Student Research News
Aug 07, 2026
Opportunities and Avenues: Colin Gallagher’s Path Through Chemical Engineering
Colin Gallagher, PhD ’27, chemical engineering, works in the Qing Zhao Lab using computer modeling to better understand how certain materials can accelerate or improve chemical reactions. With the support of Northeastern faculty and resources—and his own dedication—Gallagher is well positioned to make a lasting contribution to the field in whatever role he pursues after completing his PhD.
Aug 04, 2026
Industrial Engineering Student Builds AI Agent to Repair Chemical Plant Blueprints
Sierre Ternoey, E, industrial engineering, developed an agentic AI tool during a research co-op in Germany that reads error reports and automatically fixes chemical plant process flow sheets.
Jul 30, 2026
MIE PhD Wins ASME SHTC HTD K-9 Best Presentation Award
Xuguang Zhang, MS’22, PhD, mechanical engineering, advised by MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng, received the ASME SHTC HTD K-9 Best Presentation Award at the ASME 2026 Summer Heat Transfer Conference for his presentation, “Additively Manufactured Hybrid Cooling Designs for High Performance Li-Ion Pouch Cell Thermal Management,” which details battery safety research developed through an ongoing collaboration with the NASA Glenn Research Center.
Jul 30, 2026
New All Terrain Robot Snuffs Out Wildfires With Liquid Nitrogen
MIE Professor Yiannis Levendis and a team of students have developed an all-terrain, mobile prototype robot that utilizes a residue-free cryogenic spray to safely suppress and smother dangerous wildfire hotspots before they expand out of control.
Jul 16, 2026
Designing a More Affordable, Sustainable Marimba
Amartya Bhattacharya, E, computer science and computer engineering, tested the physical and acoustic properties of 17 different materials, finding that hickory and cherry wood show the most promise as sustainable, affordable alternatives to endangered rosewood for constructing marimba practice bars.
Jul 16, 2026
Pantry Staple Science Helps Engineering Team Rethink the Laws of Physics
MIE Assistant Professor Xiaoyu Tang and graduate student Boqian Yan, MS’24, PhD, mechanical engineering, published research in Physical Review Fluids mapping five distinct behaviors of particle-heavy droplets—like oobleck—colliding with liquids, offering insights that could advance precision 3D printing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and environmental pesticide application.
Jul 08, 2026
Fall 2026 AJC Merit Research Scholars
Several engineering and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s AJC Merit Research Scholarship, which will fund a co-op in the laboratory of a Northeastern University STEM faculty member.
Jul 01, 2026
Turning Industrial Wastewater Into a Sustainable Supply Chain for Green Energy
Chemical Engineering Assistant Professor Damilola Daramola and PhD student Qudus Rafiu published a study in Joule revealing that extracting critical minerals like lithium and magnesium from industrial wastewater could cleanly power the green energy transition.