{"id":164772,"date":"2026-04-02T15:41:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=164772"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:06:55","slug":"from-dance-to-data-wright-state-students-showcase-research-at-annual-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/04\/02\/from-dance-to-data-wright-state-students-showcase-research-at-annual-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"From dance to data, Wright State students showcase research at annual celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Research from students in six colleges and dozens of disciplines took center stage at Wright State\u2019s Celebration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 1. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Student research projects on wildfire detection, focus and productivity, Civil War veterans and dance were among the projects highlighted at Wright State University\u2019s 2026 Celebration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities.<\/p>\n

Several hundred students, faculty and staff attended the April 1 event in the Student Union conference wing, which featured 150 poster presentations and 15 podium presentations.<\/p>\n

The event wasn\u2019t only a learning experience for students, Provost Jim Denniston, Ph.D. said. It also provided them a forum to build knowledge, tackle important questions and develop skills that will carry them into the future as leaders and innovators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event reflects the heart of our university\u2019s mission: discovery, creativity and shared learning,\u201d Denniston said. \u201cEach poster reflects dedication, curiosity and collaboration, and together they showcase the incredible breadth of work across our campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

With research presented by students in six colleges from dozens of disciplines, the Celebration of Research encouraged discovery and connection across the university and fields of study, Denniston said. The event is an opportunity for students to engage with faculty, experts and peers beyond the classroom \u2014 and to see how their academic work might contribute their fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the most exciting ideas emerge when we connect beyond our own fields,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dance and biomedical engineering major Bri Chan\u2019s presentation, \u201cStory Telling Through Movement,\u201d demonstrated how dance is a form of research.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dancing to communicate research<\/strong><\/p>\n

That idea was top of mind for Bri Chan, a dance and biomedical engineering major, who presented \u201cStory Telling Through Movement,\u201d featuring her performance of \u201cLight, Dark, Light Again,\u201d an original piece she created for the event.<\/p>\n

The piece explored the idea that periods of darkness are an inevitable and necessary part of reaching moments of clarity, strength and light.<\/p>\n

Chan was motivated to demonstrate that dance is a form of research. Through her preparation, she said, she grew as a dancer and choreographer while building something entirely new.<\/p>\n

Through movement, she said, she shapes something with her body that didn\u2019t exist before \u2014 and presenting it to others is itself an act of growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re creating movement to express a feeling, to tell a story, to express my emotions,\u201d she said. \u201cI realized I could use dance instead of speaking. I could move and not have to say anything, and especially with music, you can put that behind it and express that story even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Predicting wildfire spread with machine learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel Ballentine, a master\u2019s degree student in computer science, presented a poster on her research on how to use machine learning to create neural networks, to map and predict wildfire spread based on environmental factors.<\/p>\n

Her research builds on a previous study that aggregated wildfire spread data but produced inaccurate results.<\/p>\n

Starting from scratch, Ballentine constructed her own model built on a multilayer perceptron, a basic neural network approach, that will learn to predict more accurately.<\/p>\n

This was her second year presenting at the event, and she said she focused this year on improving how she communicates complex research to a general audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I had trouble framing how to launch into what I\u2019m telling you about,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year I have a better way to introduce the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the battlefield<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Master of Public Administration student Shannon Doyal, what started as an internship at Wright-Dunbar Inc.<\/span>\u00a0documenting local Civil War\u2013era Medal of Honor recipients became a passion project.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy focus is to present these individuals as people who are more than just what happened to them in the military,\u201d she said. \u201cWho they were before they went off to war, and who they became after.\u201d<\/p>\n

She examined census records, microfiches and journals, turning up lives she couldn\u2019t stop thinking about. One recipient became a war correspondent after being wounded, then spent years advocating to turn battlefields into national parks. Another spent decades teaching school children what the Civil War was like.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that\u2019s been consistent is that they contributed to the community after they got out,\u201d Doyal said. \u201cIt\u2019s that resilience that I find attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is also connecting her research to campus. Doyal works in the Veteran and Military Center and is sharing the stories she\u2019s uncovered with military-connected students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be able to hopefully create a connection and a bridge for the veteran students here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Finding your flow<\/strong><\/p>\n

When guests approach Subiksha Vaidhyanathan to discuss her poster presentation, she would start with a question: What are you interested in?<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t small talk. It was her research in action.<\/p>\n

Vaidhyanathan, a computer science undergraduate student, is developing an Android app that tracks flow areas, or flow states \u2014 a feeling of being so immersed in a task that time seems to disappear. The app will prompt users with questions, log the data and over time reveal the windows when a person is operating at optimal focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlow areas are the times when you\u2019re very immersed and engaged in the activity that you lose track of time,\u201d she said. \u201cOur study helps you know at what time you are at your peak potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Vaidhyanathan, the Celebration of Research was a chance to introduce a concept she said most people are unaware of. Preparing her poster, she said, helped her understand synthesize months of research into a coherent, visually appealing presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to see what I needed to prioritize,\u201d she said, \u201cso that people would be able to see not just visualization but also a little bit of the concept of what\u2019s going on in the background.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Celebration of Research is an opportunity for students to engage with faculty, experts and peers and to see how their academic work might contribute to their fields of study.<\/p><\/div>\n

Students honored at celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following students were honored during the Celebration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities:<\/p>\n

Excellence in Research Poster Presentation Award:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graduate Students:
\n<\/strong>Kamalika Biswas, biological sciences
\nMittalkumari Shivsinh Chauhan, pharmacology and toxicology
\nDelaney Grant, biomedical sciences
\nJoshua Mallets, engineering
\nJeet Thapa, mechanical engineering<\/p>\n

Undergraduate Students:
\n<\/strong>Rhett Bailey, physiology and neuroscience
\nRabia Dzhafarova, physiology and neuroscience
\nNavjot Singh, psychology<\/p>\n

Provost\u2019s Award for Excellence:
\n<\/strong>Rebecca Kurtz, elementary education<\/p>\n

Trustees\u2019 Award for Excellence:<\/strong>
\nIsabella Bacon, medicine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research from students in six colleges and dozens of disciplines took center stage at Wright State\u2019s Celebration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":164798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,4267,743,4859,2060,725,2045,747,715,18,4293,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-computer-science-and-engineering","category-engineering-computer-science","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-honors-program","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-research","category-student-union","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164772"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164826,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164772\/revisions\/164826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}