By Flynn Espe

More than 120 Washington State University Tri-Cities students presented their academic projects Wednesday at the annual Showcase for Research and Creative Activities. This year’s event brought together more than 65 solo and group projects spanning multiple majors and disciplines.

Across three campus buildings, students set up scientific posters and, in some cases, hands-on demonstrations of their work as they chatted and mingled with other students, faculty, and community guests.

Read or click here to jump to the end to view the winners and honorable mentions.

Solving energy problems near and far

Presenting from the first floor in Collaboration Hall, Hasan Cruz, student intern for ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡â€™ , presented his research involving pumped storage hydropower as a partial solution to the problem of peak power grid demand.

“It’s a huge water battery that stores long-duration potential energy and then releases it when it is needed the most during peak hours of the grid,� Cruz said. “So the grid gets stressed and we need to meet demand, because people seem to forget that electricity is something that we need absolutely every second.�

He conducted his research under the mentorship of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ alumnae Danielle Young (’19 BS Civ Eng, ’21 MS Civ Eng), a project manager at Battelle. As a civil engineering major, Cruz says he was thrilled to discover the strong connection between his field of study and the energy industry.

“When I started my civil engineering major, I thought it was only construction,� Cruz said. “It turns out there’s so much more, and energy is one of those fields that I never thought would be possible.�

A few spots over, fellow INEF intern and biology major Zoe Pfeifer summarized her research into fusion technology. She noted that Washington state is a major hub for companies at the forefront of fusion machine design and development, and breakthrough discoveries may be closer than we think.

“We already have a lot of policy in place to help entice companies to come here,� Pfeifer said. “Even globally, there are 160 fusion facilities being worked on right now worldwide.�

In a separate showcase room, a group of students had a plastic model showing their proposed designs for a much different kind of energy problem: how to deal with heat waste from a small modular reactor on the surface of the moon. Those students — Kaamel Ahmed Sidiqi, Minh Vu, Sam Arthur, Jon-Luc Ritchie, Peyton Viera, and Stephanie Volatile — presented their mechanical engineering senior capstone project, in which they worked under the guidance of an industry sponsor at Framatome.

“As we’re getting closer to interplanetary travel, we’re looking into building habitats elsewhere in the solar system, specifically the moon or Mars, currently. They’re planning on using small modular reactors — around 100 kilowatts thermal, or so — to power these habitats,â€� Viera said. “The issue with that is you can only utilize so much energy from these reactors before it just becomes a byproduct.â€�

With a specific target in mind — safely dispersing 74 kilowatts of wasted heat into the moon’s vacuum-like environment — the group did a deep dive into whatever research they could find that would help get them started.

“Our sponsor had us look into NASA research papers, private industry papers, and university papers,� Volatile said. “I personally used a lot of the library sources that WSU gave us to point us into the private industries and try to get as much as we could.�

Eventually, the team settled on a folding-aluminum-panel radiator design that fit within the specifications for being deployed and assembled on the lunar surface.

“Same type of thing for a car — it has a radiator,� Ritchie said. “This is just a radiator for a nuclear reactor.�

Protecting online systems and spaces

Meanwhile, multiple students and teams were showcasing their research into methods and ideas for improving or addressing threats to online and computer systems.

Computer science majors Jaydon Larios and Tyler Jase Schab walked visitors through their development of a web platform that evaluates the vulnerability of a user’s password by simulating multiple cracking methods.

“The system processes each password through different hashing algorithms,� Larios said. “It estimates the actual time it would take to crack these passwords.�

It turns out, short and common passwords really do take mere seconds for would-be attackers to crack.

Nearby, Yozelyn Chavez and Luckie Devers talked about their approach to preventing leakage of personally identifiable information in large language models, or LLMs for short. They represented half of their capstone project team, which also included Gabriela Nicacio and Alan Valencia who were studying abroad in Sweden.

“Basically, if you’ve ever entered in your information, even just your first and last name, to an LLM, it can remember that,� Devers said, adding that anyone who has sent their resume to an AI chat bot will have likely used their email and phone number as well. “We want to remove that in the end, so nobody else can attack the LLM and get your information.�

Their solution was to train an LLC on a five-step prompt sanitization procedure meant to spot each instance of identifiable information included in a prompt and replace it with a fake substitute, while still preserving the quality of the LLM’s response. The LLM would then go through a background process of gradually unlearning the personally identifiable information completely, to protect against any future attacks.

“LLMs are getting super advanced, and AI is getting super advanced,� Devers said. “We need to eventually come up with these ideas that defend against it and help protect the consumers.�

Advancing the humanities, social sciences, and environment

Over in the Learning Commons area of the Consolidated Information Center, even more students presented on their research posters, including several projects in the humanities and social sciences. One recurring theme involved psychological studies on evolving attitudes toward artificial intelligence. Other groups presented on historical examinations of ethnic migration, the Hanford Site cleanup and its legacy, environmental science experiments, and much more.

Students Clarissa Garcia Arroyo, Grady Grasseth, Carola Garcia Mendez, Zachary Shortt, Jairo Villasenor, and Lori Wollerman Nelson reported on the results of their study on what birds are eating in local vineyards — and whether these winged neighbors are friends or foes to wine growers?

“It’s a little of both,� Villasenor, an environmental and ecosystem sciences major, concluded.

