2019 GSG Graduate Research And Discovery Symposium (GRADS): Over 170 posters and oral presentations were judged by outstanding faculty, staff, and alumni of the Colorado School of Mines and were evaluated on three bases: scientific content (originality, objectives, relevance, methods, supported conclusions and directions for the future); appearance (logical organization, effective layout and legibility); and presentation ability (clear, concise and effective handling of questions). The GSG congratulates the winners of GRADS 2019:

Poster Sessions

• Rocks and Resources | 1st Place – Sankhaneel Sinha: “Modeling Rock Damage at Small and Large Scale Using Discrete Element Method”

• Rocks and Resources | 2nd Place – Awais Butt: “Ultrasonic tomography technique for evaluation of damage in a Lyons Sandstone specimen”

• Alternative Energy Solutions and Materials | 1st Place – Sean Mills: “NiTiHf Alloys Designed for Space-Age Bearing Applications”

• Alternative Energy Solutions and Materials | 2nd Place – Margaret Fitzgerald: “Multiscale Characterization of N-functionalized Carbon-based Catalysts and Supports”

• Computation and Modeling | 1st Place – Rajat Gangrade: “Spatial Assessment of Geotechnical Conditions for Tunneling Risk Assessment”

• Computation and Modeling | 2nd Place – Dana Martin: “Linear Parameter Varying Control Synthesis via l1 Norm Constrained, Primal Dual Optimization”

• Materials, Biology, and the Environment | 1st Place – Katherine Wagner: “Effect of Prosthetic Alignment on Muscle Activity in Below Knee Amputees During Sit-to-Stand”

• Materials, Biology, and the Environment | 2nd Place – Brian Froechtenigt: “Development of a Computational Cervical Spine Model for Clinical Investigations”

Oral Sessions

• Bio-Engineering | 1st Place – Lauren Sepp: “Muscle activity differences in runners with a transtibial amputation”

• Energy Materials | 1st Place – Virginia Judge: “Rapid Tempering of Medium Carbon, High Strength Steel”

• Civil and Environmental Engineering | 1st Place – Kathryn Newhart: “Use of Statistical Process Control at a Decentralized Water Reclamation Facility in Colorado”

• Chemical Engineering | 1st Place – Ryther Anderson: “Evaluating the gas adsorption capabilities of topologically diverse MOFs: from molecular simulation to machine learning”

• Energy Materials: Solar | 1st Place – Yegor Samoilenko: “Combinatorial study of Mg1-xZnxO emitters using elemental Zn and Mg targets for CdTe solar cells”

• Geology and Geological Engineering | 1st Place – David Hernández Uribe: “Catastrophic shear-removal of subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Colorado Plateau by the subducted Farallon slab”

• Modeling and Statistics | 1st Place – Felix Therrien: “An Atom-to-atom Structure Mapping Algorithm”

• Material Structures | 1st Place – Nathan Johnson: “Crystallographic Strain Field Reconstruction of Rapidly Solidifying Titanium and Stainless Steel Alloys”

• Oil and Gas | 1st Place – Zhijun Liu: “Investigation of Hindered Transport of Large Hydrocarbon Molecules in Nanoporous Materials”

• Economics and Operations Research | 1st Place – William Hamilton: “Importance of Dispatch Optimization on the Design of Concentrating Solar Power Systems”

• Metallurgy | 1st Place – Jonathan Rea: “Selecting the Best Materials for Thermal Energy Storage”

• Hydrology | 1st Place – Margariete Malenda: “Analysis of Anorthite Dissolution on the Submicrometer Scale”