NDSU’s civil engineering department organized the first “NDSU-AEC Undergraduate Digital Conference” April 25, where undergraduate researchers from NDSU and Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, India, exchanged research experiences via live audio and video. 

The conference was organized as a part of the department’s efforts to introduce the students and faculty to international collaborations and global exchange of ideas through a recently initiated program called GlobaKonnect. The program was coordinated by Achintya Bezbaruah, assistant professor of civil engineering. 

NDSU undergraduate students Laura Clarens and Amanda Grosz from the Nanoenvirology Research Group presented their research to the audience at both institutions. Civil engineering graduate student Mary Pate introduced North Dakota and the NDSU civil engineering department to the audience in India, while AEC chemical engineering junior Rimjhim Kashyap gave a detailed introduction to the northeastern Indian state of Assam and Assam Engineering College. Clarens, an NDSU sophomore, presented her National Science Foundation supported project on “Surface Modification of Iron Nanoparticles for Groundwater Remediation,” and Grosz, an NDSU junior, presented “Allium Studies to Evaluate Toxicity of Engineered Nanoparticles.” Grosz’s research is supported by National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Students from the Assam Engineering College presented research on “Acid Treated Bamboo Biomass as a Potential Adsorbent for the Removal of Methyl Violet Dye” and “Goodness of Fit Test for a Few Probability Distribution Functions with Reference to River Pagladia in Assam.” 

On behalf of NDSU, G. Padmanabhan, professor and director of civil engineering; Dinesh Katti, professor of civil engineering; and Bezbaruah spoke on possible academic and research collaborations with Assam Engineering College, and faculty from the Indian institution expressed a willingness to work on collaborative projects. 

The NDSU civil engineering department plans to reach out to other institutions through GlobaKonnect to exchange ideas and begin collaborations. The digital conference was facilitated by NDSU’s Information Technology Services and managed by Daniel Erichsen, interactive media specialist. 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.