For his team’s five-week experiment, the group created fake grapes and worms from plasticine clay, which they distributed throughout the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ research vineyard. At the end of each week, from October to November, the group collected the scattered items and assessed each item for damage to determine if a bird had tried to eat it before repeating the process.

“We had clusters of grapes alone. We had clusters of grapes and worms together. And we also had worms just by themselves,� Villasenor said. “Birds ultimately preferred grapes by themselves, and they also preferred worms by themselves. They did not prefer when they were together.�

While the birds showed a stronger preference for grapes than worms in general, Villasenor said it might be because the quantity of plasticine grapes was also significantly higher.

Hydrogen Hogwash takes over East Building stairwell

Tucked away in a different corner of campus, an artist collective comprising 12 digital technology and culture (DTC) majors transformed a ground-level East Building stairwell area into a warm and vibing 24-hour pop-up exhibition dubbed “Ctrl + Alt + Create.� Each of the 12 artists, who went by the name Hydrogen Hogwash, contributed to the space with an interactive multimedia experience.

Sophia Valdez enticed visitors to sit and relax with a turntable, headphones, and selection of vinyl records. Claire Giles projected an animated vignette she’d pieced together from marked-up video taken during a spring break road trip.

Jo Pickard mounted his artwork to three panels of a makeshift wall set up at the base of the stairwell. His pieces included a framed collage of famous pop-culture heroes and a full-length mirror partially adorned with two emblematic superhero symbols — giving viewers a chance to see and reflect on their own inner hero. He also incorporated a scannable Spotify playlist of heroic tunes to set the mood.

“It’s really easy to be heroic when you’re a superhero,� Pickard said. “But being heroic is whatever you think. It’s like waving at somebody when they’re having a bad day, being nice to someone, helping where you don’t have to.�

The exhibit served as the DTC majors’ capstone project, which also involved the creation of a Hydrogen Hogwash zine featuring humorous and imaginative depictions of animals being transformed by radiation exposure. Copies of the zine were available to view at the exhibit as well.

“I have always been an artist to some degree my entire life, and just getting the chance to work with a team and put this together has been really gratifying,� Pickard said. “I feel like I’ve really come into my own since being here these last couple years.�

Awards and honors

The showcase concluded with a brief presentation of awards, voted on by a handful of faculty and industry guest judges.

Associate professor of mathematics and event organizer Ryan Learn stressed the importance of honoring the impressive scope and caliber of students’ scientific and artistic achievements.

“This is an opportunity to recognize all of the really great work that students are doing beyond the curriculum,â€� Learn said. “Some of these people are answering questions that have never been answered before, solving problems that have never been solved before.â€�

Prior to the main showcase poster presentations, event organizers welcomed a group of juniors from Delta High School who participated in some interactive activities. Many of the same student groups from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences also presented their senior caps during a separate SEAS Design EXPO event on Friday.

The showcase received funding from Battelle Foundation and Washington Research Foundation.

Here are the award winners by category.

Best Capstone in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science

Digital Control Educational Projects (DCEP)

Landon Johnson, Isaac Rheinschmidt, Jose Cisneros, David Hysjulien

Honorable Mentions:

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Analyzer, Daniel Chavez Edwin Quinonez Hunter Ufford Armando Becerra

A Holistic Approach to Protecting Personally Identifiable Information from Leakage in LLMs, Gabriela Nicacio, Luckie Devers, Alan Valencia, Yozelyn Chavez

Best Capstone in Mechanical or Civil Engineering

Design Improvements to Nuclear Pellet Sheet

Serena Posada, Kolby Tucker, Dean Macduff, Marvin Mendoza, Elysia Howlett, Melissa Vaca Ixta

Honorable Mention:

Preliminary Evaluation of Artificial Ground Freezing: Excavation & Shoring Multi-Criteria Alternative Analysis for Bechtel’s Waste Treatment Plant Site, Aliyana Avalos, Angel Cerna, Cynthia Carmona, Daniela Gonzalez-Sepulveda, Corben Kane, Kayla Konahap, Roy Leal, Abi Macduff, Juan Mendoza, Razan Osman, Luiz Saldana, Joseph Salim, Brianne Zehnder, Marina Zolotnyuk

Best Graduate Student Research Project

Drought Evolution in the Nile Basin: Characterizing Development and Recovery Phases and their Meteorological Drivers

Meklit Berihun Melesse

Best Undergraduate Research Project

Swelling behvior of NBR O-rings in neat hydrocarbons relevant to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

Kaamel Ahmed Sidiqi

Best Course-Based Project in the Sciences

Ashen soils affect growth but not germination in Bluebunch Wheatgrass

Skylar Brustad, Caleb Deines, Carlos Renteria, Mark Tabangcura, Zachary Shortt, Lori Wollerman Nelson

Honorable Mentions:

Birds in Vineyards: Friends or Foes? Jairo Villasenor, Grady Grasseth, Carola Garcia Mendez, Clarissa Garcia Arroyo, Zachary Shortt, Lori Wollerman Nelson

Spider Size and Web Size in Orb Weaver Spiders, Justine Gutierrez, Camden Seavoy, Zachary Shortt, Lori Wollerman Nelson

Targeted Keylogging Through HID-Based Bas USB Attacks, Sebastian Gonzalez

Best Course-Based Project in Liberal Arts or Psychology

Behind the Silence: Oral Histories of Migration, Labor, Injustice, and Family Sacrifice

Belinda Contreras-Barajas, Litzy Renteria, Andre Mayoral

Best Institute for Northwest Energy Futures Project

Evaluating the Future of Nuclear Energy Through Small Modular Reactors in the Pacific Northwest

Parjot Pawar

Honorable Mention:

Benton County and the Tri-Cities Power Production and Industrial Expansions, Timothy Poole

Washington State University Tri-Cities will honor more than 330 graduating students this year, including graduates from the fall 2025 and spring 2026 terms.

