2013 I&E Summer Scholars Projects - Science

  1. Computational investigation of signaling molecules’ biological effects and detection agents

    Quantum chemical studies will be employed to elucidate some un-solved problems of the structural, spectroscopic, and mechanistic properties of protein complexes with signaling molecules, as well as design aspects of their efficient molecular probes. These signaling molecules have significant biological effects that may be used in the treatments of many health problems, such as cardiovascular diseases, reduction of neuron damages, and cancers.

    Advisor: Prof. Yong Zhang
    yong.zhang@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5513

  2. A mechanistic investigation of highly tunable metalloporphyrin catalysts

    Heme proteins are versatile biocatalysts for numerous chemical and biochemical reactions. Their biomimetic metalloporphyrin complexes have also been found to be efficient catalysts for a wide range of organic reactions, such as C-H bond functionalization. Selective C-H functionalization represents a powerful paradigm-shifting strategy in organic synthesis that can streamline and accelerate synthesis of complex organic molecules and libraries of similar compounds to promote development of new drugs with reduced costs. Given the highly tunable nature of metalloporphyrins, a systematic investigation using accurate quantum chemical methods to characterize their reactivity nature and selectivity trends will facilitate development and optimization of highly selective metalloporphyrin catalysts with minimal toxicity and cost.

    Advisor: Prof. Yong Zhang
    yong.zhang@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5513

  3. Interactions of bioactive peptides with cells

    Advisor: James Liang
    jliang2@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5640

  4. Biomaterials for anti-fouling and drug delivery

    Advisor: James Liang
    jliang2@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5640

  5. Synthesis of bioactive compounds for bacteria and cancer cells.

    Advisor: James Liang
    jliang2@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5640

  6. Stereo Vision for Driver Assistance and Autonomous Navigation

    In parallel with Google's driverless car project most automobile manufacturers are engaged in research for lower cost solution to assist the driver by sensing the environment and providing real time feedback. Examples include obstacle avoidance, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warnings etc. A key technology for achieving these goals is stereo vision. Using input from two or more cameras the car's computer can estimate distances and velocities with much higher accuracy than by using a single camera. Several projects are available in this area, see for example, for students with knowledge of C/C++ and geometry.

    Advisor: Prof. Philippos Mordohai
    Philippos.Mordohai@stevens.edu
    Ext: 5611

  7. Security and privacy in distributed systems

    Research focuses on cryptography and its applications to addressing issues of security and privacy in distributed systems. In particular, I am interested in designing and building practical software systems whose security and privacy properties can be modeled and assessed within the mathematical framework of modern cryptography. I also develop efficient cryptographic protocols for security tasks like data secrecy and authentication that are quantifiably hard to break, and investigate the viability of new mathematical problems as the source of computational intractability suitable for cryptographic applications.

    Advisor: Prof. Antonio R. Nicolosi
    nicolosi@stevens.edu
    Ext: 8035

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Ms. Sandra Furnbach
Programs Manager