Students showcased innovative solutions to real-world problems at the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s annual Engineering Prototyping competition, with winning projects addressing classroom feedback, adjustable prosthetics, blast detection and human rights monitoring.

Biomedical engineering majors learned about internship and career opportunities with 18 medical technology and biotech companies at the annual “Student Employer Mashup,” co-hosted by the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center and the student chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Three students attended COP29 in Azerbaijan, thanks to funding from the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy.

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.

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.

In this Q&A, Prof. TzuYang Yu of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering gives some insights on what makes hurricanes so destructive.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently recognized Chemical Engineering Asst. Prof. Stephen T. Lam with an $876,564 Early Career Research Program award to develop reactor monitoring technology to help to achieve and sustain nuclear fusion reaction for generating power. 

The National Science Foundation has awarded Chemical Engineering Asst. Prof. Fanglin Che and her collaborator a three-year grant totaling $781,454 to develop a sustainable method for creating organonitrogen compounds, which are used in a wide range of industrial applications, from agriculture to pharmaceuticals. 

The U.S. Navy has awarded UMass Lowell a five-year, $2 million grant to develop a pipeline of graduates in industrial and manufacturing engineering that will help support New England defense industries.

The Massachusetts Gateway Cities Climate Resilience Center seeks to develop a community-driven climate resilience model in Lowell that can be replicated in other cities.

Assoc. Prof. Gulden Camci-Unal has been conducting tissue engineering research in her lab using finely crushed eggshells to create microscopic 3D structures, or scaffolds, where bone cells can grow and proliferate.

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.

UMass Lowell researchers, including Chemistry Asst. Prof. Michael Ross, have found that combining noble metal nanoparticles with bismuth created a concave shape with beneficial properties for renewable energy.

To help meet the industry’s expected demand for highly skilled workers, the SHAP3D Center at UMass Lowell has launched START, a workforce development program supported by the National Science Foundation.

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).

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.

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.

Chemical Engineering Asst. Prof. Stephen T. Lam and researchers from MIT and Stony Brook University recently won a three-year, $1 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to improve our understanding of molten salt reactor systems.

Asst. Prof. Chiara Ghezzi will use her five-year, $650,000 CAREER grant to understand the connection between human oral tissue and the oral microbiome, and how they interact, by creating a model of the human gum tissue system in her laboratory.

The food forest on South Campus is being used for research, in academic courses and as a place for the community to gather.

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.

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.

Students in the Radiation Safety and Control course received practical experience assessing, measuring and evaluating simulated radioactive contamination in a controlled environment.

Although they took different academic paths at UMass Lowell, the Nkwantah sisters relied on each other for support and inspiration.

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.

Professor Emeritus Nick Schott is one of 17 individuals who will be inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame on May 5, before the NPE 2024 The Plastics Show begins in Orlando, Florida. 

In recognition of his achievements in the field of plastics engineering, Prof. Emeritus Robert Malloy is being honored with this year’s Russell W. Ehlers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Students competing in the Climate Mitigation Challenge came up with innovative ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 pounds in 10 weeks.

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. 

The Robotics Club is looking to make a difference in people’s lives with its robotic guide dog invention, which the club has entered into the SICK $10K Challenge and the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s $50K Idea Challenge.

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.

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.

Assoc. Prof. Arghavan Louhghalam of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is conducting research on “resilience analytics” that could someday help communities mitigate the impact of such earthquakes and other natural disasters.

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.

The state has awarded UML a $500,000 grant to help establish the Massachusetts Electronics Manufacturing Evolution (MEME) Laboratory to train students and industry workers in the design and fabrication of PCBs.

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.

Students represented UMass Lowell in Dubai at COP28, the annual United Nations climate summit.

Chemical engineering Assoc. Profs. Dongming Xie and Hsi-Wu Wong were awarded a three-year, $463,000 grant by the National Science Foundation to develop technology that would help reduce waste polyethylene plastic through upcycling.

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.

Chemical Engineering Prof. Sanjeev Manohar was awarded a $730,000 grant by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to develop an undergraduate biomanufacturing workforce development program to help meet the growing needs of industry.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to a team of researchers led by Electrical Engineering Prof. Yan Luo to develop a data analytics platform that uses biosensors to detect harmful organisms such as Vibrio and Pseudomonas in aquaculture farms and coastal waters.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Asst. Prof. Fanglin Che of the Department of Chemical Engineering as one of 93 rising scientists and engineers from across the country to receive its prestigious Early Career Research Program Award.