Executive Vice President for WSU Statewide Campuses Sandra Haynes will deliver opening remarks, followed by WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell, special guest Rep. Dan Newhouse, and a keynote address from WSU alumna Rachel Ruggeri, former executive vice president and chief financial officer for Starbucks.

The two-hour ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ commencement ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 10, at the Toyota Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., in Kennewick. No tickets are required. Parking is free. Doors open at noon. The Toyota Center enforces entry requirements, including a clear bag policy.

Background on the graduates

The 2025–26 graduating class includes 15 doctoral candidates in biological and agricultural engineering, chemical engineering, food science, math and science education, nursing practice, and special education.

Twenty-six master’s candidates will receive degrees in computer science, educational leadership, electrical engineering, elementary or secondary education, engineering and technology management, horticulture, language, literacy and technology education, and mechanical engineering.

More than 280 bachelor’s candidates will receive degrees in biology, business administration, civil engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, digital technology and culture, earth and environmental science, education, electrical engineering, English, history, humanities, mechanical engineering, nursing, psychology, science, social sciences, and viticulture and enology.

Keynote speaker

Rachel Ruggeri is a seasoned finance executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across public, nonprofit and global organizations. She spent more than two decades at Starbucks Coffee Company, where she held senior finance and enterprise leadership roles during a period of significant global expansion.

From 2021 to 2025, she served as executive vice president and chief financial officer—the first woman to hold the role—and later as interim chief executive officer, helping guide the company through a major leadership transition.

Known for her people-centered leadership style, Ruggeri is passionate about mentoring, talent development and building strong organizations. Her professional journey reflects adaptability, purpose and a deep commitment to developing future leaders.

By Flynn Espe

What do electronic quilts, fake sculpted dishes, and dried citrus fruits representing fractional math problems have in common? They’re all among the classroom-created works featured in a new Washington State University Tri-Cities art exhibit, one that explores an innovative teaching approach blending creative expression with traditional science and math curriculum — often referred to as STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education.

The exhibit, “Art(Math + Science) = Creative Intersections,â€� opened April 15 at the Art Center gallery in the Consolidated Information Center. It showcases works by ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ education majors and local middle school students.

Yichien Cooper, assistant professor of teaching and learning for the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences and the exhibit’s lead curator, has incorporated STEAM practices into her teaching and research for more than a decade. She also .

With the exhibit, supported by the WSU Fall 2025 Arts & Humanities Process Grant, Cooper hopes to demonstrate how creativity and critical inquiry can help students connect more deeply with science-based subjects — and sometimes reconsider topics they may have written off.

“We all bump into students who are hesitant to embrace art because they don’t think they are good at art, or students who are hesitant about math because math just doesn’t speak to them,� Cooper said.

Many of the pieces originated from Cooper’s “Integrating Fine Arts into K-8 Curriculum� course, where students complete a series of reflective art projects grounded in research and data. In one displayed assignment on food and consumption, students researched a dish, recreated it in sculptured form using homemade dough, and designed a nutrition label based on their findings, with a breakdown of ingredients and a short description.

The description for a piece titled “Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Lettuce Turn Over a New Leaf,� by students Allie Ledezma and Taylor West, touts the benefits of using locally grown ingredients, which reduces carbon emissions resulting from long-distance transport. Another piece, titled “Killer Dog: The Dawg That Bites Back� by students Scotty Hunt and Ryan Jundt, recasts the traditional hot dog in vivid and unsettling form. Their description highlights several unsavory nutrition details, including a well-known study linking hot dog consumption to shortened lifespan.

“Each dish tells some sort of environmental awareness story that the student maybe never thought about before,� Cooper said. “And that’s what art is about. Art is making you think.�

Cooper is joined in the exhibit by colleagues Tyler Hansen, assistant professor of teaching and learning, and Ethan Smith, assistant professor of mathematics — both of whom incorporate elements of STEAM education into their teaching.

For his portion of the exhibit, Hansen included an electronic textile quilt created in his “Science Teaching Methods� course. For that project, each student contributed a square representing a significant moment or life experience. In addition to felt designs, students incorporated colored blinking lights, hand coded to a microcontroller device.

“In order to make any of this work, you have to know how circuits work and how to make a complete circuit,� Hansen said. “We used conductive thread, so it actually carries a current to all of these lights.�

Smith, meanwhile, showcased a classroom project in which he prompted students to rethink basic math concepts using pattern block cutouts, giving them creative license to create new shapes and visual imagery from a “budget� of 12 triangle pieces.

