Watson GROWS puts spotlight on graduate student research

The new Watson Graduate Research Outcomes Workshop Series (Watson GROWS) held its first event on Tuesday — a poster/demo competition where 45 entries showcased graduate students’ spirit of innovation and discovery.

The GROWS initiative — sponsored by the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science dean’s office — aims to better highlight graduate research in all disciplines.

“I’m especially proud of the way our students presented not just rigorous research, but ideas that have the potential to transform industries and communities,” said Watson College Dean Atul Kelkar. “Events like these remind us that research isn’t confined to labs — it’s a bridge to real-world solutions and a spark for interdisciplinary connection.”

Assistant Professor Monika Roznere — a first-year faculty member from the School of Computing — served as the main organizer and program chair for the event.

“It is my first time being part of a graduate research exhibition where all engineers and computer scientists come together to share their recent achievements or current pursuits — and I hope I keep seeing initiatives like this in the future,” Roznere said. “It was a wonderful opportunity to bring the Watson community together, share ideas, provide feedback, start potential collaborations, and gain research inspiration.”

Distinguished Professor Hiroki Sayama, who is Watson’s executive assistant dean for graduate studies, was initially concerned about grouping together all the different disciplines, ranging from computer science to biomedical engineering, into a single poster session.

“It turned out to be a very nice interdisciplinary compendium of Watson students’ research activities,” Sayama said. “By going through a wide variety of topics at a single venue, I was able to see overlaps and commonalities of research topics and methodologies. I hope the students also had a chance to review other students’ posters and learn from each other’s work.”

Giving the keynote speech was Guru Madhavan, MBA ’07, PhD ’09, who is the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and senior director of programs at the National Academy of Engineering. He discussed his time at Watson as well as how �������� aviation innovator Ed Link and his flight trainers helped to inspire his book Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World (released in 2024).

Professor Kartik Gopalan — Watson’s interim associate dean for research, corporate engagement and entrepreneurship — called the competition a big success.

“We are incredibly proud of all our talented graduate student researchers and their faculty mentors who participated,” Gopalan said. “Their creativity and brilliance on display were truly inspiring and underscores the groundbreaking research happening within Watson College. We look forward to making it an annual celebration of their ingenuity.”

The winners

These graduate students received awards at the Watson GROWS poster/demo competition.

• First place: Harish Kumar Lattupalli, Sidharth Rajeev, Emily M. Stallbaumer-Cyr and Md Asif Iqbal (Assistant Professor Srikanth Rangarajan and Associate Professor Scott Schiffres)
• Second place: Sai Manikandan (Assistant Professor Monika Roznere)
• Third place: Eunji Hong, Dorcas Matuwana, Sizhe Huang, Ruobai Xiao, Geunho Jang and Nicolle Gudiel Winter (Assistant Professors Siyuan Rao and Qianbin Wang)