The eleventh annual University Research Day was held on April 15, 2026. Students and faculty from the College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing joined members of the Catholic University community to present a wide range of research projects. The event showcases innovation across the university and highlights the ongoing scholarly contributions of students and faculty.
The day opened with a welcome address from President Peter Kilpatrick in Della Ratta Auditorium, followed by an update on the state of research from Provost Aaron Dominguez, Professor of Physics in the College. Dr. Joseph Yost, Senior Vice Provost for Research, also shared the university’s research vision, outlining priorities for continued growth and impact.
Throughout the day, attendees participated in oral presentations, a poster session, live musical performances, a film festival, and a closing awards ceremony. Several students from the College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing received university-wide honors at this year’s event. The full list of College award winners is provided below.
Award Winner - Best Undergraduate Poster
2026 Student Steel Bridge Competition
William Granci, College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing (Civil & Environmental Engineering), Undergraduate Student
Award Winner - Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation
Spasticity after Spinal Cord Injury: A Journey to the Solution
Clare Tong, College of Engineering, Physics and Computing (Biomedical Engineering), Undergraduate Student
Finalist - Undergraduate Oral Presentation
Printing Blood Vessels? Science Fiction or New Reality
Nathan Ford, College of Engineering, Physics and Computing (Biomedical Engineering), Undergraduate Student
Finalist - Master’s Oral Presentation
An Analysis of Single-Phase and Multi-Phase Cine CTA for Deep Learning-Based Cardiac Structure Segmentation
Andrew Heller, College of Engineering, Physics and Computing (Computer Science), Master's Student
An AI-Enabled Framework for Risk Scoring in Healthcare
Laura Trujillo, College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing (Computer Science), Master's Student
In addition to student recognition, a faculty member from the College also received a distinguished honor. Dr. Dominick Rizk, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, was awarded the Young Faculty Scholar’s Award. This award recognizes early-career faculty who have demonstrated outstanding achievement within the first four years at the rank of assistant professor, along with strong potential for continued scholarly impact.
Dr. Rizk has published twenty-six peer-reviewed articles, two conference papers, and one book chapter, with five additional conference papers accepted. His research spans high-impact areas including applications of artificial intelligence and deep learning in brain tumor analysis, secure Internet of Things (IoT) architectures, and quantum protein structure prediction.
The College of Engineering, Physics, and Computing is strongly represented at University Research Day each year, with participation from all academic departments. Engagement in—and success at—this event reflects the depth and breadth of our faculty and student research contributions. Congratulations to all participants for their outstanding work this year.
For more information on University Research Day and this year’s College award winners, please visit:
https://engineering.catholic.edu/research-and-faculty/research-day.html
https://research-day.catholic.edu/