UMass Lowell is leading a project to establish a first-of-its-kind advanced manufacturing technologist training program to support the workforce needs of the aerospace and defense industries in Massachusetts.

A team of researchers led by Plastics Engineering Asst. Prof. Aboutaleb (Amir) Ameli was awarded $2.7 million to develop technologies for recovering plastics and natural fibers from mixed, nonrecyclable solid waste that would otherwise go to landfills.

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.”

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.

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.

A team of researchers led by Electrical and Computer Engineering Prof. Hengyong Yu is developing technology that would greatly improve cardiac CT scans, which doctors currently use to diagnose cardiovascular diseases.

Prof. Shannon Kelleher of the Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Department and her research team identified molecules in human milk for the first time that may be responsible for regulating milk volume.

Biomedical Engineering Asst. Prof. Zhenglun “Alan” Wei leads a team of researchers working to develop computer programs to help doctors treat newborns, infants and toddlers with congenital heart problems.

Five projects created by members of the UML community received Sustainability Engagement and Enrichment Development (S.E.E.D.) funding from the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy.

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.

Siblings Martin, Justin and Jasmin Marwad will be receiving bachelor’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering when they cross the Commencement stage.

For identical twins Zarek and Tymon Nieduzak of Acton, Massachusetts, graduating from UMass Lowell at the same time is double the fun and excitement.

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.

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.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently recognized Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Asst. Prof. Maria L. Carreon with a prestigious faculty early career development grant, called the CAREER award.

Leidos, Teradyne, and Turner Construction visited the campus with the intent to hire engineers for internships and full-time positions.

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.

The new River Hawk Experience Distinction in sustainability helps students expand their sustainability knowledge through courses and experiential learning.

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.

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.

Assoc. Prof. Neil Shortland and a team of interdisciplinary researchers are looking at using artificial intelligence modeled after human attributes to make decisions in extreme situations.

A team of Civil and Environmental Engineering students is working with the city of Lowell to help inspect and monitor the city’s aging roadways and bridges under the supervision of Prof. TzuYang Yu.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan of the Department of Plastics Engineering, a highly regarded researcher and teacher, has been named Distinguished University Professor, the top accolade bestowed on a UMass Lowell faculty member.

A community-based project led by Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Pradeep Kurup to test and monitor the quality and safety of drinking water for thousands of Merrimack Valley residents has been awarded a research grant totaling nearly $2.5 million by the National Science Foundation.

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).

A research team led by Biomedical Engineering Asst. Prof. Bryan James Black is developing a way to screen non-opioid drugs for use in treating chronic pain.

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.

The Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy awarded fellowships to plastics engineering major Abby Mastromonaco, entrepreneurship Ph.D. student William Zhou and Chemistry Asst. Prof. Juan Artes Vivancos.

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.

A team of researchers headed by Electrical and Computer Engineering Prof. Kavitha Chandra is developing interdisciplinary programs that target graduate education and future workforce training in using digital technologies for automotive and manufacturing industries.

The National Science Foundation has recognized Mechanical Engineering Asst. Prof. Marianna Maiaru with the agency’s most prestigious faculty early-career development award, for research that could lead to improvements in the performance of everything from booster rockets to sports equipment.

The Office of Sustainability and the University Library created the Sustainable Publishing Fund to help researchers, like Chemical Engineering Asst. Prof. Fanglin Che, publish their sustainability-related work in open-access journals.

The New England Consortium at UMass Lowell will provide safety training courses for hundreds of students looking to work in the offshore wind industry, thanks to a $300,000 state grant administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

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.

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.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has named Lara Thompson ’03 as one of three recipients of this year's Alan T. Waterman Award, the nation's highest honor for early-career scientists and engineers.

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.

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.

Amara, a social media platform designed to create a more positive experience for users, took top honors at the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s 10th annual $50,000 Idea Challenge, held recently at Moloney Hall.

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.

Researchers led by Chemical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Hsi-Wu Wong was recently awarded a three-year, $1.6 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy to help reduce waste plastic films.

Electrical engineering major Roman Shepeliev, who emigrated from Ukraine to the U.S. with his mom in 2016, is concerned about family and friends facing a Russian invasion back home.

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.