Congratulations to Harbert College of Business students Hipolito Davila, Kiwan Nam and Sidi Zhao on winning 2024 Auburn University Research Symposium awards. More than 400 students from Auburn and Auburn University at Montgomery presented their research at the annual campus Research Symposium on March 26.

Working under the supervision of Finance Professor Jitka Hilliard, Davila won the Symposium's College Award for Graduate Student Poster Presentations. His research examines the relationship between financial literacy and investment behavior among college students. Davila is earning both an MBA and master’s degree in finance.

A junior in business analytics and information systems, Nam won the College Award for Undergraduate Poster Presentations. Nam’s research explores social media addiction by analyzing how prolonged exposure to specific types of content on Instagram influences students’ mental well-being.

Business Analytics and Information systems doctoral candidate Zhao won the College Award for Graduate Student Oral Presentations. Working with Professors Pei Xu, Uzma Raja and Yen-Yao Wang, Zhao conducted a study that examines whether the social interactions of open source software developers impacts the strategic direction of a firm’s digital innovation. Her empirical study enriches social network research literature.

Learn more about the Auburn University Research Symposium.