Biomedical engineering student Jacob Bornstein ’25, under the mentorship of assistant professor of biomedical engineering Isaac Macwan, PhD, looked at combining 3D bio-printing and electrospinning for tissue engineering as a way to develop or repair organs. The objective of this project was to align nanofibers, which serve as a guide for fibroblast muscle cells to grow on.

“I was interested in tissue engineering because it has the potential to save lives for patients who rely on organ donors,” said Bornstein. “This research gave methe opportunity to explore biomedical engineering and use specialized equipment. It also developed my skills in laboratory work, analyzing scientific journals, presenting, and networking.”

In a study focused on VPN login analysis and honeypots, Sean O’Hara ’24, Joseph Coccomo ’25, and Ruhuan Liao ’24, alongside advisors Mirco Speretta, PhD, and Joseph Wilson, looked at patterns of malicious activities and vulnerabilities in the Cybersecurity Lab’s network. The students also designed a honeypot, which is a protected web environment used to lure cybercriminals and monitor their activity.

Luring hackers to a honeypot “can reveal exploits found in different systems and networks, without the cost of risking valuable information and data,” noted the students in their final poster presentation.

In another project, mechanical engineering student Thomas Pris ’26 and biomedical engineering student Michael Sylvester ’25 designed and built an isodamping dynamometer (IDD) to measure plantar flexion, the extension of the ankle where the foot points downwards. Based upon previous device designs for lab use, the students engineered an updated mobile IDD for use outside of a lab.

“This IDD is designed to be a small, lightweight, compact mobile device capable of measuring plantar flexion of the ankle, said Pris. “The device itself is made mainly of 80/20 aluminum. A modular T-Slot aluminum bar, the TAS502 load cell, is attached to the top of the frame with a damper running down the middle and attached at the lower end to a shuttle. The shuttle allows for energy transfer vertically from the patient’s lower leg into the load cell. There is also a 3D printed footplate which positions the foot at 10 degrees of dorsiflexion.”

Pris said that he and Sylvester plan to complete the final design of the IDD this year. “Currently, we need to work on the friction issues between the 80/20 rails and the shuttle, as well as further quantifying the dampers we have. The next step would be to submit an IRB, which would review our current research and then allow us to start human subject testing to gather data.”

Other research projects conducted on campus this summer ranged from robotic arm programming to identifying the needs for virtual reality-based nursing training approaches.

At the conclusion of the Summer Research Residency program, students presented their posters at a summer symposium.