Each year, VMI’s top cadet researchers complete a senior project or thesis as part of the Institute Honors Program.
Spanning across the Institute’s 14 majors, and many disciplines and specializations therein, these projects are the culmination of years of hard work, long nights, meetings with advisors, and countless hours in libraries and labs on post.
Honors Week, an annual event since 2003, provides cadets an opportunity to showcase their research and scholarship across all disciplines in front of their peers and the general public.
Recent Cadet Presentations
| Cadet | Title | Department | Advisor | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boyle, James | Gender Integration in the Military: The Impact on a State’s Ability to Win Interstate Conflict | International Studies and Political Science | Col. J. Patrick Rhamey | 2023 |
| Diallo, Fatoumata | Learning Democracy on the Fly: The Impact of Social Remittance on Democratic Values | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Brent Hierman | 2023 |
| Dufour, Cassidy | Quality Over Quantity: The Effects of Gender Balancing and Gender Mainstreaming of Female Officers on the Operational Success of UN Peacekeeping Missions | International Studies and Political Science | Maj. Timothy Passmore | 2023 |
| Hein, Holly | Democratic National Identity and Self-Limitation in Counterterrorism | International Studies and Political Science | Dr. Vera Heuer | 2023 |
| Maher, Jillian | The Influence of Refugee Flows on the American Foreign Policy Response to the Arab Spring | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Spencer Bakich | 2024 |
| Malazo, Joseph L. | Benevolent Liminal Deities: The Regulation of Information Communication Technology in Democracies | International Studies and Political Science | Maj. Timothy Passmore | 2022 |
| Marks, Brandon | The Impact of Domestic Context on Microfinance Provision and Effectiveness | International Studies and Political Science | Maj. Meagan Roosevelt | 2023 |
| Schaefer, Nick | Why PMCs Pick Up the Slack | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Spencer Bakich | 2023 |
| Shultz, Riley | Effectiveness of Dissent Management Tactics in Authoritarian Regimes | International Studies and Political Science | Dr. Vera Heuer | 2024 |
| Thomas, Devin | War Onset Under Power Transition Theory | International Studies and Political Science | Col. J. Patrick Rhamey | 2024 |
| Thomas, Leon M. | Democracies and Autocracies: Structural Factors that Determine Military Interventions | International Studies and Political Science | Lt. Col. J. Patrick Rhamey | 2022 |
| Woodward, Gabriele | Media Freedom and Its Correlation with the Frequency of Terrorism | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Dennis Foster | 2024 |
| Yerasimides, London | The Effects of Individualism on Terrorism Strategy | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Dennis Foster | 2023 |
| Handford, Gabriella | Effect of Psychedelic Drug Therapy on Male Betta Splendens Aggression as Compared to Traditional Pharmaceuticals | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2024 |
| Harvey, Pierce | Sir Walter Raleigh: An Inconvenient Gentleman | History | Lt Col. Eric Osborne | 2024 |
| Peterson, Justin | The Effect of Portland Cement and Hydrated Lime on the Compressive Strength of Saturated Soils | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Dr. Jai Kyoung Jung | 2024 |
| Collier, Warner | Driving Value: Classic Cars as an Alternative Investment | Economics and Business | Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi | 2024 |
| Holt, Alexandria | Challenges to Implementing Tamazight Language Policy in Morocco: The Case of the Tifinagh Script | Modern Languages and Cultures | Maj. Hicham Assaoui | 2024 |
| Crouch, Russell | Historical Models’ Influence on the Belt and Road Initiative | Modern Languages and Cultures | Dr. Laura Xie | 2024 |
| Pickford, Elizabeth | Concurrent use of Nicotine and Fluoxetine: Effects on Aggression and Cortisol Levels | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent. | 2024 |
| Palmer, Dylan | Drone Countermeasures, Ethics, and Drones’ Effects on a Modern Battlefield | Computer and Information Sciences | Mr. Amish Parikh | 2024 |
