A Helping Hand

  • UMass Lowell students have joined together across majors to design, build and donate prosthetic devices for children.

    eNABLE Lowell is a local chapter of a global nonprofit volunteer organization that provides 3D printed prosthetic devices to children around the world.

Francis College of Engineering News

  • Prof. Meg Sobkowicz Kline

    Researchers Win USDA Grant to Develop Biodegradable Mulch Films for Agriculture

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded a four-year, $744,000 grant to Assoc. Prof. Jonas Baltrusaitis of Lehigh University and Prof. Meg Sobkowicz Kline of UMass Lowell to develop new mulch films for agricultural crops that are not only sustainable and biodegradable but will also help nourish and improve the health of soils and reduce plastic pollution.
    Featured Story
  • Asst. Prof. Zeinab Hajjarian

    Researcher Aims to Improve Breast Cancer Imaging Technology

    Asst. Prof. Zeinab Hajjarian of the Department of Biomedical Engineering is working to improve breast cancer imaging technology, and her project is supported by a three-year, $400,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.
    Featured Story
  • UMass Lowell students line up on the South Campus lawn.

    Students Get a Head Start on Course Work and College Life

    A range of special summer programs offer a head start on college classes and campus connections for incoming first-year students, transfer students and high school students. Some even offer full scholarships.
    Featured Story
  • Prof. Hengyong Yu head shot

    Hengyong Yu Elected Fellow of the IEEE and AAPM

    Prof. Hengyong Yu of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
    Department News
  • Undergraduate Design Project

    Undergraduate Project Leads to Full-Time Job Offers

    The Kennedy College of Sciences’ Undergraduate Design Project, which connects students with companies to work on real problems, sets up a pathway for students to get full-time jobs.
    Featured Story
  • A person in a blue shirt gestures with his hand while posing for a photo at an outdoor track.

    UML’s Kotowski Lets It Fly at U.S. Olympic Trials

    After another record-breaking season for the UMass Lowell men’s track and field team, javelin thrower James Kotowski ’24 recorded a personal-best throw at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon, but fell just short of making the U.S. team.
    Featured Story
  • food forest Andrew Boules

    Food Forest Blossoms on South Campus

    The food forest on South Campus is being used for research, in academic courses and as a place for the community to gather.
    Featured Story
  • Asst. Prof. Xinfang Jin

    Engineering Professor Recognized with NSF CAREER Award for Renewable Energy Research

    The National Science Foundation has recognized Asst. Prof. Xinfang Jin of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering with its prestigious faculty early career development CAREER award. Jin is researching ways to greatly increase the production of hydrogen and the long-term storage of energy.
    Featured Story
  • Seven people pose for a photo standing in front of an academic poster.

    New Program Gives Graduate Students a LIFT

    Ten students recently completed UMass Lowell’s Innovative Fellows Training (LIFT), a new program supported by a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging that is designed to diversify career opportunities for early-career scientists in the field of aging and aging-related diseases.
    Featured Story
  • A group of people talk while walking on a plaza outside a building.

    ‘Being There for Each Other Made It Easier’

    Amidst the uncertainty and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, eight first-year business and engineering majors developed a strong bond in the fall of 2020 at UML that carried them through to Commencement and beyond.
    Featured Story
  • Offshore wind turbines

    Researchers to Spearhead New $11.9M Academic Center for Offshore Wind Energy

    UMass Lowell researchers are gearing up to expand their efforts targeting offshore wind energy as part of ARROW, a collaborative project with UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth and other partners that will accelerate research and the deployment and scale-up of domestic offshore wind energy. 
    Featured Story
  • A man in a gray T-shirt mixes waffle batter in a silver bowl in a kitchen.

    Batter Up: Alumni Create Gluten-Free Waffle Business

    Proven Provisions, a business started by health sciences alum Christianto Putra ’16, ’21 and his wife, plastics engineering alumna Raissa Yona ’15, recently introduced its first gluten-free, high-protein waffle mix.
    Featured Story
  • Close-up of computer skills class student Jasmine Douglas

    $4 Million Digital Equity Grant Funds Broadband and Classes in Three Cities

    A $4 million state grant will pay for the university to set up broadband internet access in disadvantaged areas of Lowell, Fitchburg and Haverhill. The grant, part of a state effort to promote digital equity, is also paying UMass Lowell students to teach basic computer skills to older and low-income residents.
    Featured Story
  • A student's hands taking apart a baseball for testing in the UMass Lowell Baseball Research Center, the primary testing lab for Major League Baseball

    Sports Engineering Minor Hits the Sweet Spot

    A new minor in sports engineering offers practical experience and a well-rounded approach. It’s the first such program for undergraduates in the U.S.
    Featured Story
  • A woman in a yellow top holds a blue piece of plastic while talking to a group of students seated around a table

