Kennesaw State University

When something grabs Toni Kamau's attention, she wants to find out everything about it she can - which serves her well in research. Last fall and spring semesters, Kamau worked with research mentor Chloe Xie and fellow students to examine processes of how DNA is damaged and how it repairs itself.

In just one year of college, Mercy Olaniran already has been immersed in two research projects to positively impact people's lives. The computer science major is currently working to develop a smartphone application that would provide helpful tips to caregivers of people living with dementia.

Participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), exercise science major Kayla Anderson is searching for a method of strength training for people who are not able to participate in traditional ways. Those who would benefit include the elderly, people with injuries, and post-stroke patients.

Tommy Brown has been fascinated by the vastness of space and the mystery of faraway stars for as long as he can remember, so it's only natural he chose to pursue engineering. The sophomore mechanical engineering major is working to design a hybrid drone capable of walking and flying while exploring previously unreachable areas of the solar system.

A Kennesaw State University engineering senior design team recently secured a third place finish at the Industrial and Systems Engineering Capstone Senior Design Project competition in Montreal. To complete the project, they partnered with mining and manufacturing company Imerys, which is currently implementing the design team's recommendations.

Freshman biology major Shifa Maherali Jiwani is participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), where she is studying arsenic as a potential medicine. As strange as it might sound, arsenic shows potential medicinal applications despite being known as the "king of poisons."

Kennesaw State University congratulates the more than 7,600 Owls named to the University's Dean's List, which recognizes students for their academic achievement during the Spring 2024 semester. Undergraduate students enrolled in at least nine credit hours and with a term grade point average of at least 3.5 were named to the list.

Kennesaw State University has named nearly 5,800 students to the President's List in recognition of their academic excellence for the Spring 2024 semester. To achieve this honor, each undergraduate student must have completed at least nine credit hours with a term grade point average of 4.0.

Mechanical engineering student Ken Kubiak launched a new trek in his life, connected to his lifelong fascination with space travel. Kubiak, who enrolled at Kennesaw State in 2022 to pursue his second bachelor's degree, is involved in reseach to make deep space travel more accessible and easier to achieve.

Elementary education major Betsy Barron's research project aims to engage students based on their cultural background in subjects such as literacy and mathematics. Barron is conducting her project, "Culturally Relevant Math Lessons and Motivation in Elementary Education," through Kennesaw State's Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

William Reed connected his love of soccer with his academic interest in human performance, earning acclaim for his research along the way. Reed earned honors at the Symposium of Student Scholars and at the Wellstar College of Health and Human Service's Research and Engagement Day. He also won the Graduate College's Three-Minute Thesis competition.

The culmination of several months of hard work, Kennesaw State's hydraulic bike team bested nine other universities en route to a first-place finish at the 2024 Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge. The annual competition promotes original thinking by combining two technology platforms not normally associated with one another - human-powered vehicles and fluid power.

Growing up with an interest in space exploration, Casey Hampson knew physics would take him a long way. The Kennesaw State University rising junior has fulfilled that promise, as one of 15 students from the United States selected for a research opportunity this summer at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

Looking to make a difference for years to come, the Interfraternity Council has established Kennesaw State's first scholarships by students for students. The IFC's contribution - with a match from the KSU Foundation - will result in two $25,000 endowed scholarships providing $1,000 per student annually beginning in Fall 2025.

Sarah Chang achieved the goal of her self-designed academic journey - bachelor's degrees in biology and music performance from Kennesaw State University. "Even though it might not be traditional and it took me an extra year, my professors and advisors were really supportive and helped me out a lot," said Chang, who also was a KSU Journey Honors College student.

Kim Amaya, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador when she was only 3, has worked hard to afford herself the types of opportunities her parents didn't have. Amaya has worked as many as three jobs at a time while attending college, as she prepares for a career as a teacher and becomes the first person in her family to graduate college.

Theatre and performance studies student Lance Avery Brown has appeared in multiple Kennesaw State productions, formed a freestyle improv troupe, and written and workshopped two original hip-hop musicals. Brown also has served as a peer leader for the Juvenile Justice School System, collaborating with students to tell their stories using poetry and songwriting.

The Spring 2024 Symposium of Student Scholars drew more than 1,000 attendees, providing a stage for undergraduate and graduate students at Kennesaw State University to present their research projects. The biannual event hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Research featured 319 projects submitted by 587 students.

One thing always guides Tracey Graves' endeavors: service. Graves has volunteered to help underprivileged children in Los Angeles while working as an actor, traveled to Zambia with the Peace Corps, and now sits on a nonprofit board there helping to pay girls' way through school. She and her sister recently formed a nonprofit organization in memory of their grandmother.

Lexie Thrasher was captivated by a presentation on the chemistry behind hair dye, which she found more interesting than her day job as a hairdresser. Thrasher would find her way to Kennesaw State University, where that lesson led her to seek a chemistry degree and conduct prize-winning research in assistant professor Mohammad Halim's laboratory.

The Graduate College held its ninth annual 3-Minute Thesis competition, tasking master's and doctoral students with presenting their research to a non-specialist audience within a strict three-minute timeframe. A master's student in exercise science and one in information technology were recognized with the top awards.

While still a junior in high school, Tahsin Kazi started emailing professors at Kennesaw State asking to join a research team. His research endeavors since then have included working alongside senior graduate students on GlucoCheck, a device using light shown through a finger or an ear lobe to determine blood sugar level.

Exercise science master's student Lacey Harper has thrived as a graduate research assistant at KSU. Along with the important mission of improving the health of older women, Harper has immersed herself in the data analysis of her various projects as well as the hands-on aspects of studying the effects of exercise.

Kennesaw State University has named nearly 5,900 students to the President's List in recognition of their academic excellence for the Fall 2023 semester. To achieve this honor, each undergraduate student must have completed at least nine semester hours with a term grade point average of 4.0.

Kennesaw State congratulates the more than 8,000 Owls named to the University's Dean's List, which recognizes students for their academic achievement during the Fall 2023 semester. Undergraduate students enrolled in at least nine credit hours and with a term grade point average of at least 3.5 were named to the list.

At Kennesaw State University's Fall Analytics Day, Desyne Martinez's project told a powerful personal story through data. Martinez, a senior majoring in mathematics, presented his semester research project on stage 3 of multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer his father is battling.

Taking advantage of dual enrollment, Amari Cody was a college junior when she came to Kennesaw State to pursue a bachelor's degree. Only 16 months later, the KSU Journey Honors College student graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and looks forward to working on a Master of Social Work at Kennesaw State in Fall 2024.

In just three semesters at Kennesaw State, sophomore Ra'Nya Malone has made an impact. She joined a chemistry professor's laboratory, co-authored a published paper in a prestigious journal, spent a summer in a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates, and presented her research at KSU's Symposium of Student Scholars.

Maria Gonzalez said her parents are proud she is the first one in her extended family to graduate from college. Plus, they are in awe of her journey from a 9-year-old little girl in a new country, to the woman she is today earning a civil engineering degree with honors from Kennesaw State.

Competing with a prosthetic leg, Mary Tankersley has placed in the top 5 of multiple national and international competitions in sport climbing. Tankersley, whose right leg was amputated after a bone cancer diagnosis, developed a passion for sport climbing two years ago and quickly elevated to one of the world's best.