| Townsend, Annie | A Security Analysis of the Virginia Military Institute’s Barracks through the Lens of Infrastructure | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Col. Chuck Newhouse | 2024 |
| Krueger, Jonathan | I Saw a Man in Tennessee | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Maj. Henry Wise | 2024 |
| Hoffman, Adam | A Quantitative Look at VMI’s Recruiting | Psychology | Lt. Col. Sara Whipple | 2024 |
| Kleinschuster, Jacob | Quantitative Exploration on State Taxation Strategies | Economics and Business | Col. John David | 2024 |
| Dargis, Kyle | The Second Flood?: A Novel on Sex-addiction, Relationship, and the Power of Story | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Maj. Henry Wise | 2024 |
| Kushner, Christoper | Automated Yield and Phenotypic Analysis of Soybeans Through the Use of Machine Learning Tools | Biology | Col. Anne Alerding | 2024 |
| McCown, John | Francis Marion: The Revolution’s Most Effective Partisan | History | Col. Dave Gray | 2024 |
| Reid, James | "Put None but Americans on Guard,": The Know-Nothing Movement and the Collapse of the Two-Party System in Antebellum America | History | Maj. Madeleine Ramsey | 2024 |
| Townsend, Virginia | Domestic Political Effects of Foreign Involvement in Critical Mineral Extraction | International Studies | Col. Brent Hierman | 2024 |
| Cheung, Josh | Is God a Vegetarian? A Study of Vegetative Imagery in the Bible | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Lt. Col. Steven Knepper | 2024 |
| Griffith, Noland | An Exploratory Analysis of Crime from Randomly Selected Neighborhoods in Richmond Virginia | Economics and Business | Col. Samuel Allen | 2024 |
| Meintjes, Ulrich | Thermal Mechanical Behavior of a Lenticular Composite Boom | Mechanical Engineering | Col. Joseph Blandino | 2024 |
| Short, Herbert | Combatant Craft Launch Stress | Mechanical Engineering | Col. Joseph Blandino | 2024 |
| Basener, Abigail | Detecting AI-generated Writing vs. Student Writing | Applied Mathematics | Col. John David | 2024 |
| Miller, Jackson | Dostoyevsky and Star Wars: Understanding How Narratives Can Help Us Deepen Our Moral Awareness | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Dr. Reshef Agam-Segal | 2024 |
| Slade, Colby | Is the Widespread Adoption of Electrical Vehicles Possible and Beneficial Considering the Supply and Cost of Energy? | Economics and Business | Col. Samuel Allen | 2024 |
| Ortiz, Miles | Metabolic Responses to Load Carraige in Hypoxia and Normoxia | Biology | Lt. Col. Daniel Baur | 2024 |
| Mon, Alexander | Exploring Vinamidinium Salt Derivatives for Nitrogen-Containing Heterocycle Synthesis | Chemistry | Col. Stanton Smith | 2024 |
| Salisbury, Alexander | Flash Heating of a Nuclear Fuel Rod to Determine Thermal Properties | Mechanical Engineering | Capt. Robert McMasters | 2024 |
| Ripley, Scout | Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Ideas in ‘Self-Reliance’ as Justification and a Bulwark Against The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Maj. Henry Wise | 2023 |
| Soo, Christopher H. | Narco Souvenirs for Sale: The Fight Against the Touristification of Colombia’s Narco Heritage | Modern Languages and Cultures | Dr. Sabrina Laroussi | 2022 |
| Hoffman, Michael M, | Kicking the Army’s Vietnam Syndrome: The Cultural Renaissance of the Post-Vietnam Army | History | Col. David Gray | 2022 |
| Lamm, Logan M. | CubeSat Motion Simulation through Quadcopter State-Space Modeling | Mechanical Engineering | Col. Joseph Blandino | 2022 |
| Hamner, Daniel T. | The Role of Frigates and Small Vessels in Age of Sail Navies | History | Lt. Col. Eric Osborne | 2022 |
| Petrassi, Genevieve L. | The Role of Frigates and Small Vessels in Age of Sail Navies | Chemistry | Col. Stanton Smith | 2022 |
| Dickenson, Rachael A. | Performance of Soybean (Glycine max) Cultivars in Varying Rural Virginia Sites: Effect of Site Characteristics on Shoot Structure and Yield | Biology | Col. Anne Alerding | 2022 |
| Mallari, Tanner P. | Evaluation of Crowdsourcing Applications in Disaster Relief | Computer and Information Sciences | Dr. Youna Jung | 2022 |
| Stann, Matthew W. | Structural Analysis and Optimization of Road Racing Bicycle Frames | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Col. Matthew Swenty | 2022 |
