From a civil engineering student suggesting environmentally friendly ways to alleviate street flooding in New Orleans and visual art students offering life lessons with a dramatic rendering of the fabled wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood,” to student entrepreneurs pitching business ideas for a $10,000 grand prize, Innovate UNO offered a platform broad enough to highlight those endeavors and many more.

For two days this week, the fourth floor of the Earl K. Long Library and UNO’s Fine Arts Gallery were the center for the University of New Orleans’ 12th independent showcase in which faculty, staff and students were able to present their independent research, scholarly or creative activities to the campus community.

The Office of Research and the Earl K. Long Library hosted the symposium.

“The symposium allows the UNO community to discuss cutting edge innovation across disciplines,” said Carol Lunn, assistant vice president of research and economic development.

This year, Innovate UNO also involved several collaborators who offered additional opportunities to student participants, Lunn said. The Beach at UNO hosted StartUp UNO, a pitch competition; Louisiana Sea Grant presented their Coastal Connections Infographic Challenge and the UNO Graduate School hosted their Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition.

Over the course of the two-day event, 100 presentations were made, engaging nearly 170 presenters, co-presenters and judges. Presenters included UNO students, faculty and staff from every discipline.

Gavin Trinh, a senior majoring in civil engineering, was among those presenters. Trinh’s research included the addition of green infrastructure in a neighborhood to alleviate street flooding in New Orleans.

“My solution is LID, it’s a low impact development,” said Trinh, who suggested features such as permeable pavements and vegetative retention ponds. “It can absorb the water and hold the water there for a few hours before it goes to the outfall.”

Trinh said he appreciated the public platform the symposium offers.

“This is an opportunity for students to show what they can do and what they have been doing,” Trinh said.

A few aisles over, An Vu, a junior majoring in biology and chemistry, gave a presentation about the role of jumping genes and the evolution of insecticide resistance in Drosophila suzukii, also known as the fruit fly. The pest has grown into a global agricultural menace causing billions of dollars in crop damage, Vu said.

“(They are) killing the plants,” Vu said. “Knowing why this is happening we could possibly prevent this and think of ways to control these pests.”

Vu said Innovate UNO was her first time creating a formal presentation.

"It’s a very good opportunity because I’m around other undergraduates and my nerves are not as high!” Vu said.

For Barri Sullivan the symposium was not only fun, but it offered a bit of lagniappe she wasn’t expecting—networking.

“I’m getting to do a project on something that I’m passionate about and getting to talk about with people,” said Sullivan, a senior majoring in earth and environmental sciences with a concentration on coastal environments.

Sullivan’s research involved a behavioral study on the invasive Rio Grande cichlid fish species and its impact on the native redspotted sunfish that is battling for nesting in Bayou St. John.

“I’ve gotten to talk with other researchers who are doing things that are related to mine that I didn’t know they were doing,” Sullivan said. “I’m getting to see different perspectives and different ways that my research can be used toward their research or that theirs can be used towards mine.”

Innovate UNO wrapped up Thursday with an awards ceremony recognizing the winners of the research and creative symposium. The presentations were evaluated by 40 volunteer judges that included UNO faculty, staff and graduate students.

The best-ranked presentations, both undergraduate and graduate students, were awarded prizes by the Office of Research.

Undergraduate Winners
Oral
In the oral category, students presented for 15 minutes on any topic. They were judged on concept, approach and presentation. The top four winners will be invited to the University of Louisiana System Academic Summit at Louisiana Tech University, April 11-23, 2024.

