Photographed (from left-to-right): Joshua Golden, Isaiah Adams and Malaya Wilburd.
Photographed: Cole Dickson.
Four Arkansas Tech University students have advanced to the semifinal round of the 2026 ACC Capital Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition.
ATU senior Cole Dickson of Phoenix, Ariz., reached the semifinals with his Smart Straw concept, while the team of ATU seniors Isaiah Adams of Little Rock, Malaya Wilburd of Sherwood and Joshua Golden of Bentonville made it to the semifinals with an idea called MoneyUP.
Cass Capen-Housley, ATU instructor of management, is advising Dickson on his project.
Dr. Robin Ghosh, ATU assistant professor of computer and information science, and Rebecca Cunningham, ATU assistant professor of computer and information science, are advising Adams, Wilburd and Golden on their project.
According to information provided by the Governor’s Cup organization, the business plan competition is a “real-world entrepreneur education opportunity for college and university students” to “gain a greater appreciation of the challenges and opportunities of starting a viable business” while gaining “access to networks of entrepreneurs, economic developers, investors and others.”
The competition includes a 10-page written business plan, a 15-minute virtual oral presentation with 10-minute question-and-answer, a 15-minute in-person oral presentation with 10-minute question-and-answer and a 90-second elevator pitch event.
Finalists will be announced on Monday, March 9, and the final round of competition is scheduled for April 13-15 in Little Rock. Students are competing for an all-cash prize pool in excess of $140,000. The competition is made possible through the title sponsorship of Dhu C. Thompson.
Dickson’s Smart Straw concept measures the volume intake of water and provides that information to a smart phone application that is designed to help people make sure they are drinking enough water on a daily basis.
“You think about it…there’s an Apple Watch, there’s a Fitbit that tracks your sleep…but there’s nothing like this out there,” said Dickson. “I feel like there’s a big window of opportunity for it. I took a marketing class two years ago, and that’s where this idea came from. It stuck with me through another class that allowed me to develop this business plan. I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to do anything like this, but it all came about because of those classes.”
Adams, Wilburd and Golden developed the MoneyUP smart phone application concept as a way of helping college students access their banking information, establish personal budgets and gain information about financial planning.
“This has given me first-hand experience on not only creating a product, but also leading a team of diverse individuals,” said Adams. “I see this as a way for me to use what I have learned and apply it to future roles after college, especially as I pursue my goal of becoming a leader in the tech world.”
Photographed: (front row, left-to-right) Arkansas Tech University students Shaira Wajiha, Malaya Wilburd, Shruti Bandari, Kesava Manikanta Chirumamilla and Md Shaba Sayeed; (back row, left-to-right) ATU faculty members Dr. Tolga Ensari, Dr. Robin Ghosh and Dr. Md Abdus Siddique.
As Arkansas Tech University student Malaya Wilburd of Sherwood stood inside the rotunda of the Arkansas State Capitol and shared the outcomes of her scientific research, she took a moment to contemplate how she arrived in that place at that time.
“Being able to adapt to new knowledge, new research and being able to find uses for that are the skills I have developed from this experience,” said Wilburd. “Honestly, a year ago, I would not have thought I would have been here, but it feels good to know I made it here and that my knowledge and my education have led me to a moment like this.”
Students from the ATU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics were among more than 100 university students from around the state who participated in Arkansas STEM Posters at the Capitol 2026 on Wednesday, March 4.
The annual event brings students together to share their scientific findings with their peers at other universities, legislators and state officials. Thirteen institutions of higher learning were represented this year and the results of 72 projects were presented.
“The big takeaway for the students is they are exposed to not only the Arkansas Tech University research community, but the entire state of Arkansas as a whole,” said Dr. Robin Ghosh, ATU assistant professor of computer and information science. “They are learning new concepts and new topics while networking and collaborating with other researchers. This is the beginning conference that I send my students to in order to expose them to the Arkansas research community. We want to gradually boost their confidence.”
Below are the project titles, student participants and faculty mentors from the ATU delegation at Arkansas STEM Posters at the Capitol 2026 in Little Rock:
“A Comprehensive Survey of Agentic AI: Design Principles, Security Risks and Ethical Considerations,” presented by Md Shaba Sayeed. Faculty mentor: Dr. Robin Ghosh.
“Optimizing Energy Consumption to Minimize Carbon Emissions: A Machine Learning Approach for Facility Operations,” presented by Malaya Wilburd. Faculty mentor: Dr. Tolga Ensari.
“Neuromorphic Seizure Detection: EEG Analysis with Spiking Neural Networks,” presented by Shruti Bhandari and Md Shaba Sayeed. Faculty mentor: Dr. Tolga Ensari.
“Small Language Models for Edge AI: Enabling Private, Efficient On-Device Intelligence,” presented by Kaan Boke. Faculty mentor: Dr. Tolga Ensari.
“Neuromorphic Approaches to Data Compression with Spiking Models,” presented by Malaya Wilburd, Shruti Bhandari, Md Shaba Sayeed and Harsha V Gudala. Faculty mentor: Dr. Tolga Ensari.