| Luchansky, Jacob A. | The Social Network of Police Misconduct in Chicago | Applied Mathematics | Col. Karen Bliss | 2022 |
| Schlussel, Ethan J. | Performance of Additively Manufactured Thermal Insulation with Geometric Voids in Hypersonic Conditions | Mechanical Engineering | Capt. Robert McMasters | 2022 |
| Flora, Emma L. | Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, or Other: Reframing the Abortion Issue Through Non-Minimal Narratives | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Dr. Reshef Agam-Segal | 2022 |
| Rezendes, Rhett M. | An Intellectual History of Mariátegui and Lenin’s Contributions to the Shining Path Insurgency | History | Col. Geoff Jensen | 2022 |
| Knox, Carson B. | Nostromo and Schopenhauer’s Sublime | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Maj. Patrick Eichholz | 2022 |
| Conis, Urie N. | Rhetorical Analysis of Ian Shapira’s Washington Post Articles | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Maj. Adam Cody | 2022 |
| Hulburt, Christopher M. | Unearthed Contributors: African Americans at Virginia Military Institute, 1839-1851 | History | Maj. Madeline F. Ramsey | 2022 |
| Broecker, Andrew S. | Does the Mind Place Limits on the Body? | Biology | Col. Wade Bell | 2022 |
| Tobin, Jonathan T. | Behavioral Outcomes, Hormone Secretion, and cFos Activation Identifies Telencephalic Regions Implicated in Siamese-fighting Fish, Betta splendens, Aggression and Resilience | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2022 |
| Tidwell, Kyle W. | The Effects of Chronic Stress on the Behavior, Brain and Hormones of Betta Fish | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2022 |
| Hoeft, Robert T. C. | The Impact of Housing Policy on Economic and Educational Outcomes by Race in Norfolk, Virginia | Economics and Business | Col. Tinni Sen | 2022 |
| Foster, James D. | Pyrolysis Reactor Burning Plastic Feedstock | Mechanical Engineering | Capt. Robert McMasters | 2022 |
| Wegrzyn, Thaddeus Z. | Longitudinal Physiological Assessment of VMI Cadets in their 1st Class Year Compared to the Ratline | Biology | Maj. Daniel Baur | 2022 |
| Melusen, Drew P. | The Future of American Road Infrastructure Funding | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Col. Wakeel Idewu | 2022 |
| Hughes, Bridget A. | The Blood of Patriots and Tyrants: Examining the Justifications of the American Revolution | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Ryan Holston | 2022 |
| Kirk, Noah E. | Polarization and Interstellar Extinction in the Direction of Open Star Cluster NGC 6633 | Physics and Astronomy | Col. Gregory Topasna | 2022 |
| DiPrampero, Alexander S. | The Impact of Box Size in a Direct Shear Box Test | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Dr. Jai Kyoung Jung | 2022 |
| Hurst, Grayson H. | Analyzing the Benefits of Porous Pavement on Surface Temperature and Water Quality at Interstate 81 Exit 140 Park and Ride | Civil and Environmental Engineering, | Dr. Tanjina Afrin | 2022 |
| Lawrence, Ana L. | Psychosocial History and Combat Exposure as a Predictor for Post Deployment Mental Health Issues | Psychology | Lt. Col. Sara Whipple | 2022 |
| Mercer, Jackson D. | Dirty Fights and Clean Soldiers: Collective Identity Construction in Selected American War Films at the Turn of the 21st Century | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Lt. Col. Catharine Ingersoll | 2022 |
| Nicksic, Luke S. | Does the Equal Weight Index Fund Dominate the Market Capitalization Index Fund for the Long Term Investor? | Economics and Business | Col. Jeff S. Smith | 2022 |
| Ogle, Caleb J. | Exploring the Potential to Understand the Ecology of Insectivorous Bats Using Photographs Posted to iNaturalist | Biology | Col. Paull Moosman | 2022 |
| Rice, Alexander N. | Monitoring Foot Traffic with Internet of Things Devices | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. James Baker | 2022 |
| Bignan, Loic R. | Software Development and Hardware Integration of KeydetSAT-1 | Mechanical Engineering | Col. Joseph Blandino | 2022 |
| Ward, Julia | Engineering a More Efficient Future: Comparative Study of Advanced Delamination Technologies for Battery Recycling | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. Daniel Harrison | 2026 |