•    First Place, $200
Kailey Bergeron and Jumana Suleima
Collaborator: Jennifer Spicer
Title: ScholarUp
Mentor: Benjamin Samuel

•    Second Place, $100
Mark Kostjuhin
Title: Computation Comparison of Satellite Data Arrays
Mentor: Kendal Leftwich

•    Additional Winners
Aaron Hock
Title: Simulation of Combined Cycle and Supercritical Rankine Cycle Using Liquid and Gaseous Ammonia as Fuel
Mentor: Ting Wang

Vincent Stevenson
Title: Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production Using Surplus Renewable Power
Mentor: Ting Wang

Avery Landeche
Collaborator: Ryan Mitchell
Title: Tetraquarks at the FOCUS Experiment
Mentor: Kendal Leftwich

Poster Presentations
In the poster category, students presented for an hour and a half on a topic in any discipline. They were judged on concept, approach, and presentation. The top five winners will be invited to the ULS Academic Summit.
•    First Place, $200
Jenan Ghannam
Title: Probing Fish Otoliths: Unveiling Heavy Metals through Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
Mentor: Phoebe Zito

•    Second Place, $100
Renata Dykstra
Title: Are Chemicals or Plants Better at Controlling Nitrate and Promoting Fish Growth
Mentor: Bernard Rees

•    Additional Winners
Trang Dang Nguyen
Title: Measuring cost of transport in Gulf killifish

Eian Bailey
Title: Staying on Track: Implementing Commuter Rail Service in Southeast Louisiana
Mentor: Guang Tian  

Juan Gomez
Title: Ames Test, genotoxicity of oil photoproducts
Mentor: Matthew Tarr, Mohamed Abdelaty

Visual Arts
In the visual arts category, students presented for 15 minutes on a work of art. They were judged on creativity, technique and enthusiasm. The top five winners will be invited to the ULS Academic Summit.
•    First Place, $200
Ashly Mcloney
Title: Child's Dress
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

•    Second Place, $100
Cameron Boni
Title: The Meeting
Mentor: Daniel Rule

•    Additional Winners
Nicholas Hutson
Title: Long Way Home
Mentor: Ariya Martin

Caitlin Moore
Title: No Title
Mentor: Kathy Rodriguez

Andre Pellebon
Title: The Jeweler
Mentor: Daniel Rule

Film
In the film category, students presented a film or documentary they have made. They were judged on concept, approach and presentation. The winner was also invited to the ULS Academic Summit.
•    First Place, $200
Tori Register
Title: The Work of Chung-Hoon Chung

Privateer Choice
Symposium attendees may vote for their favorite presentations. Privateer Choice awards were given to the student presenters who received the most votes from our Privateer community.
•    Winner, $50
Jenan Ghannam
Category: Poster
Title: Probing Fish Otoliths: Unveiling Heavy Metals through Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
Mentor: Phoebe Zito

Graduate Winners
Oral
•    First Place, $200
Anika Ofori
Title: A Study of the Mobility Culture of New Orleans East, as Researcher and Resident: With Insights on Road Use Behaviors of Pedestrians, Bicyclists and Transit Riders and Recommendations.
Mentor: Tara Tolford

•    Second Place, $100
Soumyadip Patra
Title: Asymptotically Optimal Adversarial Strategies for the Probability Estimation Framework
Mentor: Peter Bierhorst

Poster Presentations
•    First Place, $200
Anupa Silwal
Title: Anupa Silwal for their presentation of Assessing Hydrologic Effectiveness of Proposed LID in the Gatto Park Sub Watershed Site
Mentor: Gianna Cothren

•    Second Place, $100
Eduardo Turcios
Title: Common themes in spectroscopic oil signatures from three oil spill-affected sites in Minnesota
Mentor: David Podgorski

Film
•    First Place, $200
Shannen Leafs
Title: DOPPELGÄNGER
Mentor: Katie Garagiola

Privateer Choice
•    Winner, $50
Anupa Silwal
Category: Poster
Title: Assessing Hydrologic Effectiveness of Proposed LID in the Gatto Park Sub Watershed Site
Mentor: Gianna Cothren

Engagement Awards
Most-Named Mentor
The Most-Named Mentor award goes to the UNO staff or faculty member who mentored the most student presenters at Innovate UNO. This was the second year in a row that Kathy Rodriguez won the award.
•    Kathy Rodriguez mentored eight visual arts presentations.