Connor William Brown
Movement preparation and execution are central to our everyday experience, yet we do not yet understand how the complex motor computations required for these actions are performed. In an attempt to understand how movements are prepared, many models have been created–using brain activity to predict someones intended movement before it is executed–with limited efficacy. A recent breakthrough in primate research provides a potential framework for exploring these preparatory computations further, but due to technical and ethical constraints the development and evaluation of this model has been limited to research involving […]
Greg Pommier
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss around the world. Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), the most common form of glaucoma, arises from functional and morphological pathologies in the trabecular meshwork (TM), a band of tissue in the anterior segment of the eye that regulates intraocular pressure (IOP) by controlling outflow of the aqueous humor. In this project, I will construct a novel three-dimensional (3D) bioscaffold structure for TM cell culture that will be used to construct a TM tissue model and mimic in vivo conditions. This bioengineering […]
Jeremy Wayland
The central engine of an active galaxy is a mysterious place. Simulations and physical theories have melded general relativity, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism to hypothesize the prescription of particle acceleration and jet accretion in active galactic nuclei (AGN). These complex environments surrounding the black hole may launch relativistic jets that radiate the greatest energy output of any known astrophysical source. Their influence on galaxy and star formation is undeniable, and yet these systems are not yet well understood. There remains a gap between theory and observation. My project attempts […]
Jiahan Du
The rich theory of algebraic computational complexity aims to study the complexity of objects with an intrinsic mathematical structure. In particular, for each n, matrix multiplication of two n n matrices can be expressed as a bilinear map, which corresponds to a tensor via a well-known isomorphism. The rank of this tensor controls the asymptotic complexity of matrix multiplication of a particular dimensionality. Despite this powerful relationship, much is still unsettled; for instance, the rank of the tensor corresponding to n = 3 is not even known. But to date, […]
Sabrina Berger
The Very Large Array (VLA) radio interferometer in New Mexico is an excellent instrument to look for radio transients such as fast radio bursts (FRBs). FRBs are intense radio signals lasting milliseconds that do not yet have a confirmed origin. An interferometer employs an array of radio telescopes to observe radio frequencies. FRBs are a new major interest in radio astronomy because of their mysterious nature and increasing number of observations. Many radio telescopes are beginning to design and construct FRB pipelines that search incoming data in real time. Besides […]
Yizhen Zhang
Vision is one of the most important senses in vertebrates. In adults, photoreceptors in the retina convert light into electrical signals, interneurons modify these signals, and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) integrate the signals and send output to the brain. In most newborn mammals, photoreceptors and interneurons are not yet fully functional. However, newborns still respond to light. How are they seeing? A RGC subpopulation are atypical photoreceptors that respond to light in development. These intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs) encode light intensity and send output to the brains centers for mood […]
Spencer Doyle
Transition metal dichalcogenides make up a class of 2D semiconductors that are of high interest in the field of condensed matter currently. I plan on synthesizing two primary intercalated versions of these compounds: Fe(1/3)NbS2 and Fe(1/3)TaS2. These two compounds have competing magnetic orderings (antiferromagnetism and ferromagnetism respectively), so what happens in a hybrid material where both Nb and Ta are present? The Fe sites in Fe(1/3)NbS2 already host frustrated moments, but by incorporating some ferromagnetic ordering from the Ta compound, the frustration can be tweaked. Frustration is one of the […]
Jessica Bonnar
In eukaryotes, an essential growth regulator is a multi-subunit, plasma membrane(PM)-associated protein kinase, the Target of Rapamycin Complex 2 (or TORC2). Work using Saccharomyces cerevisiae has established that TORC2 is responsible for controlling processes that preserve PM homeostasis and that regulate actin polymerization. Studies have shown that the localization of TORC2 to the plasma membrane is essential for the complex’s function. However, little is understood about the processes that regulate the assembly, maintenance and activity of TORC2 itself. Avo3, a TORC2 subunit necessary for maintaining stability of the complex, contains […]
Kyler Natividad
Electromigration is a phenomenon in which an electric current induces the gradual motion of atoms in a conductor. While electromigration has been observed at the macroscopic scale, its fundamental mechanisms are not well-understood at the atomic scale. The goal of my research project is to investigate the interaction between the electric current and conductor-supported atoms that gives rise to electromigration. Electromigration has important effects on the reliability of electronic components, and has many proposed applications, including uses in nanomachine actuation, chemical transport, and as a method for the nanoscale mixing […]
Thomas Yerxa
Computers learn to solve problems by slowly and continuously changing their strategy, this makes solving problems that involve discrete steps problematic. I will be researching the use of hyper dimensional computing to implement differentiable memory structures that interface with neural networks. Many data structures are inherently discrete which makes them difficult to incorporate into schemes because of the strategy utilized by computers during the training process. Recent work has shown that neural networks that have the ability to learn how to use external data structures outperform traditional networks in an […]