HARRISBURG, PA — Welcome to your April 2025 Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) Research Roundup! Our talented faculty, staff, students, and alumni have been busy presenting at conferences, publishing boundary-pushing research, and building fruitful partnerships with other schools, agencies, and organizations. It’s been another great month for research and recognition, so let’s get to it!
1. Mousami Berawala & Dr. Sarah Dyson
A recent article in Forbes, “Extroverts vs. Introverts: How to Build Strong Client Relationships,” cited research published by HU alumna Mousami Berawala ‘23 and her faculty advisor, Dr. Sarah Dyson. The paper is entitled, “Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Client Satisfaction In Project Management.”
“While working as a Construction Manager and later moving into Program Management, I realized just how much a leader’s emotional intelligence (EI) can shape a team’s motivation, performance, and client relationships,” Mousami said. “That experience led me to choose emotional intelligence and its impact on client satisfaction as my research topic. It was heavily inspired by real-world experiences, and the data came from project managers through surveys shared via LinkedIn and Instagram.”
With the guidance of Dr. Sara Dyson, Mousami explored four areas: how leadership EI affects teams, how different work environments matter, cultural differences, and the sectoral applications of EI. “Existing research often links EI to project success, but very few studies connect it directly to client satisfaction, which is a gap I wanted to explore,” Mousami said. “From designing surveys to analyzing responses, this project was a hands-on journey that stretched both my skills and my perspective. Most importantly, this research sparked a deeper interest in industrial psychology, which I hope to pursue further. Emotional Intelligence isn’t just a workplace tool; it’s the foundation for building better teams, better client relationships, and better leaders.”
Sarah Dyson added: “As the faculty advisor for Mousami’s groundbreaking research, I’m incredibly proud that this study evolved from an initial curiosity into a comprehensive examination of EI’s impact across diverse work environments. What began as conversations about leadership effectiveness during the pandemic’s shifting workplace dynamics developed into a methodical investigation that transcends geographical and industry boundaries.”
She continued: “The validation from Forbes was certainly gratifying, but what truly matters is how this research illuminates the practical applications of EI in client satisfaction. I hope readers take away that EI isn’t merely a soft skill but a quantifiable factor in project success. The research particularly highlights how different work environments — remote, hybrid, and in-person — each demand unique emotional intelligence approaches, something especially relevant in our post-pandemic professional landscape.
“Seeing this work recognized by Forbes reinforces what I’ve always believed: that rigorous academic research can have meaningful real-world applications. But the greatest reward has been witnessing Mousami’s growth as a researcher and knowing that this work will help project managers better understand the human elements that ultimately determine project success.”
2. Rebekah Harriger
This month, Rebekah Harriger, Senior Director of Career Services & Experiential Learning, participated in the Society for Experiential Education’s (SEE) Innovative Scholar Series. The session focused on “Principles of Good Practice for Experiential Education: Exploring Institutional Context and Culture.”
Rebekah presented a session alongside SEE Fellows, Dennis McCunney and Ben Trager, where they discussed and revisited their article, “Exploring the Impact of Institutional Context on Experiential Education in Higher Education,” recently published in Experiential Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Journal. The article looks at ways in which the environment and structure of a college or university affect the success of hands-on, real-world learning experiences (experiential education).
“We found that where and how experiential education is placed within a school — such as which department oversees it or how much support it gets — can influence how well it is valued and used,” Rebekah said.
The research also shows that equitable access to experiential education efforts can show how much the school values experiential learning, and the support of faculty plays a significant role. “Our findings show that schools should think carefully about how they organize and support experiential education to help it thrive,” said Rebekah.
3. Vaughn Kline, Catherine Santai, Yiben Wang
A publication by HU student Vaugn Kline ’26, Dr. Catherine Santai, and Dr. Yiben Wang – “Greener Isolation of Eugenol from Cloves Using Steam Distillation and Ethyl Acetate” — explored a greener approach to isolating eugenol from cloves: an experiment widely used in undergraduate organic chemistry labs.
“Our redesign replaces dichloromethane (DCM), a traditionally used but hazardous solvent, with ethyl acetate, a less-toxic alternative,” said Dr. Wang. “The timing of this work was especially relevant given the federal ban on DCM, emphasizing the need for safer and more sustainable lab practices. What makes this project particularly meaningful is that it originated as a student-led redesign in our Green Chemistry course, where students are challenged to apply their learning to make existing experiments greener. The fact that this work is now published is incredibly exciting.”
The published experiment also includes comprehensive teaching notes that offer instructors flexibility in how they implement or adapt the lab.
