More than 150 Princeton University undergraduates presented their research projects at the annual Princeton Research Day, held in the Grand Hall of the new Princeton University Art Museum. The event featured poster sessions, as well as interactive “Poster+” presentations that included video and live demonstrations.
Student projects represented a wide range of academic fields. Examples included Alyssa Lloyd’s policy paper on connecting foster youth to skilled trades, Emmanuela Omole’s economic analysis of energy resilience following natural disasters, and Samuel Coleman’s study of letters written by a World War I soldier. Senior anthropology major Emily Hinczynski analyzed structures from ancient Antioch using archival photographs and field drawings. Engineering student Benjamin Gitai used artificial intelligence to analyze X-ray images for surgical measurements.
This year marked the 11th iteration of Princeton Research Day and was the first time it focused exclusively on undergraduate research. The event was organized by the Office of Undergraduate Research within the Office of the Dean of the College.
Pascale Poussart, director of undergraduate research, described the goals for student participants: “to think about ways to communicate their scholarly research not only to scholars within their academic discipline but also ‘to a friend, a family member, a neighbor or a potential employer.’”
Junior anthropology major Claire Kho presented her project on extending ex vivo heart preservation for transplants. She conducted her research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and credited her experience in Daniel Notterman’s lab at Princeton as important for her development as a researcher. Notterman is vice dean for biomedical and clinical research at Princeton.
A series of awards were announced after the event in categories such as arts and humanities, innovation, campus impact, and international research. Computer science senior Laura Hwa received the Innovation Award for her thesis on consumer costs related to data center expansion in the Mid-Atlantic region. Her work was advised by Jesse Jenkins, associate professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Hwa commented on her experience working with Jenkins’ lab: “I feel like no AI model, no amount of paper reading, can really match that.”
The Undergraduate Edition of Princeton Research Day is an initiative supported by several university departments and centers including the Office of Undergraduate Research, Princeton Writing Program, Art Museum, Center on Science and Technology Policy, Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship, Humanities Initiative, residential colleges, Alumni Engagement office, Lewis Center for the Arts, Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment, Keller Center; with additional support from offices including Dean for Research and Provost.
