Seventh Cohort of AJC Merit Research Scholars Begin Co-ops
We are happy to welcome our seventh cohort of AJC Merit Research Scholars beginning their July-December 2026 co-ops. The AJC Merit Research Scholarship provides academically excellent Northeastern undergraduates with the opportunity to participate in a full-time, research co-op in the lab of a tenured or tenure-track Northeastern University faculty member in the STEM fields, at a wage comparable to what they might earn in industry.
The AJC Merit Research Scholars are engaging in a wide range of exciting projects while also participating in weekly enrichment opportunities with the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships team and faculty mentors. The program is designed to help Scholars develop as researchers and thinkers, as well as gain insight into what advanced graduate study looks like and how they might best approach those future opportunities.
Read below to learn more about this seventh cohort of AJC Merit Research Scholars and the projects they will be working on over the months ahead.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Rosalyn Beckwith, COE’27, Mechanical Engineering/Physics
Mentor: Toyoko Orimoto, COS, Physics
Rosalyn Beckwith is a Mechanical Engineering and Physics student who will work with Professor Toyoko Orimoto, contributing to experimental research in particle physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Rosalyn’s work will focus on muon collider R&D, including studies of proton bunch compression and muon production for a proposed test facility at Brookhaven’s Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. Then this fall at CERN, she will contribute to Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector upgrade efforts for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider, with work involving detector electronics and timing systems for future high-energy physics experiments.
Rosalyn developed her interest in particle physics through two co-op experiences at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, where she supported cryogenic systems for accelerator systems and magnet technology research. She further explored this interest during a study abroad program in South Korea, studying quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. Building on these experiences, Rosalyn hopes to contribute to future accelerator technologies while preparing to pursue a PhD in particle physics after graduation. Outside of academics, she enjoys practicing yoga and attending live music events.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Megan Farrington, COE’27, Electrical Engineering/Physics
Mentor: Kin Chung Fong, COS, Physics
Megan Farrington is a fourth-year Electrical Engineering and Physics student who will work in the lab of Dr. Kin Chung Fong, investigating new operating regimes of SQUID magnetometers. These devices utilize the unique electrical properties of superconductors to measure extremely small magnetic fields. Altering their bias conditions could yield order-of-magnitude improvements in applications such as dark matter detection.
Megan’s interest in the intersection of superconductivity and magnetics began from her first lab experience in the X-platform Magnonics Laboratory. She has since engaged in a multitude of research projects ranging from quantum confinement in nanoparticles to the electronic effects of chirality. Most recently, she earned a PEAK Summit fellowship to design a superconducting parametric isolator, a part necessary for scalable quantum computing. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering focused on superconducting device design.
Outside of her research, Megan is an active member of the Northeastern University Mars Rover Team, where she writes and tests high-level software to control the prototype rover at international competitions. When not on campus, you can usually find her curled up with a good book.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Jay Frohwirth, Khoury’28, Computer Science/Linguistics
Mentor: Megan Hofmann, Khoury, Computer Science
Jay Frohwirth is a third-year Computer Science and Linguistics major who will be working at the Accessible Creative Technologies (ACT) Lab under Professor Megan Hofmann at Khoury College. Here, Jay will design and develop programming languages for automatic knitting machines. Jay has been interested in the design of programming languages since his exposure to the Racket language, which was formerly taught in Northeastern’s introductory computer science courses. Before beginning his development work with the ACT Lab, Jay spent a semester researching various programming languages and implementing his own as part of Northeastern’s Programming Languages course.
Over the course of his co-op, Jay hopes to gain more hands-on experience implementing interpreters and compilers, and to contribute to the growing body of work related to knitting software. After this co-op, Jay wants to seek out more work related to programming language research and development.
Outside of class and research, Jay is a member of Northeastern’s origami club and enjoys playing Go with his friends.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Melissa Harvey, COS’27, Biology
Mentor: Patricia Mabrouk, COS, Chemistry
Melissa Harvey is a fourth-year biology major with a minor in law and public policy. As an AJC Merit Research Scholar, Melissa will be working in the lab of Patricia Mabrouk, Professor of Chemistry, this summer and fall. In this position, she will be studying graduate chemistry students’ knowledge of patent law. This co-op provides a wonderful opportunity to combine her interests in law and science, as well as to develop quantitative and qualitative research skills. Melissa hopes to learn how to visualize and understand gaps in knowledge and use this skill set in graduate school.
Before this co-op, Melissa worked as a rehabilitation aide at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Outside of school, Melissa loves to dance, as she is a part of Northeastern Dance Company and Harvard Ballet Company. She also loves to run!
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Vignan Kamarthi, Khoury’27, Computer Science/Business Administration
Mentor: Raymond Fu, COE, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Vignan Kamarthi will spend this summer and fall as an AJC Merit Research Scholar co-op in the SMILE Lab of Prof. Yun Raymond Fu, working in the AI computer vision and machine learning space. Here, he is developing his own line of research at the intersection of video understanding, foundation models, and embodied intelligence. A third-year combined major in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, concurrently pursuing a Master’s in Finance at Northeastern, Vignan‘s interest in this work grew out of a long-standing fascination with how machines can build internal models of the world, the same question that drives modern research on world models, foundation model development, and embodied agents.
