LSAMP student wins orals competition at national conference
By Letitia Thomas
Published July 28, 2022
Matthew Haynes, a rising sophomore majoring in Computer Science, was the first-place winner of the orals competition at the Louis Stokes Center for Promoting Academic Careers (LSPAC) 2022 Diversity in STEM Conference.
The conference, entitled Broadening STEM Pathways: Creating inclusive and equitable academic ecosystems, was held July 21-23 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference featured keynote talks, professional development workshops, and research poster and oral sessions.
LSPAC Models is a data-driven center dedicated to broadening participation in the STEM professoriate through mentoring, networking, and professional development. LS-PAC MODELS is funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) and housed in Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Office of Strategic Initiatives.
The UB LSAMP Program traveled to the conference with nine summer program students. Haynes was one of six students who gave oral presentations based on their summer research projects with University at Buffalo faculty. Haynes worked under the direction of Bina Ramamurthy, a professor of teaching in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, to examine decentralized finance, an emerging financial system that uses blockchain technology. His project was entitled: How Decentralized is DeFi? Searching for Centralization Within Decentralized Exchange Protocols.
UB’s LSAMP program is also sponsored by the National Science Foundation and housed in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. LSAMP seeks to diversify the STEM workforce by significantly increasing the numbers of students successfully completing high quality degree programs in these disciplines.