Amelia Rivera, TELS, “Transforming Teacher Preparation Through a Global Immersion: Developing Linguistic Justice Orientation in Preservice Teachers.”, April 3, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Hunt Library Room 4505, Major Professor: Dr. Jamie Pearson.

Kiy Benton, Learning and Teaching in STEM, “Breaking the Code: Cultivating Girls’ Self-Efficacy and Belongingness in STEM through Representation-in the Screen and Beyond”, April 6, 2026, 11:00 a.m., CTI Building Room 325, Major Professor: Dr. Cameron Denson.

Christy Batts, ELPHD, “Public Education Resources for Homeschoolers: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Homeschool Students’ Access to and Use of Pubic Education Resources in the Triangle Region of North Carolina”, April 7, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professors: Dr. Tamara Young and Dr. Anna Egalite.

Vinit Kumar Singh, Computer Engineering, ” Learning Dynamics and Applications of Neural-Network Quantum States,” April 7, 2026, 12:00 p.m., EBIII-4142 BME. Major Professor: Dr. Sabre Kais.

Saroj Subedi, Mechanical Engineering, ” Modeling and Controlling Energy Input in Digital Light Processing Systems for Enhanced Dimensional Fidelity and Mechanical Integrity,” April 8, 2026, 9:00 a.m., EBIII-3235. Major Professor: Dr. Henry Ware.

Sarangi Joseph, Civil Engineering, “Sorption Equilbria of Per – and Polyfluoroalkl Substances (PFAS) on Activated Carbon,” April 8, 2026, 1:00 p.m., FWH 3280. Major Professor: Dr. Detlef Knappe.

Muhammad Anees, Electrical Engineering, “Stability considerations for DC Microgrids,” April 10, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Energy Board Room, FREEDM Systems Center. Major Professor: Dr. Srdjan Lukic.

James Birkett, ELPHD, “The Impact of Federal Grad PLUS Loans on Professional Degree Production: A Comparative Interrupted Time Series Analysis of Professional Masters and Doctoral Programs”, April 13, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Stephen Porter.

Harley Hanes, Mathematics, “Hyper-Reduction, Boundary Penalties, and Sensitivity Equations in
Projection-Based Reduced-Order Models,” April 13, 2026, 10 a.m., SAS 3282. Major Professor: Dr. Ralph Smith.

Taylor Leonard, Psychology, “Retirement Certainty and Financial Decision-making Competence: The Effect of Uncertainty on Subjective Financial Well-being,” April 13, 2026, 3 p.m., Faculty Seminar Room, 2312N, D.H. Hill Library. Major Professor: Dr. Daniel Gruehn.

Vinutha Ravinageswaran, Chemistry, “Exploring Interdisciplinary Knowledge Integration using Systems Thinking and Mechanistic Reasoning frameworks,” April 14, 2026, 1 p.m., COX 400. Major Professor: Dr. Maria Oliver-Hoyo.

Francisco Ponce Carrion, Mathematics, “Combinatorial Problems in Applied Algebraic Geometry,” April 14, 2026, 2:30 p.m., SAS 3282. Major Professor: Dr. Seth Sullivant.

Troy Weaver, Educational Leadership, “Thermometers and Thermostats: A Qualitative Study of Affinity Groups as a Regulating Influence on the Educational Outcomes for Black and Latino Male Students”, April 16, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Lance Fusarelli.

Lei Xue, Civil Engineering, “Performance evaluation of asphalt mixtures using BMD + tests and indirect tensile test,” April 16, 2026, 2:00 p.m., FWH 4280. Major Professors: Dr. Y. Richard Kim/Dr. Shane Underwood.

Javier I. Madariaga Roman, Mathematics, “Stochastic Iterations in Hilbertian Nonlinear Analysis,” April 17, 2026, 11:30 a.m., SAS 3282. Major Professor: Dr. Patrick Combettes.

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.

Madhusudan Madhavan, Mathematics, “Fast Algorithms For Optimal Data Acquisition in PDE-constrained Optimization Problems,” April 21, 2026, 8 a.m., SAS Hall, Rm. 3282. Major Professors: Dr. Alen Alexanderian and Dr. Arvind Saibaba.

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.

Glenn Almelor, Operations Research, “Bayesian Inference on Extreme Values,” April 21, 2026, 2:00 p.m., SAS 3282. Major Professor: Dr. Subhashis Ghoshal.

