SJSU Students Triumph at Statewide and Global Research and Innovation Competitions

SJSU student researchers from the Project Firewatch and Concussion Coach teams at the Sunstone CSU Launch Competition, where they won a total of $52,000 with SpartUp Incubator Launch Director Michael Ashley. Photo courtesy of Michael Ashley.

After all the events and celebrations of SJSU’s Second Annual Research Week, you’d assume that some of the SJSU student researchers would want to rest on their laurels. But no — the best researchers always press on, and these Spartans were no different. After Research Week, SJSU student researchers went on to win accolades and prizes at several different research competitions, both within the CSU system and elsewhere in California. 

“We are extremely proud of our student researchers who have demonstrated their excellence in research among their peers across the entire California State University (CSU),” said Mohamed Abousalem, SJSU’s vice president for research and innovation. “As part of the efforts under our Transformation 2030 Strategic Plan, we provide our students with rich experiential learning experiences through faculty-led, public-impact research. We continuously encourage our students to engage in research as part of their Spartan experience to build their analytical skills and hone their critical thinking to advance their professional competitiveness.”

Here is a recap of a few of the students’ accomplishments. 

38th Annual California State University Student Research Competition

• First Place in Engineering and Computer Science – Graduate: Aries Chu 
• First Place in Physical and Mathematical Sciences – Undergraduate and Graduate Combined: Anoushka Lakshmi
• First Place in Humanities and Letters – Undergraduate: Caitlin Pambid
• Second Place in Education – Undergraduate: Barbara Boone
• Honorable Mention in Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Public Administration – Undergraduate: Inaya Rehman

Anoushka Lakshmi, ’25 Biomedical Engineering, won first place in Physical and Mathematical Sciences – Undergraduate and Graduate Combined. Photo courtesy of Anoushka Lakshmi.

Anoushka Lakshmi, ’25 Biomedical Engineering, won first place in Physical and Mathematical Sciences – Undergraduate and Graduate Combined category for her work “functionalizing the surface of high-pressure high-temperature nanodiamonds (NDs) with large, multifunctional amines to increase the photoluminescence intensity of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center of the NDs and engineer the surface for targeted biolabeling.”

This work has various potential real-world implications, including helping with cancer detection, targeted drug delivery and even applications for quantum computing and magnetic field sensing.

She shouted out her mentor, Abraham Wolcott, associate professor of chemistry, for his guidance and called her win “very encouraging.”

But, she added, “Having faculty commend me on my presentation afterwards was even more fulfilling because I felt like I was really able to connect with the academic audience during my talk.”

Caitlin Pambid, ’23 Anthropology, received first place in Humanities and Letters- Undergraduate. Photo courtesy of Caitlin Pambid.

Caitlin Pambid, ’23 Anthropology, received her first place in Humanities and Letters for her work addressing the lack of authentic representation in museum exhibits. As she explains, “I call for the end of the museum being understood as the sole authority figure of cultural memory, hoping for its rebirth as a more inclusive space that’s committed to social change.” She appreciated the opportunity to piece together an elevator pitch about her work and her research.

She adds, “Doing well in the competition reaffirmed that the research I’m undertaking has an effect outside of my own pursuit of knowledge.

“My most memorable moment was the feedback I received from audience members during my Q&A session, and that two distinguished people came to me after to say they were happy they worked out time to see my presentation.”

Barbara Boone, ’24 Child and Adolescent Development, Prep for Teaching and Psychology, won second place in Education – Undergraduate. Photo courtesy of Barbara Boone.

Barbara Boone, ’24 Child and Adolescent Development, Prep for Teaching and Psychology, won second place in education for her project exploring “the impact that volunteering at a campus community garden has on the social and emotional well-being of college students.” As she explains, “Preliminary results have provided valuable insights into the benefits of volunteering at campus community gardens, which may be useful for universities and practitioners aiming to enhance college students’ overall social and emotional development and well-being during the critical transition to adulthood.”

She adds that it was “amazing to do so well. I was proud of the work I had put into it and honored to be acknowledged.” She hopes to continue her research with a mixed-methods study and thanks her mentor Dina Izenstark, associate professor of child and adolescent development, for her guidance and support. Boone hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in education research and reminds all SJSU students that they have a community garden available to them on campus, and advises them to “consider working a bit of nature into their schedules.” And you should trust her — she’s done her research.

Inaya Rehman, ’24 Psychology, won honorable mention in the behavioral, social sciences, and public administration undergraduate competition. Photo courtesy of Inaya Rehman.

Inaya Rehman, ’24 Psychology, won honorable mention in the behavioral, social sciences, and public administration after a “jury revolt” that gave her one of the three honorable mentions across 23 categories in the competition. Her research, which investigated “how social isolation during the pandemic impacted San José State students’ self-belief (self-efficacy) and academic performance” aims to “inform future strategies to support student success, particularly vulnerable groups like first-years and transfer students.”

She called the competition a “fantastic experience,” adding that she “especially enjoyed learning about other research and getting to know fellow RCSA participants.” She urges other SJSU students interested in research to “begin by exploring broad topics that interest you.”

