2025 UCD STEM Symposium
Early Career Researchers Symposium
Thank you once again for your participation in the 2025 UCD STEM Early Career Researchers Symposium.
As previously announced, we invite you to contribute your feedback by completing a brief (5-to 7-minute) anonymous Online Feedback Survey so that we can improve future editions of this event!
Please note that this survey will be open only until Friday, July 18th, 2025, at 17:00. After this deadline, you are welcome to submit your feedback directly to the Symposium’s organisers.
| Poster No. | Title of the poster. | Full list of authors. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Odour Assessment in Dairy Wastewater Treatment Facilities | Joseph Niwagaba, Thomas P. Curran |
| 2 | Towards Sustainable Gluten-Free Diets: Life Cycle and Nutritional Assessment of Irish Gluten-Free Products | Beauty Ezinne Japhet, Egle Gusciute, Fionnuala Murphy |
| 3 | Evaluation of Decision Support Tools for the estimation of soil carbon stocks | Gafaru Sumaila*1, Magdalena Necpalova2, Sharon O’Rourke1 |
| 4 | Farm-level environmental assessment of organic dairy systems in Ireland | Jacob Matovu, Sharon O’Rourke and Fionnuala Murphy |
| 5 | Development of an E. coli-based Biosensor System for Real-time Anaerobic Digestion Monitoring | Ibrahim Z. Waziri, Joseph B. Sweeney and Cormac D. Morphy |
| 6 | Development of a digital platform to conduct environmental assessments of farming systems | Kamyar Golbaten Mofrad, Jonathan Herron, Fionnuala Murphy. |
| 7 | Closing the Loop: Microalgae-Driven Bioremediation and Omega-3 Valorisation in Irish Aquaculture | Fateme Saadatinavaz, Brijesh Tiwari, Ronald Halim |
| 8 | 3D Microcarrier Culture of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Maximise Production of Extracellular Vesicles | Junpeng Luo 1,a, Jessica Whelan a, b, c, Susan McDonnell a. 1. The leading presenter a. UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Ireland b. UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, Ireland c. Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, Ireland |
| 9 | Scaling Up Air Stripping and Hollow Fibre Membrane Contactor for Nitrogen Recovery from Full-Scale Agricultural Manure | Niloufar Azizi, Dominika Krol, Shaun Connolly, Eoin Syron |
| 10 | Long-term Assessment of Hydrogen Technology Deployment for Large-scale Power Production | Kamran Khammadov, Damian Flynn, Eoin Syron |
| 11 | Design & Implementation of Theta Nanoelectrospray Emitters for Native Mass Spectrometry of Therapeutic Proteins | Anna Mulligan, Jonathan Bones |
| 12 | Nanobubbles: Fundamentals, Stability Analysis, and Potential in Environmental Applications | Shoaib Ahmad, Marziyeh Jannesari, Niall J. English |
| 13 | Zeolite as Nanobubble Promoter | Ismail Alhassan Auwal, Niall English |
| 14 | Investigating the Potential of Biohydrogen in Ireland’s Future Energy Mix | Ammar Sohail |
| 15 | FROM WHEY TO WEALTH: Integrated Anaerobic Fermentation and Microalgae Technology for Dairy Waste Valorisation | Michael Hananta Utomo, Recep Kaan Dereli, Ronald Halim |
| 16 | Eco-Engineering of seawalls under changing climatic conditions: a numerical study | Xihang Xu, Md Salauddin |
| 17 | Dynamic response analysis of an innovative scour protection system: Small-Size Artificial Reefs Combined With Umbrella Structures | Wenhui Wei, Abdollah Malekjafarian, Yorick Broekema, and Md Salauddin* |
| 18 | Hydrological Modelling of Droughts: Performance versus Catchment Characteristics | Sri Gowthami Vengana and Fiachra E. O’Loughlin. |
