Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts

Putting Students Closer to Explosive Solar Events

Thursday, April 6, 2017
NJIT has a long-established reputation as a leader in researching phenomena originating on the star closest to Earth — the Sun. NJIT’s optical telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory and radio telescope array at Owens Valley, both in California, have greatly expanded our understanding of solar events that periodically impact our home planet, events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that can disrupt terrestrial communications and power infrastructure in addition to other effects. Under the auspices of the university’s Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR), NJIT...

Helping to Make Written Words Matter at NJIT

Thursday, February 2, 2017
Words have consequences. Whether spoken or written, the words we choose to use matter profoundly across the spectrum of our relationships with others. They matter from the very personal communication we share with those closest to us, to achieving success in school and the workplace, to engaging in social and political debate — hopefully debate that is civil and informed given the verbal tenor of our times. From “When in the course of human events” in the document that launched our nation’s gamble on independence in 1776 to “IMHO” in a 21st-century digital exchange of views, written words...

Is the Cooperative Economy Next in a Post-Consumer World?

Thursday, January 12, 2017
For a significant part of the 20th century, the Manufacturing Economy generated unprecedented material prosperity in the United States. Then, as well-paying factory jobs migrated to corners of the world where labor is much less expensive, it was the Information Economy or the Service Economy that provided gainful employment and enabled the consumption underpinning our national and individual well-being. Today, in the 21st century, upbeat discussion now promotes the “Gig” or “Sharing” Economy as offering both personal freedom and financial rewards for those of us who pursue the...

Delving Deeper into the Circadian Rhythms of Life

Thursday, January 12, 2017
The circadian rhythms that harmonize our behavior with the daily cycle of light and dark, and with seasonal change, are among the most powerful physiological forces that we experience each day — forces that are experienced not only by other mammals, but also by many other living organisms. The circadian behavioral imperatives programmed by evolution are also increasingly challenged by our culture. It’s why traveling quickly across multiple time zones causes jet lag, why shift work can affect our physical well-being, and why our mood and alertness in general can vary significantly in the...

Finding Valeria: A Ph.D. Story

Thursday, January 5, 2017
Valeria Barra charted an unusual course from Siena, Italy to Newark, New Jersey and now onward for an internship program in Emeryville, Calif. at a one-time Steve Jobs startup you may have heard of - Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar has won eight Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature—“Inside Out,” “Brave,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “WALL-E,” “Up” and “Toy Story 3” have all taken home an Oscar.​​ While the allure of gold statues may be strong, what inspired Barra from an early age was the innate draw of pure math. “What I like the most about math is that you can...

An Explorer on the Frontier of Behavior

Thursday, January 5, 2017
Associate Professor Eric Fortune, a member of the Department of Biological Sciences since 2012, is an explorer whose research is focused on finding answers to questions at the frontiers of human physiology and behavior. In his Central King Building laboratory, with the assistance of undergraduate and graduate students, Fortune is challenging the unknowns of how the brain uses sensory information to control behavior. It’s a search that has also taken him far from the NJIT campus, to wilderness locations in South America. Fortune’s work, which could yield new insights into neurological...

From Cells to Science and Society — Kevin Belfield is Engaged Across a Broad Spectrum of Research

Thursday, January 5, 2017
As a researcher, Kevin Belfield is working at the forefront of medical innovation to develop a minimally invasive imaging technique that could revolutionize how wound healing and the growth of cancerous tissue are monitored. A professor in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Belfield is also dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA), and in this role he is helping to build the success of programs that span a very broad spectrum of research and education at NJIT. Belfield came to NJIT in 2014 from the University of Central Florida, where he chaired the...

Coastal Perspectives — Studying Forces That Affect Life Where Land and Water Meet

Thursday, January 5, 2017
Land lies in water; it is shadowed green. Shadows, or are they shallows, at its edges showing the line of long sea-weeded ledges where weeds hang to the simple blue from green. Or does the land lean down to lift the sea from under, drawing it unperturbed around itself? Along the fine tan sandy shelf is the land tugging at the sea from under? — From “The Map” by Elizabeth Bishop In New Jersey, as in many other places on the globe with extensive coastlines, the complex interaction of natural forces and human activity has a profound effect on the quality of life. At a very basic...

What the Ocean Says — Research for National Defense, Environmental Insight

Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Since coming to NJIT in 1994, Professor Eliza Michalopoulou has been listening to the world’s oceans, researching how new knowledge about sound propagation in the marine environment can enhance the U.S. Navy’s antisubmarine defenses. But the analytical tools she uses have other applications as well, including the potential to yield greater understanding of oceanic pollution patterns and climate change. A Good Match Michalopoulou is an engineer, specifically an electrical engineer, with an appointment in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The focus of her computationally intensive...

From Combustion to Consumption — Researching the Atmospheric Mystery of Mercury

Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Mercury: We know that substantial amounts of this highly toxic element are released into the atmosphere through the burning of coal and petroleum for fuel and the incineration of our civilization’s garbage. We also know that mercury entering the atmosphere can eventually find its way into the soil and, especially, the world’s oceans, where it poses a threat to health by accumulating in many species of fish that we eat. But the chemical transformation of mercury released by combustion that takes place in the atmosphere as a precursor to dangerous contamination of soil and water is not...

Pages