People keep finding novel uses for generative artificial intelligence, the latest being that it can learn to design specialized hardware to make itself work faster.

Generative AI applications such as large language models became mainstream when ChatGPT went viral in 2022, but they require copious, complicated hardware underneath their user-friendly skins, especially when asked to act on more than just interactive text.

Materium Technologies, a startup company with deep NJIT roots, is bringing data science innovations into the slowly evolving field of solar energy panels.

Startups are always a gamble, but the Materium team has a good hand, with two pair of Highlanders — recent alumni Sheldon Fereira (M.S. ‘23) and Scott Daniel (M.S. ‘24), advised by Professor Nuggehalli Ravindra and Adjunct Instructor Michael Jaffe. Their collective scientific expertise spans the worlds of artificial intelligence, applied physics, biomedical engineering, and semiconductors.

The transparent larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) is only 4mm long, but for NJIT biologist Kristen Severi, the vertebrate offers an expansive window for exploration into how the brain and nervous system controls behavior.

“Like putting a big puzzle together, we’re trying to understand all the circuits in the brain that control locomotion,” said Severi. “If the spinal cord is damaged, it can result in paralysis, but we still don't understand all the pieces we’d need to restore full function.

A team of researchers have demonstrated a new method that leverages AI and computer simulations to train robotic exoskeletons that can help users save energy while walking, running, and climbing stairs. Described in a study published in Nature, the novel method rapidly develops exoskeleton controllers to assist locomotion without relying on lengthy human-involved experiments.

Moreover, the method can apply to a wide variety of assistive devices beyond the hip exoskeleton demonstrated in this research.

Danna Valentina Sanchez Hernandez '25 took a big leap leaving her home country of Colombia to pursue her undergrad studies in the U.S., but that journey is paying off at NJIT — her research exploring the fluid dynamics and locomotion of marine life has recently led to a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

This year’s Goldwater class is comprised of just 438 scholars from across the U.S.

Application data requirements vs. available network bandwidth has been the ongoing Battle of the Information Age, but now it appears that a truce is within reach, based on new research from NJIT Associate Professor Jacob Chakareski.

Chakareski and his team, collaborating with peers from University of Massachusetts-Amherst, devised a system to make network requests err on the side of smallness and upscale the difference through a neural network running on the receiving hardware.

NJIT’s annual celebration of its top student researchers kicked off at the 2024 Dana Knox Student Research Showcase, which once again highlighted a stunning array of innovation and discovery from every corner of the STEM disciplines.

Now in its 19th year, the showcase competition featured 68 diverse research projects presented by students from NJIT’s six colleges at the university Campus Center.