Prior to this co-op, he co-authored two peer-reviewed publications, ICMI 2025 on multimodal physiological signal classification and ASEE 2026 on multi-agent intelligence systems, and works as an Embedded Systems Engineer at Boston Engineering on satellite communications subsystems. Vignan hopes this co-op will sharpen his trajectory toward a PhD in the AI/CV/ML space, where he intends to continue building toward general, embodied machine intelligence. Outside the lab, Vignan is an avid home cook, a history and economics buff, and a former personal trainer.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Sydney Kleber, COS’27, Behavioral Neuroscience
Mentor: Brie Reid, COS, Psychology
Sydney Kleber will be working in Dr. Brie Reid’s Research on Early and Integrated Development Lab at Northeastern University, studying how early experiences and biological factors shape brain and body development. Her work will contribute to the lab’s research on the connections between social environments, nutrition, stress physiology, immune development, nutrient metabolism, neurodevelopment, and behavior. Sydney’s interest in this work stems from a love of neuroscience, a growing interest in women’s health, and a desire to understand how research discoveries translate into knowledge that can ultimately improve people’s lives.
Sydney is a second-year Behavioral Neuroscience major. She was recently awarded the Best Patient-centered Proposal as part of the Husky Health Innovation Challenge (HHIC), is on the Executive Board of The Epilepsy Alliance, and is a STEM mentor with Science Club for Girls. In her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and anything that involves being near animals.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Victor Li, Khoury’28, Data Science
Mentor: Johan Bonilla Castro, COS, Physics
Victor Li is a third-year Data Science major at Northeastern University with minors in Physics and Mathematics. As an AJC Merit Research Scholar this summer and fall, they will be working with Professor Johan Bonilla Castro’s lab on the CMS Experiment at CERN, contributing to projects involving detector operations, machine learning, and data-driven tools for high-energy physics research.
Prior to this co-op, Victor conducted research alongside Professor Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera on machine learning approaches for analyzing neutron reflectivity data related to energy storage materials. Victor hopes to learn more about scientific computing and large-scale research systems in this co-op and go on to pursue a graduate degree. Outside of class, Victor is a member of the NURobotics club and loves to make jewelry and sew clothes.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Valentina Moghaddam, COS’27, Criminal Justice/Psychology
Mentor: Analia Albuja, COS, Psychology
Valentina Moghaddam is joining Dr. Analia Albuja’s Belonging and Social Identities Lab (BASIL) this summer and fall, assisting in research testing people’s perceptions of how well they categorize others by race and gender using social psychological methods. Valentina’s interest in the work of this research emerged from an ever-present curiosity in our social systems, factors that influence our perceptions and actions, as well as her lived experience as a multiracial and multicultural individual.
As a transfer student into the Criminal Justice & Psychology program, Valentina’s experience prior to this co-op comes from outside of the typical formal academic avenues with extensive independent exploration, travel, and studies. With this being her first co-op, she hopes to learn more about the processes in a research lab, and later attend graduate school with hopes of teaching. Outside of academics, Valentina is on the executive board of a student activist organization, an avid reader, cook, and loves playing the guitar.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Katrina Pallais, COS’28, Marine Biology
Mentor: Jennifer Bowen, COS, Marine and Environmental Sciences
Katrina Pallais is a second-year student working in the Bowen Microbial Ecosystems Ecology Lab for the summer-fall 2026 co-op cycle, where her research examines the microbial composition of salt marsh ecosystems. These ecosystems, which are abundant throughout New England, play an important role in reducing anthropogenic CO2 and mitigating eutrophication by converting excess nitrogen into biomass. Her research aims to analyze how prior restoration efforts impact the function and structure of microbial communities, and link directed plant succession to microbial composition.
As a Marine Biology major, Katrina’s interests have always centered around environmental conservation. She has previously worked for the Green Cambridge program, which focused on reducing the city’s carbon impact through urban reforestation and helped care for critically endangered African penguins at the New England Aquarium. From this co-op, she hopes to gain experience collecting ecological data and expertise utilizing lab tools, which will help prepare her for her future career. Eventually, she plans to create her own restoration project and pursue ecology research through a graduate degree. Outside of academics, Katrina is a member of the Northeastern beekeeping club and enjoys hiking, swimming, dancing, and painting.
AJC Merit Research Scholar: Bryanna Upton, COS’27, Cell and Molecular Biology
Mentor: Yunrong Chai, COS, Biochemistry
Bryanna Upton is a fourth-year Cell and Molecular Biology major joining Dr. Yunrong Chai’s lab, which focuses on biofilms, a resilient type of bacterial community that can adhere to surfaces. Bryanna’s project will focus on biofilm inhibition and how known antibiotics, specifically kanamycin, can have off-target, antibiofilm properties. The project aims to identify the mechanism by which kanamycin yields its antibiofilm effect, and if chemically related antibiotics can create the same outcome.
Bryanna has long been interested in microbiology, starting in high school and into university, leading her to take a microbiology class taught by Dr. Chai. She then worked on a molecular cloning project in the Chai lab during the Fall 2025 semester before studying abroad in Scotland in Spring 2026. Through this co-op, Bryanna hopes to build a larger library of lab techniques and bridge her molecular biology experience with a microbiological context. She also aims to build strong communication and research skills, as she prepares to pursue a PhD after graduation.
Outside of her studies, Bryanna is the President of Northeastern’s Club Archery team and enjoys rowing. She also volunteers at Science Club for Girls, a free after-school program that teaches young girls different STEM topics to get them excited about science.