At the Bass Connections Showcase on April 20, undergraduate and graduate students from the 2016-2017 project teams shared their research with the Duke community and highlighted what they’ve accomplished. Through lightning talks by five teams—each representing one of the Bass Connections themes—and a poster session, students presented findings to a packed crowd in Scharf Hall. The event was also an opportunity to recognize the winners of several awards and grants.

Lori Bennear, theme leader of Bass Connections in Energy, welcomed guests and introduced the five lightning talks.

An Environmental Approach to Global Health

Justin Lana (Ph.D. in Environment) and Luiza Perez ’19 (Sociology and Global Health), Environmental Epidemiology in Latin America

Automated Building Energy Consumption Estimation from Aerial Imagery

Eric Peshkin ’18 (Mathematics and Philosophy) and Hoël Wiesner (Master of Environmental Management), Energy Data Analytics Lab

Reuniting and Rejuvenating the Ghissi Altarpiece

Geena Gomez ’18 (Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering), Image Processing Algorithms for Art Conservation

Voices Together: Music Therapy in Elementary Schools

Paulina Paras ’19 (Neuroscience and Global Health) and Max Westerkam ’19 (Computer Science), Voices Together: Music Therapy and Autism in Elementary Schools

Tackling Concussions

Maddie Bernstein ’17 (Biomedical Engineering), Edward Hsieh ’19 (Biomedical Engineering), Daniel O’Connell ’18 (Neuroscience), Joost Op’t Eynde (Master of Biomedical Engineering), Oculomotor Response as an Objective Assessment for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the Pediatric Population

Grants and Awards

Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen lauded all of this year’s teams for their achievements and recognized the 2016-17 student honorees.

Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Mentorship

• Tony Fuller (Doctor of Medicine), Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda
• Stephanie Reist (Ph.D. in Romance Studies and Master of Public Policy), The Cost of Opportunity? Higher Education in the Baixada Fluminense

Bass Connections Follow-on Student Research Awards

• Anuhita Basavaraju ’18 (Program II), Art, Vision and the Brain
• Kira Battle (Doctor of Physical Therapy), Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI)
• Ashley Blawas ’18 (Biomedical Engineering), Brandon Dalla Rosa ’19 (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Sam Kelly ’18 (Mechanical Engineering), History and Future of Ocean Energy
• Adriana Lapuerta ’20 (Computer Science), NC Jukebox
• Aakash Jain ’18 (Biology and Economics), Kushal Kadakia ’19 (Biology and Public Policy), Jackie Lin ’18 (Biology), Shivani Shah ’18 (Biology and Public Policy), NC Medicaid Reform Advisory Team
• Luiza Perez ’19 (Sociology and Global Health), Environmental Epidemiology in Latin America
• Jeremy Spater (Ph.D. in Political Science), Studying the Real ‘Slums’ in Bangalore, Patna and Jaipur

Bass Connections Photo Contest

• First Place: Adair Necalli ’19 (Linguistics), The Cost of Opportunity?
• Second Place: Sarah Zimmermann ’18 (Statistical Science), Studying the Real ‘Slums’ in Bangalore, Patna and Jaipur

Bass Connections Poster Awards

• Judges’ Selection: Identifying the Needs and Barriers to Patient-Family Education to Improve Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH), Uganda (Joao Ricardo Vissoci, Chinemerem Nwosu, Sandra Batakana, Silvia Vaca, Stephanie Lim, Linda Xu, Michael Muhumuza, Hussein Ssenyonjo, John Mukasa, Joel Kiryabwire, Emily Smith, Anthony Fuller, Gerald Grant, Michael Haglund), Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda
• Audience Choice: Automated Building Energy Consumption Estimation from Aerial Imagery (Mitchell Kim, Sebastian Lin, Sophia Park, Eric Peshkin, Nikhil Vanderklaauw, Yue Xi, Samit Sura, Hoël Wiesner, Kyle Bradbury, Leslie Collins, Timothy Johnson), Energy Data Analytics Lab
• Runner-up, Judges’ Selection and Audience Choice: What Is the Most Energy Efficient and Economic Solution to Ensure the Integrity of Corning’s Manufacturing Plants in the Event of an Electrical Outage? (Ziad El Arab, Kristen Collar, Ajay Desai, Zi Huang, Tracy Lu, Eunji Oh, Hui Pan, Anahita Sehgal, Mengyi Zhou, Gale Boyd, Josiah Knight), Energy Efficiency in Industry: High-tech Glass Manufacturing at Corning Inc.
• Runner-up, Judges’ Selection: What’s in a Face? (Lily Chaw, Elaine Cox, Nidhila Masha), Art, Vision and the Brain: Autism and Face Processing
• Runner-up, Audience Choice: Cultural Context and Accessibility of Sanitization Pumps Affect Hand Hygiene Practices in a Ugandan Neurosurgery Ward (Meggie Lund, Kelsey Graywill, Akash Patel, Sam Sadler), Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Education & Human Development Special Event

On April 19, Bass Connections in Education & Human Development hosted the second annual EHDx Talks in Penn Pavilion. Students from 13 projects presented five-minute talks, and all teams took part in the poster session. Students were also recognized for the best talk, poster and website.

• Best Website: The Cost of Opportunity?
• Best Talk: Voices Together
• Best Poster: STEM for All (Honorable Mentions: Voices Together and Art, Vision and the Brain)

Learn More

• View photos on Flickr and Facebook.
• Read Students Share Research Journeys at Bass Connections Showcase on the Duke Research Blog.
• Find out how to get involved in Bass Connections.