RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – For four undergraduates at South Dakota Mines, summer break meant spending long days in the lab working on problems that ranged from detecting counterfeit driver’s licenses to tracking space debris.
Jocelyn Suranyi, Neha Jupalli, Krista Burkman and Louis Rancour were among more than 30 students who participated in paid summer research programs at Mines. The programs, funded through National Science Foundation grants, university departments and other organizations, give undergraduates hands-on experience working alongside faculty and graduate students.
Suranyi, a chemistry major at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, worked with Mines professors Jon Kellar and Prasoon Diwakar on a project using light and elemental analysis to distinguish authentic driver’s licenses from counterfeits.
The goal is to develop a machine learning model that could eventually identify fake IDs automatically.
The team’s research successfully distinguished counterfeit IDs from authentic ones with a high degree of accuracy.
For Suranyi, the project also meant stepping outside her usual synthetic chemistry work.
“My time this summer was incredibly valuable,” she said. “Learning from graduate students, hearing about their experiences, and getting hands-on experience with different lab equipment was really exciting.”
Jupalli, a data science major at the University of Florida, took part in the Lithium Sustainability, Mining, Recycling and Technology, or Li-SMART, REU. It was her first research experience.
A self-taught machine learning student, Jupalli used AI to classify lithium ore using handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, or LIBS, a portable tool that analyzes the elemental makeup of materials.
She worked with mineral and ore samples collected directly from mines around the world.
“They were not polished samples, but actual real-world samples,” Diwakar said. “So she is taking the textbook knowledge and applying them to the real world.”
Jupalli analyzed the samples to determine their type, elemental concentration and origin.
“I really enjoyed the project because I learned more about machine learning and more about collecting data and applying my skills,” she said.
Burkman, a Mines mechanical engineering major, spent the summer studying how lasers could be used to safely alter the trajectory of space debris.
Her work builds on research started by Jaden Dougal, who earned her master’s degree from Mines in May. Burkman added another challenge to the research by examining what happens when debris is spinning.
“Sometimes space debris is spinning, which tends to create more damage and more difficulties in exploring space,” she said.
She is also studying how different materials respond to laser pulses.
Her research was funded by a gift from Mines alumnus Larry Pearson and his wife, Linda, to the Leslie A. Rose Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Rancour, a sophomore metallurgical and ceramic engineering student at Mines, researched nickel electrodeposition, a process used to coat metal objects with a thin layer of nickel.
Working with Michael West, head of Mines’ Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Rancour studied how additives, temperature and glycine concentration affect the coating process.
He said the experience gave him a chance to build laboratory skills while contributing data that can help advance the research.
“Programs like these give undergraduate students a chance to apply the basic principles that they have learned in the classroom,” Rancour said.
The summer programs gave students more than research experience. They worked alongside graduate students and faculty, learned about graduate school and presented their work at research symposiums.
Diwakar, who participated in an REU as an undergraduate, said the programs give students a chance to explore potential career paths before committing to one.
“This is a good time to explore before they jump on a career path,” he said. “And even if they don’t like the research, they will learn tools that will be beneficial to them.”
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