Got a can’t-miss podcast idea that could be next Serial, Pod Save America or Ricky Gervais Show?  There’s a growing student-podcasting community for aspiring broadcasting personalities at NJIT thanks in part to a new podcasting production course launched this past spring by NJIT Communications and Media Program Director Christopher Funkhouser. Funkhouser is imparting his nearly 40 years of broadcasting expertise to students with flair for chatting on the mic and getting creative.  Already, some of his protégés are off making waves this summer —…

The date is May 11, 2004.  The TV sitcom Friends just aired the finale of its 10th and final season, Usher’s hit single "Yeah!" is giving way to Maroon 5’s “This Love” atop the Billboard Top 100 and Massachusetts is about to become the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. But lurking under the ground, a seismic event in the insect world was also happening.  Hundreds of millions of buzzing, red-eyed “Brood X” cicadas were staging a mass takeover of the U.S. East Coast after living underground and feeding off of tree roots for 17 years…

Art Garfunkel once described his legendary musical chemistry with Paul Simon, “We meet somewhere in the air through the vocal cords ... .” But a new study of duetting songbirds from Ecuador, the plain-tail wren (Pheugopedius euophrys), has offered another tune explaining the mysterious connection between successful performing duos. It’s a link of their minds, and it happens, in fact, as each singer mutes the brain of the other as they coordinate their duets. In a study published May 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers studying brain activity of…

By Andrew McMains and Tracey Regan Two New Jersey Institute of Technology students who earned Fulbright awards this year will continue their studies in Canada on decidedly different paths. Kaylin Wittmeyer ’21 is pursuing a graduate certificate in digital creature animation at Sheridan College in Ontario, as she pursues a career in animation, with the goal of becoming a creative leader at a studio. Joseph Torsiello ’22, meanwhile, will research neutrinos at McGill University in Montreal this summer with a team that seeks to understand their role in the universe. With this year’s awardees,…

Among the honorees at this year’s College of Science and Liberal Arts Awards at NJIT were seven members of the Class of 2021 who earned the Outstanding Undergraduate Award. We caught up with four of them, who reflected on their unique experiences and accomplishments over the past four years and shared their bright future plans. Bhoomi Davé, Forensic Science B.S. and Biology B.A. Where did you grow up and what led you to NJIT? I was born in Newark and grew up in Columbus, South Jersey. I’ve always wanted to become a…

After four years at NJIT, career prospects for Jaime Felice ’21 are about to take off, and the sky is the limit — literally. Felice has definitely taken a path less traveled at NJIT, joining four other cadets this year in the graduating class of NJIT’s decorated Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 490. In just a few weeks after Commencement, she’ll be commissioning as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and has been selected to become a pilot. It’s a dream for many — the Air Force only adds about 400 pilots a year. “I knew that commissioning…

Two biology students involved in high-level research on novel therapies for COVID-19 and other diseases were named 2021 Goldwater scholars this year by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. The scholarship is recognized as the country’s most prestigious for STEM undergraduates pursuing research careers. Sreya Sanyal ’22, (below) a double major in biology and history and member of the Albert Dorman Honors College, plans to apply to M.D./Ph.D. programs to become a translational medical researcher who investigates cancer biology and develops new clinical…

New Jersey Institute of Technology formally graduated more than 3,000 students today, in a hybrid in-person and virtual ceremony due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Kimberly Bryant, founder and CEO of Black Girls Code, delivered this year’s commencement address. Black Girls Code is a non-profit organization teaching computer science skills to Black females ages 7-11 and emphasizing entrepreneurship. Bryant studied electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University. Bryant, in receiving an honorary Doctorate of Science, told students that as predominantly STEM graduates, they're…

With the spring semester nearly in the rearview, standout students, faculty, staff and alumni of NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA) gathered virtually for a night of due recognition and positive reflection at the college’s annual year-end celebration, the 2021 CSLA Awards. At the second-consecutive virtual ceremony this month, Dean Kevin Belfield kicked off the evening by welcoming the CSLA community back together after a uniquely difficult year, while also taking time to highlight the college’s recent successes, particularly in areas of research and education. “A year…

Caption: Senior Vice Provost for Research Atam Dhawan (far left) and Chair of the Board of Overseers awards committee Emil Herkert (far right) with the 2020 Excellence in Research award winners, (left to right) Bryan Pfister, chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering (standing in for Namas Chandra) and Lou Kondic. Namas Chandra, a biomedical engineer who develops new ways to understand and prevent traumatic brain injuries, and Lou Kondic, an expert in fluid dynamics and pioneer in the growing thin film sector, are the winners of the Board of Overseers (BOO) Excellence in…