At each biannual meeting, CISTAR Fellows take part in the Poster Pitch competition, where they have 90 seconds to present their research to industry professionals and faculty members, inviting them to explore their work further during the subsequent poster session. The winner of the competition will represent CISTAR at the next NSF ERC Biennial meeting, competing against other ERC students for a $5,000 grand prize.

CISTAR industry and faculty members score both the pitch presentations and individual posters. First, second, and third place winners of the competition receive prizes of $250, $200, and $150, respectively.

2024 CISTAR Poster Pitch Winners: 

From left to right: Andrew Weidner, Joanna Rosenberger, Justin Rosenthal, and Matthew Hayes.

First Place:

 Justin Rosenthal

University of Texas at Austin

Advisors: Professors Joan Brennecke and Benny Freeman

Second Place: 

Joanna Rosenberger

Purdue University

Advisor: Professor Christina Li

Third Place (Tie): 

Andrew Weidner

Northwestern University

Advisor: Professor Linsey Seitz 

Third Place (Tie):

Matthew Hayes

Northwestern University

Advisor: Professor Linsey Seitz 

2024 Poster Winners 

From left to right: Sandra Weber, Christian Borrero Villabol, Agboola Suleiman, Denver Haycock, and Diamarys Salome Rivera. 

First Place (Tie): 

Agboola Suleiman

University of Notre Dame

Advisor: Professor Ruilan Guo

First Place (Tie): 

Denver Haycock

University of Notre Dame

Advisor: Professor William Schneider 

First Place (Tie): 

Diamarys Salome Rivera

Purdue University

Advisor: Professor Raj Gounder

Second Place:

Christian Borrero Villabol

Purdue University

Advisor: Professor Raj Gounder

Third Place: 

Sandra Weber

University of Notre Dame

Advisor: Professor Ruilan Guo