SHREVEPORT – The 10th annual Regional Student Scholars Forum at LSU Shreveport presented a buffet of research topics on which to chew Friday, but one particular research area was on the menu more than any other.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Among the 94 combined undergraduate and graduate student research posters and 52 oral presentations that flooded LSUS’s University Center, 16 of those projects involved AI or machine learning in some way.
AI/ML was applied to a variety of fields including the economy, medicine, cybersecurity, construction, and education to name a few.
LSUS computer science graduate students Wei Chan and Dyuti Islam had perhaps the most timely research project as they explored the Consumer Price Index using machine learning to forecast the economic future.
“Using historical data from 1950 through 2024, we found that two variables in particular – the price of gas and U.S. Treasury Bills, that could predict the Consumer Price Index,” Islam said of one of the key metrics to track inflation. “Our model predicted that CPI would rise 312 basis points in the data released in March, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the CPI increased 310 points.
“We’re projecting the CPI to keep rising, but of course with the tariffs being applied the last two days, we’ll have to rerun our data, which we intend to do.”
Fellow LSUS computer science graduate student Mridula Mavuri used AI/ML to analyze five variables (a measure of pollution and insurance coverage for example) as they relate to lung cancer, which is the most prevalent cancer in the U.S.
Mavuri mapped her data in different clusters showing which variables had a greater impact based on location.
“I know there’s some conflict about artificial intelligence taking over the world, but I don’t see it that way at all,” Mavuri said. “This technology makes studies like this possible because humans are controlling the inputs and checking the results for accuracy.
“AI simplifies the statistical process.”
The AI/ML theme continued with keynote speaker Dr. Subhajit Chakrabarty’s talk titled “Generative AI in Research.”
One strength of AI is the ability to synthesize incredibly large quantities of research and data, generating potentially new research directions and questions.
The forum covered a wide range of research topics from chemistry and medicine to psychology, sociology and education.
The 94 projects and presentations featured 52 by graduate students and 42 by undergraduate students.
LSUS students produced 36 of those projects and presentations.
Twenty-seven different universities from five states were represented with locals like LSU Health Sciences, Centenary and Louisiana Tech to universities like LSU, Houston, Arkansas College of Medicine and Jackson State.
In addressing attendees at the beginning of the forum, LSUS Chancellor Dr. Robert Smith said the answers to some of the world’s most pressing questions may be found among these student researchers or these projects specifically.
“I remember presenting at a similar conference as an undergraduate back in my home state of Pennsylvania, and it proved to me that I could do research and answer a question that no one else in history had ever answered,” said Smith, who went on to author 10 Calculus textbooks. “As a first-generation college student, I never thought about graduate school or research, but that conference allowed me to envision that future.
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be standing in front of you as a chancellor today if I hadn’t had that undergraduate research experience. So just presenting here is a huge accomplishment, and a thank you to the faculty advisors who have gone above and beyond to help you do the work you’ve done.”
Many LSUS undergraduates took that chance to research with their faculty advisors.
One such undergraduate group explored using giant salvinia (a highly invasive species that blocks sunlight and oxygen on bodies of water) in perfume chemistry to speed up production while being more environmentally friendly.
“The salvinia is used like an acid, and it’s safer than other options like hydrochloric acid,” said LSUS undergraduate Mousa Ghazawneh. “It’s turning a nothing into a something.
“When engaging in research like this, we’re not just learning concepts.”
Fellow research partner Dania Alqam chimed in, “We’re applying the theories we learn and increasing our understanding.”
The pair teamed up with students Tyler Davis, Kaity Hooks and LSUS faculty member Dr. Jack Baricuatro on the research.
A panel of judges evaluated projects and selected two honorees from undergraduate oral presentations, undergraduate poster presentations, graduate oral presentations, and graduate poster presentations.
The winner is listed first and the runner-up second.
Undergraduate Oral Presentation:
Bryleigh Wickham, Louisiana Tech (PEDOT/CNT-coated glassy carbon microelectrode arrays for real-time detection of neurotransmitters in the brain;
Athena Vasquez, Centenary (Shakespeare in Americana: The Band’s “Ophelia” as a Southern Retelling of Hamlet.
Undergraduate Poster Presentations:
Sneha Sharma and Zehra Khan, UT Dallas (Behavorial Correlates of Semantic Inhibition);
Saul Padilla, East Central Univ. (Silicon Valley Bank’s Risk Management Failure and Lessons Learned: A Case Study.
Graduate Oral Presentations:
Noah Moser, LSUS, (Motivations for Murder: The Political Roots of The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre);
Katheryne Wood, Stephen F. Austin (Gender Differences in Mental Rotation and Short-Term Recall in Gender Minorities).
Graduate Poster Presentations:
Ruta Dighe and Ruby Salas, UT Tyler (The Impact of Trauma on Social Isolation and Loneliness);
Maddison Benge and Emily DeGruise, LSUS (A Contextual Analysis of Reading Fluency).
