CSU graduate students shined the spotlight on their research at the 9th Annual Midwest Graduate Research Symposium (MGRS).  The University of Toledo Graduate Student Association sponsored the symposium that included professional development workshops, a showcase for research with oral and poster presentations from an array of disciplines, and a formal dinner with keynote address by Clinton Oliver Longenecker, MBA and an award-winning educator.  Longenecker is one of “America’s leaders in creating high performance leaders and organizations” and is a Distinguished Professor and Director of The Center for Leadership and Organizational Excellence in The College of Business and Innovation at The University of Toledo.

Seminar Presentation Abstracts

Rakshit Shah, Washkewicz College of Engineering doctoral student, was awarded the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Award for his abstract entitled Robot assisted ultrasonography for 3D reconstruction of carpal tunnel.  The award and monetary prize is given for the best presentation in the area of biomedical research.  Comments by the judges included, “Rakshit connected easily with the participants and judges, his research was well-explained, non-engineers could understand, and he knew his material.”  Cleveland State University had the second largest number of presenters behind University of Toledo. The following CSU students presented:

• A Short, Aggressive, & Proactive Balance Training Protocol Using a Multi-Directional Harness System and Its Effects on Balance Confidence, by Lorenzo Bianco, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program
• Attenuating CTS-induced hand sensorimotor impairment using tactile simulation, by Brinda Pogul, Biomedical Engineering
• Thumb force and associated activation of individual thenar muscles during pipetting, by Narenraj Selvaraj, Biomedical Engineering
• Measurement of TCL thickness by compression ultrasonography, by Rakshit Shah, Applied Biomedical Engineering
   

Poster Presentation Abstracts

• Fabrication of a novel 384PillarPlate for miniaturized 3D bioprinting, by Parnian Bigdelou, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Establishing high-throughput ion channel assays in 3D NSC culture to identify ion channel inhibitors and their downstream effect on NSC differentiation, by Pranav Joshi, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Assessment of metabolism-induced toxicity on a 384-pillar plate with 3D printed cells, by SooYeon Kang, Chemical and Biological Engineering
• Functional Imaging of Sensory and Motor Cortical Reorganization Induced by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, by Brinda Pogul, Biomedical Engineering
• Biomechanical interaction between transverse carpal ligament and thenar muscles during pipetting, by Narenraj Selvaraj, Biomedical Engineering
• Robot assisted ultrasonography for 3D reconstruction of carpal tunnel, by Rakshit Shah, Applied Biomedical Engineering

The 9th Annual MGRS is the largest multi-disciplinary graduate symposium in the Midwest, supported by the National Science Foundation and Northern Ohio AGEP Alliance (NOA-AGEP). Created to increase the number of underrepresented minority students completing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral degrees and to prepare them for entry into the professoriate, NOA-AGEP includes Cleveland State University, Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, University of Akron, University of Toledo, and Youngstown State University.