| 19 | An unsupervised damage detection framework for an operating wind turbine | Varouxis Theodoros, Mahmoud Abdelhak, Ramin Ghiasi, Abdollah Malekjafarian |
| 20 | Predictive modelling of groundwater quality in a changing climate | Tahmida Naher Chowdhury, Rajat Nag, Md Salauddin |
| 21 | Fate and Transport of Microplastics in the Marine Environment | Swarna Halder, Dr. John O'Sullivan, Dr. Md Salauddin |
| 22 | Forecasting Bathing Water Quality Using Satellite Data And Artificial Intelligence | Mohammad Usman Saeed Khan |
| 23 | Evaluation of Coastal Protection Services of Ecosystem-based Approaches through Physical and Numerical Modelling | Mirajul Hossain, Md Salauddin |
| 24 | Offshore Renewable Energy Development in Ireland: Planning Permission | Fulya ISLEK, Md SALAUDDIN, Vikram PAKRASHI, Abdollah MALEKJAFARIAN |
| 25 | Smart GUI software for optimised designing of Timber structures | Prakhar Parashar, Dr. Muhammad Gulzari, Dr. Patrick McGetrick |
| 26 | Introduction to Quantum Two-Level Systems | Brian Malone, Elena Blokhina |
| 27 | Quantum Dots in a Commercial 22 nm Fully Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator Process | Conor Power, Xutong Wu, Andrii Sokolov, Claude Rohrbacher, Mathieu Moras, Ioanna Kriekouki, Agostino Apra, Nodar Samkharadze, Panagiotis Giounanlis, Sergei Amitonov, Peter Hanos, Imran Bashir, Dirk Leipold, Elena Blokhina |
| 28 | How Electricity Moves: Simplifying Power Flow Directionality with Visual Abstractions | Cian Kelly, Paul Cuffe |
| 29 | Clustering Network Elements That Collaborate in Power Delivery to a Common Region in an Electric Network | Justin Ugwu and Paul Cuffe |
| 30 | Repetitive Saliva Swallow Test: A Surface Electromyography-Based Approach | Afua Appiah and Emer Doheny |
| 31 | Multi-objective Optimisation of Distributed Learn- ing Automation in OpenRAN Networks | AWANTHI JAYASUNDARA, NIMA AFRAZ (Co-Supervisor) AND PASIKA RANAWEERA (Supervisor) |
| 32 | Addressing dunkelflaute events in energy systems with a high renewable share | Regis Delubac, Damian Flynn |
| 33 | A Novel Method for Evaluating On-Road Drag Changes Using Constant Power Measurements | Michael Gerard Connolly, Alojz Ivankovic and Malachy O'Rourke |
| 34 | The Next Generation of Rear Drag Reduction Devices for Road Vehicles - The Multi Cavity Concept | Michael Gerard Connolly, Alojz Ivankovic and Malachy O'Rourke |
| 35 | A DATA-DRIVEN INTELLIGENT SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION RESPONSE RECOMMENDER SYSTEM FRAMEWORK. | Yang Hu |
| 36 | Carrageenan as a macromolecular crowding agent modulates in vitro collagen processing | Laura Trujillo Cubillo, Dimitrios Zevgolis |
| 37 | Understanding the key challenges of low-temperature AM of bioresorbable Mg-based implants | Ava Azadi, Eoin O'Cearbhaill, Mert Celikin |
| 38 | Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) as a High-Loading Binder System for 3D Printing Magnesium (Mg) Alloys | Hyeonseok Kim, Tom McKenna, Eoin O'Cearbhaill, and Mert Celikin |
| 39 | Rössler system: Numerical and Experimental Analysis | Zarmeena Naz, Aasifa Rounak, Vikram Pakrashi |
| 40 | Designing Durability: Fatigue and Hardening Response of 3D-Printed High-Strength Maraging Steel | Shahrzad Sajjadivand, Mark Hartnett, Lu Yang, Wajira Mirihanage, Denis Dowling, Mert Celikin |
| 41 | Mapping ECM composition across developmental stages in goat articular cartilage using MS-based proteomics | G. Giuffredi, J. Falkov, P.A.J. Brama, N.C. Nowlan |
