In celebration of student research and innovation, the Opportunity Research Scholar's (ORS) Symposium was held on April 24, 2024. ORS is the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s (ECE) undergraduate research program designed to enhance and expand the traditional classroom experience through long-term projects.

The annual symposium is the culmination of two semesters of research through the ORS program. Starting each fall, students in groups of three to four, conduct the research with the help of a graduate advisor and a faculty member.

At the end of the Spring semester, each group submits their research as a conference paper to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ORSS, which decides the first and second place Best Paper Winners for the ECE ORSS. 

“The ORS Symposium is testament to the dedication, passion, and hard work of our student researchers,” ORS Director Shanthi Rajaraman said. “To witness the progress and growth of these young minds is rewarding and inspiring."

Students also present their research via posters at the symposium, with a People’s Choice Award given out to the best overall poster as decided by student participants and mentors.

Additionally, students have the opportunity to peer review other teams’ projects. For the past three years, the ORS Symposium has been open to teams beyond ECE. This year, there were 25 teams that participated, with 22 coming from Georgia Tech and three from Kennesaw State University.

Image
ORS Symposium

Since its establishment, over 1,000 students have participated in the ORS program, with nearly twice as many ORS Ph.D. graduates going on to a career in a academics than the general ECE Ph.D. population, according to Rajaraman.

All the pictures from the symposium can viewed here.

The 2024 winners were:

Best Paper Award

Image
From left to right: Emma McClelion, Hannah Xiao, Viktor Raykov

From left to right: Avanish Narumanchi, Seongjin Kim, William Montello, Md. Nahid Haque Shazon (Mentor)

Title:  Investigating the Impacts of Device Geometry and an Alternative Write Current Scheme on Write Time and Switching Energy of SOT-MRAMs 
Student Researchers: Seongjin Kim, William Montello, Avanish Narumanchi, Md. Nahid Haque Shazon
Faculty Advisor: Azad Naemi

2nd Place

Image
From left to right: Karsten Richardson, Cullen Lonergan, Luke Hanks

From left to right: Karsten Richardson, Cullen Lonergan, Luke Hanks

Title: Analog High-Level Synthesis for Field Programmable Analog Arrays
Student Researchers: Luke Hanks, Cullen Lonergan, Karsten Richardson, Afolabi Ige, Pranav Mathews 
Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Hasler

People’s Choice Award

Image
From left to right: Emma McClelion, Hannah Xiao, Viktor Raykov

From left to right: Emma McClelion, Hannah Xiao, Viktor Raykov

Title: Rectenna Characterized Under Varying 2-D Transmitter Positions & Power Beaming Amplitude Levels at 5.8 GHz
Student Researchers: Hanna Xiao, Emma McClelion, Victor Raykov, Hanna Xiao, Kaitlyn Graves
Faculty Advisor: Greg Durgin