Maddie is a mechanical and manufacturing engineering major with minors in general business and emerging technology in business, and design. Maddie was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Drs. Andrew Sommers and Jinjuan She from the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering. Maddie’s research has spanned from designing a robot to enhance workplace safety by automating the turf maintenance process to studying factors that impact equal contributions in the engineering design process to designing an assistive stretching device which allows patients with neuromuscular conditions to improve their wellness. Her nominator Dr. Sommers, notes that Maddie constantly looks for opportunities to have a positive impact on society, adding, “I have a great deal of respect for this young woman, her talents, her attitude and her character.”

Rachel is a chemical engineering major with a co-major in energy engineering and a minor in paper engineering. She was nominated by Drs. Keith Hohn and Catherine Almquist, from the department of chemical, paper and biomedical engineering. In her research, Rachel has she has synthesized a novel silica catalyst, characterized it, and used it to catalyze the reaction. She has presented this work at Miami as well as national meetings, and is in the process of publishing it. Rachel’s nominator, Dr. Hohn, noted that she is “sharp, very mature, and a good communicator” and also wrote that she is “genuinely curious about research.”

Taylor is majoring in biomedical engineering with a premedical studies co-major. She was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Drs. Jason Boock and Andrew Paluch from the department of chemical, paper, and biomedical engineering. Taylor’s research explores a theory around quality experimental solubility data for pharmaceuticals in binary solvents. She has conducted a literature search, selected and assessed force fields to model the intra- and inter-molecular interactions in the system, and performed free energy calculations and structural analysis to support the theory. Taylor’s nominator, Dr. Paluch wrote, “She is the only student I have ever had hour-long conversations with about hydrogen bonding. Moreover, she is the only student who I could then suggest texts and manuscripts to read on the topic, who not only read them all, but was able to understand them all and apply them to our systems!”

Lake a biology major with a premedical studies co-major. He was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Drs. Katia-Del Rio Tsonis from the biology department and Dr. Carol Fabby from the department of physics. Lake works in Dr. Del Rio Tsonis’s lens regeneration lab where Lake has measured the volume of regenerated lenses and processed the images of up to 30 salamander eyes. This work has led to conference presentations and his 3D images of these eyes are included in a recent publication. Dr. Del Rio Tsonis describes Lake as “inquisitive, excited and passionate” about his research.

Nick’s major is biology. He is also earning a co-major in neuroscience and premedical studies, and a minor in nutrition. He was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Dean of University Libraries Jerome Conley and Dr. Justin Saul from the department of chemical, paper and biomedical engineering. Nick’s work ion Dr. Saul’s lab focuses on developing biomimetic ovarian constructs as a cell-based replacement for pharmacological hormone therapy. In his particular role, Nick has developed a multi-compartment mathematical model based on differential equations. His nominator, Dean Conley describes Nick as “one of the kindest, smartest, and emphatic students I have ever met in 30 years at Miami.”

Jules is double majoring in biochemistry and nutrition with a co-majors in environmental science and premedical studies. She was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Drs. Ann Hagerman and Heeyoung Tai from the department of chemistry and biochemistry. Described by Dr. Haferman as a “self-confident, energetic young scientist who combines technical talent with intellectual curiosity,” Jules’s work in Dr. Hagerman’s lab involves the standard purification of a plant natural product. She has expanded this work to preparing and analyzing nanoparticles with natural products incorporated into particles to stabilize them, and has started doing her own research in this area.

Tommy earner his degree in data analytics along with a minor in statistics. He was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Dr. Jerrad Wang from the department of sport leadership and management and Dr. Thomas Fisher from the department of statistics. As one of the founders, and later president, of the Student Manager Program at Miami Baseball Team, Tommy won the 2023 national championship of the National Collegiate Sports Analytics organization. Dr. Wang describes Tommy as representing the “highest standar of experiential learning in sport analytics.”

Juliana is a geology major with a co-major in environmental science and a certificate in geographic information systems. Juliana was nominated for the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award by Drs. Mark Krekeler and Claire McLeod from the geology department. Juliana has conducted and functionally led a spectroscopy project on cosmetics to serve as a proof-of-concept study for hyperspectral remote sensing detection of blush on numerous substrates that would be common in crime scenes and has developed extraordinary skills in the area of instrumentation. Dr. Krekeler describes Juliana as “thoughtful, careful and considerate and very well organized,” noting that she is lead author on one publication.

Landon is working towards a geology major with a co-major in environmental science and a certificate in geographic information systems. Landon’s nomination came from Drs. Claire McLeod and Mark Krekeler from the geology department. Landon’s research examines the chemical makeup of different samples, using the department’s Powder X-Ray Diffractometer. She has submitted a publication based on this research and has served as a TA in several geology courses. Her nominator, Dr. McCleod, noted that Landon’s “professional maturity is rate among even some graduate students and I highly commend her for this.”

Hannah Wudke, 

Umar Arshad, 

Reilly Powers, 

Nina Liebes McClellan, 

Ruby Schwan, 

Thi Thu (Mary) Huong Le,