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NJIT’s annual celebration of its top student researchers kicked off at the 2024 Dana Knox Student Research Showcase, which once again highlighted a stunning array of innovation and discovery from every corner of the STEM disciplines.

Now in its 19th year, the showcase competition featured 68 diverse research projects presented by students from NJIT’s six colleges at the university Campus Center.

The 35th annual Scholarship Brunch took place April 12, bringing together generous benefactors who have created scholarships at NJIT with the students benefiting from their support.

The event humanizes and demonstrates the impact of giving back and removing a financial burden to those who need it most. In a unique opportunity, scores of scholars attended with each one proudly representing — and meeting — their donors. 

From an estimated pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, two NJIT students — Danna Valentina Sanchez Hernandez and Owen West — have been named Goldwater Scholars this year by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. The scholarship is recognized as among the country’s most prestigious for STEM undergraduates pursuing research careers.

Vaccines remain the gold standard of protection against dangerous pathogens, but take considerable time and vast resources to develop. Rapidly mutating viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 can blunt their effectiveness and even render them obsolete.

New Jersey Institute of Technology aims to be a nexus of innovation that embraces new tech, commercializes groundbreaking research, leverages its diversity and tackles global environmental and socioeconomic challenges under a new strategic plan that extends through 2030.

The plan, NJIT Makes An Innovation Nexus, identifies six priorities, spells out the university’s mission to be a leader in research, innovation and entrepreneurship, and reaffirms its core values, including collaboration, social responsibility, diversity and sustainability.

The excitement was palpable at NJIT’s fourth annual Elementary STEM Challenge (eSTEM) — an event that recently brought scores of 3rd-5th grade students to campus to show off tech innovations they’ve been designing for weeks to enhance health and wellness in their communities. 

NJIT has established employee resource groups (ERG) that meet regularly and encourage faculty and staff to connect outside of their direct working relationships. This month, NJIT is celebrating its Women’s Leadership and Employee Resource Group and publishing an employee spotlight on one of its members: Miosotis Hernandez, assistant director for first year engineering programs in Newark College of Engineering.

Can you introduce us to your ERG?

A research team from New Jersey Institute of Technology is uncovering mysteries surrounding fluids in nanoporous materials, and has been recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support this research.

Rizwan Baig, chief engineer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, visited NJIT to give a presentation on building the 21st-century transportation system. His talk, covering the architectural, design, construction and asset management aspects of the agency, highlighted the agency’s plan to revitalize infrastructure that is essential to economic growth and vitality.

Two NJIT projects have been awarded as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) Program. The $1.2 million program funded 16 different student-based projects throughout the country to research and develop innovative solutions that address environmental and public health challenges.

The NJIT projects will tackle water quality and the detection of “forever chemicals” in the air.