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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Engineering professor Chang Yaramothu ’13H, ’14, ’17, Abigail Varughese ’22, Rita Vought ’21 and FEMA’s Marc K. Raoul ’09 are some of the NJIT students, past and present, contributing engineering, emergency management and healthcare skills to the massive effort.

When a frail, elderly woman refused help at the FEMA-run vaccination site in NJIT’s Naimoli Center, Rita Vought ’21 knew just what to do. She sidled over, struck up a conversation, and subtly navigated her through the process, from registration to departure.

A new NJIT-led project is making learning about the abstract world of organic chemistry a fresher, interactive experience that students can now easily explore in hi-res action through their digital devices. Already, it’s created quite a reaction among young chemists and their teachers around the world. 

The new web project, called Visualize Organic Chemistry (VOC), was launched in March by students in the research group of NJIT Assistant Professor of Chemistry Pier Alexandre Champagne.

A generous scholarship enabled Charu Arya to attend New Jersey Institute of Technology, and her professors helped solidify her career path. Indeed, both financial assistance and academic support fueled her success.

Arya ’21 reflected on that fruitful journey during NJIT’s annual Scholarship Brunch, sharing a pivotal moment during her sophomore year when she reconsidered her initial decision to study medicine. 

After a year layoff, one of NJIT’s standout annual research events returned to the campus community this month — more than 30 of the university’s top student-researchers took to their webcams to present their work for a virtual audience at the 2021 Dana Knox Research Showcase, "A Glimpse Into the Future.”