Projects
Projects being conducted in the Science and Technology Building at Â鶹ÊÓƵ integrate research with teaching, offering our students the unique advantage of engaging in hands on laboratory experience. Students working on the most advanced technologies are shaping the future of careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field. The following projects are a snapshot of what some of our LU students and their faculty mentors have been doing within the field of STEM research.
Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor
Microbiology
Dr. Kucknoor's research is focused on immune responses to eukaryotic pathogens. She is currently studying pro-inflammatory responses generated against the protozoan parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis, which is a common, non viral STD causing pathogen. Dr. Kucknoor's other areas of research also include, inflammatory responses to gut microbe, Akkermancia mucinipila, gene knock-out analysis of several surface genes in Leishmania amazonensis species, utilizing several gene manipulation techniques. She is also involved in routine analysis of beach water samples for the Texas Beach Watch project for the Texas General Land Office.
Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr. Selvaratnam's research is focused on developing microalgae-based bioremediation pathways to treat multiple and industrial wastewater streams. Currently, at the Microalgae Research Lab in the Science and Technology Building, Dr. Selvaratnam's group explores an algal-based on-site irradiation pathway to treat landfill leachate. In addition to the nutrient removal, algal biomass produced from this system can be used for biofuel production, value-added bioproducts, and livestock feed supplements. In a separate research project, the group is actively working on treating produced water from the oil and gas industries.
Dr. Maryam Hamidi
Industrial Engineering
Iron Horse Awards LU Contract for Railyard Management Software
Dr. Hamidi recognized the lack of software management system in the railyard space along with a team of graduate students set out create a software that integrates several data sets, including the inbound and outbound readers, visualizes car locations, and provided a printable map of filtered cars. The software enable managers and operators to access, monitor and do operations more efficiently. The software provides several reports, including dwelling times, arrival and departure time of cars at the yard, which in future phases will help with optimal allocation of the cars on tracks.
Dr. James Henry
Chemical Engineering
Evaluation of Natural and Biologically Inspired Compounds as Potential Inhibitors of Alzheimer's Disease Progression
With significant increase in human life expectancy over the last century, diseases of aging have become a more significant concern. As such, Alzheimer's disease has moved to the forefront of medical concern. With the complexity of the disease compounded by the biological necessity of many of the players in the disease, it has become apparent that drug development and disease prevention will require a potential shift toward systemic, long-term therapy. As such, we are investigating the efficacy of more natural and biologically-inspired chemical structures as options toward the prevention, declination, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. These include aromatic and phenolic compounds found in polymeric sugars that mimic cellular structures and hormone analogs.