“It’s a small but impactful example of how green chemistry can be integrated through simple steps, like switching solvents. I hope this inspires other instructors to try small changes that collectively create a big impact,” Dr. Wang said. “I’m especially proud that it marks the first publication for our undergraduate student author, Vaughn Kline: an exciting and validating milestone. This publication also reflects the collaborative and visionary leadership within the Integrative Sciences Program. Dr. Santai, the Integrative Sciences (INSC) Program Lead, guided the project by offering thoughtful feedback and consistently championing sustainability-focused innovation. Dr. Richard Jackson also contributed by implementing the revised lab and providing feedback that helped refine the final protocol.”
“Ultimately,” said Dr. Wang, “I hope this work highlights HU’s commitment to sustainability and educational innovation and encourages other institutions to embrace green chemistry in accessible and meaningful ways.”
4. LJ Holmes
LJ Holmes, Executive Director for the Center of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (STORMWERX) at Harrisburg University, was a recent guest on the podcast, “3DPOD: Insight from 3D Printing Pros” from 3DPrint.com.
Episode 247 of “3DPOD” explores, among other things, LJ’s earliest exposure to additive manufacturing (3D printing) during his time with the Army Research Lab and his efforts to convince individuals within the Department of Defense to recognize its value in DoD supply chains.
LJ also explores various highlights of his career and his efforts to bring this technology to the fore – both in the defense and academic spheres – and the importance of leveraging advanced manufacturing techniques to keep warfighters and peacemakers safe in engagement zones throughout the world.
You can listen to the entire episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
5. Kayden Jordan & Tanmay Sah
Dr. Kayden Jordan, co-lead for Data Analytics at HU, and Tanmay Sah, an HU Data Science doctoral student, recently published an original research paper entitled, “Decoding Reddit Memes Virality” in the publication “International Journal of Data Science and Analytics.”
“As a Ph.D. candidate in Data Science, I have a strong interest in social media and memes,” said Tanmay. “I always wondered why some memes go viral while others don’t. Since I study natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and machine learning, I thought of using these tools to find the answer. Reddit is one of the most popular platforms for sharing memes, so it was the best place to collect data for this research.”
Understanding meme virality is important to me because memes are not just funny pictures; they spread ideas and emotions, and even influence what people think. “Because of this,” said Tanmay, “I wanted to find out what exactly makes memes go viral — is it the image, the text, the time of posting, or some combination of these? Maybe it’s the colors used, the emotions shown, or the words in the title. I was also curious to see if certain types of content or posting at specific times affect meme popularity. Understanding these patterns could help explain how online content spreads and connects with people.”
He continued: “Knowing this can have a big impact. It can help people who create content, like marketers or influencers. They can use our findings to make better memes. It can also help platforms stop harmful or fake memes from spreading. To make sure others can benefit from this work, we shared our dataset and code openly.”
6. Kayden Jordan
Dr. Kayden Jordan was instrumental in another recent publication: “Younger and Older Adults’ Aging Well Construals: A Quantitative Word Use and Topics Comparison.” The research was led by psychology researchers at the University of Arizona to better understand how age impacts perceptions of what it means to age well. “I joined the research to consult and advise on applying NLP to participants’ free responses to the question of what it means to age well,” said Dr. Jordan.
Dr. Jordan continued: “Using multiple text analytic methods, the work found that younger people had a more negative view on aging, focusing on physical and cognitive decline, whereas older people were more positive and reflective, focusing on family and social relationships.”
A quote from the abstract summarized the conclusions of the work: “Our complimentary word-count and word-co-occurrence language analyses of aging well construals revealed stark differences between younger and older adults’ perceptions of aging well that raise important questions about intergenerational exchanges and communications about aging more broadly. Further, we found that aging construals of older adults are useful for estimating their future outlook – an important aspect of resilience against cognitive decline and a possible entry point for targeted precision aging interventions.”
7. Roozbeh Sadeghian
On April 17, Dr. Roozbeh Sadeghian, Co-Program Lead for Analytics, gave a virtual talk for the University of North Texas as an invited speaker. Dr. Sadeghian’s topic was, “Healthcare in the Age of AI: Bridging Data and Humanity.”
“Participating in this event was an inspiring experience that reinforced the vital importance of pairing technological innovation with empathy and ethics,” said Dr. Sadeghian. “It was a privilege to share how AI will not only transform healthcare delivery but also preserve the humanity at its heart.”
Specifically, Dr. Sadeghian presented on the evolving role of generative AI and machine learning in healthcare, highlighting how these technologies are revolutionizing diagnostics, treatment planning, drug discovery, and health monitoring.
“I emphasized the importance of human-AI collaboration, exploring topics such as interpretable AI, shared decision-making, and strategies to bridge the empathy gap in clinical settings. I also shared findings from our research on using speech-based analysis to support early Alzheimer’s diagnoses, demonstrating the promise of non-invasive AI tools to enhance early intervention and outcomes in neurodegenerative diseases.”
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