Engineering research fair attracts hundreds of undergrads

On Monday night, under­grad­uate engi­neering stu­dents got an up-​​close look at many of the cutting-​​edge labs and research oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able on campus.

Some 400 stu­dents vis­ited the Curry Stu­dent Center indoor quad for the Under­grad­uate Lab Fair, which fea­tured about 30 Col­lege of Engi­neering research labs and pro­grams that focus on topics including nanomed­i­cine, health sys­tems engi­neering and intel­li­gent human-​​machine sys­tems. The event allowed stu­dents to learn more about this inno­v­a­tive research and to con­nect with fac­ulty and their peers to find out how they can get involved.

First-​​year stu­dents David Siegel and Heather Strele­vitz, both E’19, came to the fair with an open mind as they were still deciding on their spe­cific majors within the col­lege. “We just wanted to come and see what there is,” said Siegel, who expressed interest in joining the elec­trical engi­neering program.

Richard West, an assis­tant pro­fessor in the Depart­ment of Chem­ical Engi­neering whose research involves com­pu­ta­tional mod­eling, said the fair was a great oppor­tu­nity for stu­dents to explore a variety of research topics and iden­tify those that piqued their interests.

“I think this event is fan­tastic,” West said, noting that attending the fair was an easy way for stu­dents to seek out fac­ulty mem­bers in dis­ci­plines that align with their inter­ests. “Events like these have been fruitful in the past. We have under­grad­u­ates helping quite a lot in our lab on a variety of levels.”

One of those stu­dents is Jason Cain, E’17. He dis­cov­ered West’s lab at a pre­vious research fair, and now he’s working there along­side a grad­uate stu­dent studying the highest point of energy in a reaction.

“I have learned a lot, and this oppor­tu­nity has def­i­nitely given me the goal of pursing my doc­torate after I grad­uate from North­eastern,” Cain said.

He added that he uti­lized some of the pro­graming skills he learned in West’s lab during a recent co-​​op at Morpho Detec­tion, where he worked as a chemist intern.

For Emrecan Demirors, a new research assis­tant in the Depart­ment of Elec­trical and Com­puter Engi­neering, Monday night’s fair pro­vided a venue to intro­duce his research in under­water acoustic net­works to the North­eastern engi­neering com­mu­nity. Demirors pre­vi­ously worked at the Uni­ver­sity of Buf­falo and started at North­eastern two weeks ago. He said he was excited about recruiting some under­grad­uate stu­dents to join his research team.

“Under­grad­u­ates are a great resource for us,” Demirors said. “You wouldn’t believe how many great ideas come from under­grad­u­ates, and oppor­tu­ni­ties like this give them a chance to start their careers early.”