Research

2025 Recipients and Projects:

• Alec Carpenter, a rising junior business administration major, “Results of Muscle Activation and Testosterone Production Through Use of Rest-pause Sets Conducted on Leg Muscles” with Dr. Robert Shute, Assistant Professor of Health & Human Sciences.
• Tess Dean, Amir Suboh and Kiya Whitaker, all rising seniors, “Non-Western Graphic Design” with Prof. Ronald Alabanza, Practitioner in Residence – Art. Dean and Whitaker are digital media arts majors; Suboh is an art major.
• Lauren Fisher and Alisa Hart, both environmental science majors, “The Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Fresh Produce Distribution in Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg” with Dr. Timothy Kreps, Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science. Fisher is a rising senior; Hart is a rising sophomore.
• Allie Jansen, a rising senior history and political science major, “Asian American Populations in Baltimore: A Historical Perspective” with Dr. Maria Paz Esguerra, Assistant Professor of History.
• Madelyn Judson, a rising junior health & exercise science major, “Effects of Contraceptive Use on Clinical Factors of Sport-Related Concussion” with Dr. Nicholas Erdman, Assistant Professor of Health & Human Sciences.
• Tony Lucy, a rising senior art and game design double major, “Pachisi Go!: Making a Video Game Older Than Writing” with Dr. Sam Hamilton, Associate Professor of English.
• Reema Mansour, a rising junior computer science major, “Enhancing Data Structure Visualization: Improving Student and Faculty Understanding of Arrays and Linked Lists” with Dr. Ahmad Alqurneh, Assistant Professor of Data Science & Analytics.
• Bri Morgan, a rising senior psychology major, “Beyond the Label: Power, History, and the Meaning of Branding” with Dr. Steve Ingham, Instructor of Communication Studies & Theatre.
• Samuel Oduro, a rising junior engineering major, “Summing Power Series with all Terms Powers of x3” with Dr. Verne Leininger, Associate Professor Math & Computer Science.
• Kaelyn Ramsey, a rising senior psychology major, “AI-driven Sustainability: Examining Consumer Behavior and Practices in Smart Cities” with Dr. Sevinj Iskandarova, Assistant Professor of Business Administration.
• Meredith Scheiner, a rising senior professional writing major, “Reinventing the New Negro: Albert R. Lee (1874-1948), from Messenger to Chief Clerk, and Posthumously, to First Dean of African American Students at the University of Illinois” with Dr. Vanessa Rouillon, Assistant Professor of English.
• Kayla Stanley, a rising junior strategic communications major, “Mark Henry’s Retirement: Breaking Genres and John Cena” with Dr. Steve Ingham, Instructor of Communication Studies & Theatre.
• Ruth Tsegaye, a rising junior business administration and economics double major, “Creating A Research Database for an Ongoing Research Project Titled ‘Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Africa: Evidence from Nigerian Community Friday Markets’” with Dr. Nuraddeen Nuhu, Assistant Professor of Business Administration.

2024 Recipients and Projects:

• Elizabeth Burzumato (with Dr. Sam Hamilton), a professional writing major from Harrisonburg, Va., “Worldbuilding in Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Tabletop Roleplaying Games”
• Rory Cantwell (with Dr. Jenny Martin), a liberal studies major from Lancaster, Pa., “Summer Literacy Intervention on Improving Attitudes Towards Reading and Writing”
• Mighty Doffoe (with Dr. Verne Leininger), a computer science major from Takoradi, Ghana, “A search for a power series with cubic items which has equally spaced roots”
• Jared Mullins (with Dr. Sevinj Iskandarova), a business administration major from Tazewell, Va., “Customer Perspectives on AI Implementation in Industry: Exploring Benefits, Concerns, Governmental Rules, and Regulations”
• Eric Wilbur (with Dr. Brandon Marsh), a history major from Olney, Md., “Intelligence Failures and the Iraqi Revolt of 1920”

2023 Recipients and Projects:

• Lucas Bauer (with Visiting Assistant Professor of Health and Human Sciences Dr. Robert Shute), a sophomore health and exercise science major from Glen Allen, Va., “Effects of water immersion on skeletal muscle activation, fatigue and whole-body gas exchange.”
• Jared Nichols (with Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dr. Nuraddeen Nuhu), a sophomore business administration major from Check, Va., “Understanding customer loyalty in the automobile industry: The case of Ford motors in the state of Virginia.”
• Jamie Rexrode (with Associate Professor of Health and Human Sciences Dr. Donna Hoskins), a sophomore family and consumer sciences major from Mineral, Va., “Instructional processes among teachers of young children: The context of inquiry in the project-based classroom.”

