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University of Tulsa Graduate School

Caleb Fuller: Mechanical Engineering

The University of Tulsa works diligently with students earning a mechanical engineering degree to prepare them for competitive careers in an international marketplace. TU’s Faculty helps students investigate the advanced principles and applications of mechanical engineering for graduate school preparation, careers in academia or industry jobs. In small class settings, theory and practice are applied to laboratory and design projects. Caleb Fuller is a graduate student studying mechanical engineering.

Research Interests

My current program is in the mechanical engineering department working in Prof. Joshua Schultz’s Biological Robotics Lab. I am interested in research pertaining to controls, system dynamics and robotics.

Where are you presented?

I have made a presentation for another research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.

Your TU experience

I chose TU based on Prof. Schultz’s research program in robotics. For me, what was most surprising about TU was the care the professors have in your success. I feel like in a lot of bigger schools the professors and advisors can get wrapped up in the status of their research and lose sight of the goal of producing students who are ready to make an impact on society. I thoroughly enjoy my program and professors. I enjoy my research in robotics and the summer mentoring opportunities such as JTURC and TURC. I also enjoy the fact that my advisor pushes me to look at getting my work out into the international robotics community, not just locally or nationally; it definitely helped broaden my view of academia and research.

What are your future career plans?

My future plans are to pursue my doctorate in mechanical engineering and after that look for jobs as a professor.

Megan Gibson: English literature

In TU’s nationally recognized graduate English programs, students train as teachers, scholars and writers to advance in existing careers and to become professors and research writers in specific literary fields. Megan Gibson is a doctoral student studying English literature. Gibson’s passion for the arts and literature led her to research celebrity culture through the 18th century for her dissertation.

Research Interests

I’ve long been interested in looking at the themes of theatre and theatricality in 18th-century British literature. While taking a class from Professor Jennifer Airey on 18th-century celebrity culture, I discovered a series of poems written about a famous actress of the period: Sarah Siddons. This moment of discovery has become the impetus of my dissertation project, in which I explore the development of celebrity culture throughout the long eighteenth century, looking closely at the intersections between religious and secular forms of devotion among fans of theatrical, ecclesiastical, criminal and fictional celebrities. I am interested in the ways in which celebrity and devotion were defined and intermingled across various contexts throughout the period, in analyzing the creative and largely unexplored, activities of fans of eighteenth-century celebrities. In addition to archival research, which consistently brings additional delightful moments of discovery, working on my dissertation has also prompted new and unexpected, but exciting, interests in affect theory and emotion studies, history of Methodism, criminal studies and digital humanities.

Where are you presented?

• “Fandom: Enthusiastic Devotion, Religious and Theatrical Celebrity.” American Society for EighteenthCentury Studies. Minneapolis, Minnesota. March-April 2017.
• “Susanna Centlivre’s A Bold Stroke for a Wife: Disguise and Mobile Identity in the Social Spaces of London.” South Central Society for EighteenthCentury Studies. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. February 2016.
• “‘Siddons! Bright subject for a poet’s page!’: Promoting the English Stage through Tragedy, Morality, and Celebrity.” Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Gainesville, Florida. February 2015.
• “Pathetically Pleasing or Perfectly Practical: Contrasting Views of Women’s Education in the Eighteenth Century.” English Graduate Student Conference, The University of Tulsa, April 2014.
• “Lydia’s Seduction: Reinterpreting Female Sexual Agency in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Knoxville, TN. February-March 2014
• “‘A Spoiled Actress’: Exploring the Theatricality of Lady Delacour in Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda.” Aphra Behn Society. Tulsa, OK. October 2013.
• “Jane Austen and the Carnivalesque.” Research Day. Northwestern State University, April 2010.

Why did you choose TU for graduate studies?

I initially found out about TU’s English doctoral program through a friend of mine who was in the program and suggested I apply. Upon researching the university and department, and eventually getting to know them firsthand
through a campus visit, I was impressed by the 18th century faculty, their welcome and encouragement and their range of expertise in my areas of interest, as well as the kind of attention students received from faculty by virtue of
having a smaller program. I was also drawn to the range of opportunities offered to graduate students including not only teaching but also working on a journal such as Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. With the academic opportunities
afforded me and the congenial and supportive welcome from graduate students and professors, I knew that TU was the place I wanted to pursue my doctoral studies

Your TU experience

I have made lifelong friends here. Our tight English graduate student community is brought together through not only our collective portfolio grading struggles but also movie nights, volunteering, bowling games, class discussion,
conference experiences, the dread of deadlines, love of literature and hanging out with golden retriever puppies during finals week.

What are your future career plans?

My current academic plans involve researching, writing and plugging away on the dissertation (that small, final hurdle towards my degree!). I had the opportunity last summer to take a research trip to the UK to look at archives
pertaining to my dissertation topic. I visited the British Library, National Library of Scotland, a regional archive in Bedfordshire, and the Bath archives to look at theater ephemera, personal correspondence, diaries and journals,
and Lord Byron’s fan letters. Related to the topic of archives, I will also be co-directing an English graduate student conference here at TU with fellow doctoral candidate Amy Pezzelle. Eventually, I plan to apply for positions as an
assistant professor or post-doc.

Educational Background

Ph.D. candidate, English Literature, The University of Tulsa (expected 2019)
M.A., with merit, EighteenthCentury Studies, University of Southampton (UK), 2011
B.A., summa cum laude, Liberal Arts with a concentration in Humanities and Social Thought, Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern StateUniversity of Louisiana, 2010
Minor: Music performance

Grad student coordinates on-campus research networking opportunity

Indreesh Badrinarayanan, a doctoral student in The University of Tulsa’s Department of Chemical Engineering, is the coordinator for Research Connect, a research networking initiative held in conjunction with the annual Research Colloquium. Badrinarayanan worked with TU alumnus Pedro Amorim to coordinate the inaugural Research Connect event in 2018 and, in addition to serving on the 2019 Research Colloquium planning committee, will coordinate the second annual Research Connect.

Indreesh BadrinarayananAmorim and Badrinarayanan created Research Connect to help students and faculty connect with national research laboratories and share their research on a broader scale.

Badrinarayanan said his research is in a multi-disciplinary project where the goal is to design a novel, hybrid bioreactor that uses spectral conversion techniques to increase the algal biomass productivity. He is also working on a project where the aim is to use produced water – a major waste stream in the oil and gas industry to grow microalgae, which helps in bio-remediation as well as provides a source of biomass rich in lipids.

“Personally, the exciting aspect about my research is that I get to collaborate and work with other people,” Badrinarayanan said.

Badrinarayanan said that attending conferences and discussing findings with experts in the field is a great, exciting opportunity to enhance the learning experience—a long-term goal of the Research Connect event.

Badrinarayan chose to attend TU for graduate school because the university is well-known for its engineering programs. The small, beautiful campus and diverse student population from countries around the world surprised him.

“I was also amazed about the history of the school and how the engineering program’s inception dates back to the days when Tulsa was known as the ‘Oil Capital of the World,’” he said.

Badrinarayan said that after completing his graduate studies, he plans to work in industry or academia as a research fellow.

“I will miss the plethora of events that we get to attend on campus every year. Specifically, the Homecoming bonfire tradition will be a memorable one,” Badrinarayan said. “I will also miss my friends from several countries. Many whom I wouldn’t have met if not for TU.”