| 42 | 3D virtual histology of articular cartilage: mapping chondrocyte changes across postnatal development | Karin Vancíková, Maria Pierantoni, Sarah Moore, Nidal S. Khatib, Margot C. Labberté, Shashidhara Marathe, Pieter A.J. Brama, Hanna Isaksson, Niamh C. Nowlan |
| 43 | Multistability in Orthogonal Machining with Regenerative, Frictional, and Stochastic Effects | Meiyazhagan Jaganathan, Vikram Pakrashi, Aasifa Rounak |
| 44 | Influence of the physicochemical properties of macromolecular crowding agents on extracellular matrix deposition | Lefki Chaniotaki, Bertrand Didier Raynal, Maelenn Chevreuil, Francois Gautier, Dimitrios Zevgolis |
| 45 | The Degradation Performance of MgZnCa Bulk Metallic Glasses and Composites for Healthy Bioresorbable Materials | Yanuar Rohmat Aji Pradana, Roisin Sharkey, and David Browne |
| 46 | Evaluating the potential application of macromolecular crowding in cultured meat production | Ran Wang, Dimitrios I. Zeugolis |
| 47 | LLM-LCA: Life Cycle Assessment for Residential Building Renovation Using Large Language Model-Based Knowledge Systems | Sobia Bano, Usman Ali, James O’Donnell |
| 48 | Sex specific biomechanics of brain trauma | Ashwin Mishra, David MacManus |
| 49 | Macromolecular crowding and xeno-free mesenchymal stromal cells as a tissue-engineered skin substitute for wound healing | Diana C. Gonçalves, Dimitrios I. Zeugolis |
| 50 | Implementation of Lumped Parameter Network Boundary Conditions for the Patient-Specific CFD Simulations of Coronary Arteries in OpenFOAM | Muhammad Ahmad Raza, Željko Tuković, Peter De Jaeger, Alojz Ivankovic, Malachy J. O’Rourke |
| 51 | Investigation of the geometry effect on porosity generation during the L-PBF printing of Ti-6Al-4V spinal cage devices | Andrea Villano, Fatemeh Golpayegani, Denis Dowling |
| 52 | Microstructural Evolution in LPBF Ti-6Al-4V Lattice Structures Upon Hot Isostatic Pressing | Ajai Sankar1, Fan Wu2, Haole Qin2, , Ahmad Farhadi3, Shane Keaveney3, Wajira Mirihanage2, Denis Dowling1, Mert Celikin1 |
| 53 | Comparison and Validation of Heat Source Models In Modelling of the Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process | Petar Cosic, Thomas Flint, Simon Rodriguez, Philip Cardiff, Alojz Ivankovic |
| 54 | Effect of diamond powder grain size distribution on mechanical and application properties of PDC | Xiaohua Ke, Alojz Ivankovic, Vishnu Prasad |
| 55 | Phase-field modelling of dendrite growth in undercooled Ti-6Al-4V | Victoria Kaban, Mingming Tong, David J. Browne |
| 56 | Casting of Magnesium Alloys for Microgravity Space Experiments | Geetanjali Srivastava, Yanuar Rohmat Aji Pradana, Fan Wu, Wajira Mirihanage, Mert Celikin, Wim Sillekens, David J. Browne |
| 57 | Multi-Scale Characterisation and Prediction of Fracture of PBF Components | Darsha Jayathunga | Prof. Alojz Ivankovic, Assoc. Prof. Neal Murphy |
| 58 | Coordination Control of Differential Assisted Steering and Stability for Distributed Drive Electric Vehicles Based on Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient | Zichen Zheng; Anton van Beek |
| 59 | RHSIA: Real-time Hemodynamic Solver for Intracranial Aneurysms | Simão Nieto De Castro, Wenhao Ding, Choon Hwai Yap, Yiying Sheng, Hwa Liang Leo |
| 60 | Generating Virtual Instruction from the Text using a Large Language Model for Virtual Reality-based Training | Subin Raj Peter, Mohammadjavad Zeinali, Nikolaos Papakostas |
| 61 | Homology-Based Mapping of microRNA Evolution Across Mammals | Sarahjane Power, Zixia Huang |
| 62 | Elucidating the role of the Rab11 subfamily in mammalian cells | Teerna Banerjee, Andrew Lindsay, Jeremy Simpson |
