Two Florida Polytechnic University students have been honored by the Florida Academy of Sciences for their poster presentations. Freshman Eric Vickers (pictured above) and sophomore James Mulharan presented their research posters at the 79th Annual Meeting of the FAS at Saint Leo University. Both students major in Electrical Engineering at Florida Poly.
Eric’s poster presentation was on the “Physicochemical Characteristics of Oil Spill Soils and Sediments Collected from the Gulf of Mexico.” It was recognized as Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation by the Environmental Chemistry and Chemical Sciences Section of the Academy.
“I was very impressed with Eric’s passion and his understanding of the technical details. He presented confidently at the FAS meeting,” said Professor Dr. Sesha Srinivasan, who worked along with Dr. Ryan Integlia to mentor both winning students.
James Mulharan’s poster presentation, titled “Hydrogen Storage Materials for On-Board Fuel Cell Vehicles,” was recognized as an Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation by the Engineering Sciences Section of the Academy.
James (pictured above, left) said his passion for technology and the natural world drew him to this project. “Hydrogen fuel is a promising alternative energy source for many reasons, including its potential to help reduce the environmental toll associated with harvesting and burning fossil fuels for transportation,” James explained. “Using solid-state storage for hydrogen fuel is very attractive for use in passenger vehicles in terms of safety, especially when compared to the potentially explosive alternative of hydrogen gas compressed into on-board, high-pressure metal canisters.”
“James’ presentation was highly focused and well narrated. He also used real-time examples to explain his research concepts at the FAS meeting,” said Dr. Srinivasan.
Student presentations were judged at the Academy’s contributed presentation sessions by section officers, session chairs and other regular members of the Florida Academy of Sciences.
Judging was based on experimental or observational design, significance of the research, delivery and response to questions.
The two students received funding through the Heys Travel Award to participate in the FAS meeting.
