Two URECA Students Explore Real-World Ideas Through Research

For Walter Benitez and Kevin Chen, their URECA projects began with questions that had been forming long before they came to Stony Brook University. Though their research took them in different directions, both students utilized URECA opportunities to transform personal experiences into applicable research.

Daniene Byrne, SUNY PRODiG+ Fellow (2024-2026) in the Department of Technology and Society, mentored both of them.

For Chen, the idea for ArcBall came from his prior frustrations with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. He admitted it was hard for him to focus on his Algebra I studies in high school amid distractions at home and the blaring news of new variants. 

“I wasn’t given much support,” he said. “It was a very distracting and noisy environment to learn in.”

This experience inspired Chen to develop an immersive, private learning environment for students studying algebra. 

“I thought of ArcBall as a way to provide a place where you enter virtual reality, relax and really focus on trying to make shots into the basketball hoop,” he said.

A sophomore computer science major with six years of experience in 3D game development, Chen combined his academic background and his interest in basketball to create the virtual reality experience. When students enter ArcBall, they are greeted with a virtual basketball coach before being presented with a problem. They then adjust the ball’s trajectory using the A, B and C coefficients of the quadratic equation and attempt a shot.

He ensured the game was widely accessible. “I wanted to make sure that all students, even those without a strong math background, can easily determine how to answer these questions,” he said. 

The educational design was informed by the Cognitive Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL), a framework that examines how virtual reality can influence learning. Chen was particularly interested in how immersive technology can influence self-efficacy and inquiry-based learning.

Turning the concept into a working VR experience required him to work through technical challenges, including learning Unity’s XR documentation and determining which tools could bring his ideas to a virtual environment. 

He also relied on feedback from Liam Yehudai, a student in the Technology Learning Lab with a studio arts background and previous VR experience. Yehudai helped Chen play-test ArcBall with a Meta Quest headset.

“The lab has always had a history of students, but Kevin was unique in not working for the lab, but through the lab,” said Byrne. 

Rich von Rauchhaupt, interim director of the Teaching and Learning Lab, where Chen worked this summer, recalled him being very independent. “I only advised Kevin as he needed,” he said. “He came into the lab already having a strong concept; I gave him the software, and he succeeded on his own.”

Chen hopes to continue his development of ArcBall. He and Yehudai are conceptualizing expanding the VR experience into a more compatible, cross-platform game.

Benitez’s project similarly began with a concept he acknowledged firsthand.

An economics major and a first-generation student, Benitez became interested in telehealth after hearing stories about its implications in his home country, El Salvador. His uncle works in the healthcare industry over there and noticed new ways the country was developing to access healthcare remotely. 

“I noticed that they want to have a standardized system of medicine, so people even up in the mountains go to their own local pharmacy and still obtain healthcare that way,” he said.

That observation led him to examine the economic challenges surrounding telehealth and healthcare access within the United States, particularly in communities where patients may live far from major hospitals.

Benitez considered how the cost of maintaining healthcare infrastructure can affect both patients and local situations. He used rural states such as Wyoming as an example, where a patient may have a small medical facility nearby, but a larger hospital could be hours away.

The local facility may provide more convenient access, but maintaining the infrastructure required to offer certain forms of treatment can create high costs. Benitez’s research explored how those economic pressures could affect the availability and sustainability of healthcare facilities. 

A long-standing relationship with his mentor shaped his research experience. Benitez first met her through CSTEP while he was in high school. She helped him navigate college and secure a scholarship, then invited him to work with her in a research setting.

Their relationship continued into his URECA experience, where Benitez said he felt supported throughout the project.

“I loved URECA, mainly because of an environment that Dr. Byrne provided,” he said.

He said Byrne regularly checked in on his work while also encouraging him to maintain a healthy work-life balance and enjoy his summer as a student.

The philosophy was shared by Byrne, who saw her role as creating an environment where students could make the most of their research experience.

“All I wanted was to be there to support students with whatever they need to have a productive summer, to create a memorable experience,” she said.

— Salomé Davoudiasl