| 63 | Flood risk changes the response of soil bacterial communities to extreme drought | Elaine Haskins, Sobia Ajaz, Manon Longepierre, Sergi Carrasco Bonet, Tancredi Caruso |
| 64 | Beyond glycosylation enzymes: a study on the dynamics of Golgi-resident proteins | Lucy G. Dornan, Jeremy C. Simpson |
| 65 | Evaluating Nanoparticle Transcytosis in Hollow Spheroid Models | Maeva T. Lopez, Susan J. Quinn, Jeremy C. Simpson |
| 66 | RUSHing to advance our knowledge of the secretory pathway in mammalian cells | Danielle Z. Harte, Jeremy C. Simpson |
| 67 | Refining Nanoparticle Uptake Analysis: The Role of Soft X−ray Tomography in Cellular Imaging | Madeleen C. Brink, Stephen O'Connor, David Rogers, Alessandro Zannotti, Kenneth Fahy, Sergey Kapishnikov & Jeremy C. Simpson |
| 68 | Assessing knockdown oligonucleotides as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of severe HSP | Kate Lawless, Niamh O'Sullivan |
| 69 | Examining the pathogenic mechanisms of different Atlastin-1 mutations in HSP | Emma Cadoria, Associate Prof. Niamh O'Sullivan |
| 70 | Developing a workflow to enable screening of allele-specific knockdown oligos targeting complex HSP in a human cell culture model | O’Leary AC, O’Sullivan NC |
| 71 | Tipping the balance: Investigating the potential of the specialised pro-resolving mediator Lipoxin-A4 to modulate the inflammatory landscape in atherosclerosis. | Ciarán Kennedy, Eoin Brennan, Mary Barry, Catherine Godson, Monica de Gaetano |
| 72 | Fault Localization in Distribution Networks Using Graph Neural Networks | Zhonghe Chen, Adi Botea, Paula Carroll, Deepak Ajwani |
| 73 | Attention Models and Auditory Transduction Features for Noise Robustness | Cathal Ó Faoláin, Andrew Hines |
| 74 | The Voice Illusion: What's Missing in AI-Generated Speech? | Diptasree Debnath, Helard Becerra Martinez, Andrew Hines |
| 75 | Semi-factual Explanations in AI | Saugat Aryal, Mark Keane |
| 76 | Distributed Overtaking and Lane Change Manoeuvres for Cooperative Autonomous Vehicles | Eranda Jayatunga, Anupa De Silva, Nima Afraz, Anca D. Jurcut |
| 77 | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Is Perturbed Data Better than Other Language Augmentation for Low-Resource Self-Supervised Speech Models | Asad Ullah, Alessandro Ragano, Andrew Hines |
| 78 | Leveraging Large Language Models for Dynamic Consent Modelling and Management in Healthcare | SHAHRIN CHOWDHURY, FURQAN RUSTAM, PASIKA RANAWEERA, and ANCA JURCUT |
| 79 | SHAPRefine: A SHAP-Based Feature Selection Framework for Optimised and Interpretable Intrusion Detection | Farah Abed Zadeh, Dr. Shen Wang, Dr. Madhusanka Liyange. |
| 80 | The Closer, The Better: How does voice similarity affect voice preference in Text-To-Speech Systems? | Crisron Rudolf Lucas, Andrew Hines |
| 81 | AI-Powered xApp Conflict Management in Open RAN | Abdul Wadud, Fatemeh Golpayegani, and Nima Afraz |
| 82 | Evaluating the Acceptance of Generative AI Spinal Imaging with Clinical Experts at the Mater Hospital | Paul Banahan, Edward McDermott, David Caldwell, Eimear Kyle, Aonghus Lawlor, Peter MacMahon |
| 83 | Towards Energy-Efficient and Secure Hierarchical Federated Learning | Vidura Ravihansa |
| 84 | Passive Attacks and Mitigation Mechanisms in Peer-to-Peer Federated Learning | Dongyuan Wang |
| 85 | HABShield: Online Multimodal Spatio-Temporal, LLM-Enhanced, Explainable Al Detection System for Harmful Algal Bloom Alerts | Jiaying Guo, Sinéad McGlynn, Shen Wang |
| 86 | From Hidden Weakness to Hazard: 3D Modelling of Alteration-Driven Dome Collapse | K.D. Ní Nualláin, C.E. Harnett, A. Hyrsiewicz, M.J. Heap, T.R. Walter |
