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 235 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 a 101% increase in external research funding from FY2017 to FY2023, and by an investment in research capabilities 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.
Government and Industry Partnerships
Industry and government partner with Northeastern for basic and applied research. The reason is simple: they know that at Northeastern, our two guiding principles are interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement with the real world. These principles are reflected in our research programs, which are driven by critical issues in materials, processes, systems and infrastructure. Our research collaborations are a win-win-win: our partners receive knowledge and products tailored to their needs, our researchers validate and extend their work, and our students receive training and experience to become the next generation of effective technologists.
Research At-A-Glance
krc@ece.northeastern.edu
Dynamic spectrum access; energy harvesting sensor networks; 5G technology; intra-body communication; protocol design for wireless; internet; wireless
Recent News
Studying Gut Bacteria
ChE Assistant Professor Benjamin Woolston, in collaboration with Ahmad (Mo) Khalil from Boston University, was awarded a $900,000 NSF grant for “Synthetic ecology of mixed aerobic/anaerobic microbial consortia.”
Leading the Charge in Building the Next Generation of Wireless Communication
ECE William Lincoln Smith Professor Tommaso Melodia oversees the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University. With a specific focus on wireless network technologies like 5G and 6G, he is helping Northeastern lead wireless communications into the future.
New AI Architecture Can Detect Breast Cancer With a Near-Perfect Accuracy Rate
BioE Assistant Research Professor Saeed Amal is part of a team of Northeastern researchers who have developed AI architecture that can detect breast cancer with an almost perfect accuracy rate. Amal explains how the AI technology learned and how it can be implemented.
Exploring the Potential of Frictional Mechanical Metamaterials
MIE Associate Professor Yaning Li was awarded a $531,056 NSF grant to explore a new category of mechanical metamaterials – “Frictional Mechanical Metamaterial.”