Undergraduate Research on Display at REU Symposium

For the past two months, several undergraduate students from UL Lafayette, LSU, University of Florida, and Howard University led research projects with advanced infrastructure materials. The group of students were on the UL Lafayette campus, and were participants in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation.

Each student is associated with a specific research project, where he/she works closely with the faculty and other researchers. Last week, students presented their findings during the REU Research Symposium in the Student Union. These included:

• FRP Composite for Strengthening Reinforced Concrete Beams – Andie Bostick, UL Lafayette student; and Guillermo Escoto and Dr. Li-Hui, UL Lafayette faculty.

• Development and Construction of Educational Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel and Wave Flume – Josh Hoffpauir, UL Lafayette student; and Dr. Trung Do, UL Lafayette faculty.

• Self-Healing of Asphalt via Microencapsulation – John Landry, UL Lafayette student; and Hassan Afridi, Dr. William Chirdon, and Dr. Jamal Khattak, UL Lafayette faculty.

• Degradation of PFOA by Heat-Activated Persulfate – Reece Lacour, Howard University student, and Dr. Daniel Gang, and Xiaobo Lei, UL Lafayette faculty.

• Development of Advanced Hot Mix Asphalt for Louisiana’s Pavements – Tashfia Shehzabin, LSU student, and Muhammad Faizan Asghar and Dr. Mohammad J. Khattak, UL Lafayette faculty.

• Comparing Growth of Chlorella Vulgaris in Sodium Bicarbonate and Calcium Carbonate Solutions – Taskina Zaman Jui, University of Florida student, and Sarah Simoneaux, Bill Holmes, and Dr. Mark E. Zappi, UL Lafayette faculty.

NSF funds a large number of research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU Sites program. An REU Site consists of a group of 10 or so undergraduates who work in the research program for the host institution. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel.