Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program

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SURE/Experience Plus Undergraduate Research Program

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program is designed to guide undergraduate students in the practice of research and expose them  to potential educational and research-oriented career paths. This is accomplished through faculty mentorship and training while students participate in a faculty member’s research or scholarly project. 

Faculty members (not students) submit a project application that identifies a student researcher. If awarded, the student researcher receives a summer stipend of $3,200 while they work on the SURE project (this work does not count for academic credit). Students generally work 15-20 hours per week over the course of 8-12 weeks in the summer. Students are also required to attend professional development sessions throughout the summer and present their work at the SURE Showcase in the fall. 

Through this experience, the program aims to  provide students with the opportunity to participate in individual research projects; to learn about the life of an active researcher; to learn about research-oriented careers; and to develop a long-term mentor relationship.

SURE 2024

Molly Lesko
SURE 2023 researcher Molly Lesko
receives 1st place at the SURE Showcase.

Faculty: A faculty information session was held on February 20, 2024 where SURE team will shared information about the faculty mentoring role, as well as the benefits and challenges related to working with undergraduate students. The deadline for this year has passed. 

Students: Interested in participating? Talk to a faculty member you've had about your desire to conduct research this summer through the SURE program. The faculty member can then submit an application for SURE and identify you as the student researcher.

In some cases, faculty are unable to identify student researchers for their SURE project, so if you are interested in being matched with a faculty member, please contact [email protected].

Students who are interested in participating need to be current undergraduate UM-Dearborn students who will graduate December 2024 or after.

SURE 2024 Projects

CASL:

  • A Comparison of the Dispersal Potential of Artificial Fruits of Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), David Susko (faculty mentor), Breckan Myers (student researcher)
  • AI'll be there for you: Couples, AI, and Relationship Maintenance, Michelle Leonard (faculty mentor), Aamina Rehman (student researcher)
  • Alley Alchemy: Implementing Urban Acupuncture in Detroit's Depopulated Districts, Paul Draus (faculty mentor), Zachary Pousak (student researcher)
  • Arab American Women: Environmental Justice Narratives, Carmel Price (faculty mentor), Renee Ellis (student researcher)
  • Arginino Succinate Synthetase 1 agonist and its effect on melanoma, Besa Xhabija (faculty mentor), Ayah Farhat (Student researcher)
  • Bait and Switch of the American Dream: Persuasion Tactic of MLMs, Harmony Reppond (faculty mentor), Leonardo Ruffino (student researcher)
  • Bioconjugation of 4-Phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) to Gold Nanoparticles, Krisanu Bandyopadhyay (faculty mentor), Alaina Small (student researcher)
  • Development of Total Internal Fluorescence Microscopy to Investigate Motility of Single Kinesin, Suvranta Tripathy (faculty mentor), Fawaz Baig (student researcher)
  • Endosomal pH Regulation in Exosome-Mediated Cardioprotection Post-Myocardial Infarction, Kalyan Kondapalli (faculty mentor), Lili Hafezi (student researcher)
  • Effects of Retail Health Clinics on Medical Appointment Wait Times, Antonios Koumpias (faculty mentor), Amalia Jamaludin (student researcher)
  • Foundations of causal fairness, Tian An Wong (faculty mentor), Shivani Madhu (student researcher)
  • “He was a criminology major”: Do university majors correlate with criminality?, Amny Shuraydi (faculty mentor), Madison Chervenak (student researcher)
  • How comedians use metaphor in humorous memoirs about their ovarian/uterine cancer experiences, Nick Iannarino (faculty mentor), Madelyn Gatteri (student researcher)
  • How is the Brain – Specific Form of the Phospholipid Synthesizing Enzyme, AGPAT4, Unique?”, Peter Oelkers (faculty mentor), Hussein Alshuhani (student researcher)
  • Loss of a Friend, Amy Brainer (faculty mentor), Fatima Al-Bedany (student researcher)
  • Marriage as Pious Kin Work: Resistance and Refusal in Arab Detroit, Rose Wellman (faculty mentor), Olivia Carzon (student researcher)
  • Mechanisms of blood–brain barrier dysfunction after pediatric traumatic brain injury, Zhi Zhang (faculty mentor), Sara Moughni (student researcher)
  • Preparation of Blatter-type Radicals for Application in Spintronic Devices, Christos Constantinides (faculty mentor), Tyler Stewart (student researcher)
  • Preparing for the largest optical/infrared astronomical datasets, William Clarkson (faculty mentor), student researcher TBD
  • Study tau pathology in brain endothelial cells and their barrier function in Alzheimer’s disease, Jie Fan (faculty mentor), Ayham Kabbani (student researcher)
  • The relative stability and the significance of aromaticity to the stability of the Blatter radical, Daniel Lawson (faculty mentor), David Doty (student researcher)
  • The impact of pH, light and solvents on the riboflavin derivatives stability and binding ability, Simona Marincean (faculty mentor), Daniel Winder (student researcher)
  • Tides of Resistance, Adam Sekuler (faculty mentor), Atia Siddiqui (student researcher)
  • Understanding Bacterial-Metal Interactions Analyses of ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Data, Xiaohua Li (faculty mentor), Oliver Coutinho (student researcher)
  • Understanding the Impact of Phospholipid Synthesis Gene Mutations on Cellular Functions in Yeast, Keshav Pokhrel (faculty mentor), Jordan Reid (student researcher)
  • Understanding Victim Perceptions of Technology Facilitated Sex Trafficking, Kathleen Darcy (faculty mentor), Bethany Slone (student researcher)
  • “We Hope for Better Days”: Maryann Mahaffey, Social Justice, and Electoral Politics in Post-industrial Detroit, Georgina Hickey (faculty mentor), Maggie Shearer (student researcher)
  • Wellbeing Policy in the US - Why are we lagging?, Natalia & Hans Czap (faculty mentors), Eunji Kim (student researcher)

CECS:

  • A Comprehensive Data Hub for Visualizing Extreme Weather Events and Power Outages, Wencong Su (faculty mentor), Marcus Chen I Wada (student researcher)
  • Assessment of solar energy generation towards net-zero energy buildings, Van Hai Bui (faculty mentor), student researcher TBD
  • Battery Management Systems for Secondary Batteries Packs, Rongheng Li (faculty mentor), Hassan Jawhar (student researcher)
  • Bipolar solid state pouch cell development, fabrication and testing, Xuan Zhou (faculty mentor), Ahmad Alamery (student researcher)
  • Building a Road Condition Detection System, Zheng Song (faculty mentor), Fatima Hazime (student researcher)
  • Comprehensive Wireless Signal Measurement and Analysis: From WiFi to 5G Cellular Spectra, Junaid Farooq (faculty mentor), Jawad Hazime (student researcher)
  • Construction of an Autonomous Blimp, Alireza Mohammadi (faculty mentor), Derek Servin (student researcher)
  • Develop Secure and Privacy-Preserving Neighbor Discovery Protocols for IP version 6 (IPv6), Jinhua Guo (faculty mentor), Namaa Mokhtar (student researcher)
  • Engineering the perivascular space on-a-chip to unravel dementia's bleeding mysteries, Aditya Raghunandan (faculty mentor), Sena Alenzi (student researcher)
  • GenImageDetector: An ensemble framework for Detecting AI-Generated Image, Ang Li (faculty mentor), Aryan Singh (student researcher)
  • Mechanical Sutures as a Joint Mechanism for Architected Materials, Rafael Ruiz (faculty mentor), Owen Gill (student researcher)
  • Learning to make decisions by imitating an expert, Srijita Das (faculty mentor), Ibrahim Alwishah (student researcher)
  • The impact of sex based differences on mechanotransduction within pulmonary fibroblasts, Caymen Novak (faculty mentor), Nicole Kormos (student researcher)
  • User Accessibility in Virtual Spaces, Bruce Maxim (faculty mentor), Landon Johnson (student researcher)
  • Verification of Autonomous Systems Under Uncertainty, Zhen Hu (faculty mentor), Jack Wagner (student researcher)

CEHHS:

  • Building Political Efficacy for Trans Justice: The Role of Advocacy Organizations during Political Crisis, Leonardo Kattari (faculty mentor), Theo Carrubba (student researcher)
  • Dearborn Green Schoolyards: Baseline Assessment for Equity, Natalie Sampson (faculty mentor), Jena Faraj (student researcher)
  • Enhancing ESL Co-Planning by Preservice Teachers in Dearborn Schools,  Kyongson Park (faculty mentor), Sofía Martínez Barredo (student researcher)
  • Reproductive Freedom on the Ballot: How Gender and Demands for Self-Determination are Driving Electoral Politics in the Post-Roe Era, Lisa Martin (Chair HHS & CASL; faculty mentor), Sara Chaban (student researcher)
  • Ypsi Farmers & Gardeners Oral History Project, Finn Bell (faculty mentor), Sasha Kindred (student researcher)

COB:

  • User Assessment of Security Threats, Maggie Yi Guo (faculty mentor), Brendan McCloskey (student researcher)

 

Visit the Past Projects page for information about all previous SURE projects.

