The 17th Annual Riverside Community College District (RCCD) Student Research Conference brought together some of the brightest minds from Riverside City, Moreno Valley, and Norco colleges to showcase groundbreaking student research. Held in CIS 114 A and B at Riverside City College, the conference celebrated innovation, intellectual curiosity, and academic achievement, with Norco College students standing out among the talented presenters.
Sponsored by the Riverside City College (RCC) Honors Program and STEMconnect at RCC, the event featured 41 research submissions across disciplines. Each submission, evaluated through a rigorous process, culminated in four major awards: the President’s Award for each college and the district-wide Chancellor’s Award.
Norco College’s Outstanding Achievements
Norco College students excelled, with Zayd Qazi receiving the Norco College President’s Award and Devin Dadah receiving the Chancellor’s Award. Both students earned accolades for their exceptional work.
Dadah captivated judges with his presentation, “‘Napalm Sticks to Kids:’ The U.S. Process of Dehumanization During the Vietnam War.” This achievement is a fitting capstone to his academic journey at Norco, where he thrived academically, revitalized the Honors Society student club, mentored peers, and worked to expand Honors opportunities for future students.
In reference to Devin's many contributions, Cameron Young, assistant professor of English at Norco College, shared, “Devin is the individual who really sought the creation of the Honors Society student club. He coordinated with the previous Honors coordinator to table at local high schools and invite incoming students into the program. Even after finishing the Honors program, he continued to take Honors courses because he thoroughly enjoyed them. He galvanizes action among his peers in various ways, and we are incredibly proud that he has been chosen for this award.”
Norco College’s President’s Award winner, Zayd Qazi, impressed the audience with his insightful presentation on “The Relations of Social Media, Video Games, and Mindfulness.”
Conference Highlights
The RCCD Student Research Conference is a platform for students to present their original research to faculty, peers, and the academic community. Laura Greathouse, RCC Honors Program coordinator, remarked, “It’s such a fun event. Students bring creative ideas, and with STEMconnect, there’s always fascinating research on environmental issues, literature, history, and more.”
Each college rigorously evaluated abstracts to select presenters, with faculty judges — typically Honors faculty — scoring proposals. The event culminated in:
- Chancellor’s Award: Devin Dadah (Norco College)
- President’s Awards:
- Norco College: Zayd Qazi
- Moreno Valley College: Luciano Ponce (“Develop a CRISPR-dCas12a System Using an Effective Split-intein Tag for Inducible Genome Editing”)
- Riverside City College: Jacquelyn Lopez (“Identifying Molecular Markers for Chromosomal Inversions in Drosophila pseudoobscura”)
While Norco’s winners delivered oral presentations, Moreno Valley’s and RCC’s winners used posters to convey their findings, demonstrating the diversity of research styles and topics.
Congratulations to all participants and winners for their remarkable contributions to this year’s RCCD Student Research Conference. Go Mustangs!