CSC² UGR Program

Summer Undergraduate Research Programs: The programs offer summer undergraduate research (UGR) opportunities. The UGR opportunities are targeted to CSC² students transitioning from their sophomore to junior year. Students will receive hands-on experience with a research topic in their field of study, learn to balance collaborative and individual work, determine an area of interest, and jump-start their careers as researchers.

Through exposure to research as undergraduates, many students discover their passion for research and continue on to graduate studies and faculty positions. Students receive a stipend for participating in the UGR summer program.

List of Fall 2019 undergraduate research projects by college

Agriculture

Engineering

Biophysical Rice Seed Treatment for Germination & Early Growth Enhancement
Xavi Andrade, Grace Gonzalez, Luis Morales, Ernesto Gonzalez
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Dennis O'Connor & Dr. Garrett Liles
Department of Mechanical, Mechatronic Engineering & Sustainable Manufacturing
College of Agriculture

Replication, Analysis and Reprocessing Components of Auto Body Repair
Aaron Jones, Aldair Vazquez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nathan Anderson
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering & Sustainable Manufacturing

Multiscale Simulations of DNA Nanostructures
Greg Gutierrez, Michelle Gomez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nathan Anderson
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering & Sustainable Manufacturing

Wastewater Decision Support Tool
Daniel Rojas-Camacho
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Pablo Cornejo
Department of Civil Engineering

Robotic Rehabilitation
Alberto Rosales, Juan Ruiz
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Meehan
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nutrients from Camp Fire Samples
Jamie Villatoro, Victor Vargas-Cuadras
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jackson Webster
Department of Civil Engineering

Monitoring the Flow of Groundwater Using a Directed Acyclic Graph and Topological Sort
Daniel Kirkland
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jaime Raigoza
Department of Computer Science

Anaerobic Digestion of Plastics and Food Waste
Paul Daniels
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Greene
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering & Sustainable Manufacturing

Aerodynamics of Wind Turbine Airfoils
Emilio Ruiz, Alexander Hernandez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Alexander
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering & Sustainable Manufacturing

Developing Performance Models for Santa Barbara County
Saulo Torres
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ding Cheng
Department of Civil Engineering

Differential Privacy
Isabel Hernandez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jaime Raigoza
Department of Computer Science

Employing FTIR Hyperspectral Imaging Techniques Towards Characterization of Organic Samples
Josef Grundy, Jerry Esquer
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Zahrasadat Alavi
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Concrete Fiber Reinforcement
Luis Martinez, Isaias Diaz
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mohammed Albahttiti
Department of Concrete Industry Management

Natural Sciences

Reconstructing Tradition: A Step Away from the Average General Chemistry Course
Vaneza Garcia, Jose Johnson
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Lisa Kendhammer & Dr. Eric Wasinger
Department of Chemistry

The Role of FoxO in Symbiotic Recognition in the Sea Anemone Exaiptasia Pallida
Madison Gutierrez
Faculty Mentor: Cawa Tran
Department of Biology

Investigating miR-375 in Pancreatic ß-cells as a Regulator of Apoptosis and Cell Proliferation
Jesse Garcia
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Keller
Department of Biology

Garlic and Sweet Pepper Chemical Analysis and Sensory Evaluation
Pierre Dahrouj, Crystal Figueroa
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Giovanni
Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences

A Computational Verification of Lehmer's Conjecture on the Euler-Totient Function
Noelle Beltz, Dalila Torres-Perez, Alfredo Oregel
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin McGown
Department of Mathematics & Statistics

Hemoglobin Drug Synthesis and Assessment: Undergraduate Experiment Redesign & Refinement
Letzi Maldonado
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carolynn Arpin
Department of Chemistry

Femtosecond Spectroscopy
Daniel Lucero, Dillon Anderson
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Arpin
Department of Physics

Validation of Scoliosis Gene Candidates via CRISPR Induced Mutation in cMed Model
Jackelin Villalobos, John Vang
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristen Gorman
Department of Biology

Determining Food Security Needs and Barriers of CSUC Students
Breanne Lencioni
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Giovanni
Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences

Role of Son and Kal1B in Zebrafish Blood Development
Skylar Tomasetti, Allen Benavidez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Stachura
Department of Biology

Trail Cameras
Aylin Hernandez, Jacklynn Rodriguez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tag N. Engstrom
Department of Biology

Synthesizing the Coupled Chalcone Library
Austin Dubose
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carolynn Arpin
Department of Chemistry

Expression of PI3-Kinase in Macrophages Infected by Various Strains of Influenza
Matthew Martinez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Troy Cline
Department of Biology

BEC's
Harman Khinda, John Permann, Yoana Guzman
Faculty Mentor: Hyewon Pechkis
Department of Physics

Characterizing Gabbro Within the Engels Deposit at the Lights Creek Stock, Plumas County, California
Mario Valazquez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hannah Aird
Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences

Continuous Stream Monitoring Station in Big Chico Creek
Andrea Villegas-Fregoso
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sandrine Matiasek
Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences

Identifying the Origin of Tourmaline in the Lights Creek Stock and its Role in IOCG Deposit Formation
Morelia Ayala
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hannah Aird
Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences

Cost Benefit Analysis of a Butte College Bioswale
Yovvani Mojica-Perez
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sandrine Matiasek
Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences

Establishment of Symbiosis in the Model Sea Anemone Exaiptasia Pallida
Brooke Hoffe
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cawa Tran
Department of Biology

Searching for Dynamical Chaos in Stellar Evolution Models
Bjorn Larsen
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicholas Nelson
Department of of Physics