University News
From left to right, WIU Political Science and History Senior, Winter Hurst-Leadicker, WIU President Kristi Mindrup, WIU Biology Senior Naomi Scotland, and WIU Electrical Engineering Senior Ryan Vance.
From left to right, Interim CHASE Dean Kyle Mayborn, Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Programs Lori Baker-Sperry, WIU Provost Mark Mossman, WIU Political Science and History Senior Winter Hurst-Leadicker, WIU President Kristi Mindrup, WIU Biology Chair, and Professor Rich Musser, WIU Speech Pathology and Audiology Senior Reagan Erickson.
2026 Undergraduate Research Day Winners Announced
May 6, 2026
MACOMB/MOLINE, IL 鈥� The 春雨直播 Illinois University Centennial Honors College has announced the winners of the 23rd 春雨直播 Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Day, which was held April 15. A total of 44 scholarly presentations were delivered by 131 students, spanning 15 majors.
Podium Competition
First Place: Ryan Vance (senior, Electrical Engineering student of Le Claire, IA)- Adding Smart Functionality to Garage Door Openers.
Second Place: Naomi Scotland (senior, Biology student of Macomb)- Quantifying the Half-Maximal Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) of Unknown Compounds in Ovarian Cancer Cells.
Third Place: Winterann Hurst-Leadicker (senior, Political Science and History student of Godfrey, IL)- A Study of the Quality of Life of Transgender Individuals on Account of Jurisdictional Differences in the United States.
Poster Competition
First Place: John Reed IV (senior, Physics student of Galesburg, IL), Physics Professors P.K. Babu and Saisudha B. Mallur, Physics -- Variation of Refractive Index and Optical Band Gap in Zinc-Tellurium-Bismuth-Borate Glasses.
Second Place: Rachael Boushell (freshman, Forensic Chemistry student of Edwards, IL), Natalie Hudson (freshman, Forensic Chemistry student of Streator, IL), Payton Wiggins (senior, Forensic Chemistry student of Batavia, IL)- The Use of Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticle as Biosensors for the Detection of Methamphetamine.
Third Place: Hattie Mourning (senior, Exercise Science student of Lincoln, IL)- Corrective Exercises for Tech Neck Symptoms: A Literature Review.
Winners are awarded monetary prizes of $200 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place. Winners' abstracts can be viewed at wiu.edu/researchday.
All presenters and the titles of their abstracts can be viewed at wiu.edu/researchday/program.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing
Connect with us: