Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Awards
The Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Program encourages students to recognize the importance of oral communication skills and the ability to discuss the results of scholarship effectively with various audiences and at all levels. The Program motivates, trains and rewards students for the preparation and delivery of effective communication of scientific research to the general public and non-science professionals. Such presentation and communication skills provide students with the capacity to be distinctly competitive and successful in their subsequent educational and career paths.
The Challenge
Judges will evaluate the ability of the competitors to:
- explain their research clearly
- demonstrate depth of knowledge
- answer questions effectively
- employ an engaging presentation style
- communicate technical information to a non-scientist audience in a compelling manner
The students will have the benefit of honing invaluable presentation skills and will have access to coaching from highly-placed corporate executives and entrepreneurs.
Awards
| First Place | Second Place | Third Place | Best Mentor | Audience Favorite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2000 | $1500 | $1000 | $1500 | $500 |
All students are recognized for having been selected to participate in the competition during a reception held immediately following the presentations.
Previous Years
Spring 2026
- First Place - Abandoned Mines as Geothermal Energy Assets For New Jersey: A GIS Based Feasibility Assessment
Ray Nunez Castaneda, BS in Geographic, Environmental and Urban Studies
Mentored by Earth and Environmental Science Professor Dr. Pankaj Lal - Second Place - The Secrets of Cellular Shipping: Molecular Rules of Cargo Sorting
Matteo Guzman, BS in Biochemistry & BS in Molecular Biology
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Eli Lee - Third Place - Effects of Chronic Paternal Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Exposure to Dietary PFOA on Offspring
Shelby Zuromski, BS in Biology
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. Alexis Khursigara - Understanding the Iris
Nathan Cruz, BS in Biology
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. James Campanella - Mapping the Merger: Reliability in Multi-Messenger Follow-ups of Neutron Star Collisions
Joseph David Quinn-Vitable, BS in Computer Science & Mark Miuccio, BS in Physics
Mentored by Physics Professor Dr. Shaon Ghosh - THE FUTURE IS NOW: Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Natural and Trustworthy Human-Robot Interaction
Dania Aslam, BS in Computer Science & BS in Information Technology
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Weitian Wang and Jesse Parron - Faster Feature Selection with Theoretical Guarantees
Ariel Balcacer, BS in Computer Science
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Yanhui Zhu
Fall 2024
- First Place - Carbon Loss in the Mullica River Due to Lateral Erosion
Ava Distaso, BS in Earth & Environmental Science
Mentored by former Earth and Environmental Studies Professor Dr. Jorge Lorenzo Trueba - Second Place - Impact of Biological Sex on Gene Therapy
Nour Shalash, BS in Biology
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. Christos Suriano - Third Place - Advanced Manufacturing Pathfinder: A Multimodal Collaborative Robotic System
Maxim Lyons, BS in Computer Science
Garrett Modery, BS in Computer Science
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Weitian Wang - Audience Favorite - Exploring the universe’s building blocks: How detectors help us explore nuclear physics
Sarah Estupinan-Jimenez, BS in Physics
Mentored by Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Kent Leung - A potential new drug target for tuberculosis: IGP Synthase
Stella Obuba, MS in Pharmaceutical Biochemistry
Alexandra Everson, BS in Biochemistry
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Nina Goodey
Spring 2024
- First Place - Carbon Sequestration Decline in the Subarctic Atlantic: Nutrient Productivity Trends and Insights from Neogene Climates
Busra Anil, BS in Earth & Environmental Science
Mentored by Ying Cui, Department of Earth and Environmental Studies - Second Place - Analysis of Bacteriophage Capsid Proteins
Noah Ramadan, BS in Biology
Mentored by Nina Goodey, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Third Place - A Network-theoretic Analysis of Soccer
Kaitlyn Cohan, BS in Mathematics
Mentored by Ashwin Vaidya, Department of Mathematics - Audience Favorite - MIACDrive: A 3D Simulation of Driving in Urban and Rural Environments for Studies on Intelligent Vehicles
Teddy Morra, BS in Computer Science
Mentored by Rui Li, School of Computing - Strategies for Revitalizing Soil Impacted by Human Activity
Janyce Wowk, BS in Chemistry
Eshariah Dyson, PhD in Environmental Science and Management
Mentored by Nina Goodey, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Isometric Fatty Acid Differentiation via Gas-Phase Free Radical Directed Dissociation
CJ Szafranski, BS in Biochemistry
Mentored by Jinshan Gao, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - The Next Generation of Gravitational-Wave Detectors
Stephanie Montoya, BS in Physics
Mentored by Rodica Martin, Department of Physics and Astronomy - Detecting Cyber Attacks in Low Power and Lossy Networks
Ashley Etheridge, BS in Computer Science
Mentored by Vaibhav Anu, School of Computing
Fall 2023
- First Place - Like sushi? You’re going to love this
Wendy E. Islas, BS in Molecular Biology Student
Melissa Spigelman, MS in Molecular Biology Student
Mentored by Dr. Carlos Molina, Department of Biology - Second Place - Creating an Immersive and Interactive VR Game for Advancing Elementary Education
Anthony Condegni, BS in Computer Science Student
Jianna Loor, MS in Computer Science Student
Mentored by Dr. Rui Li, School of Computing - Third Place - A potential TB target
Uchenna Ezichi, MS in Chemistry Student
Citlaly Hernandez, BS in Biochemistry Student
Crystal Montero, MS in Pharmaceutical Biochemistry Student
Mentored by Dr. Nina Goodey, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Audience Favorite - Montclair Experimental Nuclear Physics: discovering, exploring, and understanding nuclear matter with neutrons and cryogenic technology
Sarah Estupinan Jimenez, BS in Physics Student
Becky Blitz, BS in Physics Student
Roxanne Caicedo, BS in Computer Science and Physics Student
Yssabella Baptiste
Eric Swanson, BS in Physics Student
Mentored by Dr. Kent Leung, Department of Physics and Astronomy - Improving the Safety of Viral Vectors for Use in the Central Nervous System
Karla Gallardo, BS in Biology Student
Malak Saleh, BS in Biology Student
Mentored by Dr. Chris Suriano, Department of Biology - Polymer assisted energy material synthesis
Michael Arik, BS in Biochemistry Student
Arya Patel, BS in Biochemistry Student
Mentored by Dr. Amrita Sarkar, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Data Use to Address Climate Change: Energy Innovation and Energy Efficiency
Estefania Orjeula Parra, BS in Data Science and Economics Student
Sara Reper, BS in Sustainability Science Student
Mentored by Dr. Amy Tuininga, Department of Earth and Environmental Studies - Biodiversity in Urban Areas: Corporate and Community Approaches
Diana Bachiller, BS in Sustainability Science and Earth & Environmental Science Student
Ben Bratter, BS in Earth & Environmental Science Student
Mentored by Dr. Josh Galster, Department of Earth and Environmental Studies - Graph Polynomials of Hexagonal Chains
Jessica Scheinbaum, BS in Mathematics Student
Mentored by Dr. Aihua Li, Department of Mathematics
Spring 2023
- First Place - Biocontrol and the Fungal Biome of Spotted Lantern Flies
Bryanna Fleischman, Biology Major
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. Jennifer Krumins and Technology Specialist Adam Parker - First Place - Glycan Quantitation and Characterization via Novel Fluorescence Free Radical Reagent Towards the Development of Disease Biomarkers
Shane Finn, Chemistry Major
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Jinshan Gao - Third Place - Petrographic Analysis of Pottery from the White Marl Archaeological Site, St. Catherine Parish, Jamaica, West Indies
Vanessa Glaser, Earth and Environmental Science Major
Mentored by Earth and Environmental Studies Professors Dr. Matthew Gorring and Dr. Peter Siegel - Audience Favorite - Understanding Matter at Super-Nuclear Density Using Gravitational Waves and X-Ray Astronomy
Michael Camilo, Physics Major
Mentored by Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Shaon Ghosh - Deep Learning Technique for Water Quality Assessment in New Jersey
Karen Serrano, Information Technology Major
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Michelle Zhu
Fall 2022
- First Place - Accelerated chemical weathering following the end-Permian mass extinction: Implications for future carbon capture
Emily Cepin, Earth and Environmental Science Major
Mentored by Earth and Environmental Studies Professor Dr. Ying Cui - Second Place - EGCG from Green Tea Inhibits Carbonic Anhydrase: Possible Explanation for Anti-Cancer Properties
Madeline Lucas, Molecular Biology Major
Mentored by Biology Professors Dr. Elena Petroff and Dr. Vladislav Snitsarev - Third Place - Modeling Black Holes Collisions – The Sound of the Universe
Michael Giarratana, Physics Major
Mentored by Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Marc Favata - Audience Favorite - Killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Shutting Down its Tryptophan Production
Citlaly Hernandez, Biochemistry Major
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Nina Goodey - A Framework for Evaluating Security and Usability of Parental Controls in Steaming Services
Amanda Moctezuma, Computer Science Major
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Stefan Robila - Mathematical Modeling of Student Learning Networks
Vlad Nita, Mathematics Major
Mentored by Mathematics Professor Dr. Ashwin Vaidya
Spring 2022
- First Place - Can a contaminated, barren, and dead soil be transformed into a healthy functional soil?
Sarah Krisak, Biochemistry Major
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Nina Goodey - Second Place & Audience Favorite - Evidence of a ciliar role for Tau in Alzheimer’s Disease
Ellia Daniel, Biology Major
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. Robert O’Hagan - Third Place - Improving Faraday isolators for future gravitational-wave detectors
Mariam Mchedlidze, Physics Major
Mentored by Physics Professor Dr. Rodica Martin - Predicting solar flares with machine learning
Gelber Castillo, Computer Science Major
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Katherine Herbert - Understanding dynamic intentions of humans to improve human-robot collaboration-quality in advanced manufacturing contexts
Omar Obidat, Computer Science Major (Combined BS/MS)
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Weitian Wang - Forest Fire Impacts on Soil Chemistry in an Appalachian Forest: Factors of Temperature, Moisture, and Organic Matter
Diego Vazquez, Earth and Environmental Science Major
Mentored by Earth and Environmental Studies Professor Dr. Greg Pope - Three colored bipartite Ramsey numbers of double stars
Ella Oren-Dahan, Mathematics and Visual Arts Major
Mentored by Mathematics Professor Dr. Deepak Bal
Fall 2021
- First Place - Extracting Black Carbon from the Stratigraphic Record of the Tethys Sea to Study Paleoclimate and Predict Future Climate Change
Samantha Benjamin, Earth and Environmental Science Major
Mentored by Earth and Environmental Studies Professor Dr. Ying Cui - Second Place - The Role of ICER in Melanoma: A Survival Study in Zebrafish
Melissa Spigelman, Molecular Biology Major
Mentored by Biology Professor Dr. Carlos Molina - Third Place - Sustainable Manufacturing & Recycling Approach for Lithium Ion Battery Cathodes
Kayla Mancini, Biochemistry Major
Mentored by Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Dr. Amrita Sarkar - Modeling Acute Inflammation
Fred Nagle, Applied Math and Statistics Major
Mentored by School of Computing Professor Dr. Eric Forgoston - To Teach Procedures or Concepts? That Is the Question: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Valuation of Mathematical Knowledge
Gianna Fazzini, Mathematics Major
Mentored by Mathematics Professor Dr. Joseph DiNapoli - Studying Neutron Star Structure Using Gravitational Waves
Michael Camilo, Physics Major
Mentored by Physics Professor Dr. Shaon Ghosh
Spring 2021
- First Place - YOU ARE IN MY HEART: Worker Emotion Understanding for Future Worker-Robot Collaboration-Safety Improvement
Hope Diamantopoulos, Computer Science Major
Mentor: Dr. Weitian Wang - Second Place - Using Earth’s Paleoclimate Records to Better Predict Future Climate Change
Anthony Gachetti, Earth & Environmental Science Major
Mentor: Dr. Ying Cui - Third Place & Audience Favorite - Coconut Oil Contributes to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) In A Gender Dependent Manner
Paolo Turano, Biology Major
Mentor: Dr. Carlos Molina - Best Poster - An Analysis of the Montclair State Course Enrollment Network
Sarah Acquaviva, Mathematics Major
Mentor: Dr. Deepak Bal - Can We Make Thermophilic Proteins Work Better Using Some Heat Pretreatment?
Kimberly Calix, Biochemistry Major
Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Gindt - Tax Reform Act of 2017 and Its Effects
Allison Conlon, Applied Math and Statistics Major
Mentor: Dr. Youngna Choi - A+ Low-Loss Faraday Isolator Upgrade
John Notte, Physics Major
Mentor: Dr. Rodica Martin - Light Addressable Electrochemical Sensors for Imaging Neurotransmitters
Katherine Schaffer, Chemistry Major
Mentor: Dr. Glen ONeil - The Road to a Portable, Accurate, Rapid Aptamer Test
Evelyn Visan, Molecular Biology Major
Mentors: Dr. Nina Goodey and Dr. Kirsten Monsen
Spring 2019
- First Place - Transmembrane Transport of an Inducible cAMP Early Repressor (ICER) and E6apBD Protein Chimera as a Possible Treatment for Cancers
Angelo Cirinelli - Second Place - Peroxidase Activity of Metal Contaminated Soil at an Urban Brownfield
Eshariah Dyson - Third Place - How can we detect heavy metals in solution in an accurate fashion that is cheaper and easier to interpret data from?
John Walters - How does Acarbose, an alpha glucosidase inhibitor, affect triglyceride hydrolysis in adipocytes?
Mohamad Abboud - Metals vs. Microbes in Urban Soils
Justin D Reidy - A Web Portal for Urban Policy Analysis by Data Mining
Matthew Kowalski - Correction of Anomalies in Object Detection based on Commonsense Knowledge
Alexandra Kunkel - Which chemicals in our inventory contain regulated substances?
Kailin Tang - A fully operational GIS Center at Montclair State University will benefit students, faculty, administrators and external companies/municipalities, by facilitating the adoption of GIS in a variety of applications
Kristen Brennan - Demographic Trends of Walkable Cities
Christine Leonhardt - Given a graph G with certain expansion properties depending on integers k and m, find the smallest integer r = r(k,m) such that G contains a collection of k – 1 vertex disjoint cycles which cover all but at most r vertices.
Ely Schudrich - Semi Automated Techniques for Segmentation of Fetal Ultrasound Images
Jack Tobin - Endless Possibilities: Metallic Glass Sensors at Cryogenic Temperatures
Timothy J Walters - Can entropy production serve as a metric for the equilibrium states of a neutrally buoyant particle in flow and and account for the arising of the phenomenal Segre-Silberberg radius?
Joseph Pateras
Spring 2018
- First Place - Let’s Feed the World and Have More Babies
Mihal Grinberg, Biology Major
Mentor: Carlos Molina - Second Place - The Aerosolization of Bacteriophage as a Disinfectant
Gerard Nasser, Biology Major
Mentor: Kirsten Monsen - Third Place - Modeling the Evolution of a Coupled Barrier-Marsh-Lagoon System
Christopher Tenebruso, Sustainability Science Major
Mentor: Jorge Lorenzo Trueba - Increased Levels of Oxidative Stress in Human Fibroblast Lung Cell Cultures and the Loss of Mitochondrial Function Due to Exposure to Particulate Matter from September 11, 2001
Rebekah L. Madrid, Biology Major, Chemistry Minor
Mentor: Ann Marie DiLorenzo - Relationship between soil depth and enzyme activity in metal contaminated soils at Liberty State Park
Cesar Idrovo, Biochemistry Major
Mentor: Nina Goodey - Mechanistic Study of Free Radical Activated Glycan Dissociation by 13C Labeled Cellobiose
Kimberly Fabijanczuk, Biochemistry Major
Mentor: Jinshan Gao - Distance Metric Learning for Chinese Character Calligraphy Recognition
Danilo Stevanovic, Information Technology Major
Mentor: Aparna Varde - Developing and deploying a medically accurate mobile application for individuals interested in autism spectrum disorder and other challenges
Ryan Nicolosi, Information Technology Major
Mentor: Katherine Herbert - Crack Wi-Fi Passwords for Fun
Tabitha Smith, Computer Science Major
Mentor: Boxiang Dong - Place based approaches for sustainable loblolly pine cultivation for bioenergy in Virginia
Ingrid Witty, Geography, Environmental Concentration Major and GIS Minor
Mentor: Pankaj Lal - Control of Secondary Extinctions in Food Webs
Dunia M. Fernandez, Mathematics Major
Mentor: Eric Forgoston - Magneto-Optical Materials for Faraday Isolators in Future Gravitational-wave Detectors
Valerie Avendano, Physics Major
Mentor: Rodica Martin
Mr. Mario Casabona
Founder and Managing Partner
Casabona Ventures, LLC
CSAM Advisory Board Member
Spring 2026 Judges
- Dr. Barbara Brummer
State Director, New Jersey
The Nature Conservancy
CSAM Advisory Board Member - Mr. Edmond Cunningham
Founder and Principal
Cmaetron, LLC - Mr. Alan Wink
Advisor
Capital Markets
Fall 2024 Judges
- Ruth Clements
President, East Region
Quest Diagnostics - Terry Gunning
CEO, Retired
Lone Oak Business Solution - Peter Kestenbaum
Managing Partner
1099Partners - Mukesh Patel
Asst. Professor of Professional Practice, Management & Global Business
Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University
Spring 2024 Judges
- Judith Sheft
Executive Director
New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology - Robin Bear
Founder and Strategy Advisor
Robin Bear Consulting, LLC - Michael Little
Principal Scientist
Bristol Myers Squibb
Fall 2023 Judges
- Meg Columbia-Walsh
Director, Global Market Market Leader, Healthcare and Life Sciences
AWS (Amazon Web Services) - Stephen Dyer
Founder and Managing Member
SRD Capital Management - Mercedes M. Rivero
Assistant Dean of Admissions
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Spring 2023 Judges
- Dr. Susan Cole
Montclair State University President, 1998-2021 - Mr. Jonathan Hakakian
- Dr. Wren Lester, PhD
Chief Experience Officer
Downstate Health - Mr. Michael Wiley
Vice President
New Jersey Health Foundation and Foundation Venture Capital Group, LLC
Fall 2022 Judges
- Mr. Albert Baker
Corporate Director Innovation, Life Sciences, and Tech Transfer, Hackensack Meridian Health - Mr. Michael Mancuso, FCAS, MAAA, ’09
Senior Actuary, AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. - Dawn Soufleris PhD
Vice President for Student Development and Campus Life, Montclair State University - A. Wayne Tamarelli, PhD, MBA
President, AWT Private Investments
Spring 2022 Judges
- Dr. Grigore (Greg) Burdea
Emeritus Professor, Rutgers University - Jonathan Kakakian
- Sherrie Pietranico-Cole
- Mr. Richard Russo
CEO, Endomedix
Spring 2021 Judges
- Harvey D. Homan
PhD, Keiretsu Forum (K4-MA) North Jersey Chapter President - Paul Lewis
Founder and CEO, Calamu - Kris Ohleth
Executive Director, Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, University of Delaware - Judith Sheft
Executive Director, NJ Commission of Science, Innovation and Technology
Spring 2019 Judges
- Dr. John Andes
Director, Thomas O'Daniel Research Incubator, Celgene - Dr. Gilbert Hyatt
Co-Chairman, SPEX Group - Ms. Sandra Powell-Elliott
Vice President, Life Sciences and Innovation, Hackensack Meridian Health - Ms. Karen Reef
Vice President, Renewals and Energy Solutions, PSEG