University of Tennessee
Materials Science & Engineering Department


MSE @ EURēCA Poster Competition
Knoxville, TN, April 15, 2025


The Materials Science & Engineering Department was well represented at the 2025 Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA), an annual poster event and competition at the University of Tennessee.

We begin this photo-documentary with the two MSE senior design teams. MSE seniors (left to right): Meredith Harpel, Maddie Maben, Caleb Allen, John Hinton & Kaden Castanada worked under the mentorship of Prof. Claudia Rawn on a project sponsored by MSE alumni Dr. John Salasin and Sabrina McCoy at BWXT.


The second senior design team included (left to right) Davis Granger, Nolan Lees, Daniel Rasmussen, Jakob Scroggins & Fabriana Prawiranata. They were mentored by Prof. Dustin Gilmer with timely assistance from Dr. Jerry Egeland. As part of their project they traveled to a studio where they spent 24 hours on set, filming an episode of Cast in Steel a spin-off of the popular "Forged in Fire" series on the History Channel. For the competition, they were one of fifty university teams who cast a replica of George Washington's sword in steel. They all signed an NDA, agreeing to keep silent regarding the outcome of the competition until after the broadcast of the episode, so their lips were sealed. I asked to be informed when the episode will air so we can have a watch party in Ferris!


The next fifteen(!) posters feature research projects performed (mostly) by MSE undergraduates as well as a few by UTK engineering undergraduates from other departments working in the research groups of MSE professors. MSE junior Jocelyn Hess presented her work related to an on-going Volkswagen project at the Center for Renewable Carbon (CRC) at the University of Tennessee of Agriculture. Jocelyn (Goldwater scholar!) is mentored by recent MSE graduate Dr. Cece Grubb and Prof. David Harper with occasional encouragement from Prof. David Keffer.


MSE junior (Goldwater Scholar and ace aircraft mechanic!) presented her award-winning work on high entropy ceramics. Marlena works in the Scintillation Materials Research Center (SMRC) at the University of Tennessee under the mentorship of Prof. Mariya Zhuravleva & Prof. Chuck Melcher. UTK MSE PhD student Kaden Anderson & UTK alum Dr. Luis Stand (MS (2015) and PhD (2018)) were co-authors on the work.


MSE sophomores Luke Sakhleh and Becan Hahn presented their work performed under the mentorship of MSE PhD student, Vincent Garcia (student ambassador of the Philippines), and Prof. Claudia Rawn.


MSE junior, Mohammad Husein (generous benefactor to the MSE Community Garden) reported on work that he performed with recent MSE graduate, Dr. Cotton Pekol & Prof. David Harper. Mohammad is co-author on the manuscript currently under review.


MSE senior, Meredith Harpel (outstanding MSE ambassador) presented her research performed under the mentorship of Prof. Mariya Zhuravleva & Prof. Chuck Melcher in the SMRC. MSE PhD student, Nathan Gillespie and Dr. Luis Stand were also coauthors.


MSE sophomore Luke Wathen presented his research done under the mentorship of Prof. Gerd Duscher & Prof. Eric Lass. Also contributing to the poster were esteemed UTK MSE alumni Dr. Max Neveau (BS (2019), MS (2023) & PhD (2024)) and Emma Counce (BS (2022) and MS (2025)) as well as current MSE doctoral student Elizabeth Heon.


The dynamic duo of MSE freshman, Callie Jee, and MSE senior, Fabriana Prawiranata (Rubik's Cube Wizard), teamed up to perform MD simulations of carbon capture using membranes from abundant and cheap feedstocks derived from waste of the pulp and paper industry. Callie and Fabriana are mentored by MSE PhD student, Mohsen Samandari, Prof. David Keffer and Prof. David Harper.


MSE junior Megan Gillespie (a decorated award winner from last year's competition) presented her research performed in the SMRC under the mentorship of Prof. Mariya Zhuravleva & Prof. Chuck Melcher. She collaborated with recent MSE graduate, Dr. Kim Pestovich, and Dr. Luis Stand.


MSE senior Kaden Castanada presented his research performed under the mentorship of Prof. Kate Page, in collaboration with Prof. Toby Nelson and current MSE PhD student Joshua Safin (UTK MSE BS).


MSE sophomore Ronan Tollefsen presented on electrospinning lignin-derived fractionates for many applications. Ronan is mentored by CBE graduate student Jonah Brown and Prof. David Harper. Prof. Keffer did just enough to merit listing as a co-author on the poster. (Dr. Keffer has never forgotten the lesson the plant manager told him during his first industrial internship as an undergraduate at an agricultural herbicide and fungicide manufacturing and formulation complex, "Showing up is 50% of the job.")


MSE senior, Maddie Maben (current holder of the UTK MSE Outstanding Service award) presented her research on the subject of skyrmions performed under the mentorship of Prof. Dustin Gilbert and current MSE PhD student, Charlotte Buchanan (UTK MSE BS 2023).


MSE senior Jakob Scroggins (Goldwater scholar!) presented his work on lignin-derived carbon quantum dots performed in collaboration with MSE alumna Dr. Lu Yu, Jonah Brown and Dr. Harper. Also among the co-authors is Eli Cristoph (UTK MSE BS (2022) and MS (2023)), currently a doctoral student in experimental medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Yes, somehow Dr. Keffer got his name on the poster again.

A few students from outside the MSE department also perform work in the laboratories of MSE professors.
Nuclear Engineering freshman, Andrew Marotta, presented his research performed in the SMRC under the mentorship of Prof. Mariya Zhuravleva & Prof. Chuck Melcher.




Mechanical Engineering student, Bryson Graham, presented his work on the intersection of high-entropy alloys and machine learning performed under the mentorship of Prof. Peter Liaw. Also listed as a co-author is current UTK MSE PhD student, Nathan Grain. Bryson is shown here presenting his work to ME Prof. Anming Hu, one of many UTK faculty, who volunteered to serve as judges for the poster competition.


Last but not least, CBE senior, Mariana Milano-Benitez, presented her work on fractionating lignin performed under the mentorship of Prof. David Harper in the CRC. Also listed as co-authors are Jonah Brown and the amazing CRC researcher and lab manager, Kendhl Seabright.


Congratulations to all the MSE undergraduate researchers who showcased their work at EURēCA. The opportunity for all undergraduates to participate in the research process is the calling card of the UTK MSE department. You all have shown the great accomplishments that can be achieved. To all the faculty and graduate students who took the time to mentor these young researchers, you have our gratitude. This was a fun event and I enjoyed meeting some parents as well as prospective MSE students already interested in undergraduate research.

More photos on the Keffer research group site.