The culmination of the pipeline. Students transition from learners to independent researchers and engineers. Whether through a team-based Capstone solving a real-world stakeholder problem, or an individual Honors Thesis driving original funded research, this is where academic physics becomes deployable reality.
The summit. Students from Physics, Computer Science, Biology, and Neuroscience form interdisciplinary teams around a real problem — clinical, environmental, humanitarian — and spend a full year building something deployable. Honors thesis students go further: each one owns an individual deliverable within the team, conducts original research, and publicly defends their thesis before an interdisciplinary faculty committee to earn an Honors degree.
How students experience EPAD Capstone This is where everything converges. Dr. Yang advises simultaneously on circuit design, measurement uncertainty, user research, and the ethics of what students are building. Teams write proposals, manage budgets, present at milestones, and deliver a working prototype with full documentation. Several capstone projects have become the seed of funded research, filed patents, and graduate-level work. The yearlong format teaches project management, stakeholder communication, and the patience required to ship something that works in the real world.
EPAD Capstone is a department-wide pipeline spanning quantum and photonics hardware, bioengineering and medical devices, AI-driven measurement and analysis, computational imaging, plasma and high-energy-adjacent simulation, robotics and autonomy, and public-facing installation art. Dr. Yang has directed this capstone since 2020, building on a program launched in 2018 with core curriculum and dedicated faculty established in 2019.
This year's cohort spans the full breadth of applied physics — from clinical neurology to electromagnetic manipulation, from bioengineered tissue models to high-performance rocketry, from optical assembly at the nanoscale to electroacoustic performance art. Two of these projects connect directly to Dr. Yang's own research programs.
A device that reads the eye before the hospital can. Dual-spectrum pupillometry for prehospital neuro-triage. iRays combines specialized optical design, infrared imaging, and AI-driven computer vision to deliver quantitative, objective pupil measurements with the speed and portability demanded by ambulance crews and field medics. Patent pending. Built with the City of Hampton Fire & Rescue. Funded by NIH Mid-South REACH and the AI4Health Initiative.
Advisors: Prof. Ran Yang & Prof. Gunter Luepke
Where the performer's body becomes the controller. Traditional methods of integrating acoustic instruments into electronic music are half a century old. Building on prior work with the Chaosflöte and Melody Chua, this project develops a compact, multi-sensor device — measuring breath, embouchure, and motion — that attaches ergonomically to a range of instruments and feeds real-time data into digital audio workflows.
Advisors: Prof. Benjamin Whiting & Prof. Ran Yang
Adjustable fins. Live telemetry. Precision altitude. A rocket engineered for a national university competition, featuring adjustable fins for precise altitude control, an onboard computer processing real-time data from accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometer, and GPS, plus live video and telemetry downlink to mission control. Dynamic fin adjustment algorithms are refined through extensive simulation and flight testing.
Advisor: Prof. Jonathan Frey
Unmanned. Electric. Aerodynamically steered at speed. Utilizing the race platform from the 2024–25 season, this team creates, modifies, and optimizes actively controlled aerodynamic structures for a high-speed unmanned electric surface vehicle. The project bridges naval architecture, control systems, and competitive engineering.
Advisor: Prof. Jonathan Frey
Electromagnetic force as a precision instrument. High-power microwave fields (6–18 GHz, up to 20 W) confined within narrow microstrip transmission lines create steep amplitude gradients capable of displacing and steering small dielectric spheres. Electromagnetic simulations (HFSS/FEKO) model the field; physical experiments test qualitative manipulation and routing.
Advisor: Prof. Seth Aubin
Pick, place, build — one microparticle at a time. Advanced architected materials require structural features spanning nanometers to centimeters. This project builds a “pick and place” assembly system using focused laser beams (optical tweezers) to capture individual microparticles from suspension and position them precisely on a substrate.
Advisors: Prof. Bjorg Larson & Prof. Hannes C. Schniepp
A platform the size of a coin that models human bone. Diabetes impairs communication between bone and cartilage cells. This project designs and fabricates a compact microfluidic device — tiny channels and compartments where cells are grown and studied under controlled glucose levels. Fabricated via soft lithography or 3D printing.
Advisor: Prof. Indranath Mitra
Measuring magnetism from 4 K to 400 K. Design and construct a probe using AC magnetometry to measure the magnetic susceptibility of materials across a sweeping temperature range — from liquid helium to above room temperature. A small oscillating current generates an AC magnetic field; a pickup coil with lock-in detection measures the induced response.
Advisor: Prof. Mumtaz Qazilbash
This is the closest approximation to graduate-level research available to undergraduates. Students define a research question, review literature, design experiments, collect and analyze data, and defend their thesis before a faculty committee. Honors students often publish their work, present at conferences, file patents, and use their thesis as a springboard to graduate research and high paying industry positions. Dr. Yang advises several honors students each year, often on projects that connect directly to her funded research programs.
為學日益，為道日損。Tao Te Ching · Chapter XLVIII“In pursuit of learning, every day something is gained.
In pursuit of the way, every day something is released.”