    New Interdisciplinary Course Proves the Power of Invention

    A new interdisciplinary course, Adaptive Devices for Better Life, brings together students majoring in art and design, physical therapy and kinesiology, engineering and biology to create devices that assist disabled clients from the community.
    Featured Story
  • A man in a T-shirt works on an electronic device at a bench in a shop

    Engineering Alum Building a Better Lobster Trap

    Plastics engineering alum Cormac Hondros-McCarthy ’16 is developing a ropeless lobster fishing system, LiftLabs, to protect the endangered North American right whale and prevent the loss of fishing gear.
    Featured Story
  • Gulden and grad student in the lab

    Professor Developing Pancreas-Like Engineered Tissues to Help People with Diabetes

    Chemical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Gulden Camci-Unal was recently awarded a three-year collaborative research grant worth nearly $242,000 by the National Science Foundation to develop bioartificial pancreas-like engineered tissues that could someday help improve the quality of life of people with diabetes.
    Featured Story
  • Eight people pose for a group photo on a factory floor

    Plastics Engineering Students, Alumni Right at Home in ‘The Big Easy’

    Intralox, a leading conveyor belt manufacturer based in New Orleans, has developed a strong relationship with UMass Lowell’s plastics engineering program. More than 20 students have worked as interns or co-ops at the company since 2016, and there are seven alumni now working there full time.
    Featured Story
  • Nishi Shah at her internship as Bae Systems

    UML Students Earn While They Learn

    UML students, from a range of majors, share what they learned during their recent paid internships, co-ops and research experiences – and how it’s given them new perspectives on their coursework.
    Featured Story
  • CT scanner

    Engineering Professor Awarded $2.3 Million to Improve CT Scan Images

    Prof. Hengyong Yu of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been awarded a four-year, $2.3 million grant by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to help improve the image quality and resolution of photon-counting computed tomography (CT) scans.
    Featured Story
  • Rist fellow Caralyn Conrad

    Sustainability Projects Take Shape on Campus

    The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy granted fellowships to mechanical engineering major Caralyn Conrad, industrial engineering Ph.D. student Mahsa Ghandi and Art and Design Assoc. Prof. Kirsten Swenson.
    Featured Story
  • Contestants on The Great Food Truck Race TV show pose for a photo with the host in a city plaza

    Alumni’s Italian Food Truck is Off to the Races

    Less than a year after opening their Italian food truck Paisani in Boston, alumni Matt Minichiello ’21 and Ryan Palmer ’20 are competing on the new season of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”
    Featured Story
  • Headshots of two men and one women

    Three UML Faculty Members Named Fulbright Scholars

    Three UML faculty members — Sheree Pagsuyoin, M. Berk Talay and Spencer Ross — have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for the 2023-24 academic year and will be conducting research in Europe, Asia and South America.
    Featured Story
  • A student wearing glasses concentrates on work he is doing to a race car

    River Hawk Racing Restarts Its Engine

    For the first time since 2018, the River Hawk Racing team is competing in the Formula SAE competition at Michigan International Speedway, where it will put its race car to the test against more than 100 schools from across North America.
    Featured Story
  • A man in an orange vest and hard hat gestures while talking to a group of students

    Hard Hats Required in This Construction Management Course

    Civil engineering students got a real-world lesson in construction management this semester from adjunct faculty member Rex Radloff ’09, ’11, a Suffolk Construction project executive in charge of the $381 million Lowell High School renovation.
    Featured Story
  • Zarek-Tymon-Nieduzak

    Band of Brothers

    For identical twins Zarek and Tymon Nieduzak of Acton, Massachusetts, graduating from UMass Lowell at the same time is double the fun and excitement.
    Featured Story
  • A student leans over a bowl of soup while talking to people at a table

    Friday Soup Lunch Serves Vibrancy by the Bowl

    Friday Soup Lunch has grown from a weekly get-together in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to a traveling potluck that gives students, faculty and staff across the UML campus a chance to unwind together over bowls of soup.
    Featured Story
  • A student holds a model airplane with clear wings for four other students to see

    Students’ Life-Saving Device Takes Top DifferenceMaker Prize

    Catnap, a device to sense when toddlers are about to have a nocturnal asthma attack, won the top prize at the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s 11th annual $50,000 Idea Challenge, held recently at University Crossing.
    Featured Story
  • Assoc. Prof. Trelles and grad student in the lab

    Researchers Develop Way to Produce Hydrogen from Plastic Waste

    A team of university and U.S. Army researchers, led by UML Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Assoc. Prof. Assoc. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles, has developed a way to extract hydrogen from plastic waste that can be used as clean fuel.
    Featured Story
  • Offshore wind turbines

    Using Sound Waves to Monitor Offshore Wind Turbine Blades

    Mechanical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Murat Inalpolat and his team are developing and implementing a continuous, sound-based sensor system for monitoring the structural health and integrity of offshore wind turbine blades.
    Featured Story
  • UML business major Rohan Solanki demonstrates how he squeezed between his fraternity's garage and the backyard fence to help rescue neighbors from a burning house

