Trident Scholars 2020-2029
2020
KADEN C. DOHM
“Optimizing the Structural and Deflagration Properties of Aluminum-Rich Paraffin-Based Hybrid Rocket Motors”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Jin Kang and Assistant Professor Spencer Temkin, Aerospace Engineering Department
TIMOTHY J. FORMAN
“Improving the Security of Android Unlock Patterns using New Iterations of the Standard Pattern Lock Interface”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Daniel Roche, Computer Science Department
External Collaborator: Associate Professor Adam Aviv, George Washington University
Ψ JOHN M. HANLING
“Proofs of Retrievability with Low Server Storage”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Daniel Roche, Computer Science Department
CHRISTIAN E. HOFFMAN
“Advancing the Synthesis of Polyionic Biocomposite Materials by the Natural Fiber Welding Process”
Faculty Advisors: CDR David Durkin, Professor Paul Trulove, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Yates, Chemistry Department
CHRISTOPHER D. JELLEN
“A Machine Learning Model for Prediction of Optical Turbulence in Near-Maritime Environments”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor John Burkhardt and Associate Professor Cody Brownell, Mechanical Engineering Department
JAMIE W. LEE
“Oblivious K-Nearest Neighbors for Secure Map Applications”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Daniel Roche and Assistant Professor Travis Mayberry, Computer Science Department
External Collaborator: Associate Professor Adam Aviv, George Washington University
JONATHAN P. PECK
“Characterization of the Far-Wake of a 6:1 Prolate Spheroid”
Faculty Advisor: LCDR Ethan Lust, Mechanical Engineering Department
CLAYTON S. PELZER
“The Effects of Acceleration on Film Cooling in Gas Turbine Engines”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Ralph Volino and Assistant Professor Ronald Warzoha, Mechanical Engineering Department
AIDAN J. SABETY-MASS
“Decision Problems in Computational Group Theory”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Kostya Medynets, Mathematics Department
2021
DANIEL J. BUTCHKO
“Cyber-Physical System Security of Surface Ships using Intelligent Constraints”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Kiriakos Kiriakidis, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department, and Assistant Professor Brien Croteau, Cyber Science Department
LENNING A. DAVIS
“Tracking Additive Manufacturing using Machine Vision”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Michael Kutzer and Assistant Professor John Donnal, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department
ALEC J. ENGL
“Photorealistic Image Generation for Satellite Pose Estimation using Generative Adversarial Networks”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Tae Lim, Aerospace Engineering Department, Associate Professor Randy Broussard, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department, Associate Professor Gavin Taylor, Computer Science Department
External Collaborator: Dr. David Gaylor, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Ψ HARRISON D. FOLEY
“Deceiving Neural Networks in Common Applications”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Gavin Taylor, Computer Science Department
External Collaborator: Associate Professor Tom Goldstein, University of Maryland
PHILIP C. GATBONTON
“A Framework to Evaluate Embedded Security Implementations on the Basis of Common Implementation Mistakes and Vulnerabilities”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Owens Walker, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Assistant Professor Dane Brown, Cyber Science Department
ELIZABETH K. GERGAL
“Drone Swarming Tactics using Reinforcement Learning and Policy Optimization”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Frederick Crabbe, Computer Science Department
MATTHEW C. GILLCRIST
“Freestream Deceleration Effects on Film Cooling Over a Flat Plate”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Ralph Volino, Mechanical Engineering Department
* JOHN M. JOHNSON
“Analyzing Error Correcting Code Structures via Matroid Invariants”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Max Wakefield, Mathematics Department
* The Naval Academy suffered the devastating loss of MIDN 1/C Johnson in December 2020. At the time of his death, John was half-way through his Trident project and making tremendous progress. His work will be continued by his faculty advisor.
