Research & Service Leadership Symposium

Judges' Award Recipients

Among the many stellar projects, there were 6 deserving of the Judges' Award due to their diligence in project development, excellence in presentation materials and delivery, and significance in the scope and impact (current or potential) of their project.

Judges' Award for Excellence in Research

• Unveiling the Secrets of Bacterial Resistance to Honey and Engineering Genetic Resistance through Plasmid Manipulation presented by Ayaka Sonehara, Gina Hua, Hasnain Mirza, Nikhil Kundu & Ryan Tsunoda
• Pedaling Forward: Exploring Safe and Sustainable Options for San Francisco's Valencia Street Bikeway presented by Racheal Matheny

Judges' Award for Excellence in Service

• Enhancing Anatomy & Physiology Education - A 3D model of brain and spinal cord pathways presented by Ye Thi (Michelle), Mengdi Ren, and "Sari" Sarka King
• Introduction to Down Syndrome Video Series presented by Dashiell Meier

Judges' Award for Excellence in Creative Art

• Monsters Hide in The Space Inside presented by Jeffery Thomas
• Under One Roof: Compositions of Family Dynamics presented by Erika Wang

Viewers' Choice Award

You spoke and we listened! Attendees of the 2024 RSLS had the opportunity to vote for the Viewers' Choice Award. Of the many projects that viewers' identified as having an impact on them, 5 projects stood out, receiving the most votes throughout the day. 

Your votes were tallied . . . Here are the top 5!

The audience nominations go to  . . .

• “Humans Need Not Apply: AGI Is All We Need” presented by Alireza Shirvani
• “To what extent can an Arduino electromyography kit be used to closely mimic muscle movements in the body?” presented by Brian Sawaya, Erin Takeshima & Vy Tran
• “Enhancing Anatomy & Physiology Education - A 3D model of brain and spinal cord pathways” presented by Ye Thi (Michelle), Mengdi Ren, and "Sari" Sarka King
• “Oral Health Education for Vietnamese Adults” presented by Kristie Tien Nguyen, Ivy Diem To, Jayden Tran & Van Tran
• “Transforming Food Waste to Energy through Metabolic Activity: The Potential of Microbial Fuel Cells as a Renewable Source of Energy” presented by Sean Isomatsu, Timon Becker, Jocelyn Ma, Erin Takeshima & Jason Pallas-Gohlke

Special Recognition

Special Recognition for Judges' Award Finalists!

Before viewing the presentations, we selected 20 finalists for consideration based on their submitted materials. The decision was difficult due to the considerable value of each project:

• A Plan for a Green Planet: A Sustainable Future with Rice Water Fertilize presented by Ayaka Sonehara, Hasnain Mirza, Marcus Jacob, Ester Schulhof & Sudar Ramesh

• Alleviating Social Isolation and Loneliness in Elderly and Teens Through Monthly Social Events presented by Samhita Krishnan, Namya Kasturi & Lia O'Donovan
• Astrophysical Jets: their effect on us finding planet formation on a galactic scale presented by Kedaton Campbell
• Covering (up) a Silent Genocide: How Poor Representation in the Media Contributes to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Crisis presented by Ryann Mejia-Gonzales
• Dirt-y Antibiotics presented by Vida Chapelle, Daphne Le & Meagan Lomboy
• Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Racial Disparities and Systemic Impacts presented by ​​Keala Hadaya
• Enhancing Anatomy & Physiology Education - A 3D model of brain and spinal cord pathways presented by Ye Thi (Michelle), Mengdi Ren, and "Sari" Sarka King
• Housing Rights: Spreading Awareness Regarding Housing Rights in the Bay Area for Underprivileged Communities presented by Zara Mukhtar & Maya Moss
• Introduction to Down Syndrome Video Series presented by Dashiell Meier
• Monsters Hide in The Space Inside presented by Jeffery Thomas
• New Creep In Town presented by Renee Bloomquist, Esperanza Medina & Zakai Maldonado
• No More Stolen Sisters: Impact of Unreliable Data and Jurisdiction on Treatment of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Cases in California presented by Ella Bishop
• Oncolytic Retroviruses for Cancer Treatment presented by Andrew Vuong, Joaquin Jalova & Nikhil Kundu
• Pedaling Forward: Exploring Safe and Sustainable Options for San Francisco's Valencia Street Bikeway presented by Racheal Matheny
• Takashi Murakami: Art on the cutting edge of pop art, traditional Japanese landscape and history painting, comic art, and graphic design presented by Ellen Kim
• Teenage Mood: The Comparative Effects of In-person Communities versus Social Media presented by Joshua Kao
• The Cogs of Culture: How Automata Shaped Ancient Culture and Modern Engineering presented by Jack Vierhus
• Under One Roof: Compositions of Family Dynamics presented by Erika Wang
• Unveiling the Secrets of Bacterial Resistance to Honey and Engineering Genetic Resistance through Plasmid Manipulation presented by Ayaka Sonehara, Gina Hua, Hasnain Mirza, Nikhil Kundu & Ryan Tsunoda
• 40%: The Process of Designing Sustainable Affordable Housing Units presented by Kali Ressi di Cervia