| Greentree, Jacob | The Provision of Peace: Effective Counterinsurgency Strategy and Objectives | International Studies and Political Science | Col. J. Patrick Rhamey | 2026 |
| Savard, Nolan | Improving Security Measures for QR Codes | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. David Feinauer | 2026 |
| Dovgaltuk, Timofey | Anatomy of Equity Bubbles | Economics and Business | Col. Jeff Smith | 2026 |
| Eynon, Nicholas | Testing Dissimilar Metals and their Interface Strength: How Do the Interface Characteristics of Collision-welded Metals Affect the Strength of Their Weld? | Applied Mathematics | Lt. Col. Seyed Soltani | 2026 |
| Hernandez, Andres | Development of Novel Iridium CNC Compounds for Broadband Non-linear Reverse Saturable Absorption | Chemistry | Col. Daniel Harrison | 2026 |
| Vijayan, Jai | “Move and Maintain” American Last Mile Logistics in the Solomon Islands Campaign, 1942 – 1944 | History | Lt. Col. Joel Christenson | 2026 |
| McEneaney, James | The Impact of Doping Variations on the Infrared Photoconductivity of Silicon | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. Shawn Addington | 2026 |
| Minter, Kaiden | How Pan-Nationalism Legitimized Egypt and Yugoslavia’s Political Autonomy | International Studies and Political Science | Dr. Salih Yasun | 2026 |
| Rinker, Noah | A Comparative Analysis of Finite Element Analysis and Classical Beam Theory in the Prediction of Beam Deflections | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Lt. Col. Kacie D’Alessandro | 2026 |
| Kleinschuster, Matthew | The Tradeoffs of the State Lottery | Applied Mathematics | Col. John David | 2026 |
| Adams, Anna Grace | U.S. Foreign Relations with Colombia from 1919-1939 | History | Col. Houston Johnson | 2026 |
| Bowen, Benjamin | Writing Happy Endings: Practice and Theory | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Col. Polly Atwell | 2026 |
| Smith, Sadie | A Prioritization Dilemma: United States Infrastructure Allocation as a Response to External Cyber Threat | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Spencer Bakich | 2026 |
| Strapponi, Amber | Containerized AI Security for Tactical IoT: A Resilient Edge-First Approach | Computer and Information Sciences | Dr. Mahamed Azab | 2026 |
| Ericsson, Jack | Integration of Monotonic Tests and Digital Image Correlation for Rutting Evaluation in Balanced Mix Design | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Dr. Aksel Seitllari | 2026 |
| Davis, Audrey | Politicizing Ethnicity: Polarizing Effects of Blanket Party Bans in Africa | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Brent Hierman | 2025 |
| Myhre, Jack | AI Deep Learning for Financial Document Analysis: Leveraging NLP for 10-K and 10-Q Reports | Computer and Information Sciences | Col. Ramoni Lasisi | 2026 |
| Martindale, Delilah | Preventing Suicide: The Effect of Visibility on Mental Health Infrastructure (MHI) | International Studies and Political Science | Dr. Vera Heuer | 2025 |
| Smith, Liam | Strategic Goods and Economic Interdependence: Liberal Peace or Realist Conflict? | International Studies and Political Science | Maj. Megan Roosevelt | 2026 |
| Novotny, Courtney | Morphological andphysiological differences in rural rats, urban rats, and laboratory-bred rats | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2025 |
| Feher, Nicholas | A Corpus-Based Analysis of the Variation in Possessive Noun Phrases in Moroccan Arabic | Modern Languages and Cultures | Maj. Hicham Assaoui | 2026 |
| Webster, Ethan | Values and Foreign State’s Societal Perceptions | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Brent Hierman. | 2025 |
| Layman, Katlyn | "Man! I Feel Like a Woman": The Successes and Failures of Contentious Women’s Activism | International Studies and Political Science | Dr. Vera Heuer | 2026 |
| Bowles, Knight | Synthesis of Reverse Saturable Absorption Agents from Iridium-Based Compounds | Chemistry | Col. Daniel Harrison | 2025 |
| Gibson, John | Utilitarian Ethics and the Limits of Economic Moral Reasoning | Economics and Business | Dr. Duncan Richter | 2026 |