“If a triangle is worth one and you have 12 dollars, or units, to spend, can you make a shape that’s worth $12 overall?� Smith said. “You see lots of different ideas and explanations of their strategies. Some students like to start with just the big hexagon and get six out of the way. Others want to have lots of little shapes.�

Like his faculty colleagues, Smith said he hopes to inspire future teachers to find similar ways of injecting creativity into their K-12 classrooms.

“I think there are a lot of great teachers out there who are doing this,� Smith said.

Destiny Kuespert, a former student of both Cooper and Smith who graduated from ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ with her elementary education degree last December, is one teacher who’s taking those lessons and ideas to heart. She contributed to the exhibit with a display of pieces made by sixth grade students at Richland’s Carmichael Middle School, where she taught during her practicum experience last fall. Those pieces were previously featured in two separate STEAM exhibitions at the and Richland Public Library.

For her classroom project, Kuespert’s students applied beads, dried fruits, and other crafting items to canvas as visual representations of fractional division. Kuespert said the students were free to decide the complexity of the math problem they wanted to solve, as long as they used one of two mathematical models to do it. Students who picked the number line method used sticks, strings, and beads, whereas students who chose the area or shape model used dried fruits to represent whole and fractional numbers. They also had to show their work in written form and reflect on their three-day project experience.

“You can read from some of their reflections how they felt. Some of them were saying, ‘This made me happy. I love doing art and math. Writing it out helped me understand it more,’â€� Kuespert said. “There were some that expressed, ‘I don’t like doing art,’ which is fine too. I was excited just to read all of their opinions.â€�

While traditional math and science curriculum exists for a reason, Cooper and her colleagues see art as an equally valid teaching method that can help preserve a student’s sense of wonder and curiosity.

“When I think back to early elementary school and math, I remember that being fun, joyful — creative activities. When I think towards middle and high school, math becomes more abstract. It becomes more pencil and paper,� Smith said. “I appreciated a lot of aspects of that, which makes sense where I ended up. But there’s no reason why that joy can’t sustain itself all the way through school.�

Kuespert echoed similar thoughts in describing the motivations behind her art-infused teaching projects.

“I wanted them to feel interested, because you see the worksheet so many times, it’s not interesting at all. You’re just thinking, ‘How fast can I get through it?’� Kuespert said. “I wanted them to see everything and feel intrigued. I think that’s the base of learning is you first have to be curious.�

Visitors to the exhibit can contribute to the gallery space as well through a series of self-guided creative math activities, also designed by the four collaborators and set up at multiple stations. The exhibit will be on display through the rest of 2026.

By Flynn Espe

Washington State University Tri-Cities students and staff recently celebrated the grand opening of the Crimson Career Closet — a new campus resource aimed at helping students look their best for their next professional opportunity. Jimena Delgado, Associated Students of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡Â senator for the Carson College of Business, along with a small delegation of campus representatives, commemorated the occasion during an official ribbon-cutting event on April 15.

°Õ³ó±ðÌýCrimson Career Closet, which is currently housed within the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Career Center in the Consolidated Information Center, contains multiple racks of donated business attire — including dress shirts, blouses, pants, shoes, and more. The clothing items are free to take for any current ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ student who might need them for an upcoming job interview, presentation, networking event, or other professional occasion.

Delgado, who spearheaded the months-long effort to create the Crimson Career Closet, says the idea for the new resource stemmed from the fact that many ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ students are first-generation students with limited means and wardrobe options.

“Some people have clothing that their moms or their sisters let them borrow, but when you’re the first person to go to college, that’s something you might not have access to,� Delgado said. “Part of student government is expanding that equal access to students.�

Finding a suitable permanent location for the closet presented one early challenge, Delgado says, but when the Career Center hallway was presented as an option, it seemed like a clear match.

“People come in here for resume and interview advice, and we thought it would be fitting to have this resource as another part of their professional development,� Delgado said.

Having enough clothing items to launch the space was another challenge. Fortunately, a large drop-off donation from members of the H2Crew volunteer group, which is associated with Hanford Tank Operations & Closure (H2C), provided a huge boost.

“We actually had to order more racks for it, because it didn’t all fit, which is amazing,� Delgado said.

Any student who wishes to check out what’s available in the Crimson Career Closet is free to stop by the Career Center anytime during normal business hours — no appointment necessary. If students see anything they like, it’s theirs to take and keep.

“They get to keep it,� Delgado says. “Of course, they can donate it again if they don’t want it in the future.�

Though the closet had only just opened, Delgado could already count herself among its first beneficiaries — sporting a donated item for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“I couldn’t find anything to wear today, so this shirt that I’m wearing right now is from the closet,� she said.

By Flynn Espe

Twelve students from the Washington State University system have received the 2025-26 Power & Energy Society (PES) , making WSU the top institutional producer of PES scholars for this award year.

The PES Scholarship Plus is presented on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and can award students up to $10,000 over a three-year period. The scholarship is given to high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in an IEEE-designated field of study who are pursuing careers in power and energy.

