Miami University College of Engineering and Computing

Join us for a special presentation on Thursday, June 18 at noon EDT as CEC professor John Femiani discusses AI Beneath the Waves - Sea Mines and the Future of Naval Detection.

Register for the free webinar: https://alumlc.org/miamioh/52981

Sea mines remain one of the most disruptive and difficult threats in modern naval warfare. In this timely webinar, John Femiani, Ph.D., Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering, explores how modern naval mines are detected and cleared, and how artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming underwater mine hunting. Drawing on current events in the Strait of Hormuz and his own research in sonar imaging and autonomous systems, he’ll offer a fascinating look at the intersection of technology, security, and maritime operations.

Join us for a special presentation on Tuesday, June 2 at noon EDT as CEC alumnus Doug Meil shares the story in his book, The Rise and Fall of Explorys and IBM Watson Health!

Register for the free webinar here: https://alumlc.org/miamioh/52981

In 2015, Explorys was a healthcare intelligence cloud company that had built one of the largest clinical data sets in the world, representing more than 50 million lives. It provided secure cloud-based solutions for clinical integration, at-risk population management, cost-of-care measurement, and pay-for- performance. The acquisition of Explorys complemented and strengthened the IBM Watson Health Cloud platform and empowered IBM’s vast ecosystem of clients, partners, and medical researchers to surface new connections among diverse and previously siloed healthcare data sets. The combination of both Explorys and IBM Watson Health was expected to spur the creation of a new generation of data-driven applications and solutions designed to advance health and wellness. So, what went wrong?

Congratulations to Yang Zhang, assistant professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering! His recent paper entitled "MASH: A Multiplatform and Multimodal Annotated Dataset for Societal Impact of Hurricane" has received the Best Dataset Paper Award at AAAI ICWSM, a flagship venue sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

Assistant Professor Zhang's paper introduces a large-scale, multimodal dataset for AI-driven analysis of hurricane-related social media, with applications in disaster response, misinformation detection, bias analysis, and policy decision-making.

Image Description: Yang Zhang, center, with computer science doctoral students Jingyi Huang and Yujun Feng, in the McVey Data Science building on Miami University's Oxford, Ohio Campus.

Congratulations to Grace Holmes '26 and Hafsa El Harchi '26, who won this year's TA of the Year award for their work in our CEC 111/112 course sequence.

Learn more about the impact of these recent graduates in this article by Elliana Denton '27:

Biomedical engineering students awarded for Teaching Assistant excellence Hafsa El Harchi and Grace Holmes were awarded TAs of the Year

There are layers to Charlize Hadix's 2026 graduation cap, just like there are layers to her story. In the article below, learn about her experience earning an associate’s degree in Electromechanical Engineering Technology from Zane State College while still in high school, going on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering from Miami University this year, and all the while maintaining a creative art practice.

https://bit.ly/4dVpz1n

Congratulations to Clayton Cooper, assistant professor of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, on being named one of the top 15 nominees for Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG)'s 2026 Outstanding Professor Award!

In her nomination letter, a student had this to say about assistant professor Cooper: “Dr. Cooper has been one of the most, if not the most, helpful and supportive professors in my undergraduate career. He is always more than willing to help in any way he can when it comes to understanding manufacturing processes and improving as an engineer. As one of few women in engineering, I appreciate how supportive and understanding Dr. Cooper is. He makes an effort in not only helping us reach our goal but making sure that we are actually learning and understanding in the process.”

Learn more about this year's winner, Stephanie Danker, and the rest of the top 15 nominees in this article from Miami University News: https://bit.ly/4nRdP3u

Scenes from this weekend's CEC graduation recognition ceremony. Congratulations to the College of Engineering and Computing Class of 2026!

Congratulations to Siena Madsen, a CEC student majoring in Chemical Engineering, on being awarded the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship for 2026!

Awarded by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, the Astronaut Scholarship is among the most significant merit-based, monetary scholarships awarded to undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) juniors and seniors who intend to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree.

Siena's research focuses on metabolic engineering of psychedelic compounds for mental health treatment. She works with mentor Andrew Jones, associate professor of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering on this research.

Siena is one of three Miami University students to earn this award this year. Learn more about all three students and the Astronaut Scholarship here:

Three Miami seniors receive Astronaut Scholarships for 2026 Sara McGinnis, Siena Madsen, and Caden McCollum earn prestigious, merit-based award from Astronaut Scholarship Foundation