November 12, 2024
PhD students at SCI are conducting research with real-world impacts, innovating across sectors like healthcare, business, and education. On Wednesday, Sept. 18, approximately 20 PhD students had the opportunity to present and share their research at the First Annual Doctoral Guild Poster Slam.
The Poster Slam was hosted by the Doctoral Guild at Pitt, a student organization for doctoral students to promote research efforts and professional standards, encourage education development, represent the interests of doctoral students, and host social activities. The Doctoral Guild is advised by Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Professor Rosta Farzan and guild president Alireza Javadian Sabet, a PhD student in the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems.
"The First Annual Doctoral Guild Poster Slam was a remarkable success, bringing together bright minds and showcasing the innovative research of our doctoral students,” said Javadian Sabet. “This event provided a valuable platform for students to engage with their peers and the broader SCI community, fostering collaboration and inspiring new ideas.”
Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor Erin Walker kicked off the event by welcoming students, faculty, staff, and guests to the poster slam.
“I was so inspired to see the diversity of research being done by the PhD students within SCI, and the attention to both technical rigor and social impact,” said Walker. “The poster slam was a wonderful mechanism for bringing us together as a research community."
Walker’s welcoming remarks were followed by a presentation by Brian Vidic, Director of Industry Partnerships at the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, on resources for industry-sponsored research.
“This poster slam not only highlighted the quality of the PhD programs here at SCI, but also forged connections with industry partners who may want to recruit top-tier talent from Pitt or sponsor university research,” said Vidic.
The doctoral students presented their research in three-minute-long presentations featuring a poster. Posters contained concise descriptions, diagrams, and graphics of their research and applied technical knowledge to an array of topics, tackling pressing challenges in education, healthcare, technology, and social dynamics.
Several posters explored how academic programs align with labor market demands, the influence of large language models (LLMs) on different fields, and the biases present in AI-generated summaries. Others focused on improving education through automated feedback tools and robot-assisted learning environments. In healthcare, innovations included mixed reality tools for surgery, enhanced mammogram analysis for better cancer detection, and new methods to monitor blood pressure using affordable technology.
Additional research examined the dynamics of return migration, shifts in online hate speech during geopolitical events, and ways to predict social media connections based on personality traits. Sports analytics also saw advances, with a new scoring method for figure skating offering greater transparency. Finally, studies on automated vehicles and collaborative AI systems shed light on the complexities of trust, teamwork, and human-technology interaction. The poster slam highlighted how interdisciplinary research is driving practical solutions to real-world problems.
The event concluded with a networking reception, awards, and concluding remarks by Javadian Sabet.
Award winners include:
- Best Overall: Arushi Rai, “Rubric-Constrained Figure Skating Scoring”
- Outstanding Study Design: Yaohan Ding, “Investigating Effects of Drivers’ Self-Confidence and Confidence in Automated Vehicles on Trust and Takeover Intention”
- Outstanding Analysis: Hui Ji, “Advancing PPG-Based Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring from a Generative Perspective”
- Outstanding Problem-Solution: Zhaoyi Joey Hou, “Leveraging Large Models for Evaluating Novel Content: A Case Study on Advertisement Creativity”
- Best Visualization: Rr. Nefriana, “Shifting Patterns of Extremist Discourse on Facebook: Analyzing Trends and Developmentst During the Israel-Hamas Conflict”
“This event played a key role in supporting students’ academic development and building stronger connections within the SCI community,” said Javadian Sabet. “The impact of this session will continue to resonate as our students further their academic and professional journeys, highlighting the significance of such initiatives in shaping the future of research at SCI."
Learn more about Doctoral Guild at Pitt and view all submitted posters.