Doctoral Candidates Scheduled for Final Oral Examinations of the Dissertation

Final oral examinations are open all members of the University community and the public, unless attendance is restricted by the Graduate Studies Committee. Questions should be directed to the Office of the Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, Degree Evaluators at (512) 471-4511.

Student Name Major Chair Name Date, Time, Location Title
ROUT, LITU ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING (MSE, PHD) Shakkottai, Sanjay, Caramanis, Constantine FEBRUARY 16, 2026; 1:00-3:00PM; EER 6.818 GENERATIVE MODELING AND SCALABLE TEST-TIME OPTIMIZATION USING DIFFUSION AND FLOW MODELS
VARGUS, ADRIANA PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES Frei, Christopher R, Lee, Grace, Koeller, Jim M FEBRUARY 19, 2026; 2:00PM CST; MCDERMOTT 3.516 THE IMPACT OF UNCONTROLLED GOUT ON HEALTHCARE UTILIZATION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR UNITED STATES VETERANS AFFAIRS PATIENTS
MURPHY, SEAN T CIVIL ENGINEERING Leite, Fernanda L FEBRUARY 20, 2026; 10:00AM CST; GLT 4.102 NAVIGATING THE RISING TIDE: ADVANCING RESILIENCE MATURITY IN UNITED STATES COASTAL COMMUNITIES
WANG, ZIZHAO ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Stone, Peter H FEBRUARY 23, 2026; 9:00-11:00AM CST; GDC 3.516 CAUSALITY-INSPIRED REINFORCEMENT LEARNING: STATE ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION LEARNING
LI, ZHENGJIE ENGINEERING MECHANICS Lu, Nanshu FEBRUARY 24, 2026; 3:30 - 5:00PM CST; ASE 2.202 ELECTROMECHANICS OF SOFT POROUS CAPACITIVE PRESSURE SENSORS ACROSS MATERIAL, FREQUENCY, AND DEFORMATION
HALLOCK, CLAIRE CHEMISTRY Rose, Michael FEBRUARY 27, 2026; 3:00PM CST; WEL 2.122 INTERFACIAL ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF SILICON (111) FUNCTIONALIZED WITH ACENE DERIVATIVES
KHAN, HAMZAH IMTIAZ AEROSPACE ENGINEERING Fridovich-Keil, David MARCH 3, 2026; 1:00PM CST; ASE 2.202 STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING FOR MULTI-AGENT INTERACTIONS: A STUDY IN GAME THEORY AND OPTIMIZATION
DEVERAUX, EVELYN CIVIL ENGINEERING Misztal, Pawel MARCH 4, 2026; 2:00PM CST; ECJ 4.304 QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF ODOROUS AND ODORLESS CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS IN HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS
OKLAND, SYDNEY PSYCHOLOGY BEER, JENNIFER S MARCH 4, 2026; 9:00 AM TO 12:00 PM; SEA 3.430 SOFTEN THE BLOW, FEEL THE BURDEN: THE EMOTIONAL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH USING BENEFICIAL LANGUAGE IN SOCIAL REJECTION
SHUKLA, AKASH PHYSICS Fitzpatrick, Richard, Hatch, David R MARCH 5, 2026; 3:00PM CST; PMA 9.222 GYROKINETIC SIMULATIONS FOR SPHERICAL TOKAMAK DIVERTOR DESIGN