Research
Boldly innovating to impact society and transform the world.
Northeastern University has achieved the prestigious recognition as a top-tier R1 institution for research activity among U.S. colleges and universities by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Our tradition of partnership and engagement guides a use-inspired and interdisciplinary research enterprise that is strategically aligned with three global imperatives: health, security, and sustainability. Our annual Annual Report highlights pioneering research and achievements over the past year.
The College of Engineering has over 240 tenured/tenure-track faculty, each bringing complementary areas of research expertise to address pressing global challenges. Their state-of-art-research looks at critical issues in materials, processes, systems, infrastructure, hardware and software at every scale—nano to macro to global—grounded in a translational approach that integrates the values of fundamental and applied research.
Our faculty boldly innovate by collaborating across engineering disciplines and the university, as well as with government, academia, and industry. The College of Engineering has more than 20 multidisciplinary research centers and institutes with funding from eight federal agencies. Our commitment to conducting transformative research to better the world can be seen by our growth in external research funding, which exceeds $100 million annually, and by an investment in research facilities such as our 223,000 square foot, six-story Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex and 367,000 square foot, eight-story EXP facility for teaching and research.
Research At-A-Glance
Related Resources
Understand how Northeastern partners with industry for research and workforce development
View the faculty directory for more information on individual researchers.
Recent News
In ARPA-E Project, CEE faculty Push Frontier of Sustainable Structural Engineering
An ongoing multi-institutional research project led by CEE University Distinguished and CDM Smith Professor Jerry Hajjar and funded by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E) is laying the groundwork at the forefront of structural engineering. The grant, titled “4C2B: Century-Scale Carbon-Sequestration in Cross-Laminated Timber Composite Bolted-Steel Buildings,” remains underway, but is already bearing fruit in the development of a new system for building design and construction, with multiple papers published with findings from the promising research.
Two Northeastern Professors Recognized as Massachusetts AI Innovators
CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen and DMSB/MIE Associate Professor Tucker Marion both won the Massachusetts AI Hub’s AI Models Innovation Challenge.
New AI Tool Detects Sepsis Early
MGEN Teaching Professor Sergey Aitan has led a research project that has been working on developing an innovative medical tool using artificial intelligence that detects septic shock in the body.
COE Climate-Health Scorecard Gains National Attention
Research from CEE Professor Matthew Eckelman’s group on climate change and the American healthcare system, which was presented during NYC Climate Week, was featured on Good Morning America and several public radio stations and newspapers.