| 87 | Characterisation and dating of the White Bridge boulder deposit in central Scotland | Youngeagle, D.D., Kelley, S.E., Crowel, C. and Mucheron, M. |
| 88 | Achieving Optimal Locomotion using Self-Generated Waves | Daire O’Donovan, Miguel Bustamante, Olivier Devauchelle, Graham Benham |
| 89 | Predicting racehorse performance using partial least squares regression within a Bayesian framework | Kseniia Maksimova, Emmeline W. Hill, Beatrice A. McGivney, David E. MacHugh, Michael Salter-Townshend |
| 90 | Modelling the spread of particulate pollution in the ocean | Julius Busse |
| 91 | Latent Position Models for Dynamic Multiview Networks | Brian Hassett, Michael Fop, Riccardo Rastelli |
| 92 | Conformational Kinetics of KRAS Activity | Nicholas Carton, Maxim Mulligan, Brajesh Narayan, Nicolae-Viorel Buchete |
| 93 | Plasmonic Electronically Addressable Super-Resolution | Conor O’Donnell, Giulia Di Fazio, Silas O’Toole, Dominic Zerulla |
| 94 | Quantitative Analysis of Biophysical Descriptor Distribution in Single Protein Domains | Ovidiu Alexandru Petrisor, Sutapa Dutta, Vigneshwari K. Annapoorani, Radu Mihai Costache, Nicolae-Viorel Buchete |
| 95 | Effective representation of quench dynamics using machine learning | Emmanuel Bogacz, Graham Kells, Andrew K. Mitchell |
| 96 | Nanoparticle Biomolecular Coronas: A Computational Biophysical Perspective | Vigneshwari Karunakaran Annapoorani, Ovidiu A. Petrisor, Nicolae-Viorel Buchete |
| 97 | Quantum nanoelectronic devices as a platform for quantum sensing | George Mihailescu, Anthony Kiely, Andrew Mitchell |
| 98 | Energetics of State Transfer | Dara Murphy, Anthony Kiely, Steve Campbell, Irene D'Amico |
| 99 | Sensing morphology using active Joule-assisted surface plasmon resonance enhancement | Samuel Kenny, Giulia Di Fazio, Dominic Zerulla |
| 100 | Thermally and Structurally Controlled SPP Fields: Precision Optical Properties for Localised Electromagnetic Enhancement | Giulia di Fazio, Dominic Zerulla |
| 101 | Near Infrared Photo-absorption Spectroscopy for Astrophysically Significant Ions | Kirsten Dowd, Padraig Dunne, Eric Doyle |
| 102 | Environmental Effects on Ferroelectricity in Hafnia Filaments | Claudia Sosa Espada, Waseem Ahmad Wani |
| 103 | Stokes Vector Analysis of the Lamina Cribrosa Using Linear and Second Harmonic Generation Microscopy | Aishwarya Chanady Babu, Ian A sigal and Brian Vohnsen |
| 104 | Nanoscale dielectric constant measurements | Yevhen Brych |
| 105 | Markov State Modelling of Carotenoid Antennas in LHC II | Hooriah Lodi, Bruno Robert, Cristian Ilioaia, and Nicolae-Viorel Buchete |
| 106 | Characterising Non-Markovian Environments using Quantum Trajectories | Ronan McElvogue, Andrew Mitchell, Steve Campbell |
| 107 | Exploring MXenes as Electrodes for Al-ion Batteries: An Ab-initio Study on the Impact of Stacking Configurations | Amal Raj Veluthedath Nair and Nuala M. Caffrey |
| 108 | Direct comparison between an LED monitor and DMD projection in creating shades of grey for visual stimuli | Chiara Maria Mariani and Brian Vohnsen |
| 109 | Investigations into the Effects and Reduction of Electromigration in Current-Modulated Active Plasmonic Structures | Silas O'Toole, Dominic Zerulla |
Symposium Registration Information
- The Symposium registration is only open to UCD research graduate students (i.e., either PhD or Master by Research) and postdoctoral fellows currently registered in either the UCD College of Science or the UCD College of Engineering & Architecture.