The 12 WSU students, who hail from three system campuses, comprised almost a third of the 38 total PES scholars chosen from colleges and universities in IEEE’s Western U.S.A. region, a cluster that includes 12 states. The students are:

• Katelyn Albertin, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Gianni Avilan Losee, WSU Vancouver
• Gerrit Bruland, WSU Pullman
• Hugo Contreras, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Jacob Culligan, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Daniel Gapper, WSU Pullman
• David Hysjulien, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Jesus Miranda, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Miguel Palomino, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡
• Jessica Pantoja-Garcia, WSU Vancouver
• Tarang Teredesai, WSU Pullman
• Manuella Tossa, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡

Bruland and Tossa are both two-time recipients.

To qualify for the scholarship, students must be considering a career in electric power and energy engineering, having earned a minimum number of academic credits within those areas of study. Applicants are evaluated by way of grades, achievements, work experiences, and volunteer activities. Selection is also based on the quality of the institution’s academic programs and curriculum related to power and energy engineering.

Palomino, a first-time recipient majoring in electrical engineering with minors in computer science and mathematics, found out about the PES scholarship through his academic advisor. He says he’s currently interested in working on energy systems that are healthier for the environment, noting that emerging technologies like ChatGPT and other large language models have proven to be heavily energy dependent.

As a student intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since 2023, Palomino has contributed to research projects involving high-voltage systems analysis for an experimental time projection chamber, the creation of an automatic cooling system, and more.

“My second project at PNNL, I created a standalone digital display system for a pressure transducer,� Palomino said. “For this, I had to integrate a microcontroller, analog-to-digital converter, and a digital display screen. This system required me to create a voltage divider to scale down the input signal to prevent any damage to the components.�

After earning his associate’s degree from Columbia Basin College, Palomino transferred to ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ as a part of the Bridges Program and expects to graduate with his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in the spring of 2027.

“I feel honored to be recognized by IEEE,� he said. “It is encouraging to know that others have faith in me and are willing to give me that support which I greatly need.�

Pantoja-Garcia, who transferred from Clark College to WSU Vancouver in 2023, said she became interested in the field thanks to power-related projects and classes, as well as her participation in the PNW Hydro Think Tank Competition. At WSU Vancouver, it was her Intro to Power and Energy Systems course and two key electives — Renewable Energy Conversion Systems and Introduction to Solar Cells — that further cemented her enthusiasm.

“Both of these electives stood out to me from other electrical engineering classes I have taken because they involved learning with a project-based approach,� Pantoja-Garcia said. “As a student, I have found that when I am tasked with projects instead of problem sets, I feel more involved and a sense of ownership over my education.�

Outside of the classroom, Pantoja-Garcia took part in two four-month electrical engineering internships with Burns & McDonnell — an architecture, engineering, and construction firm. She recently joined the company as a full-time assistant substation engineer after graduating in December with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.

“I spent most of my time working on substation projects,� Pantoja-Garcia said. “In my application, I described how my internship allowed me to take on projects that directly affected our electric grid and that it taught me the importance of making safe and smart design choices.�

The PES Scholarship Plus program grew sharply over the past year, increasing from 84 PES scholars in 2024 to 244 in 2025. The jump was driven in part by expanded eligibility, which now includes majors such as computer science, technical communications, education, and more. WSU students outpaced that growth, rising from two scholars last year to 12 this year.

According to Noel Schulz, inaugural director of the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ and Bob Ferguson endowed professor, who joined the IEEE board of directors in 2024, it’s a promising sign for the trajectory of WSU’s programs.

“This is a significant accomplishment for the entire WSU system,â€� Schulz said. “It’s encouraging to see that our students are excelling not only in the labs and classrooms on campus but also being recognized by professional societies like IEEE PES.  The WSU system continues to be a strong program in electrical power education and research. It’s a true testament to our incredible engineering faculty and curriculum that WSU is producing so many talented and committed students.â€�

By Flynn Espe

A new method for identifying types of plastics, built on advanced spectral imaging and machine learning, could make recycling more efficient and reduce landfill waste, according to a new study involving Washington State University researchers.

The method, in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling, offers the promise of a sorting system that is more accurate in distinguishing and separating different types of plastics on conveyer belts, which is crucial for producing high-quality recycled materials.

Maria Paula Garcia-Tovar, a Ph.D. materials science and engineering student at WSU Pullman, served as lead author. Macy Christianson (’22 BS Comp. Sci., ’24 MS Comp. Sci.), a ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ alumnae now working at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Luis de la Torre, associate professor of computer science at ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡; and John Miller, emeritus associate professor of computer science at ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡, were among the co-authors, alongside other colleagues from PNNL and the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez.

Spectral imaging builds upon the principles of spectroscopy — a technique for observing how light interacts with matter across different wavelengths. Using specialized cameras with spectroscopic sensors, spectral imaging machines detect and record spectral data for each pixel of an image. Analysis of that data can, in turn, identify the chemical composition or other properties of the materials. Hyperspectral imaging, which requires more sophisticated camera equipment than traditional spectral imaging, offers a higher level of resolution, providing a full spectrum at each pixel.

“It’s like a regular color image, which has red, green, and blue, but a hyperspectral image has a whole wavelength band — sometimes 3,000 wavelengths,� Miller said.

For this study, the research team sought to investigate the feasibility of plastic identification in a simulation using hyperspectral imaging technology and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a deep-learning artificial intelligence model often lauded for its ability to process complex image data. By training their CNN model on image data sets derived from two types of vibrational spectroscopies, the researchers determined both to be highly accurate in identifying six chemically distinct plastic types — with one model achieving 100% accuracy.