“Privacy-Preserving RAG System for Personal Document Question Answering,” presented by Kesava Manikanta Chirumamilla. Faculty mentor: Dr. Md Abdus Siddique.
In a groundbreaking showcase of the work done by Rubaiyat Habib, Edidiong Akpan, Dr. Indira Dutta and Dr. Bhaskar Ghosh, Dr. Ghosh presented their research Techniques to Detect Fake Profiles on Social Media Using the New Age Algorithms - A Survey at the IEEE CCWC 2024 conference in Las Vegas. They captivated the audience with their insights into emerging technologies, pushing the boundaries of scientific exploration. Adding to the accolades, Dr. Ghosh clinched the prestigious Best Presenter Award, further highlighting the excellence of their contributions in the field. Their work signifies a remarkable stride forward in advancing technology and research.
Arkansas Tech University representatives brought home first-place awards from the 2023 Arkansas Academy of Science meeting, which took place March 31 and April 1 at the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
ATU student Musfikur Rahaman earned first place in the graduate oral presentation category. Rahaman is a graduate teaching assistant in the ATU Department of Engineering and Computing Sciences.
A team led by Zurab Sabakhtarishvili collected the first-place prize in the undergraduate poster presentation competition. Hiromi Honda, Clayton Jensen and Sijan Panday also contributed to the poster, which dealt with crime prediction in Little Rock using machine learning.
“This is an incredible achievement that showcases these students’ hard work, dedication and expertise in the field,” said Dr. Robin Ghosh, ATU assistant professor of computer and information science.
ATU student Kohl Kervin received an Arkansas Academy of Sciences undergraduate research award for the 2023-2024 academic year. Kervin captured first place in undergraduate student oral presentation among chemistry, physics, engineering and renewable energy students at the 2023 Arkansas Academy of Science meeting.
Brooke Rainwater and Dalton Wisdom presented posters on their research work at the meeting. Alongside Dr. Subha Pratihar, their ATU faculty mentor, they hope to soon publish two papers reflecting their research.
“These undergraduate students have achieved a remarkable amount of training and research experience, and they have very successfully showcased their research and communicated with the scientific community,” said Pratihar.
According to its website, the Arkansas Academy of Science began meeting in 1917 “as a group of scientists wishing to establish regular avenues of communication with one another and promote science and the dissemination of scientific information in the state.”
The group publishes the Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, which is released at the annual meeting.
Source: https://www.arkansastechnews.com/atu-stem-students-earn-statewide-recognition/
Representatives from ArcBest Technologies visited our department on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. They discussed their organization, internship opportunities, and what they are looking for in new employees. We appreciate employers who take the initiative to come on campus to recruit our students!
Biology and computer science students from Arkansas Tech University were among approximately 70 university students from around the state who participated in 2023 Arkansas STEM Posters at the Capitol in February.
“Undergraduate and graduate students from ATU were very excited to present their research and interact with the audience from diverse backgrounds,” said Dr. Suparna Chatterjee, ATU assistant professor of biology. “The interactions motivated students to continue and develop their research skills, and educators to implement steps and insights on strengthening the STEM research at ATU. We want to develop a focused, strategic and coordinated program ensuring access to resources and best practices for students which will lead to student success and change across the institution.”
The annual event brings undergraduate students together to share their scientific findings with their peers at other universities, legislators and state officials. Eleven institutions of higher learning were represented this year.
“This conference provided a unique opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in the latest advancements and developments in STEM fields,” said Dr. Robin Ghosh, ATU assistant professor of computer and information science.
Below are the project titles, student participants and faculty mentors from the ATU delegation at 2023 Arkansas STEM Posters at the Capitol in Little Rock:
*Crime Prediction Using Machine Learning-The Case of the City of Little Rock; Zurab Sabakhtarishvili, Clayton Jensen and Sijan Panday; Dr. Robin Ghosh, faculty mentor.
*Programming Sequence Improvement Program; Musfikur Rahaman, Rebecca Cunningham, Dr. Indira Dutta and Dr. Tolga Ensari; Dr. Robin Ghosh, faculty mentor.
*Elucidating the Role of Tsh and CtBP Interaction on Drosophila Eye Development; Raven Newton, Harley Hines and Hannah Lomax; Dr. Surya Jyoti Banerjee, faculty mentor.
*Inducing Bacterial Mutation for Metal Removal Efficiency; Morganne Browning, Raven Turner, Kayla Medina and Erika Avalos-Reyes; Dr. Suparna Chatterjee, faculty mentor.
*Fake Profile Detection on Social Media Using Generative Adversarial Networks; Edidiong Akpan; Dr. Indira Dutta, faculty mentor.
Source: https://www.arkansastechnews.com/atu-students-present-research-at-state-capitol/
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The ATU Computer Club students visited ArcBest Inc in Fort Smith on February 22nd, 2023. It was a technical visit and the students attended different job shadows including the following departments:
- Information Services (Software development)
- Data Solutions, Data Centre, and Technical Servies (Data Engineering, Developer Infrastructure, Database Administration)
- Cognitive Engagement (Data Science, AI, Machine Learning)
Also, the employees of the company organized a panel with the students. Panelists replied to the questions, made discussions, and shared their experiences.