WKU hosts nanocollider, reports on workforce development, undergrad and high school student success

Earlier this April, Western Kentucky University hosted the 5th KY NSF EPSCoR nanoCollider. KY NSF EPSCoR nanoColliders allow for participants to more broadly identify opportunities to enhance existing cross-institutional collaborations or establish new connections for potential partnerships.

Dr. Farhad Ashrafrzadeh, Professor and Founding  Director of Center for Energy Systems, https://www.wku.edu/ces/, highlighted the research capabilities and incredible progress in workforce development at WKU, funded in part by NSF. He noted EPSCoR impact at WKU since 2014 and the tremendous amount of funding growth all starting with a Research Award

CES Staff Research Engineer Landon Owens presented his students’ work with collaborative robots, specifically the Kinova Robotic Arm and Autonomous Cart​, utilizing software integration for object detection. Sahil Krishnani, a high school researcher at CES, presented his work to design and develop a lost-cost drone with capabilities to detect water pollutants. 

WKU has strong outreach and workforce development elements, presented here as well  through high school student engagement. KAMPERS helped fund the building drones that can recognize water pollutants. 

WKU has strong outreach and workforce development elements, empowering students through student-centric applied research, connecting with industry. 

Dr. Moon-Soo Kim, Professor of Chemistry at WKU, and junior biochemistry major Langley Williams, presented their research into the detection of pathogens and antibiotic resistant genes for applications in 3D-printing for the medical industry, which has been published in the Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology and presented by Langley at the American Chemical Society Conference in San Diego, California this past march. 

Watch the entire presentation here: