Helen and john c hartmann department electrical and computer engineering

Zhenlu Qin joined the Department of Computer Science at Auburn University at Montgomery as an Assistant Professor in August 2024 after obtaining his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from NJIT in May 2024. He started his Ph.D. study in 2018 and was advised by Dr. Qing Liu. His research focuses on high-performance computing (HPC), data compression and reduction, and I/O performance.

New Jersey Institute of Technology’s standing in national rankings continues to rise with U.S. News & World Report placing NJIT No. 84 among U.S. universities — improving two places from last year — in the 2025 edition of its Best Colleges list.

The latest ranking extends NJIT’s upward trajectory — climbing 19 spots since 2022 — and supports the findings of other publications that rank U.S. universities, which emphasize value and return on investment.

Student athletes are coming from across the U.S. and around the world to study and compete at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Here’s a closer look at three new Highlanders from the Class of 2028 who play basketball, soccer and volleyball. Welcome to University Heights!

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is launching a new, $10+ million initiative that will significantly advance the university’s strength in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and position NJIT to become a leader in both AI research and application in higher education. This augments already significant existing academic and research activity in AI and related programs. In 2023 alone, NJIT research related to AI totaled nearly $60 million.

Machine vision sensors could work faster and more efficiently if they were designed like biological eyes, according to Associate Professor Dong-Kyun Ko, at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department.

Aseel Zeinati is a second-year Ph.D. student advised by Professor Misra at the VLSI lab. Her research is centered on characterizing the next generation of non-volatile memory, such as resistive random access-memory (RRAM), for in-memory and neuromorphic computing, with the goal of replacing the conventional computing systems in use today. She attends several ECS (Electrochemical Society) conferences. As a mother of two children, she is also a talented storyteller, a skill that has honed her ability to break down complex concepts into easily understandable information.

If predictions come true that renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind generators are the primary suppliers of tomorrow’s power grids, then the engineers maintaining those grids will need new innovations in fault detection, made possible by researchers like NJIT Associate Professor Joshua Taylor.

The problem is that traditional power grids use fault detection methods designed for what’s called synchronous generation, as with gas power plants, and those methods work poorly for inverter-based generation found in renewable systems.

Muhaiminul Islam Akash has completed his first year as a Ph.D. candidate in the ECE Department at NJIT, being advised by Dr. Cong Wang. His research focuses on robot physical intelligence, AI-robot bridgeware for task and motion planning, crowdsourced machine learning, and robot teleoperation. Beyond his academic pursuits, he enjoys traveling and finds peace in natural landscapes.

NJIT engineering professors Roberto Rojas-Cessa and Chang Yaramothu are among the newest senior members in the National Academy of Inventors and the only two from New Jersey in their class.

Leon Baptiste '91 has earned distinction as an NJBIZ ICON honoree for his role in shaping New Jersey's economy as president of LB Electric Co. LLC.

The NJBIZ ICON awards recognize leaders over the age of 60 from New Jersey industries such as accounting, healthcare, education, financial services, commercial real estate and more for work throughout their careers — not just in their respective fields, but in the state’s larger business community as well.