2025 Recipients and Projects:

• Godfred Abotar-Aidoo and Isaac Plange, both rising junior engineering majors, “Improving the Efficiency of Turbines in Wave Energy Harvesting Using Computer Simulations” with Dr. Mohammad Uddin, Assistant Professor of Engineering.
• Emmanuel Acherefi, a rising junior engineering major, “Investigating Airflow Around an Airfoil Using CFD” with Dr. Mohammad Uddin, Assistant Professor of Engineering.
• Jonathan Amelordzi and Liberty Ammamoo, both rising junior engineering majors, “Numerical Simulations and Analysis of Lid Driven Cavity Flow and Flow Around a Cylinder Using Ansys, OpenFOAM and ParaView” with Dr. Mohammad Uddin, Assistant Professor of Engineering.
• Calvin Hulleman, a rising senior data science and analytics major, “Using Machine Learning and Computer Vision to Increase the Accuracy and Precision of Axoloti Measurement” with Dr. Moshe Khurgel, Associate Professor of Biology.
• Nana Montans, a rising junior biology major, “Overexpression of the Polyhydroxyalkanoate Depolymerase Gene of Streptomyces Nymphaeiformis in Streptomyces Lividans TK24” with Dr. Stephen Baron, Harry G M Jopson Professor of Biology.
• Skyler Parks, a rising senior biochemistry major, “Structure-function Analysis of Human Mitochondrial Alpha-keto Acid Dehydrogenase Complex Mutations of Clinical Relevance in Neurological Diseases” with Dr. Rippa Sehgal, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry.
• Meklit Worku, a rising junior biology major, “Optimizing Scandium Triflate-Catalyzed Electrophilic Substitution of Aldehydes for Higher Yields” with Dr. Barnabus Otoo, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
• Nour Ziada, a rising junior biochemistry major, “Develop[ing] GC Methods for Asymmetric Analysis of Alcohols” with Dr. Barnabus Otoo, Assistant Professor of Chemistry.

2024 Recipients and Projects:

• Isaac Plange (with Dr. Derli Amaral), an engineering major from Takoradi, Ghana, “Pump Suction Data Measurement and Turbulence”
• Ifeatu Udokwu (with Dr. Barnabas Otoo), a biology major from Abuja, Nigeria, “Proposal for the synthesis of the antibiotic : 4-Methyl-3-(naphthalen1-yl)-4-phenyloxetan-2-one”
• Brock Zorn (with Dr. Rippa Sehgal), a biochemistry major from Rocky Mount, Va., “Compiling the enzyme structures belonging to the SDR family using protein structure visualization software”

2023 Recipients and Projects:

• Cheyenne Barlow (with Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Moshe Khurgel), a junior health and exercise science major from Culpeper, Va., “Determination of optimal methods for altering rates of axolotl locomotion and metabolism”
• Cameron Martindale (with Assistant Professor of Applied Physics Dr. Derli Amaral), a first-year applied physics major from Salem, Va., “Four degrees of freedom leg with stability control supported by rotacasters.”
• Andrew Rodriguez (with Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Dr. Rippa Sehgal), a junior biochemistry major from Rockingham, Va., “Crystallography of 12α-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase from Methanospheara stadtmanae.” 

The VFIC awards $2,000 for a supervised undergraduate summer research project in the sciences. Applications are typically due in March. Contact your advisor for additional information.

2022 Recipients and Projects:

• Andrew Rodriguez (with Dr. Stephen Baron), a biochemistry major from Rockingham, VA, “Cloning and overexpression of a leucine-responsive regulator gene from Streptomyces nymphaeiformis ” (co-funded with the Martin Science Research Institute)

2021 Recipients and Projects:

• Trevor Brooks (with Dr. Tim Kreps and Dr. Sam Hamilton), a junior environmental science and political science double major from Annapolis, Md., “Educational Pavilion for the Bridgewater Food Pantry and VFIC Collaborative Heat Mapping Project”
• Emily Schloss (with Dr. Moshe Khurgel), a junior biology major from Chantilly, Va., “Study of Weak Electrical Fields in Axolotl Regeneration.