Although some recycling facilities have begun implementing hyperspectral imaging for plastic classification, most still rely on older, less accurate technologies such as near‑infrared sensors and RGB cameras. These systems are used during the sorting stage, after plastic loads have been screened for metal or other non‑plastic contaminants. Sensors mounted over fast‑moving conveyor belts capture and identify the plastics as they move past, and precision‑targeting air jets separate individual items by type.

Accurate sorting is important because different plastics have distinct chemical compositions and require specific processing conditions, including different melting temperatures. When plastics are improperly sorted, the quality of recycled materials can suffer, sometimes resulting in discarded batches that end up in landfills or incinerators.

Garcia-Tovar said the plastic samples used in the study were recovered from a recycling center in Puerto Rico, which made successful identification of the materials more challenging but also more reflective of real-world conditions.

“These plastics are real plastics, so they had some environmental degradations,� Garcia-Tovar said, adding that some samples were even discolored from additives, making them harder to identify with older technologies. “But the model was successful.�

Garcia-Tovar, who is originally from Colombia and has a background in industrial engineering, was initially recruited to the project while pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, working under the guidance of co-author Samuel P. Hernández-Rivera. She collected the samples and provided infrared spectral imaging data using equipment at her university. She then brought the samples to PNNL, where she worked as a research intern during the summer of 2024, using the lab’s high-end imaging equipment to obtain the rest of the hyperspectral images for the machine learning experiment.

According to Miller, who worked on the machine learning framework, there were certain essential functions that had to be implemented for the experiment to work. One of the first tasks, he said, was getting the image analysis software to isolate and identify each plastic item within each spectral image.

“One of the weird things is that the conveyor belt is also plastic, so you have to distinguish the [recycled] plastic from the conveyor belt as well,� Miller said.

Another challenge Miller pointed to was optimizing the computational process so that it matched the speed of a fast-moving conveyer belt. A potential future step, he said, would be to test the imaging framework on a physical conveyor system.

Garcia-Tovar, for whom this is her first published paper as lead author, said she decided to further her education at WSU based on her positive PNNL internship experience. She says another paper from her PNNL internship is forthcoming — this one dealing with microplastics.

“I am very happy to continue studying at this university,� she said. “This experience has been really amazing.�

By Flynn Espe

Washington State University Tri-Cities student Roxie Bates remembers coming to New Coug Orientation last fall feeling somewhat anxious about starting her college career.

“What if I don’t do this one thing and then it ruins everything?� she recalls thinking. “I was very nervous.�

Though she’d been on campus at least once before, it was a much different environment than the one she’d recently graduated from at Chiawana High School in Pasco. More than that, as a first-year student in the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Teaching Bridge Program, Bates still had practical questions about how she would be balancing her time between taking classes and working part-time as a paraeducator — one of the main features of her elementary education program.

Fortunately, Bates says, most of her day-one jitters were quickly calmed when she went into a scheduled group meeting with Lisandra Farías, her assigned mentor in a brand-new Student Success Peer Mentors program aimed at helping new ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ students settle in during their first semester on campus. Farías introduced herself to the group as a senior elementary education major.

“She kind of explained everything, like, ‘I’ve been through it. This is what it’s going to look like, and if you have any questions, I’m here,� Bates says. “It was a lot more reassuring.�

From there, Bates stayed in frequent contact with Farías throughout the semester, using a special text messaging platform.

“I would say we talked about one to two times a week. And it would often just be a quick check-in, like, ‘Hey, how’s everything going? Do you have any questions?’� Bates says.

Bates and her fellow new Cougs weren’t the only ones going through the peer mentorship process for the first time. This being the pilot year for the program, it was a learning experience for everyone — students and staff included.

“The point is to help new students, both first-years and transfers, successfully transition to life at ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ by offering guidance, support, and a friendly connection to the campus community,â€� says Evelyn Martinez-Ostrom, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡â€™ director of student engagement and leadership.

She says the program emerged from a series of director-level meetings the year prior in which campus leaders from the Office of Academic and Student Affairs looked closely at an industry study on student success in higher education. In evaluating the , which identified the “Big Six� college experiences linked to lifelong preparedness, the group latched on to two key indicators. One was a correlation between successful outcomes for students who were highly active in extracurricular activities and organizations. A second indicator was having a mentor to inspire and encourage the student.

“It was really broadly stated as somebody that has their back on campus, and an overwhelming number of examples cited a peer as that mentor,� Martinez-Ostrom says. “So the combination of those two things, having a peer mentor and having involvement in co-curricular activities, is what we centered this idea of a peer mentor program around.�

Getting the program up and running required a major effort from multiple ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ departments, including the Office of Admissions and Office of Academic Engagement. Funding for the first year of the program was provided by a generous outside sponsorship from Battelle, with additional contributions from the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ College of Arts and Sciences and TRIO Student Support Services.

By the time fall 2025 orientation arrived, Martinez-Ostrom’s office had assembled and trained a team of 14 ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ upperclassmen as peer mentors — selecting candidates through a competitive hiring process that also sought to bring in a mixed representation of undergraduate majors.

Peer mentor Devin Simpson, who graduated last December as a digital technology and culture major, says he decided to apply to the campus position having previously worked as a student outreach ambassador for the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ GEAR UP program.

