{"id":239998,"date":"2026-01-15T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=239998"},"modified":"2026-01-27T17:26:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:26:41","slug":"university-scholars-tackle-environmental-and-energy-challenges-through-advanced-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/01\/university-scholars-tackle-environmental-and-energy-challenges-through-advanced-research\/","title":{"rendered":"University Scholars Tackle Environmental and Energy Challenges Through Advanced Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two University of Connecticut students are\u00a0leveraging\u00a0the University Scholar Program to pursue ambitious, interdisciplinary research projects that address pressing environmental and energy challenges\u2014from microplastic pollution in soil ecosystems to artificial intelligence\u2013driven inspection of solar infrastructure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The University Scholar Program allows students to design an in-depth research project and to craft a learning plan that supports their academic goals during their final three semesters. Each student is mentored by an advisory committee of three\u00a0faculty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Admission to the University Scholars\u00a0Program is based on an application\u00a0submitted\u00a0during the first semester of a student\u2019s junior year. Applications are reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee of faculty members who may select up to 30\u00a0university\u00a0scholars in any given year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigating Microplastics at the Microbial Level<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Portrait
Mehr Chhatre (contributed photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mehr Chhatre \u201926 (ENG), a chemical engineering major from Hamden, Connecticut, is conducting in-depth research on how microplastic pollution affects\u00a0organisms critical to soil health and nutrient cycling. Working in the Shor Research Lab, Chhatre\u2019s project examines how exposure to contaminated versus uncontaminated microplastics\u00a0affects\u00a0protist motility and abundance, offering new insight into the downstream ecological impacts of plastic pollution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Supported by the National Science Foundation\u2019s Emerging Frontiers in Research program, Chhatre has been involved in this work since her first year at UConn. Her\u00a0university\u00a0scholar project builds directly on that foundation, allowing her to deepen the experimental design and data analysis behind the research.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis project lets me ask more complex questions about how engineered materials interact with biological systems,\u201d Chhatre said. \u201cThe University Scholar Program gave me the structure and support to take a long-term research idea and turn it into a rigorous, independent study.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the physical lab work on the impacts of microplastics and contaminants, Chhatre\u2019s project also aims to understand plastic and pollutant regulation, through exploring current scientific policy. Chhatre is analyzing how her research can fit into that landscape.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chhatre has presented her findings at national and regional conferences, including the AIChE Student Conference and the Emerging Researchers National Conference, earning third place in the AIChE Undergraduate Poster Competition\u2019s Environmental Division. Beyond the lab, she serves as president of UConn\u2019s\u00a0iGEM\u00a0synthetic biology team, a diversity, equity, and inclusion leader within the Society of Women Engineers, and a peer mentor in the Honors Program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She has also completed chemical engineering internships at Eastman Chemical Company and Pfizer, where she applied data analysis, process optimization, and digital manufacturing tools to real-world production challenges.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using AI and Drones to Improve Solar Infrastructure<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Portrait
Nicholas Bailey (contributed photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nicholas\u00a0Bailey \u201926 (BUS, ENG, CLAS), a dual-degree student in Management and Engineering for Manufacturing and Applied Mathematics, is applying artificial intelligence and drone technology to improve the efficiency and reliability of\u00a0solar panel installations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a\u00a0university\u00a0scholar, Bailey is developing a drone-based inspection pipeline that\u00a0combines\u00a0visual\u00a0and thermal data\u00a0with foundation machine learning models\u00a0to\u00a0detect defects in solar panels. His research integrates physics-informed modeling with machine learning to quantify performance degradation and assess the return on investment for UAV-based inspections at small- and medium-sized manufacturing sites.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to bridge advanced AI techniques with practical decision-making,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cI\u00a0wanted to figure out\u00a0where the problems\u00a0are\u00a0and\u00a0which ones\u00a0actually matter\u00a0for the bottom line.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey\u2019s work builds on his experience with the\u00a0<\/span>Southern New England Industrial Training and Assessment Center<\/span><\/a>\u00a0through UConn, where he leads energy efficiency assessments for manufacturing facilities and translates technical findings into business-focused recommendations for industry clients. His research has been\u00a0presented\u00a0at the IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference, and he has received multiple fellowships supporting clean energy and sustainability research.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his research, Bailey is deeply involved in teaching and mentorship, serving as an\u00a0undergraduate teaching assistant\u00a0in accounting and\u00a0<\/span>artificial intelligence courses<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mentoring other students in applied data analysis and engineering economics.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advancing Research Through the University Scholar Program<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>University Scholar Program<\/span><\/a>\u00a0supports high-achieving undergraduates as they pursue sustained, faculty-mentored research projects that often span multiple years.\u00a0Five\u00a0UConn College of Engineering students were chosen in the 2025 year.\u00a0Chinmaya\u00a0Vobbineni\u00a0\u201926, Wyeth Haddock \u201926, and\u00a0Zhengyang\u00a0Wei \u201926\u00a0<\/span>were also selected<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University Scholar Program supports high-achieving undergraduates as they pursue sustained, faculty-mentored research projects that often span multiple years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":222368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2076,2712],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2445],"class_list":["post-239998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-research","category-student-success"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 09:36:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239998"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240006,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239998\/revisions\/240006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/222368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239998"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=239998"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=239998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}