ELANA P. KOZAK
“Analyzing Behaviors of Artificial Intelligence Methods for a Search Game”
Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor Scott Hottovy, Mathematics Department
External Collaborator: Dr. Ira Schwartz, Naval Research Laboratory
SARAH M. NGUYEN
“Parametric Analysis and Optimization of an Elastocaloric Refrigeration Cycle”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Ronald Warzoha, Professor Andrew Smith, and Associate Professor Joshua Radice, Mechanical Engineering Department, and Assistant Professor Brian Donovan, Physics Department
ZACHARY D. NYGAARD
“Near-Body Velocity and Turbulence Measurements in the Lee of an Inclined 6:1 Prolate Spheroid”
Faculty Advisor: LCDR Ethan Lust, Mechanical Engineering Department
NATALIE A. SCHIEUER
“Wireless Electromechanical Power Transfer Using Piezoelectric Materials”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Joshua Radice and Associate Professor John Burkhardt, Mechanical Engineering Department
PHILIP B. SMITH
“Predicting Naval Academy Performance using Holistic Personality Analysis in Multidimensional Space”
Faculty Advisors: CAPT Kevin Mullaney, Leadership, Ethics, and Law Department, and Professor William Traves, Mathematics Department
LILLIAN N. USADI
“Acoustic Manipulation of Microrobots Using Chladni Plates and Multimode Membrane Resonators”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Samara Firebaugh, Associate Professor Hatem ElBidweihy, and LT Steven Yee, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Professor Murray Korman, Physics Department
JOSEPH B. WIEDEMANN
“Superradiance of Few Driven Two-Level Quantum Dot Emitters in the Bad Cavity Limit”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Seth Rittenhouse and Assistant Professor Peter Brereton, Physics Department
External Collaborators: Dr. Joel Grim and Dr. Samuel Carter, Naval Research Laboratory
LOGAN R. WILLIAMS
“Characterizing the Economic Abundance of Water through a Theoretical and Empirical Framework”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Kurtis Swope, Economics Department, and LT R.J. Armador, English Department
2022
MATTHEW J. FOX
“Structural and Magnetic Properties of Iron-Palladium and Iron-Nickel Nanoparticle Biocomposites”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Elena Cimpoiasu, Physics Department, and CDR David Durkin, USN, Chemistry Department
KADE M. HECKEL
“Competitively Learned Attention Mechanism Prototypes (CLAMPs) for Network Intrusion Detection”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Frederick Crabbe, Computer Science Department
JONATHAN J. HUANG
“Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Investigations of Bismuth(III) Ions with Sulfur-Containing Biomolecules”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Graham Cheek and Professor Jamie Schlessman, Chemistry Department
Ψ WILLIAM A. JARRETT
“Machine Learning-Based Design of Structured Laser Light for Improved Data Transfer Rate in Underwater Wireless Communication”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Svetlana Avramov-Zamurovic and Professor Joel Esposito, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department
KYLE G. JUNG
“An Analytical and Computational Study of the Paraxial Wave Equation with Applications to Laser Beam Propagation”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Reza Malek-Madani, Mathematics Department, Professor Svetlana Avramov-Zamurovic, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department
SAMUEL P. LANEY
“Participant and Channel Privacy in End-to-End Encrypted VoIP Teleconferencing”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Daniel Roche, Computer Science Department, Associate Professor Justin Blanco, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Associate Professor Travis Mayberry, Cyber Science Department
JAMES J. POTTICARY
“A Novel Approach to Thermoelectric Material Fabrication Using Additive Manufacturing”
Faculty Advisors: CAPT Brad Baker, USN, Professor Peter Joyce, and Associate Professor Emily Retzlaff, Mechanical Engineering Department, and Associate Professor Hatem ElBidweihy, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
PIPPEN E. ROBISON
“Investigating the Photodegradation Mechanisms of Chlorpyrifos in arctic Lacustrine Systems”
Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor Jennifer Guerard, Chemistry Department
External Collaborator: Professor Yu-Ping Chin, University of Delaware
LOGAN C. SCHOFFSTALL
“Effects of Gamma Radiation on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Thermoplastics”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Peter Joyce, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Getto, and CAPT Brad Baker, USN, Mechanical Engineering Department, and CDR David Durkin, Chemistry Department
SKYLER P. SCHORK
“Machine Learning Enabled Prediction of Optical Turbulence from No-Reference Imaging”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor John Burkhardt, and Professor Cody Brownell, Mechanical Engineering Department, and Associate Professor Charles Nelson, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
CAMERON B. SMITH
“Characterizing Tandem Fin Wake Using Lateral Line Inspired Sensors”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Mark Murray, Mechanical Engineering Department, Professor David Fredriksson, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Department, Associate Professor Levi DeVries, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department, and Assistant Professor Alexander Luan, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Department
SARAH G. SORENSEN