As a former SJSU Library Research Scholar, she adds, “Remember, many professors are eager to mentor curious students. So don’t hesitate to reach out and express your interest in research!”

Sunstone CSU Launch Competition

• Grand Prize & Second Place in Value Proposition and Market Validation categories – Concussion Coach Team
• Top 8 Finalists & Second Place in Competitive Edge and Team Capability categories – Project Firewatch team

At the Sunstone CSU Launch Competition in Long Beach, California, two SJSU teams won a total of $52,000 in a field that included competitors across all 23 CSU campuses.

Project Firewatch and Concussion Coach teams at the Sunstone CSU Launch Competition. Photo by Michael Ashley.

Concussion Coach, an adaptive impact mapping device to prevent secondary head injuries, won the grand prize as well as second place in both the Value Proposition and Market Validation categories for a total of $41,000. The team, led by former Spartan football player Andrew Jenkins, ’21 Political Science, ’23 MS Justice Studies, ’24 MS Interdisciplinary Studies, and Anna Vartan, ’25 Mechanical Engineering, called the competition an “incredible experience.”

Vartan says she was “wildly excited” when they won the grand prize. “To be chosen as first when the competition was so steep was amazing. I’ve never felt more proud and excited in my life,” she adds. “Knowing what we can do in the future with this money to help us grow as a company has our whole team fired up and we couldn’t be more excited to have gone home with this big win.”

Jenkins agrees: “I’m just so grateful to have won as it is a direct reflection of my wonderful team and my effort to bring this company and product to life! I’m so honored to be working alongside this team to accomplish this goal and so happy Sunstone saw our vision, too!”

The Project Firewatch team, which created a drone that used wildfire trajectory software to help track and disseminate information about where a fire might be going next, also raked in cash, winning second place in two categories as well as placing in the top eight. And all this on the heels of their runner-up win at the NASA Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge.

Aerospace team members Sofia Silva, ’24 Software Engineering, and Trent Polizzi, ’24 Aerospace Engineering, represented their team at the pitch competition.

“It was an exhilarating experience overall,” Silva says. “I was shocked to see the amount of awards we won but I was so happy for our team to win money ($11,000) and soon start the transition from a project into a business. Going to these pitch competitions reminds me how impactful wildfires are to communities. I am very excited for the future of Project FireWatch and the collaboration with SpartUp.”

SJSU Grad Slam

First place: Jennifer Benbow

Jennifer Benbow, ’24 MS Bioinformatics, won SJSU Grad Slam with her presentation on her research, which uses computer vision (a type of artificial intelligence) to “help automate some of the more labor-intensive processes involved in coral resilience research.” Photo by Robert C. Bain.

Jennifer Benbow, ’24 MS Bioinformatics, called her first place Grad Slam win “so exciting and such an honor.” She presented her research on coral resilience, which “focuses on how coral reefs can adapt to and recover from environmental stressors, like rising ocean temperatures.” 

She uses computer vision (a type of artificial intelligence) to “help automate some of the more labor-intensive processes involved in coral resilience research” — for example, she created machine learning models that can automatically detect juvenile corals in research photos and apply the correct annotations to help researchers avoid the practice of annotating and examining everything by hand, a task that previously took “hundreds of hours of personnel time.” 

She was surprised at her first place finish, she says. “I truly thought I had a 50/50 chance of completely blanking when I got on stage, or maybe tripping and face planting, so it was a real rush to have such a positive outcome after being so nervous just a short while earlier,” she remembers. But then, “there was a moment on stage when I caught a glimpse of one of the judges smiling and nodding at something I had said, and that was such a great feeling of relief that the message was landing how I had hoped!”

In the end, she says, “The Grad Slam experience was excellent. It was challenging to condense a year’s worth of research into a three-minute presentation, but it was great training in how to communicate an arcane research topic in a way that is accessible to everyone.”

Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge

Second Place and $15,000 – Angel Idusuyi, ’24 Business, and the CreditCliq team

Angel Idusuyi, ’24 Business, and the CreditCliq team won second Place and $15,000 at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge. Photo courtesy of Angel Idusuyi.

Angel Idusuyi, ’24 Business, represented SJSU along with her CreditCliq team at the University of San Diego’s Global Social Innovation Challenge, where they walked away with a second-place finish and $15,000. She co-founded CreditCliq, a financial startup that helps banks extend relocation banking services to their members, allowing newcomers to export their home credit history to Canada and the United States, and says it felt “really good to see all our hard work pay off.”

She adds, “My favorite part of the competition was when [former San Diego Padres owner, businessman and philanthropist] Ron Fowler told me we were on to something with our idea and should keep going.”

She acknowledges that starting a business from scratch is “very hard.” That said, she continues, “The best way to make an impact in the world is to go build something; it doesn’t matter if it fails. If it fails, you have learned something new; if it works, you are a genius. I’m eager to see where this journey takes me and our team.” 

Keep up with all the amazing SJSU student researchers and their projects.