2024 Research Projects

Projects are posted below; new projects will continue to be posted. To learn more about the type of research conducted by undergraduates, view the archived symposium booklets and search the past SURF projects.

This is a list of research projects that may have opportunities for undergraduate students. Please note that it is not a complete list of every SURF project. Undergraduates will discover other projects when talking directly to Purdue faculty.

You can browse all the projects on the list or view only projects in the following categories:


All Research Projects (3)

 

COATING GRANULAR MATERIALS TO CONTROL THEIR MECHANICAL RESPONSE 

Description:
Granular materials are ubiquitous and play an important role in many industries. Their mechanical response is determined by a number of factors including particle size distribution, packing arrangement, and the characteristics of the grains themselves. Control of these attributes provides opportunities to functionalize them.
Current research in Purdue’s geotechnical engineering lab is exploring the use of soft coatings to control the stiffness and attenuation properties of granular assemblies. A method has been developed for coating model grains (glass beads ~ 4 mm I diameter) with a silicone-based paint. Preliminary experiments using the resonant column apparatus indicate that a silicone coating as thin as 10-15 microns is effective in significant in enhancing the damping characteristics of the material.

Responsibilities of the SURF student will include:
- Performing coating experiments on both the model beads and natural granular materials (fine gravels)
- Characterizing the coated grains through microscopy and measurements of the coefficient of rebound
- Measuring the packing characteristics of the grains as a function of different thicknesses of the coating
- Possibly exploring coating with an additional material.
Campus:
West Lafayette
Research categories:
Engineering the Built Environment, Material Processing and Characterization
Preferred major(s):
  • Materials Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Agricultural and Bio Engineering
School/Dept.:
Lyles School of Civil Engineering
Professor:
Marika Santagata
 

Quantitative Analysis of Cell Shape Changes and Cell Movement Tracking with Neural Networks(NN)-based 3D Membrane Segmentation in Whole Mount Zebrafish Embryos 

Description:
The project aims to utilize Neural Networks (NN)-based segmentation tools for analyzing the time series of 3D membrane-labeled microscopy image data in whole-mount zebrafish embryos. At the onset of embryonic development, the epiboly process involves the ectoderm and mesodermal progenitor cells spreading and thinning to encompass the entire embryo. Quantifiying the cell shape changes helps to understand how the mechanical forces drive the epiboly prograss. Live images of membrane-labeled cells in the enveloping layer are imaged using confocal microscopy. The student’s role in this project is to develop a Python-based image analysis framework by using the Neural Network (NN)-based 3D Membrane Segmentation tool, CellPose, to segment 3D images, trace the cells' movement, and quantitatively analyze the cell shape changes during epiboly.
Research categories:
Big Data/Machine Learning, Cellular Biology
Preferred major(s):
  • No Major Restriction
School/Dept.:
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
Professor:
David Umulis
 

[TEST PROJECT] - Testing Bug functionality 

Description:
This is a test project description
Research categories:
Human Factors, Internet of Things (IoT)
Citizenship requirements:
International, DACA Status
Preferred major(s):
  • No Major Restriction
Desired experience:
Any, this is a test
School/Dept.:
Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor:
FirstTest LastTest

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