Wireless ultrasonic displacement sensor development
Advisor: Shinae Jang
Hours per week: 10
Hourly rate: $15.69 (Level 1)
Position description: In this position, a selected undergraduate research assistant will work to develop a new wireless ultrasonic displacement sensor to measure bridge's expansion joints movement under temperature fluctuation. The development procedure includes 1) sensor selection compatible with Arduino, 2) laboratory-scale calibration tests with traditional displacement sensor, 3) field bridge measurement. This task will give you insight on sensing system development for infrastructure systems, deep understanding of structural behaviors, risk and uncertainties, and needs for resilience civil infrastructure.
Date posted: 3/25/24

Accelerated Testing of Damage Evolution in Crumbling Concrete Foundations
Advisor: Kay Wille
Hours per week: 10 to 40
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: Students will have the opportunity to work with a group of graduate and undergraduate students to assist with various laboratory analyses of concrete samples in the Advanced Cementitious Materials and Composite (ACMC) Lab. This includes preparation of test samples and assisting in execution of laboratory experiments. Depending on the student's interest, this might include assisting in obtaining concrete samples from homeowners by joining our field sampling team, or crushing, pulverizing, sieving and sample splitting of material in the lab, mixing of concrete, material mechanical characterization such as compressive strength, material chemical characterization, such as total sulfur analysis, crack tracing and measuring bulk resistivity.
Date posted: 4/01/24

Characterizing and Advancing the Performance of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC)
Advisor: Kay Wille
Hours per week: 10 to 40
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: Students will have the opportunity to work graduate and undergraduate students to assist with UHPC related laboratory analyses in the Advanced Cementitious Materials and Composite (ACMC) Lab. This includes preparation of test samples and assisting in execution of laboratory experiments. Depending on the student's interest, this might include assisting in mixing of UHPC, material mechanical characterization such as compressive strength, tensile behavior, single fiber pull-out testing, and long-term stability testing.
Date posted: 4/01/24

Ion-selective solid state sensors for phosphorus detection in soils
Advisor: Timothy Vadas and Baikun Li
Hours per week: 20-40
Hourly rate: $17
Position description: Students will have a chance to work on multiple aspects of environmental solid-state sensors. We are developing sensors to deploy in soil systems for ammonia, nitrate and phosphorus. There are commercial products available for ammonia and nitrate, but ion selective molecules for phosphorus are under development. The student would have the chance to help with organic synthesis of phosphorus ion selective molecules, development of solid state sensors, testing of sensor layers to aid in analysis and testing in control laboratory environments and the field plots.
Date posted: 3/19/24

Assessment of changes in wind speed, gust and temperature in the Northeast United States for the Past Fifty Years
Advisor: Marina Astitha
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $17 (class II)
Position description: The student will work on analyzing a long record of weather observations and model outputs for the past 50 years in the NE US. Required skills: excellent knowledge of excel and adequate knowledge of scripting in python or R. The student will collaborate with PhD students in Dr. Astitha's research group and will be directly supervised by Dr. Astitha.
Date posted: 3/22/24

Evaluating Artificial Intelligent Apps, that can be used for urban Island Heat mapping
Advisor: Abi Lawal
Hours per week: 10
Hourly rate: $19
Position description: Looking for a student interested in combining artificial intelligence application to render electronic mapping of various urban landforms, that can then be used in calculating the impact on Urban Island Impact, due to specific infrastructure's Prefer a junior or senior, with an interest in machine learning and AI, or computing. Such a student will need to take active interest in researching and exploring the range of AI tools that are available for this task. Should be familiar with heat transfer.
Date posted: 3/25/24

Dispersion modeling of a point source, combined with health analysis mapping.
Advisor: Abi Lawal
Hours per week: 10
Hourly rate: $16
Position description: Requires a student with an interest in math and modeling to learn how to run either a dispersion model (AERMOD) or health analysis map (BENMAP) in order to generate air quality maps and conduct health assessment analysis.
Date posted: 3/25/24

Wildfire Ignition Model
Advisor: Diego Cerrai
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: The student selected for this project will work on the Wildfire Ignition Model, a machine learning based model capable of predicting wildfire ignition locations, based on weather and environmental data, and historical wildfire occurrences.
Date posted: 3/25/24

Outage Prediction Model
Advisor: Diego Cerrai
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: The student selected for this project will join the UConn Outage Prediction Model team for three months and work on testing new machine learning model techniques for improving the current version of the model.
Date posted: 3/25/24

NASA snow measurement campaign
Advisor: Diego Cerrai
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: The student selected for this project will work together other graduate students who have been collecting snow measurement data from ground instruments over the winter, and who will compare these data with satellite measurements.
Date posted: 3/25/24