- The Symposium will consist of up to 160 poster presentations. All posters must be registered and presented by at least one (co)author who is currently registered as a graduate research student or postdoctoral fellow in either the UCD College of Science or the UCD College of Engineering & Architecture. Posters with multiple authors should designate only one main student or postdoc presenter using the online registration form.
- All posters will be presented in the UCD O'Reilly Hall from 10:00 AM - 3 PM on Monday, June 16th, 2025. They can be displayed starting at 9:30 AM and removed promptly between 3:00 - 3:15 PM.
- Each poster will be assigned a number - please check the list of poster titles posted on this website. The poster’s presenter will be expected to be available at the poster location during the time slot allocated in the programme (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: The first session for ODD poster numbers; followed by 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: The second session for EVEN poster numbers.)
- A committee will rank the posters submitted, and the Symposium will end with a brief awards ceremony to be held at approximately. 3:15 to 3:30 PM in the UCD O'Reilly Hall.
- Important note: The registration deadline is extended to Wednesday, June 11th at 2:00 PM. As the event has a maximum capacity of 160 posters, the poster registration will be CLOSED as soon as this capacity is reached during the registration window.
- Important note: If you are unable to upload your Poster file at the time of registration, your response is sent to you and you can edit it at a later stage. However, a good resolution (i.e., min. 300 dpi) Poster file should be uploaded before the registration deadline for a poster to be eligible for an award.
Important notes:
- The final numbered list of posters will be posted online, date TBA.
- The posters can have any reasonable size (e.g., A0, or A1).
- Four poster awards will be given to the best posters presented by students from each of the two colleges.
- A light lunch option will be provided to all poster presenters who have completed the registration form before the deadline.
Symposium Programme
- 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Presenters can set up/display their posters in the UCD O'Reilly Hall.
- 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: The first session for poster presenters with ODD poster numbers (i.e., poster presenters expected to be available next to their posters numbered 1, 3, 5, etc). The list of poster titles will be available online.
- 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch break
- 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: The second session for poster presenters with EVEN poster numbers (i.e., poster presenters expected to be available next to their posters numbered 2, 4, 6, etc.).
- 3:00 PM: Removal of posters begins
- 3:30 PM: Awards ceremony to take place in the UCD O'Reilly Hall. NOTE: Awardees not present will forfeit their award to the poster presenter with the next highest rank/score.
Event Organisers
Maeve O'Connell
Senior Project Officer - College of Science
Matthew Sheridan
Website Manager - College of Engineering & Architecture
Frequently Asked Questions
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I do not intend to present a poster, but I would like to come and look at the posters on the day of the STEM Symposium. Do I still need to register?
Answer: No, only poster presenters need to register online, primarily because they need to be assigned a poster board number and to be provided with a lunch voucher. However, all members of the UCD community, students and staff included, are very welcome to attend our 2024 STEM Symposium without the need to register.
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I am a postdoctoral research fellow. Am I eligible to register as a poster presenter?
Answer: Yes, all postdoctoral research fellows in the UCD College of Science or the UCD College and Engineering and Architecture are very welcome to register and submit a poster abstract online. They will also receive a lunch voucher for the day of the Symposium. However, only posters submitted and presented by a graduate research student will be eligible for an award. Also, please keep in mind that this year the event has a strict maximum capacity of only 120 posters, the poster registration may be CLOSED as soon as this capacity is reached during the registration window.
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I am a Taught MSc student. Am I eligible to register for the symposium as a poster presenter?
Answer: No, this year the Symposium registration is only open to UCD STEM research graduate students (i.e., either PhD or Master by Research) and postdoctoral fellows (see above).