The 11th Annual New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards, held on June 25 at the Pines Manor in Edison, New Jersey, celebrated the remarkable achievements of immigrant business leaders who have significantly contributed to New Jersey’s economy. Among the distinguished honorees were two exceptional alumni from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT): Jordan Hu ’89 and Dieter Weissenrieder ’76. Jordan Hu: Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Jordan Hu, Founder and CEO of RiskVal Financial Solutions, LLC, was recognized as the Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year. Originally hailing from Taiwan…

Materium Technologies, a startup company with deep NJIT roots, is bringing data science innovations into the slowly evolving field of solar energy panels. Startups are always a gamble, but the Materium team has a good hand, with two pair of Highlanders — recent alumni Sheldon Fereira (M.S. ‘23) and Scott Daniel (M.S. ‘24), advised by Professor Nuggehalli Ravindra and Adjunct Instructor Michael Jaffe. Their collective scientific expertise spans the worlds of artificial intelligence, applied physics, biomedical engineering, and semiconductors. Their idea evolved throughout 2023 and the…

While many serious cases of COVID-19 are marked by respiratory distress and dangerously low blood oxygen levels — a condition referred to as hypoxia — the occurrence of “silent or happy hypoxia” affecting a subset of patients has puzzled experts since the pandemic's onset. Now, computational modeling research spearheaded at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is helping uncover the elusive cause of "happy hypoxia" in COVID-19 patients, revealing why some individuals may experience critically low blood-oxygen saturation without the typical struggle to breathe. In findings published in…

The transparent larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) is only 4mm long, but for NJIT biologist Kristen Severi, the vertebrate offers an expansive window for exploration into how the brain and nervous system controls behavior. “Like putting a big puzzle together, we’re trying to understand all the circuits in the brain that control locomotion,” said Severi. “If the spinal cord is damaged, it can result in paralysis, but we still don't understand all the pieces we’d need to restore full function. “The same types of neurons that form the circuits for locomotion in humans can be found in zebrafish,…

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) earned the top rating in Money’s 2024 analysis of the Best Colleges in America. With five stars, NJIT tied Princeton University as the highest-rated university in New Jersey and matched STEM schools like MIT, Georgia Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology. The rating marks an improvement from last year, when NJIT earned 4 ½ stars. In 2023, Money shifted from a numerical ranking of the top universities and colleges in the U.S. to individual ratings, based on factors such as graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid…

Gbocho Obo’s entrée into biotechnology came via the science, technology and society bachelor’s he earned at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The multidisciplinary degree from NJIT's College of Science and Liberal Arts appealed to his interest in how science and tech impacts people of color like himself.  “My major gave me the skill to understand the reasons why the statistics concerning people of color and other minority groups are what they are, scientifically speaking,” Obo said. “I loved most the gathering of quantitative and qualitative data, personal experience testimonies…

Preaching patience, courage and resilience, MGM Construction Co. President and CEO Marjorie Perry urged the Class of 2024 at New Jersey Institute of Technology to become lifelong learners as they apply their imagination to real-world challenges. Perry, an NJIT alumna who serves on its Foundation Board of Directors, called on the undergraduates earning bachelor’s degrees to be “agents of change in our communities” and build a future “that we can all be proud of.” “You stand at the crossroads of what is and what can be,…

New Jersey Institute of Technology served up a full day of fanfare as its advanced degree graduates walked across the stage in the Wellness and Events Center in three commencement ceremonies on May 15. The 2024 class comprises more than 1,400 graduates and reflects the institution’s steady growth and upward trajectory. NJIT Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs John Pelesko, participating in his first commencement exercises as provost, called the ceremonies to order. Pelesko, himself a 1997 alumnus of NJIT as the very first Ph.D. graduate in mathematical sciences, implored…

Here, we conclude a two-part series in which winners of the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award at this year’s College of Science and Liberal Arts Awards share memorable experiences that highlighted their path to success at NJIT, while they also look ahead to plans after Commencement 2024. Isaiah Rejouis, B.A. Biology   Where did you grow up and what led you to NJIT? I grew up in West Orange, NJ. One of my reasons for applying to NJIT was its reputation as a leading university in research. I’ve been fascinated…

A special group of NJIT’s graduating seniors is finishing undergraduate life with a flourish — their achievements across the humanities and STEM sciences recently earned them the Outstanding Student Award at the College of Science and Liberal Arts Awards this month. In the first of a two-part series, we catch up with this year’s winners who share their successes and memorable moments at NJIT, as well as exciting plans following Commencement 2024. Anneliese Schmidt, B.S. Applied Physics   Where did you grow up and…