Twelve CEAT students named 2025-26 Wentz Research Scholars
Friday, May 9, 2025
Media Contact: Desa James | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-2669 | desa.james@okstate.edu
Twelve students from Oklahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology have been named 2025-26 Wentz Research Scholars.
Funded by the Lew Wentz Foundation and administered by OSU’s Henry Bellmon Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research, the Wentz Research Scholars program supports undergraduate students conducting independent research under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Scholars receive a $6,000 scholarship for the academic year to support their research efforts, which is an increase from the previous amount of $4,500.
The Wentz Research program is one of OSU’s most prestigious undergraduate research opportunities and is open to students in any major. Approximately 40 students are selected each year across the university.
Scholars are required to complete several milestones throughout the academic year, including submitting a progress report in the fall, presenting a research poster at the Wentz Symposium in the spring and turning in a final report at the end of the academic year. Students must also maintain a 3.0 GPA, complete at least 12 credit hours each semester and attend all required program meetings.
This year’s CEAT recipients represent a variety of engineering disciplines and research topics ranging from turbulence modeling and hypersonic flow to cancer therapies and sustainable agriculture.
The 2025-26 CEAT Wentz Research Scholars are:
Caden Adams, mechanical and aerospace engineering
Improving Turbulence Modeling for Hypersonic Flows | Mentor: Chitrarth Prasad
Ceyda Kara, chemical engineering
Optimization of Aerosol Drug Delivery in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients
with Tracheal Stenosis Using Computational Fluid Particle Dynamics | Mentor: Yu Feng
William Fehring, aerospace and mechanical engineering
Impact of Metal Additives on Slag Deposition in Solid Rocket Motors | Mentor: Kurt Rouser
Isaac Williams, mechanical and aerospace engineering
Carbon Graphite Foam-Based Thermal and Dynamic Load Resistant Barrier for Sensitive
Payloads | Mentor: James Manimala
Sean Fetters, chemical engineering
Camelina Cultivation Potential in Oklahoma: Assessing Impacts of Soil and Water Variability
on Crop Productivity and Use as a Biofuel Feedstock | Mentor: Mari Chinn
Cannon Kilcrease, electrical engineering
The Effects of Propeller Modulation with Software Defined Radios | Mentor: Chuck Bunting
Katie Rupert, mechanical and aerospace engineering
Evaluating the Effect of Turbulence on Latent Heat Amplification of Flow Noise | Mentor: Brian Elbing
Luella Hollis, architectural engineering
Enhancing Seismic Resilience: Investigating the Damping Properties of Liquid Crystal
Elastomer Composites for Earthquake Mitigation | Mentor: Aurelie Azoug
Ariel Santos, chemical engineering
Synergistic Effects of Fenbendazole Benzimidazole Anthelmintic and Frankincense on
RM1-PGLS Prostate Cancer Survival | Mentor: Josh Ramsey
Molly Dolan, mechanical engineering
Investigating Acoustic Variations in Fixed-Pitch and Variable-Pitch Systems | Mentor: Sicheng Kevin Li
Lena James, mechanical and aerospace engineering
Development of Porous Plugs for Noise Reduction in Future Commercial Supersonic Aircraft | Mentor: Chitrarth Prasad
Abigail McCrary, electrical engineering
Comparative Analysis of Antenna and Probe-Based Instrumentation for HERO Testing in
Naval Ordnance | Mentor: Chuck Bunting
For more information about the Wentz Research Scholars program, visit the website.