Graduate Student of the Month
The Carl R. Ice College of Engineering recognizes one outstanding graduate student from each department during the academic year. This program was established to enhance graduate student recognition and development. Students are nominated each month by their department heads.
April 2025 recognitions
Smith’s research focuses on ecohydrology and ecohydraulics, specifically, investigating how shifts in the Arctic’s climate impact environmental processes such as surface heat exchange, hydrometeorology and subsurface hydraulics. Modeling such processes could show a relationship between observed shifts in Arctic climate and the migratory patterns and population dynamics of reindeer in Norway and Finland. Smith is from Mechanicsville, Virginia, and his hobbies include fishing, running and snowboarding. His favorite food is Brunswick stew, and his top bucket list item is to go heli-skiing in Alaska.
Mhamankar’s research introduces an Axial-Torsion testing method to address unreliable shear strength predictions in cement-based materials caused by uncontrolled stress-states in conventional tests. The novel setup generates precise shear, tension, and combined stress conditions, revealing significant discrepancies between indirect and actual tensile strengths, particularly in advanced materials like UHPCs. Mhamankar is from India, and his hobbies include arts, stargazing, astrophotography, traveling, hiking and camping. His favorite food is Indian cuisine.
Oliveira Cabral’s research focuses on utilization of modeling methods to describe various multiphysics processes in chemical engineering, particularly those involving chemical-energy integration and renewable technologies. Oliveira Cabral is from Minas Gerais, Brazil, and his hobbies include music and sociology. His favorite food is anything but green beans, and his top bucket list item is to see Halley’s Comet in 2061.
James’ research focuses on designing data-driven tools to automatically detect struggling programmers using keystroke data and exploring how computer science teacher professional development impacts identity, commitment, confidence and competence in teaching computer science especially in underserved communities. James is from the Kogi state of Nigeria, and his hobbies include playing soccer, ping pong and guitar. His favorite food is rice with vegetables and fish, and his top bucket list items are to visit all the continents of the world and become ambidextrous.
Sadoughi’s research focuses on power electronics and motor drives, specifically, suppressing overvoltage stress on motor windings due to fast semiconductor switching. Sadoughi is from Iran, and his hobbies include going to the gym, football and video games.
Freeman’s research focuses on game theory, specifically, how and why people decide to join or avoid political revolutions. Using game theory, it models regime change as a strategic decision-making problem where individuals weigh the risks and rewards of acting against an existing authority. Freeman is from DeSoto, Kansas, and his hobbies include fitness, martial arts and drumming. His favorite food is tacos, and his top bucket list item is to start a successful business.
Ahmad’s research focuses on creating a framework for particle tracing and transit time calculation through the vasculature inside a voxelized phantom. The complete framework will facilitate blood cells and/or radionuclides tracing, dose calculation, personalized dosimetry and drug testing. Ahmad is from Bangladesh, and his hobbies include fishing, traveling and photography. His favorite foods are biriyani, burgers, steak, and fish and chips, and his top bucket list item is to see the Aurora Borealis.