Graduate Student of the Month

Johnson’s research is a case study focused on Portland limestone cement in tilt-up construction, specifically, an anonymous questionnaire to examine communication gaps among suppliers, contractors and engineers and the resulting impact on construction performance. Johnson is from Hutchinson, Kansas, and her hobbies include shooting her shotgun, working out, going to the lake, riding four-wheelers, line dancing, swing dancing and fishing. Her favorite food is chicken, and her top bucket list item is to go bungee jumping off a cliff.

Mahara’s research focuses on the microbial treatment of recalcitrant wastewater generated from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), which is an emerging technology for municipal waste management and renewable energy generation. By using targeted microorganisms, Mahara transforms this challenging industrial byproduct into a viable feedstock that can be recirculated back to the HTL to enhance renewable energy generation and close the loop on municipal waste management. Mahara is from Kathmandu, Nepal, and her hobbies include watching movies, arts and crafts and spending time with her husband. Her favorite foods are momo, laphing and sekuwa, and her top bucket list items are to go on a tour of Europe, go snorkeling and go paragliding.

Ebrahimi’s research aims to reduce the cost, time and experimental burden associated with developing complex chemical and biological processes. He develops mechanistic and data-driven models that can make reliable predictions even when experimental data are limited. These models help identify the most informative experiments, reduce unnecessary testing and enable process optimization through virtual experimentation. Ebrahimi is from Iran, and his hobbies include going to the gym and learning new sports. His favorite food is kabab, and his top bucket list item is to travel to South America.

Hoffman’s research is focused on resource recovery from wastewater, specifically, harnessing microbial electrochemical cells (MXCs) to recover high-value products like hydrogen gas, hydrogen peroxide and volatile fatty acids, which is complemented by predictive mathematical modeling to simulate and optimize experimental outcomes. Hoffman is from India, and her hobbies include sketching, baking and practicing the piano. Her favorite food is goat kheema, and her top bucket list item is to climb the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Ghanaatian’s research focuses on deep learning and machine learning applications, specifically, developing and applying advanced learning methods to address complex real-world problems. Ghanaatian is from Iran, and his top hobby is watching movies. His favorite food is ghormeh sabzi, and his top bucket list items are to visit the Grand Canyon and to travel to space (if NASA cooperates).

Rashid’s research builds graph-based machine learning surrogates for spatiotemporal processes, which stand in for slow, physics-based simulators at a fraction of the computational cost. Rashid is from Bangladesh, and her hobbies include baking and reading. Her favorite food is chocolate truffle cake, and her top bucket list item is to catch the cherry blossoms in Japan.

Roy’s research focuses on fabricating two-dimensional material-based transistors and implementing them as sensors. Roy is from Rangpur, Bangladesh, and his hobbies include fishing and traveling. His favorite food is biriyani and anything cooked by his mother, and his top bucket list item is to feed a wild squirrel and record it.

Eckerberg’s research focuses on radiation epidemiology, specifically, the development of novel modeling approaches to better estimate the human health risks associated with ionizing radiation exposure. Eckerberg is from Olathe, Kansas, and his hobbies include running, golf, reading and long-distance paddling. His favorite food is a ribeye steak, and his top bucket list item is to visit every Major League Baseball stadium.