“I was interested in it because I had experience interacting with students,� he says. “I thought, ‘Oh, that could translate well into the Student Success Peer Mentors position.’�

For his orientation meet-and-greet session, Simpson prepared a few simple games and ice-breaker activities to help people get to know one another.

“I had them talk about themselves and why they enrolled at WSU,� Simpson says. “They were meeting for the first time, so obviously nerves were going to be a little bit high. But the more I talked to them and the more activities and games we did, the more comfortable they got.�

Throughout the fall, Simpson and his fellow mentors regularly reached out to their assigned students via group and personalized texts, informing students about academic deadlines and resources while encouraging them to participate in upcoming social events. The new students, meanwhile, were also free to contact their mentors with questions and requests.

One peer mentor guided a new student through the process of starting a campus club for the education students, Martinez-Ostrom says. Sometimes the requests were more urgent.

“At one point we had a peer mentor who was off-campus, and one of their mentees had messaged them, ‘Hey, I have an exam today. I forgot my calculator. Can you help me with this?’� Martinez-Ostrom says. “The peer mentor contacted me, ‘I need to help my mentee. Are you on campus? Can you find a calculator for her?’ I said, ‘Yes, send her to our office.’ And we had a TI-89 waiting for her.�

To celebrate the completion of the first semester of the program, the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership hosted a special “Cheers for Peers� event in the Student Union Building last December. While there, each of the 14 mentors had a chance to stand up and share about their experience.

Peer mentor Alyssa Perez, a senior viticulture and enology major, said being in the program taught her valuable lessons about leadership.

“Real leadership often looks like stepping back. You have to listen first, ask questions, and create a space for someone else’s voice to be heard,� Perez told the group. “I also learned that small moments matter more than we think. A quick check-in, a high five in the hallway, or a ‘You’ve got this!’ at just the right time — those interactions can be the thing that keeps someone going.�

For questions about applying to the peer mentor program for fall 2026, email Martinez-Ostrom at evelynmtz@wsu.edu.

By Flynn Espe

Seven students from Washington State University Tri-Cities are bringing their collective passion for community service beyond the confines of the Richland campus. As members of the newly relaunched Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club, they’re on a mission to give back to the region through a range of charitable activities, including an upcoming bowling fundraiser event.

“We hope to better the community in any way possible,â€� says ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ sophomore Romeo Ross, currently serving as the Rotaract chapter president.

are official sub-organizations of Rotary International chapters, aimed at cultivating leadership and service-minded professionalism among young adults, ages 18–30. The Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club is sponsored by Columbia Center Rotary, based in Kennewick.

Ross says he became involved in getting the Rotaract chapter up and running in late 2025 when Rotary member and ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ donor Phil Ohl (’87 BS Mat. Sci. & Eng., ’92 MEM) pitched the idea to him. Although the Mid-Columbia Rotaract club had been active in years past, the group had effectively dissolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving no one left from the chapter’s former membership to carry the mission forward.

“(Phil) gave me a little bit of insight as to what they had done in the past,� Ross says. “The pitch was, ‘This is really big for our community, and we’re looking for someone to revitalize this and serve in this way.’�

Despite his already busy schedule, including serving as vice president for the Associate Students of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡, Ross says he agreed immediately.

“I love humanitarian work. I love service projects,� Ross says. “So I said, ‘Of course, I would love to.’�

His first task was to recruit other new members for the chapter who would be just as committed to community service and engaging with people. Fortunately, he didn’t have to look far. As of now, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ undergraduate students comprise more than three quarters of the group’s nine-person leadership team, which includes Diedre Cady, freshman; Xavier Cox, sophomore; Felix Galvan, junior; Harleen Kaur, freshman; Anas Mohamed, sophomore; and Nate Sibaja, sophomore.

Despite the heavy representation of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ students, Ross says the makeup of the group is diverse in other ways, with three members hailing from other countries.

“Every individual on the team speaks at least another language,� Ross says, citing Italian, Japanese, and Twi as three languages currently represented. “The team is so multifaceted.�

Rotaract members are focusing their efforts on fundraising support for the Prescott School District, which serves approximately 225 children in rural Walla Walla County and has been facing potential dissolution due to financial distress.

Ross says the decision to focus on helping the district was made during the club’s inaugural meeting on Jan. 15, after each new member brought in three ideas for potential service projects and causes. Cox, who grew up in the town of Prescott, was the one who brought the issue to the group’s attention.

“We came to a consensus that this was the most time-sensitive project,� Ross says. “It was a unanimous vote.�

For Ohl, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WSU and currently serves as managing director for the Tri-Cities Angel Alliance, getting young people involved in community service has been a driving passion. He praised the new Rotaract team for getting up and running so quickly.

“Romeo and the new members of Mid-Columbia Rotaract embody the Rotary motto, ‘Service above self,’� Ohl says. “All the members are passionate about our Tri-Cities and surrounding area communities, and I’m excited to get to work with them. The fact the group is Coug-centered is a great bonus.�

The group’s first planned outreach activity is a bowling night fundraiser event from 9:30-11:30 p.m. on March 19 at Atomic Bowl in Richland. All proceeds go to the Prescott School District.

