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A college student, dressed professionally, stands near their research poster. Several attendees can be seen looking at research posters.

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.

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