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Selections for the third class of Future Innovators of America Fellowships have been announced by the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering. 

The 12 recipients and the department which selected them are: 

• Kamal Albousafi and Samara Overvaag, both mathematics and statistics 
• Caden Fischer and John Akujobi, both computer science
• Matthew Croke, civil engineering
• Andrew Sternhagen, electrical engineering
• Random Nisia and Turner Marr, both mechanical engineering
• Lydia Loken and Amee Parmar, both ag engineering
• Jakob Burckhard and Levi Minion, both construction and concrete industry management

Recipients are awarded $5,000 with $4,500 as a stipend and $500 to cover the cost of lab supplies or travel to disseminate the results of their project.

The fellowships were created to provide unique research opportunities for undergraduate students in the college. Any student is eligible to apply as long as they are attending full time and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Application deadline was Nov. 5.

Each student worked with a potential project mentor, who must be a faculty or research staff member, to develop and submit a research plan that entails learning by doing. 

Projects that 2024-25 recipients will focus on are: 

• Albousafi, a senior from Sioux Falls, will work with associate professor Hossein Moradi to leverage statistical techniques (dynamic linear modeling and Bayesian filtering) to analyze, predict and forecast crop health through the use of satellite imagery and climate data. 

• Overvaag, a junior from Watertown, will work with associate professor Jung-Han Kimn on the computational physics project “A Numerical Study for the Stable Dynamics of Ghost-Ridden Systems with the Space-Time Finite Element Method.”

The goal is to investigate the stable dynamics of "ghost" systems. When a system contains a negative kinetic energy term, it contains a ghost. 

“In this work, we consider a system with two scalar fields chosen such that they have opposite kinetic terms, thus introducing a ghost. We are interested in these ghost-ridden systems because they have been generally deemed unstable and physically unmeaningful in the past. 

“However, recent work shows that stable evolution is possible under certain conditions, which has inspired this study,” said Overvaag, who also is majoring in physics.

“Our system of interest is modeled with partial differential equations. We will implement a numerical method to approximate the system rather than solving it analytically. 

“The implementation of this numerical method requires the use of high-performance computing, so we will utilize the computer cluster on campus, Innovator. We will complete and run three different simulations to observe how the system evolves in different dimensional cases.”

• Fischer, a senior from Menno, will work with assistant professor Kaiqun Fu in applying physics-informed neural networks to modeling biofilm. “Physics-informed neural networks provide a different approach that could be less computationally expensive,” Fischer said. 

Successfully developing a physics-informed neural networks method that approximates solutions to the Cahn-Hilliard Equation accurately would be a great benefit to many disciplines studying the phenomenon of phase separation, which is the process by which the components of a binary fluid separate. 

“A particular instance of this phenomenon that this research aims to aid is the modeling of biofilm. Biofilms are collections of microorganisms that stick together and attach to surfaces. An example of biofilm is plaque on teeth. 

“Biofilm simulations can give biologists and engineers insights on the behavior of biofilm before conducting an experiment, saving time and money for these projects. The research also will help develop the understanding of neural networks and partial differential equations in general as new methods may be developed,” Fischer said.

• Akujobi, a senior from Nigeria, will work with assistant professor Chulwoo Pack to develop a wearable safety system named AMBER – Affordable Multimodal Sensor-Based Environmental Risk Detector.

AMBER integrates multimodal sensors and deep learning algorithms to detect and analyze environmental hazards in blind spots like fast-moving objects and obstacles. Workers are alerted of the danger in real time through vibrations and visual indicators, improving safety in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture.

"Every year, thousands of workers in construction and similar fields lose their lives with over 150,000 getting injured from preventable worksite accidents. Our device will be a step toward reducing those numbers by providing immediate hazard awareness in a solution that is effective, portable and affordable" Akujobi said.

The device could be attached to a work helmet or personal protection equipment.

• Croke, a junior from Faribault, Minnesota, will work with assistant professor Aritra Banerjee on “Remote Sensing and AI for Understanding Root Zone Moisture Variation.”

In this study, satellite images will be used for different sites in the U.S. and drones will be used from the ������Ƶ geospatial sciences group to retrieve surface roughness values for some of the local sites as well as dielectric material properties. The dielectric constant, which is a measure of a soil’s ability to store electrical energy in an electric field, is obtained from analyzing satellite data that is needed to obtain soil moisture.

A model will be developed by using a soil water retention curve, hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils and machine learning to accurately predict the root zone moisture from the surface moisture for known climatic conditions, Croke said.

• Sternhagen, a freshman from Brookings, is working with Xiaojun Xian, an assistant professor in electrical engineering, to create a sweat biosensor.

