Students earn top honors in Hazleton's annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Male student holding certificate next to female administrator.

Brett Wilson, a second-year chemistry major, earned first place in the STEM category at Penn State Hazleton's 2022-23 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Credit: Penn State
April 17, 2023

HAZLETON, Pa. — Penn State Hazleton’s Undergraduate Research committee has announced the winners of the campus’ annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Held from April 3-7 at the Mary M. and Bertil E. Lofstrom Library, the symposium showcased student research or scholarly work performed with Penn State Hazleton faculty members. Works were submitted in two categories: arts, humanities and social sciences and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The winners and their submissions were:

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)

First place: Brett Wilson, “Soluble Dioxazines for Organic Electronic Devices” (Research adviser: Dan Patel, assistant professor of chemistry)

Second place: Angelica Sofia Pares Alicea and Kevin Lowen, “Applications of Molecular Sequencing Analysis in Fisheries Ecology” (Research adviser: Megan Schall, assistant professor of biology)

Third place: Sidney Przybylski, Paul Kramer, and Logan Yaletchko, “Lake Nona Town Center Solar Generation and Storage” (Research adviser: Joseph Ranalli, associate professor of engineering)

Arts, humanities and social sciences

First place: Randy Miller, “Effects of Colonialization on West African Male Culture” (Research adviser: Eileen Morgan, assistant teaching professor of English)

Students could also elect to compete for the University Libraries' Undergraduate Research Award: Excellence in Information Literacy. The winners in that category were:

First place: Sidney Przybylski, Paul Kramer, and Logan Yaletchko, “Lake Nona Town Center Solar Generation and Storage” (Research adviser: Joseph Ranalli, associate professor of engineering)

Second place: Randy Miller, “Effects of Colonialization on West African Male Culture” (Research adviser: Eileen Morgan, assistant teaching professor of English)

Third place: Sarah DeMonia, “Troubleshooting E-bike Batteries” (Research adviser: William Yourey, associate professor of engineering)

Winners of the Undergraduate Research Symposium will now have the option to compete in the Eastern Regional Undergraduate Research Symposium at Penn State York on April 22.

Undergraduate Research Symposium
Male student holding certificate next to female administrator.

Brett Wilson, a second-year chemistry major, earned first place in the STEM category at Penn State Hazleton's 2022-23 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Credit: Penn State
Male student holding certificate in front of poster board with two female faculty next to him.

Second-year students Kevin Lowen and Angelica Sofia Pares Alicea (not pictured) pose with Chancellor Elizabeth Wright and Assistant Professor of Biology Megan Schall after winning second place in the STEM category in Penn State Hazleton's Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, April 7.

Credit: Penn State
Four students holding certificates in front of poster board.

Engineering majors (from center) Sidney Przybylski, Paul Kramer, and Logan Yaletchko won third place in the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 7. The group paused for a photo with Chancellor Elizabeth Wright and Associate Professor of Engineering Joe Ranalli.

Credit: Penn State
Male student in dark hooded sweatshirt holding certificate next to female administrator.

Randy Miller won first prize in the Arts and Humanities category at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, April 7, for his poster titled "Effects of Colonialization on West African Male Culture."

Credit: Penn State