Prize Winners 2016 – 2017

Sarah Brown
The Changing Patient Experience in the Digital Health Era
Mentor: John Silvester
Year: Junior
Major: Human Biology and Society, Entrepreneurship Minor

My research will survey the healthcare experience from the perspective of a college aged consumer and propose new strategies to digitize healthcare. The goal would be to propose a thoughtful and creative answer to the question of how the internet and modern technology can improve the healthcare experience for young consumers and potentially make it cheaper and more effective.

Results: Sarah Brown’s Quad Chart

Jeremy Giampaoli
Brain-Computer Interfaces for the Control of Physical Technologies
Mentor: Roy Doumani
Year: Junior
Major: Mechanical Engineering, Conservation Biology Minor

I propose that Brain-Computer Interfaces can be used to control drones and other technologies, which have a potentially life-saving impact on military operations and medical fields, as well as providing technological accessibility for working-class citizens.

Results: Jeremy Giampaoli’s Quad Chart

Michael Ho
Virtual Reality in the fine arts
Mentor: Jayathi Murthy
Major: Fine Arts and Design and Media Arts

With the growing presence of virtual reality in the dissemination of online visual culture, I seek to introduce fine arts into a virtual space, delivered through the internet where it can be easily consumed/experienced by the public.

Results: Michael Ho’s Quad Chart

Ashley Hoffman
Filter Bubbles
Mentor: Jean-François Blanchette
Year: Junior
Major: Computer Science, Art History Minor

I want to research how young people can reconnect and “catch up” with the common popular knowledge and cultures of older generations. I believe that the exponential technological advancements have exaggerated age differences, and I want to create something to allow young people to find things besides what is happening right now and connect with the past.

Results: Ashley Hoffman’s Quad Chart

Kuan (Vic) Hsuan Yeh
Keystroke Dynamics using Neural Network Techniques
Mentor: Venky Harinarayan
Year: Senior
Major: Computer Science and Physics

My goal is to propose a new technique to distinguish the imposter from the real user through keystroke dynamics using neural network and isomorphic techniques.

Results: Kuan Hsuan Yeh’s Quad Chart

Ryou Kato
Live Virtual Reality Streaming
Mentor: Leonard Kleinrock
Year: Senior
Major: Mechanical Engineering

I would like to propose Live Virtual-Reality Streaming, or LVRing for short (pronounced Levering, like the street near UCLA). With LVRing, footage from a camera will be streamed to a virtual-reality (VR) headset through the Internet in real-time allowing the VR user not only to view footage but to also interact with the environment to a higher degree.

Results: Ryou Kato’s Quad Chart

David Gary Khachatrian
Investigating whether primary sequence parameters can predict protein function
Mentor: Safiya Noble
Year: Senior
Major: Bioengineering

Results: David Khachatrian’s Quad Chart

Cheechee Lin
Designing the M-Commerce Shopping Experience
Mentor: Michael Silton
Year: Senior
Major: Communication Studies

I’m interested in evaluating the current structure for fashion m-commerce platforms (both mobile app and mobile browser) and how it influences a (millennial) consumer’s decision making process (to buy vs. simply browse).

Results: Cheechee Lin’s Quad Chart

Wan Di Liu
Researched affective computing for an online therapy artificial intelligence that analyzes human sentiment
Mentor: Eric Haseltine
Year: Sophomore
Major: Linguistics and Computer Science

Niyati Patel
Mentor: Ellen Levy
Year: Senior
Major: Economics and Human Biology and Society

I will conduct research on how the Internet of Things and Big Data (particularly, its use in the “Smart Cities” movement) will impact existing public infrastructure, workforce development (job creation/loss & training), and civic engagement in urban environments, focusing on Los Angeles as a case study.

Shanmukha Srinivas
Computer Lab Education in Under-Resourced Squatter Communities
Mentor: Amit Sahai
Year: Senior
Major: Psychobiology, Global Health Minor

I propose introduction of a computer lab and internet to Maclovio Rojas, an underserved, squatter community located south of the Mexican border. The computer lab aims to improve English proficiency and literacy, health education awareness, and telecommunication between Maclovio and health professionals in both Tijuana and the United States.

I propose researching how to develop a new language learning tool that provides visual feedback to language learners using frequency analysis. By displaying a visual representation of what a target sentence or word looks like, the learner could better match tones displayed and learn tonal languages more effectively.

Results: Annita Kuo’s Quad Chart