Pyrrhotite Oxidation Evolution in Crumbling Concrete Foundations
Advisor: Marisa Chrysochoou and Kay Wille
Hours per week: 10 to 40
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: Students will have the opportunity to work with a group of graduate and undergraduate students to assist with various laboratory analyses of mineral and concrete samples in the Geochemical Lab. This includes preparation of test samples and assisting in execution of laboratory experiments. Depending on the student's interest, this might include assisting in material pulverization, vacuum supported sieving, pH measurement, sample dilution, and data organization.
Date posted: 4/01/24

Soil screening for metal contaminants in Hartford
Advisor: Marisa Chrysochoou
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $18
Position description: The student will have a chance to conduct both laboratory and field tasks pertaining to soil analysis of metal contaminants in Hartford, CT. Field work will consist of visiting vacant lots in Hartford planned for community reuse, collecting soil samples by digging using an auger, performing X-Ray Fluorescence analysis using a portable XRF instrument, and interacting with community members during sampling of Hartford resident soils during community workshops. Laboratory work will consist of preparing (drying, sieving, pulverizing) and analyzing soils with the pXRF instrument. There will be additional soil samples collected for laboratory analysis in Mansfield, CT. The data will be used to develop a methodology for the rapid assessment of trace metals in urban soils and draw a connection between lead contamination and environmental justice in Hartford.
Date posted: 4/03/24

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Pedestrian Crashes: Unraveling Socio-Demographic Influences and Trends
Advisor: John Ivan
Hours per week: 20 to 40
Hourly rate: $17.00
Position description: The student researcher will work with a graduate assistant and faculty in acquiring, formatting, and summarizing data about pedestrian safety, demographics, traffic, road characteristics, and land use patterns. Data will be downloaded from web portals or other sources and managed using spreadsheet and database software. Also required will be weekly meetings with the research team (virtual or in person) with reports of progress, as well as documentation of the data extraction and formatting procedures and summaries of the resulting data. There will be opportunities to do basic analysis of the collected data.
Date posted: 3/20/24

Improving Crash Prediction Using GRIDSMART Infrastructure
Advisor: John Ivan
Hours per week: 20 to 40
Hourly rate: $17.00
Position description: The student researcher will work with a graduate assistant and faculty in acquiring, formatting, and summarizing data about traffic safety, traffic signal operation, road characteristics, and other relevant items. Data will be downloaded from web portals or other sources and managed using spreadsheet and database software. Also required will be weekly meetings with the research team (virtual or in person) with reports of progress, as well as documentation of the data extraction and formatting procedures and summaries of the resulting data. There will be opportunities to do basic analysis of the collected data.
Date posted: 3/20/24

Evaluating the Impacts of Real-Time Warnings and Variable Speed Limits on Safety and Travel Reliability during Weather Events
Advisor: John Ivan
Hours per week: 20 to 40
Hourly rate: $17.00
Position description: The student researcher will work with a graduate assistant and faculty in acquiring and formatting data associated with traffic operations, weather conditions, and electronic signage. Data will be downloaded from web portals and managed using spreadsheet and database software. Also required will be weekly meetings with the research team (virtual or in person) with reports of progress, as well as documentation of the data extraction and formatting procedures and summaries of the resulting data.
Date posted: 3/20/24

Evaluating and Improving Performance of Robo-Taxi Systems
Advisor: Monika Filipovska
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $17
Position description: Ride-hail services (e.g., Uber, Lyft, Didi) can create significant economic and social value by expanding access, promoting multimodal transportation, and easing the requirement of car ownership in urban areas. These services are on the brink of another revolution due to the emergence of autonomous ride-hailing, known as robo-taxis (e.g., Waymo, Cruise, etc.). This project aims to evaluate and improve the performance of a robo-taxi fleet composed of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) operating in an urban setting.
Date posted: 3/22/24

Equity in Livability: Identifying systemic, operational, and systemic inequities in active transportation for socio-economic disadvantaged communities in Connecticut.
Advisor: Davis Chacon Hurtado
Hours per week: 20
Hourly rate: $15
Position description: The National Safety Council's 2022 reported that road traffic fatalities in the United States exceeded 46,000 in 2021, with pedestrians accounting for 20% and pedal cyclists for 3% of these fatalities. In particular, pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in the US have seen a continuous increase over the past decade, reaching their highest levels in the past three decades. This summer project will aim to identify and document the inequities in the systemic, operational, and safety that disproportionately affect individuals from ethnic/racial minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged communities in Connecticut based on a literature review. This step will inform data collection that will be used to evaluate the association between the spatial distribution of pedestrian/cyclist crashes with respect to pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and land use types in Connecticut while controlling other critical factors.
Date posted: 3/24/24