Doctoral Exam Schedule
Leanna Martin, ELPHD, “Stabilizing the workforce behind the workforce: Exploring the relationship between North Carolina’s Child Care Stabilization Grant, teacher retention, and facility stability”, January 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m., CTI Building Room 325, Major Professor: Dr. Anna Egalite.
Tu Minh Duy Chung, Chemistry, “Total synthesis of Bacteriochlorophyll a.,” January 30, 2026, 9 a.m., DAB 210. Major Professor: Dr. Jonathan S. Lindsey.
Prateeti Ugale, Fiber and Polymer Science, “VIA-Embedded Interconnects in Textiles,” January 30, 2026, 9:30 a.m., WCOT rm-4404. Major Professor: Dr. Amanda Mills.
Landon Keller, Chemical Engineering, “Thermal Vapor Phase Etching and Atomic Layer Etching for Selective Material Removal,” January 30, 2026, 2:00 p.m., EBI-1011. Major Professor: Dr. Gregory Parsons.
Mushfika Tasnim Mica, Textile Technology Management, “The effect of wearing ballistic vests on firefighter heat
strain,” February 2, 2026, 3:00 p.m., WCOT- room 4404. Major Professors: Dr. Emiel DenHartog and Dr. Roger Barker.
Richard Li, Economics, “Essays on the Health Impacts of Pesticide Use and The Effects of Crop Insurance on Suicide”, February 5, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Xiaoyong Zheng.
Tse-Han Pan, Computer Engineering, “Pressure-Driven Orthogonal Laguerre Tessellation for Whitespace-Free Rectilinear 3D Floorplanning of Mixed Module Types,” February 6, 2026, 3:00 p.m., MRC – 423C. Major Professor: Dr. Paul D. Franzon.
Young Jae Kim, Mechanical Engineering, “Designing Sustainable Functional Surfaces: Nonwoven Fabrics and Agricultural Waste,” February 10, 2026, 8:00 a.m., EBIII-3235. Major Professor: Dr. Arun K. Kota.
Apoorv Agarwal, Electrical Engineering, “Performance evaluation and control of Isolated DC-DC converters for Solid State Transformer, DC grids and Capacitor Charging Power Supply applications: Three phase Dual Active Bridge and Phase Shifted Full Bridge converters,” February 11, 2026, 3:00 p.m., FREEDM Systems Center. Major Professor: Dr. Subhashish Bhattacharya.
Vy Phuong Tran, Chemistry, “Synthetic Chlorosomal Bacteriochlorophylls-inspired Porphyrins for Studies in Basic
Science,” February 12, 2026, 10 a.m., DAB 210. Major Professor: Dr. Jonathan Lindsey.
Temilola Gbadamosi-Adeniyi, Industrial Engineering, “Data-Driven Modeling and Real-time Monitoring for Quality Assurance in EB-PBF Metal Additive Manufacturing using Electron Emission Data,” February 19, 2026, 1:00 p.m., 4103 Fitts Woolard. Major Professors: Dr. Tim Horn/Dr. Ola Harrysson.
Yamil Andres Essus Pradel, Industrial Engineering, “Computational Methods for Enhancing Community Resilience,” February 17, 2026, 2:00 p.m., FWH-4103. Major Professor: Dr. Benjamin Rachunok.
Marian Prieto Torres, Entomology and Plant Pathology, “Integrating Genomics and Biosurveillance to Advance Disease Resistance and Management in Cucurbits,” February 24, 2026, 10:00 a.m., PSB 4152. Major Professor: Dr. Dr. Lina Quesada.
Shawana Sheperd-Murtagh, CRDM, “Governing Reproduction in Digital Publics: Risk, Surveillance, and Marginalized Parenthood,” February 24, 2026, 12:30 p.m. D.H. Hill Library, Cyma Rubin Visualization Gallery. Major Professor: Dr. Andrew Binder.
Amelia Rivera, TELS, “Transforming Teacher Preparation Through a Global Immersion: Developing Linguistic Justice Orientation in Preservice Teachers”, February 25, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Hunt Library Room 4505, Major Professor: Dr. Jamie Pearson.
Donggu Lee, Electrical Engineering, “Ray Tracing-Based MIMO Link Analysis and Performance Evaluation of Asymmetric Links for UAV Networks,” February 26, 2026, 3:00 p.m., EBII-3075. Major Professor: Dr. Ismail Guvenc.
