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The NJIT community is mourning the loss this month of Bruno Gonçalves da Silva, an esteemed assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who launched a new field of study for the university, energy geotechnology, which includes novel experimental investigations into the hydraulic fracturing of rocks.

C-3PO walked upright and spoke six million languages, but never did much with his hands beside gesticulate on the odds of surviving space battles.

Such is the state of modern robotics and cyberintelligence, where a Boston Dynamics droid does backflips and Apple Siri maintains natural-language conversations, while precision manipulation of physical objects remains elusive, explained Cong Wang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

In conjunction with the 2021 Summer Research Symposium, NJIT launched a campus chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), an organization founded in 2010 to recognize and promote academic technology and innovation and to encourage its translation into devices and services that benefit society.

NJIT inducted 32 faculty members at the ceremony, as well as nine honorary members, including President Joel Bloom and Provost Fadi Deek. Chapter members must hold patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Ayushi Sangoi ’20, a Ph.D. candidate who uses neuroimaging and eye movement-tracking equipment to discover connections between brain injuries and eye disorders was awarded a highly competitive graduate fellowship from Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. The biomedical engineer is the first NJIT graduate student to receive one.

Sangoi was among 28 awardees, selected from a field of 336 applicants, who were commended for their academic achievements, campus leadership and service, and anticipated contributions to their fields. Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend.

Daniela Bushiri, NJIT Class of 2021, has not been in the U.S. for long – about five years. In that time, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in chemical engineering, a minor in Applied Mathematics, and is now taking her talents to Columbia University in the fall where she will research alternative energy in pursuit of a Ph.D. She is an Albert Dorman Scholar, a McNair Scholar, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a member of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Parth Agrawal, a 2021 biomedical engineering graduate and Albert Dorman Honors scholar, was accepted to the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. But he’s not going – right away, at least. He deferred admission for a two-year fellowship with Venture For America, a nonprofit organization that trains recent college graduates to work in startups in cities across the country.

Three teams of student engineers are showcasing their applied research this week at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Student Design Expo, as they vie for a second round of funding from the EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet program, which aims to spur new systems and technologies that advance sustainability.

3.49 is not a baseball ERA, basketball steals per game, volleyball block average, or any other athletic statistic measured of the Highlanders this spring semester. Rather, it is their impressive cumulative grade point average.

This semester marks the 25th straight that Highlander student athletes have held above a 3.0 GPA—a streak extending over 12 years. 

At NJIT, Sydney Sweet’s success extended beyond the classroom into research labs, cooperative educational experiences, a Goldwater scholarship and the opportunity to study in Australia. 

Remarkably, the chemical engineering major and Albert Dorman Honors College scholar also found time to tutor undergraduates in math and hold leadership roles in chemical engineering honor society Omega Chi Epsilon, the Science and Politics Society and Society of Musical Arts. 

Roberto Adamson, an aspiring technology leader who aims to create AI-driven convenience and efficiency for peoples’ homes and workplaces, will begin the next stage of his professional journey at one of the world’s preeminent STEM universities. 

Named the “Outstanding Senior” for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Adamson will move to Switzerland this fall to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering at ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zurich, where he will specialize in control systems and artificial intelligence.