Computer Science Students Take Top Spots at Great Minds in STEM Conference

Kean University students scored the top three places in the Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) Conference research poster competition for undergraduates, as students from the Department of Computer Science and Technology shared their research on a national stage. 

Taking first place was Kyra Parris, a sophomore from Plainfield. Gabriel Serrano, a senior from Springfield, came in second, and Owens Rivera, a senior from Roselle, received the third-place award. All three are studying computer science.

Parris, with her faculty mentor, Lakshmi Devi Subramanian, Ph.D., a computer science assistant professor, conducted her research entitled, Using a Virtual Environment to Investigate the Effectiveness of External Human Machine Interfaces (eHMI) in Autonomous Vehicles. 

“We simulated a street environment with autonomous vehicles, using software, and asked participants to press a button if they would feel safe crossing the street in various scenarios,” Parris explained. “Some vehicles would display certain images to communicate their intent to yield to a pedestrian, while others would drive by. We found pedestrians felt most comfortable crossing in front of vehicles with displays, specifically the largest displays.” 

The GMiS Conference is held every year for college students across the United States, giving students the opportunity to pursue and expand their knowledge for their future STEM careers. This year the conference took place October 11-14 at the Pasadena Convention Center in California.  

“I believe this accomplishment will motivate many of our undergraduate students to be involved in research, which will give them a great learning experience and also help them to be highly successful in the job market,” Subramanian said.

Serrano, who also received an award at the 2023 Tapia Research Competition earlier this fall, worked with his mentor, Associate Professor Daehan Kwak, Ph.D. They researched a project to streamline healthcare efficiency, using natural language processing and large language models to condense patient records. Kwak said it has the potential to revolutionize health care by significantly reducing time spent on documentation. 

“I was very excited when I was invited to work on this project as I would be able to attend more conferences, learn new skills, network and contribute to such an important project. I would say past research experiences have influenced me to continue pursuing research at Kean University,” Serrano said. 

Rivera, meanwhile, promised himself a win this year after he attended the conference last year but fell short of receiving a top award. 

“I saw the winners of the research poster competition walk across the stage, shake hands with some of the most important people in the industry and get the recognition they deserved for their hard work, and I wanted to be on that stage,” Rivera said. “I decided then and there that for the next GMiS conference I would do whatever it took to become a top finalist, a winner.”

Rivera worked with Assistant Professor Amani Ayad, Ph.D, on a research project, Is Mutation Score Highly Correlated with the Size of the Test Suite and Mutation Operators? This research studied mutation testing systems, a form of software testing in which ‘mutations’ are seeded into base code, and tests are run.      

Rivera said his goal after graduation is to pursue his master’s degree in cybersecurity and privacy. 

Kean students have a track record of placing in the top categories at the GMiS conference, with several other Kean students also receiving recognition awards in recent years. Last year, Xavier Amparo ’23 received the HENAAC Outstanding Student Leadership Award for Undergraduates in the Sciences. 

“This achievement has a positive impact on the academic reputation for our program that can attract potential students who are looking for a strong educational experience,” Ayad said. 

For more information on the competition, visit https://greatmindsinstem.org/.