Dj Soul Sister- A time to remember

Jaszmine Foucha

Mentor, Laszlo Fulop

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Visual Arts

1st place, $200 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

2nd place, $100 and invitation to ULS Academic Summit

3rd-5th place, no cash prize but invited to ULS Academic Summit

First

Gibson

Acrylic Paint

Amanda Gullette

Mentor, Cheryl Hayes

Second

Granddad Otis

Heavy Body Acrylics on Canvas

Ash Gaude

Mentor, Kathy Rodriguez

Third

Untitled

Digital Print

Rachel Rome

Mentor, Dan Rule

Fourth

Naholo

Photography

Rachel Billiot-Bruliegh

Mentor, Dan Harper

Fifth

Deadlines

Intaglio

Peter Hoffpauir

Mentor, Anthony Campbell

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Privateer Choice Award

1^st place, $50

The Next Generation

Prismacolour pencils on black rag paper

Alexis Chivatero

Mentor, Cheryl Hayes

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Tolmas Prize (any category)

1^st place, $500

2^nd place, $300

First

Characterizing the Function of Bilin Lyase Isomerase MpeV in Marine Synechococcus sp. RS9916

Biological Sciences

Jacob Frick , Lyndsay Carrigee

Mentor, Wendy Schluchter

Second

Granddad Otis

Heavy Body Acrylics on Canvas

Ash Gaude

Mentor, Kathy Rodriguez

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Innsbruck Travel Award

Travel expenses (airfare, 5 nights lodging, subsistence) to participate in University of Innsbruck 350^th Anniversary

One STEM presenter

High Macroinvertebrate Diversity at Different Scales in Deep Sea and Shallow Water Environments

Earth & Environmental Sciences

Catalina Rubiano

Mentors, Craig McClain (LUMCON) Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Clifton Nunnally (LUMCON)