Written by: Jesse Jenkins

NJIT’s Jordan Hu College of Science & Liberal Arts (HCSLA) celebrated 44 years on May 6 with its annual awards ceremony, headlined by a special guest appearance from paleontologist and famed “dinosaur hunter” Dr. Kenneth J. Lacovara.

Held in the Central King Building’s Agile Strategy Lab, the event brought together students, faculty, and alumni alongside President Teik C. Lim to recognize the past year’s achievements across NJIT’s most academically diverse college, from the humanities to STEM sciences.

When Sepehr Rahimi came to NJIT to study cell and gene therapy, he was looking for more than classroom knowledge. He wanted to work where science met real-world application.

He found that connection quickly. An NJIT experience shaped by industry led him to an internship at BioCentriq, then to a full-time role as the organization grew and evolved into MADE Scientific.

Written by: Jesse Jenkins

If you wanted to see how AI and research across the humanities and sciences are reshaping each other in real time, NJIT’s Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts (HCSLA) offered a front-row seat during the university’s first AI Exploration Day.

The all-day AI takeover of campus highlighted the college’s diverse faculty and student research — covering everything from what the future holds for ethical AI design and robotics, to the latest AI-assisted efforts to alert Earth of eruptions on the Sun.

Written by: Evan Koblentz

Chemistry and chemical engineering majors learn to make all kinds of compounds and solutions, but an afternoon focusing on the design and packaging of facial serum was probably a first for them.

That’s what happened on March 11 when 50 students gathered in NJIT’s Agile Strategy Lab, with the multipurpose room serving as an actual laboratory, for hands-on training in the science of cosmetics development.

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) today announced the launch of PureTrace Labs, a startup created to bring NJIT-developed technology for rapid detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to market.

The company marks the first official launch from NJII’s Venture Studio, supported by an investment of up to $1 million.

Written by: Jesse Jenkins

Jose Antunes ’19, ’20, ’25 spent nearly a decade at NJIT conducting research on the front lines of the fight against environmental pollution. Now, he’s among a select group of six scientists recently named New York State Science Policy Fellows, where his expertise will help shape science-based policymaking on issues affecting millions of New Yorkers.

Written by: Jesse Jenkins

Billions upon billions of soot particles enter Earth’s atmosphere each second, totaling about 5.8 million metric tons a year — posing a climate-warming impact previously estimated at almost one-third that of carbon dioxide.

Now, researchers say the climate-altering properties of these particles can change within just hours of becoming airborne, rather than days as previously assumed.

Written by: Jesse Jenkins

For more than a year, Ray Wooden sat in a Pennsylvania jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Now, he’s free after two recent graduates and a current student of NJIT’s forensic science program uncovered key digital evidence that helped clear his name.

Wooden’s ordeal began in January 2024, after he tipped off police about a woman involved in a local home invasion, which led to the arrest of the woman and her boyfriend, who was found illegally carrying a firearm but later released on bail.

Microplastics and nanoplastics — tiny fragments shed from everyday plastic products — are increasingly found in our food, water, soil and even inside the human body. Their accumulation has been linked to fertility issues, metabolic disorders and other potential health risks in animal models. Yet detecting these pollutants has remained a time-consuming challenge.

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