Associated Publications

Students who were credited in publications for their work on SURE projects:

SURE 2023

  • Hachem, Z., Hadrian, C., Aldbaisi, L., Alkaabi, M., Wan, L. Q., & Fan, J. (2024). Asymmetrical positioning of cell organelles reflects the cell chirality of mouse myoblast cells. APL Bioengineering, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0189401 
  • Pagnucco G, Overfield D, Chamlee Y, Shuler C, Kassem A, Opara S, Najaf H, Abbas L, Coutinho O, Fortuna A, Sulaiman F, Farinas J, Schittenhelm R, Catalfano B, Li X, Tiquia-Arashiro SM. Metal tolerance and biosorption capacities of bacterial strains isolated from an urban watershed. Front Microbiol. 2023 Oct 23;14:1278886. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1278886

SURE 2022

  • Faulkner MB, Rizk M, Bazzi Z, Dysko RC, Zhang Z. Sex-specific effects of buprenorphine on endoplasmic reticulum stress, abnormal protein accumulation, and cell loss after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury in mice. Neurotrauma Reports 2023:4(1):573-585. doi: 10.1089/neur.2023.0051
  • Marincean, S., Nichols, D. L., & Benore, M. A. (2023). Riboflavin interactions with the chicken isolated carrier protein. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 96, 129529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129529 

SURE 2021

  • Hang, B., Jassem, E., Mohammed, H., Wan, L. Q., Herschkowitz, J. I., & Fan, J. (2022). Interacting with tumor cells weakens the intrinsic clockwise chirality of endothelial cells. APL Bioengineering, 6(4), 046107. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0115827
  • Hogan, J., Salo, A., Rzig, D. E., Hassan, F., & Maxim, B. (2022). Analyzing Performance Issues of Virtual Reality Applications. arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.02013. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2211.02013
  • Napieralski, J., Sulich, C., Taylor, A., & Draus, P. (2022). Mapping the link between outdoor water footprint and social vulnerability in Metro Phoenix, AZ (USA). Landscape and Urban Planning, 226, 104498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104498

SURE 2020

  • Song, Z., Rowader, O., Li, Z., Tello, M., & Tilevich, E. (2022). Quality of Information Matters: Recommending Web Services for Performance and Utility. 2022 IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing Technology and Science (CloudCom), 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1109/CloudCom55334.2022.00016

SURE 2019

  • Nasser, M., Wu, Y., Danaoui, Y., & Ghosh, G. (2019). Engineering microenvironments towards harnessing pro-angiogenic potential of mesenchymal stem cells. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 102, 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2019.04.030
  • Sampson, N., Price, C., Alwishah, K., Saleh, I., Mahdi, A., Mozip, A., Luqman, S., Archambault, D., Gleicher, S., Norwood, D., Almaklani A.B., Leonard, N, Arouche, A., Tariq, M., Reda, Z. (2021). Building youth capacity to address environmental health and justice concerns in Dearborn, MI. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 15(3):401-410. doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2021.0041.

SURE 2018

  • Alkhazi, B., Abid, C., Kessentini, M., & Wimmer, M. (2020). On the value of quality attributes for refactoring ATL model transformations: A multi-objective approach. Information and Software Technology, 120, 106243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2019.106243
  • Bazzi, K., Meka, V. M., Rathi, A., & Jayaraman, T. V. (2019). Influence of temperature on the magnetic properties of nanostructured Fe-49 wt.% Co-2 wt.% V alloy powder synthesized by mechanically milling pre-alloyed gas-atomized powder. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 227, 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.01.044
  • Doctrove, Q. A., Alsafi, Z., Smith, S. R., & Benore, M. A. (2019). Improved Purification of Apo and Holo Riboflavin Binding Protein from Chicken and Turkey Egg Yolk. The FASEB Journal, 33(S1), 472.2-472.2. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.472.2
  • Rebai, S., Sghaier, O., Alizadeh, V., Kessentini, M., & Chater, M. (2019). Interactive Refactoring Documentation Bot. 2019 19th International Working Conference on Source Code Analysis and Manipulation (SCAM), 152–162. https://doi.org/10.1109/SCAM.2019.00026
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