Standout seniors from NJIT’s Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts (HCSLA) are capping off their undergraduate journey with one last accolade for achievements across academics and research, athletics and campus leadership.

Fresh from receiving the Outstanding Student Award at the HCSLA Awards Ceremony, these four students share their proudest NJIT moments, future goals and the lessons they’ll carry into the next chapter.

Gala Krsmanovic, B.S. Cyberpsychology


Students from Albert Dorman Honors College’s courses – Introduction to Research Writing, Introduction to Research Methods, Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Science, Technology and Urban Transformation – presented their semester's research during the fourth Honors Interdisciplinary Research Forum, with topics ranging from housing affordability crisis in New Jersey to an analysis of cartographical and textual evidence of Pope Joan.

New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Aliza Mujahid, a senior biomedical engineering student, along with mechanical engineering Ph.D. student and research assistant Mohammad Jafari, reached the final round-of-eight in the 2025 U.S. Hult Prize competition for social-minded startup founders.

The duo, with Assistant Professor Farid Alisafaei and colleagues at Washington University, represent a new company called DermaMech that aims to better understand the science of human skin grafting and develop technology that will reduce infections, rejections and scarring.

NJIT’s Dana Knox Research Showcase returned in 2025 to once again highlight the innovative and impactful work of students across disciplines. The event celebrated undergraduate and graduate researchers tackling real-world challenges with creative, technical solutions.

Now in its 20th year, the showcase was also its largest — over 150 presentations by 200+ students spanned all six of NJIT’s colleges.

Graduating NJIT senior Danielle Grunwald and her employer as of this summer, Axtria Inc., are made for each other — Grunwald loves digging into life sciences data to extract useful insights, and that’s the gist of what Axtria does.

Grunwald is wrapping up her studies with a B.S. in data science from Ying Wu College of Computing. She was also an Albert Dorman Honors College scholar, the only female member of the NJIT bowling team (personal high score 268), active with the Nucleus yearbook and an event coordinator for the Student Activities Council.

For Digital Designer Megan Krutz, graduation from NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design isn’t just a milestone — it’s a full-circle moment that reflects years of growth, discovery and the kind of artistic transformation she never anticipated. As she looks ahead, Krutz can’t help but reflect on how much NJIT helped her grow into the designer and educator she’s today.

ROI-NJ recognized deans, administrators, board members, alumni and a director from New Jersey Institute of Technology as the most influential women in business for 2025.

Four of the Highlanders made the top 50 list: Trustee Elisa Charters; Michele Siekerka and Debbie Hart, who both serve on the Board of Directors of NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute; and Becky Button, who serves on the Advisory Board of NJIT’s Hillier College of Architecture and Design.

Goldwater Scholarships, among the most prestigious awards for undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees, are going to two juniors at NJIT. 

The recipients are: Dev Doshi, a biomedical engineering major in the Newark College of Engineering; and Brock Shahinian, an environmental science major in the Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts.

As most students were buried in final exams last December, Iniobong Ofonime took an extra assignment outside her usual work as an engineering student — rather than applying mathematics to solve problems, she decided to profile an inspirational mathematician.

Her efforts have added up to a first-place finish among undergraduates in the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) national essay competition, announced fittingly on International Women's Day.