Northeastern University College of Engineering

Student Spotlight 🔦

For Ashlesha Donde, Information Systems spring 2027, technology is most powerful when it is applied with purpose—using data, software, and analytical thinking to solve real-world problems. Throughout her time at Northeastern University, Donde has shaped an academic journey defined by hands-on projects, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a strong focus on building impactful, data-driven solutions.

Drawn to Northeastern’s emphasis on experiential learning, Donde chose the MS in Information Systems program for its balance of technical depth and real-world application. The program’s industry-aligned curriculum and project-based approach closely matched her goal of developing practical, career-relevant skills in data analytics and software development. Donde values the way the curriculum encourages students to think beyond theory and apply technology to meaningful business and operational problems.

Looking ahead, Donde aspires to pursue roles such as Data Analyst, Business Analyst, or Business Intelligence professional, where she can combine software development, data analytics, and strategic thinking to build solutions that create meaningful impact. Through Northeastern’s experiential curriculum, faculty mentorship, and emphasis on applied learning, she is developing the technical and professional foundation needed to contribute thoughtfully and effectively in the technology industry

Check out the whole story here → https://coe.northeastern.edu/news/from-analytics-to-application-ashlesha-dondes-path-in-information-systems/
Check out her program here → https://coe.northeastern.edu/academics-experiential-learning/academic-departments/ise/academics/ms-insy/

Last one, we swear. Northeastern University celebrates in Toronto with another amazing commencements celebrating even more amazing graduates.

Our mascot is the Husky for good reason- it describes out students to a T. Outgoing, alert to what is coming, intelligent, and friendly. That last part is, in our opinion, the most important. Our students, and our community supports and uplifts one another while their time with us, and their time long into the future. Our community continues to grow and we will never forget the connections and community that was made right here.

Download your photos here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/xe61g11ug008bqhvxtjlk/AKLK620rkg1bBCMQKqUU1Yk?rlkey=taid1g1ta7wam9cqeh5zke9sr&e=1&dl=0

Are you a graduate engineering student thinking about co-op? 🎓

The stakes might feel higher at this level, but so is the opportunity in front of you.

As a graduate student, you bring a deeper technical foundation, a more developed professional perspective, and the maturity employers are actively looking for. Leadership, adaptability, project management, and technical writing aren't just buzzwords. They're the qualities that will make you stand out in a competitive co-op market.

Whether you're pursuing a path in software engineering, advanced manufacturing, or anywhere in between, the skills you're building right now are preparing you for a co-op experience that can truly launch your career.

Take it one step at a time, invest in your growth, and remember to have that confidence in yourself! 💙

👉 Visit the COE Co-op page to explore your options and map out your next steps: https://coe.northeastern.edu/academics-experiential-learning/co-op-experiential-learning/co-op/?utm_source=ee_facebook&utm_campaign=ee_post6

In case you don’t see your discipline represented, let us know! We’d love to feature you next!

New Publication Alert 📑

Professor Mingzhong Wu’s team and their collaborators have reported the experimental observation of quantum oscillations in nonlinear electrical transport, opening a new pathway for probing the electronic structure of quantum materials. The study was published in Physical Review Letters and highlighted as an “Editor’s Suggestion,” an honor given to about one in six papers in the journal.

The paper, titled “Quantum Oscillations of Nonlinear Electrical Transport in a Topological Dirac Semimetal,” features Dr. Vijaysankar Kalappattil as the lead author, a Research Scientist in Professor Wu’s group.

Quantum oscillations (QO), periodic variations in electrical resistance under strong magnetic fields, have long been a key tool for studying the Fermi surface of materials. Until now, they had only been observed in linear electrical transport. The new work shows that nonlinear transport can also exhibit quantum oscillations, revealing electronic properties beyond the reach of conventional techniques.

Using thin films of the topological Dirac semimetal α-tin, the researchers demonstrated that nonlinear-transport quantum oscillations are highly sensitive to the geometry of the Fermi surface and the orientation of electron spins. This discovery establishes a powerful new experimental tool for probing quantum materials and may accelerate the search for new quantum phases and exotic electronic states.

Read the paper here → https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/bx8j-zk47
Check out the department here → https://coe.northeastern.edu/academics-experiential-learning/academic-departments/electrical-and-computer-engineering/

College of Engineering Abroad!

Our graduate, Udit Bhatia (MS 2016, PhD 2018), had the opportunity to attend the IndiaAI Impact Summit in Delhi, India in the form of a COE produced start-up, AIResQ ClimSols and the Machine Intelligence and Resilience.

The research-driven flood intelligence and decision-support systems developed by the Machine Intelligence and Resilience (MIR) Lab, IIT Gandhinagar, and AIResQ ClimSols (an IIT Gandhinagar incubated startup), were showcased at the IndiaAI Impact Summit, a flagship global gathering currently happening in New Delhi, organized by the Government of India.

The systems on display represent years of work at the intersection of hydrology, urban systems, and artificial intelligence. They demonstrate how rainfall information can be translated into city-scale insights that support advance planning such as understanding flood propagation, mobility disruption, and stress on critical infrastructure. The emphasis throughout was on interpretability, physical consistency, and relevance to real operational decisions faced by city and infrastructure managers.

The exhibition saw active engagement from students, government officials, and industry practitioners. Conversations with visitors repeatedly acknowledged the need for focused, decision-support solutions specifically designed for urban flooding, particularly those that can connect scientific modelling with day-to-day planning and operational choices under climate uncertainty. The interactions reinforced the importance of decision-ready systems that allow stakeholders to explore scenarios, assess trade-offs, and plan interventions with greater confidence.