| Williams, Gabriel | Connections and Corruption, A Firm-Level Model of FDI Under Corruption | International Studies and Political Science | Maj. Megan Roosevelt. | 2025 |
| Bott, Connor | Design and Analysis of an Electromechanical Marine Wreck Anchor | Mechanical Engineering | Col. Gerald Sullivan | 2026 |
| Moore, Simon | Why Live?: An Analysis of Arthur Schopenhauer’s Life and Philosophy | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Dr. Duncan Richter | 2025 |
| Rhodes, Alden | Fifth Columns: The Aftermath of Exclusion | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Brent Hierman | 2026 |
| Roberts, Jude | Assessing the Efficacy of LLM—GPT4o Mini—for Resume Selection and Human Talent Management: A Comprehensive Analysis of Accuracy, Precision, Recall, Consistency, Reliability, and Efficiency | Computer and Information Sciences | Dr. Sherif Abdelhamid | 2025 |
| Rogers, Jackson | Is Solitary Confinement Cruel and Unusual Punishment? | Psychology | Col. Glenn Sullivan | 2026 |
| Dowden, Cate | Establishing Statistical Correlations Between Operational Parameters and Oxygen System Failures in the F/A-18 | Mechanical Engineering | Capt. Robert McMasters | 2025 |
| Boynewicz, James | Exploring Natural Adaptations: Neurobiological Comparison Between Rural and Urban Wild Rat Populations of Rattus Norvegicus | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2025 |
| Williams, Harrison | Sustainable Debt Limit Estimates for the U.S. and 24 Other OECD Countries | Economics and Business | Maj. Steven Landgraf | 2025 |
| Bierstine, Benjamin | Airfield Combat Logistics | Applied Mathematics | Maj. Sarah Patterson | 2025 |
| Yemelianova, Anya | Military Service and Participation in Right Wing Terrorism | International Studies and Political Science | Col. Dennis Foster | 2025 |
| Shank, Gretal | Ashes to Ashes: A Memoir Anthology | English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies | Col. Julie Brown | 2025 |
| Bowyer, Cole | Audiogram Emulator | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. James Squire | 2025 |
| Tracy, Whitney A. | Prevalence of the Pathogenic Fungus, Pseudogymnoascus Destructans, in Rock-crevices Used by Bats in Virginia | Biology | Col. Paul R. Moosman | 2026 |
| Cross, Jack | Aggregate Optimization of High Strength Fiber-Reinforced Concrete | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Maj. Andrei Ramniceanu | 2023 |
| Butler, Colin | High Strength Concrete and its Application in Composite Beams | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Maj. Kacie D’Alessandro | 2023 |
| McCarthy, Conor | Improving Mesh Based 3D Fillets | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Lt. Col. David Feinauer | 2023 |
| Lalena, Dominick | Understanding Visibility as it Applies to Organizational Security and Suggesting Improvements with Open Source Technology | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Lt. Col. David Feinauer | 2023 |
| Caulfield, William | Multi-Body Dynamic Analysis of a Baja SAE Vehicle using ADAMS CAR | Mechanical Engineering | Maj. Craig Altmann | 2023 |
| Cocoris, Chris | Suppressing the Red Tide: Greek-American-British Counterinsurgency Efforts Against Greek Communist Insurgents During the Third Phase of the Greek Civil War, 1945-1949 | History | Col. David Gray | 2023 |
| Curtis, Claire | Breaking Down Barriers When It Comes to Learning Differences at VMI | Psychology | Lt. Col. Sara Whipple | 2023 |
| Burton, Harris | Jurisdiction and Crime in Indian Country | Economics and Business | Col. Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl | 2023 |
| Tran, Binh | C# Frequency Sampling-Based FIR Filter Design | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Col. James Squire | 2023 |
| Kelley, Noah | Structural Properties of Manmade Bamboo Studs for Use in Modern Structural Design | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Col. Charles Newhouse | 2023 |
| Wolfe, Sam | Sex and Breeding Differences in Brain Cell counts of Stickleback Fish | Biology | Maj. Molly Kent | 2023 |
| Argauer, Philip | Increased Physical Fitness with VOLT | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Maj. Daniel Baur | 2023 |
Questions? We’re Here to Help
Connect with the Institute Honors Program
Email: mcdonaldrl@vmi.edu
Phone: (540) 464-7212
Institute Honors
210 Smith Hall