For more information on upcoming events, you can follow Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club on . Ross says his team is still on the lookout for new members who exhibit ambition, compassion, and optimism.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, especially if individuals are interested in community service and leadership,� Ross says.

By Flynn Espe

Washington State University Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes has been named a 2026 Leader of Distinction by the WSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

°Õ³ó±ðÌý are presented annually to a select group of WSU faculty, administrators, staff, students, alumni, and university partners who have promoted gender equalityÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýchampioned positive social change. Award winners are selected through an open nomination process and considered based on their exemplary leadership, career achievements, public service,Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýpositive contributions to the growth and success of others, including women.

Haynes, who won in the administrator category, joined ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ in 2018 to serve as the campus’ seventh chancellor. She also currently serves as the interim chancellor for WSU Vancouver.

“Her work reflects a clear focus on student success, community engagement, and expanding opportunities for women and underrepresented groups,â€� one of the nominating WSU community members wrote to the award committee. “In conversations with industry leaders, donors, and community partners, I consistently hear appreciation for Chancellor Haynes’ leadership and presence in the Tri-Cities community. She has strengthened ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡â€™ role in the region and aligned the university’s mission with community priorities, creating lasting impact.â€�

The same nominator praised Haynes for steering campus growth in multiple areas such as ¾±²Ô³¦°ù±ð²¹²õ±ð»åÌý±ð²Ô°ù´Ç±ô±ô³¾±ð²Ô³Ù, expanded academic programs, capital projects, and the creation of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡â€™Â Institute for Northwest Energy Futures in 2021.

“She also oversaw the design and construction of Collaboration Hall, a 40,000-square-foot interdisciplinary building that earned national recognition for excellence,� the nominator wrote. “Designed by an all-female architectural team, the project reflects her commitment to advancing women in STEM and leadership roles.�

Haynes earned her PhD in experimental neuropsychology from Colorado State University, where she later re-specialized in counseling psychology, and holds a professorship through WSU’s Department of Psychology. As a first-generation college student, Haynes has demonstrated a career-long commitment to increasing access to higher education through novel programs and community connections — including bridgeÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýteaching pathways programs made in partnership with regional schools and community colleges. Haynes previously received the TRIO First-Generation Champion Award in recognition of such efforts.

Her community leadership has extended beyond the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ campus as well. Serving as a board member and immediate past chair of the Tri-City Development Council, Haynes has worked to foster economic growth within the Columbia Basin region. The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business also selected Haynes as one of its 2025 Tri-City People of Influence awardees.

“In every conversation and decision, Chancellor Haynes centers people — students, colleagues, and the communities we serve. She consistently models respect, transparency, and accountability, creating an environment where others feel empowered to lead, innovate, and grow,â€� another nominator wrote. “Her contributions reach far beyond job responsibilities — they touch lives, open doors, and strengthen the future of both ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ and WSU Vancouver.â€�

Haynes will be honored alongside eight other 2026 Leader of Distinction winners at a formal awards ceremony on March 26 at the Elson S. Floyd Cultural Center in Pullman.

By Flynn Espe

°Õ³ó±ðÌýWashington State University Tri-Cities Institute for Northwest Energy Futures (INEF) hosted a packed-house event on Wednesday, as community leaders from education, energy, and other local industries gathered to celebrate the launch of an educational small modular reactor (SMR) control room simulator.

The simulator is housed at the INEF building and will be operated in partnership with  and Columbia Basin College (CBC). Developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Community Capacity Building Grant Program, the space is designed to advance workforce readiness in advanced nuclear energy and strengthen the pipeline of skilled talent needed to support the region’s growing energy sector. Students will gain hands-on experience with operational scenarios modeled on  Xe-100 advanced SMR technology.

“We are thrilled to be a partner in this effort to expand education and outreach within the rapidly growing field of advanced nuclear energy,â€� said Sandra Haynes, ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ chancellor. “This program is especially relevant to this region given the strong nuclear presence and planned future expansion. Preparing the workforce for these next-generation SMR facilities will require collaboration, commitment, and forward‑thinking initiatives like this one.â€�

Students from both WSUÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýCBC will have access to the technology as part of their academic programs. The simulator is also expected to provide scenario training for Energy Northwest employees, while also serving as a site for community outreach visits aimed at educating the public on advanced nuclear energy.

“Collaboration with industry and higher education partners is critical to ensuring we develop a local workforce to support our community today and in the future,� said Rebekah S. Woods, CBC’s president. “We know that practical, hands-on experiences are key to helping students discover career pathways they may not have considered before.�

In 2024, Energy Northwest announced an agreement with Amazon and X‑energy to build up to 12 small modular reactors, called the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, near Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station — the Pacific Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant. The Cascade facility is expected to create up to 1,000 temporary construction jobs and at least 100 permanent positions once fully operational.

For WSU students, the SMR simulator will provide a powerful applied-learning component to existing coursework in mechanical engineering, energy dynamics, and . WSU Pullman has a 1-megawatt  and certificate programs in nuclear materials, science, and engineering that provide additional pathways into nuclear energy studies and careers. Going forward, Pullman students in those fields will have opportunities to visit the Tri-Cities to use the simulator,Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýthe reactor operations program will likewise be expanded to incorporate students from the Tri-Cities campus — providing hands-on education and exposure to traditional and advanced nuclear technologies alike.