Faculty Creating Meaningful Practical Experiences for Students

Amanda Budzina, Assistant Professor of Nursing was awarded a Pitt 2026 Innovation in Education Award for her project "Using Virtual Reality Simulation to Enhance Nursing Students’ Clinical Readiness for Practice."  

Hui Liu, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, was awarded a Pitt Catalyst Grant for his project “An AI-Visual Control System for Fluidized-Bed Reactors.” 

Fluidized-bed reactors are widely used in industrial processes such as biomass gasification, combustion and petrochemical production, but traditional control methods struggle to reliably maintain optimal flow patterns due to the complexity of fluid-particle interactions. This project proposes a novel AI-visual control system that uses real-time video capture and machine learning to directly monitor and regulate flow patterns inside fluidized-bed reactors, enabling more accurate control, higher material conversion, lower energy consumption and improved operational safety. The resulting prototype — with no comparable system currently on the market — is intended for patenting and eventual commercialization across the bioenergy, petrochemical, polymer and fine chemicals industries.  

Matthew Tracy, Associate Professor of Chemistry, was awarded a Pitt Catalyst Grant for his project “Sustainable Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Diphenylamide Quorum Sensing Inhibitors.” Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat, and quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy by targeting bacterial communication pathways that regulate virulence. This project will synthesize a structurally diverse library of potential QSIs using a sustainable, microwave-assisted synthetic route, and evaluate them for cytotoxicity, antibiotic activity and quorum sensing inhibition. The work will have undergraduate students playing a central role throughout. Beyond research outcomes, the project has a strong pedagogical component, with findings to be integrated into organic chemistry, microbiology and medicinal chemistry laboratory courses at UPJ. 

Manisha Nigam, Professor of Chemistry, was recognized with a 2026 Pitt Sustainability Award for her work that includes multiple lab experiments that replace hazardous reagents, minimize waste, and emphasize safer chemical design, modernizing the undergraduate organic chemistry program while demonstrating that sustainability and academic excellence are not mutually exclusive.