New Jersey Institute of Technology will host a national robotics competition next month at its Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center.

About 1,000 high school students from eight states — including New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania — and Canada will vie for prizes and the chance to advance to a global competition in May 2026.

Engineers keep deriving new applications from research into what happens when solid objects interact with fluids such as gasses and liquids — it’s useful knowledge for aerospace, energy and healthcare — but new applications in turn require more research, in an endless cycle that may soon skip a few loops because of an NJIT professor’s improvements to the hottest software in his field.

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.

Robert Cohen, a three-time New Jersey Institute of Technology alumnus and current chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, leads a digital, robotics and enabling technology division at medical technology firm Stryker Corp. that grabbed Apple’s attention this month for its work with the new VisionPro mixed-reality headset.

Recently, the ingenuity of Newark College of Engineering’s brightest first-year students was on full display at the 2024 NCE First Year Engineering Design Showcase.

A team of researchers has developed a new method for controlling lower limb exoskeletons using deep reinforcement learning. The method, described in a study published in Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, enables more robust and natural walking control for users of lower limb exoskeletons.