Graduate Student of the Month

Luetje’s research focuses on the function and design of timber concrete composite structures. Luetje is from Kansas City, Kansas, and his hobbies include cooking and reading. His favorite food is steak and risotto, and his advisor is Bill Zhang.

Tan’s research focuses on utilizing biological methods to identify biomass capable of large-scale biodegradable plastic production and optimizing production conditions to enhance yield. Most recently, she is working on optimizing the process of using switchgrass to produce ethanol, which can save water resources. Tan is from China, and her hobbies include working out, swimming, reading novels and hanging out with friends. Her favorite foods are spicy grilled fish and spicy chicken with chili peppers, and her top bucket list items are to graduate with her degree, visit Yellowstone National Park and go skiing in Colorado.

Ericson’s research focuses on sustainable wastewater treatment technologies, specifically, developing a microbial electrochemical cell platform to convert swine wastewater into hydrogen gas while minimizing energy input. Ericson is from Shawnee, Kansas, and his hobbies include hiking, camping and volunteering. His favorite food is biscuits and gravy, and his top bucket list item is to visit every U.S. national park.

Ereshi Akkamahadevi’s research area is explainable AI, focusing on the interpretation of hidden neuron activations in CNNs using concept induction. She developed an automation pipeline that streamed the interpretability workflow by leveraging semantic reasoning and large-scale knowledge graphs for concept induction. Her current research centers on extending neuron activation analysis across multiple layers of CNNs to enhance the interpretability of AI models and improve their transparency. Ereshi Akkamahadevi is from Karnataka, India, and her hobbies include painting and traveling. Her favorite food is idli chutney, and her top bucket list item is to visit Victoria Falls.

Gautam’s research focuses on influence maximization and critical node analysis within complex dynamic networks, employing causal and graph-theoretic approaches. This research is dedicated to enhancing resilience and developing adaptive strategies that not only mitigate disruptions in both social and physical network infrastructures but also amplify influence marketing within social platforms. Gautam is from India, and her hobbies include sports, music, weight lifting, cooking and coding. Her favorite foods are momos, Indian and Italian cuisine, and her top bucket list item is to fly a plane and go skydiving.

Blood’s research focuses on building a decision framework to optimize the decision on whether to raise or purchase replacement heifer in beef cattle cow-calf operations, combining both the economics and operations side of the decision-making. Blood is from Roeland Park, Kansas, and his hobbies include watching football, traveling and exploring restaurants. His favorite food is burnt ends, and his top bucket list item is to visit all seven continents.