Chapman Engineering Students Present Innovative Research at Fall 2025 Student Scholar Symposium
December 16, 2025
On Wednesday, December 3rd, and Thursday, December 4th, Fowler School of Engineering students presented their research to the Chapman University campus during the Fall Student Scholar Symposium.
The symposium, which is hosted biannually by the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, featured Fowler students and their groundbreaking research in various fields, from software engineering to data analytics. Students either displayed their posters or gave oral presentations to share their findings amongst their peers, mentors, faculty, and staff.
This year, Fowler Engineering students presented on a diverse range of topics, from bridging educational gaps in translation models to developing accessible learning software for braille display users.
Leading up to the symposium, FSE students took advantage of the research opportunities available at Fowler Engineering, including the faculty mentorship and scholarships available to current undergraduates. Throughout this semester, Fowler Engineering students worked with their faculty advisors to pursue and present a research topic aligned with their academic interests.
Throughout the symposium, these students demonstrated their keen understanding of real-world issues, focusing on their specific specialties in engineering, which serves as further testament to their scholarship and career preparation.
Congratulations to the following students for presenting their findings!
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Poster Session 1
Student: Annika Brown
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Trudi Qi
Research: Developing an Intuitive Gesture-Based Interface and AI for Precise Object Positioning in Extended Reality

Student: Fumiya Shinagawa
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Yuxin Wen
Research: Privacy-Aware System Failure Prediction through Joint Longitudinal-Survival Modeling

Student: Asiyah Speight
Faculty Advisor: James Wimberly
Research: Bridging Machine Learning and Islamic Scholarship: A Study in Hadith Translation and Similarity Analysis

Students: Farzana Chowdhury, Luca Mukai, and David Giani
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Nasim Estakhri
Research: Free-Space Interferometry Using Mach-Zehnder Approach: Experimental Implementation with 3D Printing
Poster Session 2
Students: Daniel Tsivkovski, Dylan Ravel, and Brandon Foley
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Maryam Etezad, Dr. Ariel Han, Dr. Rajeev Joshi, and Dr. Franceli Cibrian
Research: Developing Accessible Narrative-Based STEM Learning Software for K-6 Braille Display Users

Student: Joseph McWherter
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Nooshin Estakhri
Research: Controlled Vibration Exciter for Optical Measurement Systems

Student: Luca Mukai
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Nooshin Estakhri
Research: A Microcontroller-Based Restrained Vibration Exciter

Student: Sasha Zagorski
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Peiyi Zhao
Research: Low Power Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART)
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Oral Session 1
Student: Annika Brown
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jocelyn L. Buckner
Research: Storytelling Through Interactive Media

Oral Session 4
Student: Asiyah Speight
Faculty Advisor: James Wimberly
Research: Bridging Machine Learning and Islamic Scholarship: A Study in Hadith Translation and Similarity Analysis
Visit Chapman Engineering’s Undergraduate Research and Opportunities website for more information on how to get involved in engineering research.

