Ashish Borgaonkar, assistant professor of engineering education in the School of Applied Engineering Technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology and founding director of Newark College of Engineering’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program, has been selected for the 2026 ASEE National Outstanding Teaching Award. The award recognizes an engineering educator for excellence in outstanding classroom performance, contributions to the scholarship of teaching, and participation in ASEE section meetings and local activities.
By the time Celine Jobson arrived at Pennoni, she had already seen engineering from several angles.
A senior biomedical engineering student at New Jersey Institute of Technology with a minor in legal studies, Jobson had built experience in research, municipal work and industry settings. At Pennoni, though, she found something that clarified where she wants to go: hands-on work, real responsibility and the kind of day-to-day problem-solving that made the profession feel immediate.
NJIT celebrated its undergraduate Class of 2026 at Prudential Center in Newark, honoring baccalaureate degree candidates from across the university’s colleges in a ceremony centered on service, achievement, alumni connection and the responsibility to use an NJIT education with purpose.
NJIT celebrated its master’s and doctoral graduates in two commencement ceremonies that joined academic tradition with messages about resilience, uncertainty, knowledge and the responsibility to use advanced education in service of others.
Long before Michael Gottlieb ’63 became a chemical engineer, he learned how to think like a scientist. Growing up in Newark, he would watch his father take apart vacuum cleaners piece by piece on the kitchen table — he was a vacuum salesman. His father was not just pitching a product. He understood how every component worked and how to show customers that what he sold wasn’t a vacuum at all, but a cleaner, healthier home. Gottlieb absorbed that lesson: know what you’re working with, understand the people you serve and recognize the good your work can do.
An orthopedic total joint knee replacement is not a hinge.
It bends, rolls, glides and rotates. It bears the force of walking, climbing stairs, rising from a chair and living an active life. It has to mimic naturally enough to restore function, but remain stable enough to last. Its materials must survive millions of cycles inside the body, where the smallest design decisions can affect wear, inflammation, bone loss, loosening and pain.
That was the kind of problem Michael J. Pappas ’59, ’64 helped solve.
NJIT’s annual Scholarship Luncheon is meant to celebrate donor generosity. This year, it also pointed to what comes next.
The event brings together scholarship benefactors, alumni and student recipients, creating space for the kinds of conversations that remind people what scholarship support really does.
A one-day design sprint at NJIT challenged students to think like engineers, designers and problem-solvers for a wider range of users.
At CADence: An Additive Design Jam, held April 18 in the NJIT Makerspace, six teams spent the day designing and prototyping assistive technology concepts aimed at improving everyday accessibility. Working in medical, transportation and community tracks, students used CAD software, 3D printing and electrical components to build modular devices intended to respond to real-world challenges.
NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering brought together alumni, students, faculty, staff and industry partners for its 28th Annual Salute to Engineering Excellence, an evening that celebrated the people and partnerships helping shape the college’s future.
Held April 16 at Stone House at Stirling Ridge, the annual event highlighted achievement across the NCE community. Proceeds from the night will support experiential learning and NCE competitive student teams and organizations.
High school students from across the region brought engineering concepts off the page and into practice at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s David Good 3D Printed Bridge Competition, where high school teams were challenged to design, assemble and test 3D-printed bridges under real performance criteria.