Margaret Lawrimore, Geospatial Analytics, “From Zoning Maps to Urban Futures: A New Approach to Modeling Development Across Time”, February 27, 2026, 12:30 p.m., Jordan Hall Room 5103, Major Professors: Dr. Ross Meentemeyer and Dr. Georgina Sanchez.
Collin Ashley, Adult & Community College Education, “Adopting Intelligence: Decision-Making About Artificial Intelligence in Community College Administration”, February 27, 2026, 3:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Catherine Hartman.
Brenden Heinichen, Prestage Department of Poultry Science, “Advancing Predictive Nutrition in Commercial Turkeys: From Mechanistic Model Validation to Machine Learning Applications,” March 2, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Scott Hall 216. Major Professors: Dr. Peter Ferket and Dr. Ramon Malheiros.
Will Lidwell, Design, “Superuniversal Communication: A Theoretical Framework for Communicating Across Beings and Worlds,” March 3, 2026, 11 a.m., Remote. Major Professor: Dr. M. Elen Deming.
Amanda Jewett, Adult & Community College Education, “It’s Your Story, Win, Lose, or Draw: A Collective Case Study of Community College QEP Directors”, March 4, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professors: Dr. Catherine Hartman and Dr. Makena Stewart.
Earl Gilmore Ford IV, Toxicology, “Old Drugs, New Uses: A Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Investigation into Antidotes and Analgesics in Cattle – A Study of Methylene Blue, Butorphanol, and Morphine,” March 4, 2026, 10 a.m., CVM Main A101. Major Professors: Dr. Ronald Baynes and Dr. Derek Foster.
Elizabeth Ham, Adult & Community College Education, “Making Sense of Change: How Boundary-Spanning Community College Leaders Navigate Workforce Alignment in North Carolina”, March 4, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professors: Dr. Catherine Hartman and Dr. Keith Witham.
Dhanush Udayashankara Jamadgni, Materials Science & Engineering, “Design of GT-based Solid Lubricants,” March 4, 2026, 2:00 p.m., Room 3018. Major Professor: Dr. Martin Thuo.
Meghan Moore, Psychology, “Comparing Stress Mindset Intervention Approaches,” March 5, 2026, 11 a.m., D.H. Hill Library, Rm. 2310. Major Professor: Dr. Jennifer Burnette.
Lexi Namer, Design, “Developing a Harm-Aware Framework for Digital Healthcare Design,” March 5, 2026, 2 p.m., Remote. Major Professor: Dr. Sharon Joines.
Abbey Collins, Psychology, “Assessing Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Black Young Adult Women: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study,” March 6, 2026, 10 a.m., D.H. Hill Library, 2312G. Major Professor: Dr. Vanessa Volpe.
Kesa Jessup, ELPHD, “Balancing Purpose, People & Power: Adaptive Leadership Among Community Foundation Scholarship Professionals”, March 6, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professors: Dr. Audrey Jaeger and Dr. Keith Witham.
Diego Cornejo, Mathematics, “Resolvent and Proximal Compositions: Theory and Applications,” March 6, 2026, 11:35 a.m., SAS 3282. Major Professor: Dr. Patrick Combettes.
Janelle Johnson, TELS, “Examining Intersectional Neurodivergent Experiences in Higher Education: A Mixed Methods Approach”, March 6, 2026, 12:30 p.m., CTI Building Room 305, Major Professor: Dr. Jamie Pearson.
Christopher Dunstan, Geospatial Analytics, “Dancing with Data: Geospatial Analytics for Tracing Innovation in Urban Dance Culture”, March, 6, 2026, 2:00 p.m., Jordan Hall Room 5103, Major Professors: Dr. Laura Tateosian and Dr. Aaron Hipp.
Elizabeth Brehler, ELPHD, “Frontline Perspectives on Enrollment Barriers: Addressing the Adult Learner Enrollment Gap in Community Colleges”, March 6, 2026, 2:30 p.m., Belk Center Room 1103, Major Professors: Dr. Audrey Jaeger.
Kerri Donohue, Adult & Community College Education, “Exploring the Professional Identity of Community College Science Faculty”, March 9, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Catherine Hartman.