“Ensuring Equitable Access to Liver Transplant Using Linear Programming, Network Flow, and Simulation”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Sommer Gentry, Mathematics Department
External Collaborator: Associate Professor Nicholas Wood, Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
CAROLINE G. TURNER
“Network Analysis of Concussion Symptoms in Collegiate Athletes”
Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor Anna Svirsko, Mathematics Department
External Collaborators: Assistant Professor Gian-Gabriel Garcia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor Spencer Liebel, University of Utah School of Medicine
2023
WILLIAM T. ASHE
“Enhancement of Metal Organic Frameworks for Degradation of Nerve Agents”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Craig Whitaker and CDR David Durkin, USN, Chemistry Department
External Collaborator: Dr. Gregory Peterson, US Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center
KYLE R. BEASLEY
“Macroeconomic Implications of Partial Cryptoization: Evidence from El Salvador”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Jacek Rothert and Associate Professor Alexander McQuoid, Economics Department
LANDON M. CLOUSE
“Emergence of the Orbital Age: American Human Spaceflight following the Columbia Disaster”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Brian VanDeMark, History Department
External Collaborator: Professor Howard McCurdy, American University
RYAN M. CONWAY
“Experimental Determination of Energy Absorption Characteristics ofa Cylindrical Wave Energy Converter in Linear and Nonlinear Waves”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Luksa Luznik, Mechanical Engineering Department and Associate Professor Levi DeVries, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department
DEREK T. GESS
“Nanomaterials-Based Liquid Crystal Devices for Improving their Stability and Electro-Optic Properties”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Rajratan Basu, Physics Department
Ψ ANDERS J. GULBRANDSON
“Mesoporous Cellulose Scaffolding”
Faculty Advisors: CDR David Durkin, USN, and Professor Paul Trulove, Chemistry Department
ROBERT L. HARE
“Quantum Engineering in the Undergraduate Laboratory: Tests and Violations of Local Realism”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Seth Rittenhouse, Associate Professor Joel Helton, and CDR Michael Manicchia, USN, Physics Department
External Collaborator: Dr. Peter Brereton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
JACK C. METCALF
“Increasing Application Security Through Interpretation”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Daniel Roche, Computer Science Department
RACHEL E. SANBORN
“Evaluation of Novel Atypical β-Lactams Against Mycobacterial Ldt Enzymes Toward Combating Antibiotic Resistance”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Leighanne Basta, Chemistry Department
JEN SUN
“Tracing Learning through Historical Records using Digital Methods: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems”
Faculty Advisors: Professor Marcus Jones, History Department and Associate Professor Brice Nguelifack, Mathematics Department
2024
CHRISTOPHER A. CIVETTA
“Probabilistic Object Tracking Using Quantified Camera Uncertainty Parameters in a Binocular System”
Faculty Advisors: Associate Professor Michael Kutzer and CDR Donald Costello, USN, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department
IAN T. DINMORE
“Investigation in to the Physiological Roles of L,D-Transpeptidases to Combat Tuberculosis”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Leighanne Basta, Chemistry Department
ROBERT E. KLANAC
“Modeling Operational Disruptions Due to Flooding Using Bayesian Networks”
Faculty Advisor: Professor William Traves, Mathematics Department
ANDREW S. KOLESAR
“Geometry of Numbers Over Real Quadratic Number Fields and Applications to Quadratic Forms”
Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor Katherine Thompson, Mathematics Department
RAM V. KRISHNAMOORTHY
“Efficient Exact Linear Programming Solutions”
Faculty Advisor: Assistant Professor Christopher Lourenco, Mathematics Department
JAMES B. MARGESON
“Structure of the X-Ray Continuum Emission Region in Gravitationally LEnsed Quasar SDSS J1339+1310”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Christopher Morgan, Physics Department
SEBASTIAN Z. MARTIN
“Allocation of Surveillance and Search Assets in Undersea Warfare”
Faculty Advisors: Assistant Professor Anna Svirsko and Associate Professor Daphne Skipper, Mathematics Department
External Collaborators: CDR Bradley Alaniz, USN (Ret.) and Dr. Michael Kopp, Undersea Warfighting Development Center, and Associate Professor Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy, Virginia Tech
ADRIEN D. RICHEZ
“Computer Vision for Uncrewed Aerial System Guidance Navigation and Control”
Faculty Advisors: CDR Donald Costello, USN, Weapons, Robotics, and Control Engineering Department and Professor Robert Niewoehner, Aerospace Engineering Department
SAMUEL S. SHIN
“A Fast First-Order Method to Calculate the Lovász Theta Function”
Faculty Advisor: Professor Nelson Uhan, Mathematics Department
External Collaborator: Dr. David J. Phillips, University of New Mexico
Ψ CHLOE M. SKOGG
“Formulation of Barnacle-Inspired Underwater Adhesives”
Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Elizabeth Yates, Chemistry Department
External Collaborator: Dr. Christopher So, Naval Research Laboratory
KATELYN M. VILLA
“Morphological Comparison of CN and OH in Comet Coma”
Faculty Advisors: Assistant Professor Matthew Knight and Professor Jeffrey Larsen, Physics Department