    Fraternity Members Rescue Lowell Residents from Fire

    Members of four fraternity houses near North Campus rescued several people from a 2:30 a.m. house fire, gave them warm clothing and provided information to fire investigators and police. And the whole Greek system is working to aid the displaced families.
    Featured Story
  • A closeup photo of a person's hands working on a puzzle; the image is of a smiling woman in glasses

    She Pieces Together Future Careers — and Jigsaw Puzzles

    When she’s not helping engineering students find co-op jobs, Asst. Director of Cooperative Education Tiffany Medeiros is racing to complete jigsaw puzzles in national competitions.
    Featured Story
  • A rugby player runs with the ball while being swarmed by defenders during a game

    Plastics Engineering Grad Gears Up for Pro Rugby Career

    Nolan Buckley completed his plastics engineering degree in December, but he’s putting that career on hold as he begins his rookie season of Major League Rugby with the Dallas Jackals.
    Featured Story
  • A student holding a microphone gestures to a screen with an airplane diagram behind him while making a presentation

    Engineering Students Devise Way to Help Kids With Asthma

    Catnap, a device designed to alert parents when their sleeping child is having an asthma attack, won the ninth annual DifferenceMaker Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition, held recently at University Crossing.
    Featured Story
  • Meg with student in the lab

    Engineering Professors’ Research on Plastics Recycling and Sustainability Gets $1M

    Prof. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline and Asst. Teaching Prof. Akshay Kokil were awarded funding totaling $1 million by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology for projects that aim to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills and the environment each year.
    Featured Story
  • COP27 JRV, Tyler and Arie

    COP27 Empowers Students to Address Climate Change

    Three students and three faculty members traveled to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27, the United Nations climate summit, where they were the only delegation from a public university in Massachusetts.
    Featured Story
  • Transene research team

    Students Help Local Company Find Safer Alternatives to PFAS

    With the help of a student research team, Transene Company is offering etching solutions to its semiconductor customers that don't contain the toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
    Featured Story
  • Four women pose for a photo while standing in front of a window with a dark shade

    Engineering Alum Works to Protect Boston from Flooding

    Civil engineering alum Julie Eaton Ernst ’14, ’17 spoke about her work to make Boston’s waterfront more climate-resilient at the inaugural James B. Francis Lecture on the Built Environment.
    Featured Story
  • Two young men dressed as pirates pose for a photo in front of a pirate ship vehicle

    Ahoy! Swashbuckling Engineering Students Put Skills to Test

    Mechanical engineering majors Giancarlos Jaime-Guzman and Chris Jorge-Rosario competed against teams from across the country in the annual Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, a carnival-like spectacle that blends science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
    Featured Story
  • Two men stand next to research equipment and a radiation area caution sign

    Radiation Safety Program Earns Brand-New International Accolade

    UMass Lowell has been recognized with the first Outstanding Radiation Safety Program award by the Health Physics Society, an international nonprofit organization of more than 5,000 scientists, physicians, engineers and other professionals.
    Featured Story
  • Instructor works with two students on computers

    Lowell Students Learn STEAM Skills at UMass Lowell

    After a two-year break during the pandemic, Lowell middle school students once again visited UMass Lowell’s Francis College of Engineering last week as part of Idea Camp.
    Lowell Sun In The News
  • Yanfen Li's research team

    New Program Aims to Foster Diversity in Future Engineering Faculty

    A team of faculty researchers led by Biomedical Engineering Asst. Teaching Prof. Yanfen Li has been awarded a six-year grant totaling nearly $1.5 million by the National Science Foundation to create a diverse and competitive pool of students who could become future faculty candidates in engineering.
    Featured Story
  • Asst. Prof. Yuzhang Lin

    Electrical Engineering Professor Wins $500K NSF CAREER Award

    Asst. Prof. Yuzhang Lin was recently awarded a five-year, $500,000 faculty early-career development grant by the National Science Foundation to conduct a study that will help better predict and visualize power distribution capacity and consumers’ power demand in real time.
    Featured Story
  • Manning School of Business honors students and faculty at an Honors College mixer

    Honors College Matches Students with Faculty Mentors

    With mixers that follow a speed-dating format, the Honors College is matching more honors students with faculty mentors for research opportunities and final honors theses and projects. The college offers $1,500 fellowships to support student researchers, who may also be paid through faculty grants.
    Featured Story
  • Three students hold award certificates while talking to two faculty members on a staircase

    Lights Out! Students’ Energy-Saving Idea Wins CO2 Challenge

    A competition-based initiative to get students thinking about their residence hall energy usage won the third annual Rist Institute for Sustainability & Energy Climate Mitigation Challenge, which asks students to find ways to reduce CO2 emissions by 10,000 pounds in 10 weeks.