Salem Hamad N H Alnaimi, Civil Engineering, “Towards Safer and Smarter Airport Infrastructure: A Data-Driven Approach,” March 9, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Research IV 3402. Major Professors: Dr. Daniel Findley/Dr. Billy Williams.
Nathan Kyler, Psychology, “Anxiety Mindsets in Parents and Children,” March 9, 2026, 12 p.m., D.H. Hill Library, Conference Room 2310. Major Professor: Dr. Jennifer Burnette.
Ziqi Wang, Mechanical Engineering, “Understanding and Engineering Oxides for Emerging Functionalities,” March 10, 2026, 10:00 a.m., EBIII-3115. Major Professor: Dr. Jun Liu.
Ana Cubas Baez, Forestry and Environmental Resources, “Perceptions on Different Dimensions of Forestry and Land Management Across Multiple Contexts”, March, 10, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Jordan Hall Addition Room 1214, Major Professors: Dr. Rajan Parajuli and Dr. Erin Sills.
Rachel Rowan, ELPHD, “Understanding School Readiness in Context: The Role of Policy, Peers, and School Leaders in Pre-K Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices”, March 10, 2026, 1:00 p.m., CTI Building Room 325, Major Professor: Dr. Michael Little.
Saqlain Raza, Mechanical Engineering, “Nanoscale Interfaces: Impact on Thermal and Mass Transport,” March 10, 2026, 3:00 p.m., EBIII-3115-A. Major Professor: Dr. Jun Liu.
Corey Wishon, Animal and Poultry Science, “Evaluation of Cold Seed Hemp Pressed Cake as a Viable Protein Additive in Commercial Turkey Rations,” March 11, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Scott 216. Major Professors: Dr. Adam Fahrenholz and Dr. Jesse Grimes.
Mohamed Abdul Hameed, Nuclear Engineering, “From Electrons to Bubbles and Grains: Mechanistic Modeling of Uranium Nitride,” March 11, 2026, 10:30 a.m., BU-1121-Duke. Major Professor: Dr. Benjamin Beeler.
Amanda Solliday, Horticultural Science, “Assessing Sustainability Through Environmental Practices, Carbon Emissions, and Plastic Material Flow in U.S. Floriculture,” March 13, 2026, 9:00 a.m., 121 Kilgore Hall. Major Professors: Dr. Melinda Knut and Dr. Brian Jackson.
Kin Gomez, Chemical Engineering, “Dendritic beading and tools for the study of morphological and functional changes of neurodegenerative conditions using C. elegans as a model organism,” March 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m., EBI – 2018. Major Professor: Dr. Adriana San Miguel.
Adam Wade, ELPHD, “Voices from the Margins: How Queer Students of Color in North Carolina Community Colleges Make Meaning of their Multiple Identities”, March 16, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Devon Graves.
Faiz Alam, Computer Engineering, “Secure Memory Virtualization for Heterogeneous Architectures,” March 17, 2026, 9:00 a.m., EBII-2095. Major Professor: Dr. Greg Byrd.
Yongseok Jeon, Industrial Engineering, “Calibrating Digital Twins in Rapidly Changing Systems,” March 18, 2026, 11:30 a.m., FWH 4361. Major Professor: Dr. Sara Shashaani.
Jared R. Cossin, Chemistry, “Efforts Towards Diverse Polyketide Production via CoA Ligase and PKS
Engineering,” March 24, 2026, 9 a.m., DAB 210. Major Professor: Dr. Gavin Williams.
Rohit Singh, Computer Engineering, “Revisiting Simple Paradigms for Exploiting Control Independence in Superscalar Processors, April 17, 2026, 3:00 p.m., EBII 2095. Major Professor: Dr. Eric Rotenberg.
Tran Anh Thu Nguyen, Chemistry, “Toward the Total Synthesis of Phyllobilins: Enabling Access to
Biologically Relevant Chlorophyll Catabolites,” April 21, 2026, 8:30 a.m., COX 306. Major Professor: Dr. Jonathan Lindsey.
Kayla Hahn, Nuclear Engineering, “Plasma bubble spectroscopy: An in-situ method for material quantification of molten salts,” May 5, 2026, 3:00 p.m., BEL-1202. Major Professor: Dr. Alexander Bataller.
Davis Bryars, Nuclear Engineering, “Spectroscopic Characterization of Molten Salts,” May 7, 2026, 1:00 p.m., BUI 1202. Major Professor: Dr. Alexander Bataller.