Sternhagen explained, “Sweat is a biofluid that is rich in biomarkers and easily obtained. This provides a great opportunity for the creation of noninvasive wearable biosensors. For this research project, we aim to create a microfluidic sweat collection patch using clear flexible silicone polymers with an integrated digital camera chip imager for the continuous collection and analysis of sweat.”

• Nisia, a sophomore from Papua New Guinea, will work with assistant professor Solaiman Tarafder to develop an off-the-shelf, self-sealing patch graft that can be applied to articular cartilage defects without the need for suturing. 

“We hypothesize that, utilizing the adhesive properties of hydrophilic polydopamine, the graft will anchor securely at the defect site while promoting the differentiation of endogenous stem/progenitor cells, resulting in biomechanically functional cartilage repair.

“Success of this project will provide a transformative option for cartilage repair, benefiting patients and health care providers,” Nisia said.

• Marr, a junior from Buffalo, Minnesota, will work with associate professor Jeffrey Doom and the Air Force Research Laboratory on supersonic and hypersonic scramjet engines. “Using advanced simulations through StarCCM+, my work will explore critical topics such as optimizing fuel injector locations, studying the effects of cavity shapes and sizes, and evaluating the performance of various fuel types. This research holds significant implications for advancing hypersonic propulsion technology,” Marr said.

He will present his findings at ������Ƶ’s Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day April 15 and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference this summer with the ultimate goal of publishing a paper showcasing the insights and contributions made during the project.

•&�Բ�����;Loken, a senior from Gunnison, Colorado, is working with assistant professor Sushant Mehan on a comprehensive analysis of South Dakota’s water rights, including groundwater and surface water, such as the Missouri River. 

The ultimate goal is to provide strategies for sustainable water management that prevent legal conflicts and allow water to meet the needs of all sectors while ensuring equitable access to all. 

• Parmar, a junior computer science major from Brookings, worked with assistant professor Pappu Yadav on “AI-Driven Computer Vision for Detection and Pose Estimation of Chili Peppers for Robotic Harvesting.” 

Yadav leads the Machine Vision and Optical Sensor lab housed within the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, where Parmar works as an undergraduate research assistant.

The research focused on developing an AI algorithm for a robotic harvester capable of detecting and classifying Hungarian hot wax, poblano and black Hungarian chili peppers under various orientations (horizontal, vertical and diagonal). Color and orientation (pose) were the factors chosen to determine ripeness. 

Greenhouse trials assessed the detection capabilities of the model and showed that detection rates varied among varieties — black Hungarian (53%), Hungarian hot wax (79%) and poblano (79%) — while orientation accuracy was consistently high at 89% to 90%.

“The research provides a foundation for developing AI-driven robotic solutions to address labor challenges in chili pepper production,” Parmar said.

Future work will focus on optimizing the AI models for field-scale deployment, reducing labor dependencies and increasing the profitability and sustainability of U.S. chili pepper farming. Additionally, comprehensive trials are planned to further assess the robotic system’s dexterity, detachment and harvesting efficiencies in real-world settings.

• Burckhard, a sophomore from Brookings, will work assistant professor Phuong Nguygen on “Exploring Industrialized Construction and Future Directions.”

The study will investigate technological integration, digital technologies, sustainable practices, supply chain management, workforce development and process improvement for harnessing the potential of industrialized construction. Burckhard will review literature, analyze the industry and discuss the results. 

“By addressing these problems, the construction industry can better leverage the benefits of prefabrication modular construction, leading to more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable building practices,” Burckhard said. 

• Minion, a junior from Wheaton, Minnesota, will work with assistant professor Mohammad Teymouri on “Impacts of Chemical Admixtures on Short-Term and Long-Term Fresh and Hardened Properties of Concrete Made with Portland Limestone Cement.”

Minion reports Type IL cement (Portland limestone cement) is gaining momentum across the U.S. with recent environmental incentives to replace Type I/II cement.

However, the American Society of Concrete Contractors released an alert in June 2023 and concrete subcontractors have reported concerns regarding finishability, early cracks, specifically before saw cuts; strength development, and setting time for concrete containing Type IL cement. The composition of Type IL and I/II differs, and the presence of limestone in the system affects the hydration mechanism and microstructure of the hydrated cement phases.

Even though the additional limestone in Type IL cement is generally believed to be compatible with the chemical admixtures, there has not been a comprehensive investigation to confirm the compatibility of admixtures with Type IL cement, Minion said.

The study objectives are to examine how chemical admixtures affect the properties of both fresh and hardened concrete containing Type IL and to propose a solution to minimize incompatibility issues between Type IL and admixtures.