Joanna Elizabeth Muir, Chemistry, “Synthesis of Cyclobutanone Derivatives via Stereospecific Ring Expansion of Cyclopropanone Adducts,” April 27, 2026, 9 a.m., Cox Hall, Rm. 306. Major Professor: Dr. Vincent Lindsay.

Miara Bailey-Hall, Sociology, “The Complexities of Black Consumption: Black Experiences, Coping Strategies, and Resistance to Hegemonic Ideologies of Consumption,” April 28, 2026, 10 a.m., Remote. Major Professor: Dr. Kim Ebert.

Muhammad Abdelraziq, Electrical Engineering, “Optimization-Driven Modeling, Analysis, and Design of High-Efficiency, High-Gravimetric-Power-Density Inductive Wireless Chargers for Unmanned Aerial Systems,” April 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m., FREEDM Energy Board Room. Major Professor: Dr. Zeljko Pantic.

Yongseok Jeon, Industrial Engineering, “Calibrating Digital Twins in Rapidly Changing Systems,” May 5, 2026, 9:00 a.m., FWH 4361. Major Professor: Dr. Sara Shashaani.

Vincent Novellino, Nuclear Engineering,” Multi-Level Hybrid Deterministic/Monte Carlo Methods for Neutral Particle Transport,” May 5, 2026, 11:00 a.m., BU 1121. Major Professor: Dr. Dmitriy Anistratov.

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.

Keisha White, ELPHD, “To Be or Not to Be: An Exploratory Qualitative Study on Black Women District Leaders Aspiring to the Superintendency”, May 6, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Lance Fusarelli.

Doan Phuong Lien Cao, Chemistry, “Design and Synthesis of Porphyrins For Cancer Treatment,” May 7, 2026, 10 a.m., COX 400. Major Professor: Dr. Jonathan. S. Lindsey.

Davis Bryars, Nuclear Engineering, “Spectroscopic Characterization of Molten Salts,” May 7, 2026, 1:00 p.m., BUI 1202. Major Professor: Dr. Alexander Bataller.

Nisarg Joshi, Chemical Engineering, “Navigating the Molecular Design Landscape with Machine Learning: From Molecular Dynamics to Generative Modeling,” May 8, 2026, 11:00 a.m., EBI-3003. Major Professor: Dr. Jim Pfaendtner.

Tiffany VanDerwerker, Social Science, “There Must be Something in the Water: Evaluating Water Quality in PFAS-Impacted Coastal Plain Aquifers,” May 8, 2026, 12:00 p.m., 2405 Williams. Major Professors: Dr. Detlef Knappe and Dr. Owen Duckworth.

Bret Timmons, Horticultural Science, “Sourcing, processing, and managing wood substrates for horticultural use,” May 12, 2026, 10:00 a.m., 121 Kilgore Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Brian Jackson.

Naimur Rahman Chowdhury, Industrial Engineering, “Location-Allocation and Multi-Agent Preferences in a Food Bank Network,” May 12, 2026, 11:00 a.m., FWH 4361. Major Professors: Dr. Osman Ozaltin/Dr. Julie Simmons Ivy.

Sarah Mulutzie, Operations Research, “Behavioral Epidemiology and Policy Innovation: Developing Targeted Intervention Strategies using Agent-Based Modeling of Human Decision-Making,” June 8, 2026, 9:00 a.m., FWH 4103. Major Professor: Dr. Maria Mayorga.

Tyler R. Jarrard, Food Science, “Thermal Inactivation of the Plasmin System in Model Milk Protein Concentrate Beverages,” June 9, 2026, 10:00 a.m., G-40 / Schaub Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Haotian Zheng.

John Yu, Electrical Engineering, “Decision-Relevant Probabilistic Forecasting for Power Systems-Methods, System-Level Evaluation, and Real-Time Implementation,” June 11, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Remote. Major Professor: Dr. Wenyuan Tang.

Yufeng Lin, Food Science, “Valorization of whey streams: protein and permeate aspects,” June 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m., G-40 / Schaub Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Haotian Zheng.

Kimberly Young, Comparative Biomedical Science, “Safety and feasibility of the use of cell and gene therapy in quine ocular disease,” July 7, 2026, 1:00 p.m., C120. Major Professors: Dr. Brian Gilger and Dr. Lauren Schnabel.