COS Celebrates 27 New Ph.D. Graduates
On Friday, Dec. 18, 12 new Ph.D. students graduated from the College of Sciences. A special graduation reception was held to congratulate the graduates on Thursday, Dec. 17. The event was held in the afternoon in the Physical Sciences building. Family members of the graduates, faculty advisors and members of the Dean’s office staff were in attendance.
Michael Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Sciences, and Teresa Dorman, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the College of Sciences, spoke to the new graduates, congratulating them on their achievements. Following the presentation, they celebrated with champagne, toasting to the continued success of the Ph.D. graduates.
Congratulations to our Fall 2015 Ph.D. Graduates!
Chemistry
- Warinya Chemnasiri, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Florencio E. Hernandez, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Development of a nano-sensing approach and a portable prototype for real-time detection and quantification of free mercury in stream-flow: combining science and engineering in pro of the environment”
- Héctor J. Rivera Jacquez, Ph.D.
Faculty Advisor: Artëm E. Masunov, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Quantum Chemical Studies for the Engineering of Metal Organic Materials”
- Maria Stancescu, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Dmitry Kolpashchikov, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Optimization of Molecular Beacon-based Multicomponent Probes for Analysis of Nuclei Acids”
Modeling and Simulation
- Ryan H. Kasha, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Peter Kincaid, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “An Exploratory Comparison of a Traditional and Adaptive Instructional Approach for College Algebra”
Physics
- Ramesh Adhikari, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Aniket Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Translocation of a semiflexible polymer through a nanopore.”
- Jasmina Blecic, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Joseph Harrington, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Observations, Thermochemical Calculations, and Modeling of Exoplanetary Atmospheres”
- Yan Cheng, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Zenghu Chang, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Attosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy of Atoms and Molecules”
- Patricio Cubillos, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Joseph Harrington, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Characterizing Exoplanet Atmsopheres: From Light‐curve Observations to Radiative‐transfer Modeling”
- Bianca Hall, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Richard Klemm, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “A Microscopic Theory of the Knight shift”
- Ghazal Shafai Erfani, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Talat Rahman, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Theoretical and Computational Studies of the Electronic, Structural, Vibrational, and Thermodynamic Properties of Transition Metal Nanoparticles”
- Jun Huang, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Weili Luo, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Convective Heat Transfer Driven By The Buoyancy Force and the Magnetic Body Force on Quasi-One-Dimentional Magnetic Fluid in Horizontal Field and Temperature Gradients”
- Jeronimo Matos, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Abdelkader Kara, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Solid Nanoscale Interfaces”
- Farnood Khalilzadeh Rezaie, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Robert Peale, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Mid-infrared plasmonics”
- Evan Smith, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Robert Peale, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Vanadium Oxide Microbolometers with Patterned Gold Black or Plasmonic Resonant Absorbers”
- Anupama Yadav, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Elena Flitsiyan, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Impact of Gamma-Irradiation on the characteristics of III-N/GaN based High Electron Mobility Transistors”
Psychology
- Megan E. Gregory, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Eduardo Salas, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Examining the impact of a fatigue intervention on job performance: A longitudinal study across United States hospitals”
- Audrey Fok, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Mustapha Mouloua, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Configural Displays: The Effects of Salience on Multi‐Level Data Extraction”
- Kathleen Ragsdale, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Deborah C. Beidel, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury on Exposure Therapy in Veterans with Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”
- Brea-Anne Lauer, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Kimberly Renk, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Friend and Informant Characteristics Associated with the Agreement among Adolescent and Friend Ratings of Behavior Problems”
- Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: James Szalma, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Integration of Multidimensional Signal Detection Theory with Fuzzy Signal Detection Theory”
- Anthony Read Selkowitz, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Valerie Sims, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Mental Rotation: Can familiarity alleviate the effects of complex backgrounds?”
- Ben D. Sawyer, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Peter A. Hancock, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Effects of Signal Probability on Multitasking-Based Distraction in Driving, Cyberattack & Battlefield Simulation”
- Grace Teo, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: James L. Szalma, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Enhancing the effectiveness of human-robot teaming with a closed-loop system”
- Mitchell J. Tindall, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Kimberly Smith-Jentsch, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Who is the best judge of personality: Investigating the role of relationship depth and observational breadth on the accuracy of third-party ratings.”
- Sidra Van De Car, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: James L. Szalma, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Detecting Threats From Constituent Parts: A Fuzzy Signal Detection Theory Analysis Of Individual Differences”
Sociology
- Nicole Owens, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: Elizabeth Grauerholz, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “The Interspecies Family: Attitudes and Narratives”
- Jeffrey A. Williamson, Ph.D.
Faculty Adviser: David Gay, Ph.D.
Dissertation: “Can I Get an Amen? Central Florida Black Pastors’ Perceptions of the Impact of the Black Church in the Black Community.”