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Quintet shines at Research and Creative Activities Forum

April 10, 2019

Clockwise from top left: Mitch Bellrichard, Shishi Chen, Behnam Jahangiri Koohbanani, Amir Mehdi Mofrad and Nasibeh Zanjirani Farahani.

Five Mizzou Engineering graduate students participated in the Research and Creative Activities Forum on Friday at Jesse Hall. The event was sponsored by the MU Graduate Professional Council, and the forum’s stated goal is “to showcase research and creative activities while providing valuable experience and feedback.”

“I really appreciated the GPC for providing this great opportunity,” Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student Shishi Chen said. “I will definitely go back and learn from this experience going forward.”

All five won awards in the Engineering, Computer and Information Sciences category:

  • First Place: Mitch Bellrichard (Biomedical, Biological and Chemical Engineering), “Genipin Crosslinking to Promote the Attachment and Proliferation of Fibroblasts on a Ligament Scaffold”
  • Second Place: Nasibeh Zanjirani Farahani (Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering), “An Integrated Service Network Design of Emergency Medical Services for Trauma Patients” and Amir Mehdi Mofrad (BBCE), “Detailed Insight in Zeolites by Today’s Jack of All Trades, ‘Density Functional Theory’”
  • Third Place: Chen, “Using PET Waste Plastic as an Additive to Develop Sustainable Asphalt Pavement” and Behnam Jahangiri Koohbanani (Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Performance Characteristics of Modern Recycled Asphalt Mixes in Missouri, Including Ground Tire Rubber, Recycled Roofing Shingles and Rejuvenators”

Participants gave poster presentations on their research to a group of faculty from a variety of research backgrounds, giving the graduate researchers valuable experience in explaining their research to an audience that wasn’t necessarily technically proficient in their field.

“The judges have been outside of my area of expertise, so it’s interesting to see what someone who’s not in my field was going to know and what they were going to ask,” Bellrichard said.