Overall, the participation aligned closely with the summit’s broader theme of AI for people, planet, and progress. The work reflects an ongoing effort to strengthen urban flood preparedness by equipping decision-makers with scientifically grounded, practical tools, aimed at supporting more resilient, sustainable, and climate-ready cities.

Congrats to our team, we are proud of you.

Every great engineer started exactly where you are. ⚙️✨

Whether you’re getting hands-on in the shop, mastering CAD software, or pushing yourself to be more proactive in your coursework, every skill you build now is setting you up for an incredible mechanical engineering co-op experience!!

Employers want students who are independent, curious, and ready to roll up their sleeves, and as a Husky, that’s exactly who you’re becoming. 💪

If you’re ready to take the next step in your co-op journey, head to the first link in our bio and check out the COE Co-op page to learn more about the co-op process and map out your personal path forward. 🔗

In case you don’t see your discipline represented, let us know! We’d love to feature you next!

NUCoop

New Publication Alert📑
Award Alert 🚨

Rare earth element extraction can be doubled with this new technique

New Northeastern research has identified a method of extracting rare earth elements from the mining waste product that is two to three times more efficient than previous approaches.

Lawrence Ajayi, a Northeastern Ph.D. student and the first author on the paper, says that “we have so many abandoned mines that we could take advantage of” in the United States. The global rare earths market is currently dominated by China, but the billions of tons of tailings scattered around the U.S. could prove to be a hidden resource.

Along with his paper, Lawrence Ajayi has also received the 2024-2026 Ramboll Flourish Scholarship from the National Society of Black Engineers AND the 2025 Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry from the Environmental Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society.

Read More Here → https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/01/08/rare-earth-elements-coal-tailings/
Read the Article Here → https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c05711
Read More from COE News Here → https://coe.northeastern.edu/news/che-phd-student-wins-nsbe-and-acs-honors/
Read More About the ChemE Department Here → https://coe.northeastern.edu/academics-experiential-learning/academic-departments/chemical-engineering/

Are you a mechanical or industrial engineering student thinking about your first co-op? ⚙️
It's okay if it feels overwhelming, but it’s important to know that the skills and qualities employers value most are already within your reach.

Independence, proactivity, CAD software, and shop experience grow through every personal project, every class, every competition, and every time you choose to stay curious and push yourself a little further. You don't need to walk into your first co-op with all the answers. You just need to show up ready to learn, contribute, and grow!!

Every wrench turned, every design iterated, and every challenge tackled is building the foundation for the career you're working toward. 🔧

👉 Visit the COE co-op page to explore your options and map out your next steps:
https://coe.northeastern.edu/academics-experiential-learning/co-op-experiential-learning/co-op/?utm_source=ee_facebook&utm_campaign=ee_post5

In case you don’t see your discipline represented, let us know! We’d love to feature you next!

New Publication Alert

Associate Professor and Chair Babak Heydari and master's student, Hongan Zhu with MAGICS Lab have published the article: Cognitive Heuristics Are Necessary for Human-Like Multi-Agent Dynamics in Large Language Models.l

They asked the question, "If you place LLMs in a canonical multi-agent decision environment, the Beer Distribution Game, do they behave like humans?"

The answer is: Not on their own. But with the right cognitive priors, some get remarkably close.

They have this to say:
🧠 The main takeaway is that LLMs can describe bounded rationality, but they do not enact it. Cognitive structure must be explicitly supplied.

This positions LLMs as a middle ground between costly calibrated ABMs and generic agents, but only when grounded in cognitive theory. The study matters for anyone using LLMs as behavioral surrogates, in silico participants, or multi-agent simulators, and it offers a new framework for a multi-level model validation.

Read the paper here → https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6277139
Read more about MAGICS Lab here → https://sites.google.com/view/magicslab/home

Student Spotlight 🔦

Sara Capella completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in bioengineering at Northeastern in 2022, through the Plus One Program.

Capella completed three co-ops during her time at Northeastern. Her first role was a lab-based position focused on cardiovascular devices, serving in mechanical circulatory support R&D at Abbott. Her interest in cardiovascular systems was deepened during this co-op, and she realized that this would become her specialty.

Now, Capella works full-time as a field engineer for Medtronic. Formerly, she worked in manufacturing Tri-Staple for Medtronic, where she was introducing new manufacturing equipment—most noteworthy, a $7 million asset that would reduce the cycle time from part-to-part manufacturing by over fifty percent. Her current work involves installing and testing new cardiovascular equipment in hospitals around the country. The current product is called AFFERA, used for cardiac ablation. Typically, when doctors perform ablation procedures, they need different machines and catheters to gauge radiofrequency (RF), pulsed field ablation, and to create a 3D map of the heart from inside the heart, but AFFERA combines all these into one system with one catheter called the Sphere-9. Multiple moving parts can be inefficient, and potentially dangerous, but AFFERA allows for more efficient procedures and shortens recovery time for the patient.

Capella’s most important lesson from Northeastern is that “the experience is what you make of it.” When she was told she needed to give up a co-op to complete her Plus One program on time, she pushed back—sitting down with her advisor to carve out a plan that preserved as much industry experience as possible. It wasn’t the only time she charted her own course: she also designed her own study abroad program in Cork Ireland, arranged a schedule of taking night classes to keep her third and final co-op, and completed a double minor. In each case, the university met her halfway. That problem-solving instinct, and the confidence it built, is something she carries into her career today.