Engineering & Computational Sciences News & Events

See news and events in Merrimack College’s School of Engineering and Computational Sciences.

News

 |
By: Michael Cronin
After graduation, Alexander Elguezabal ’25 will move to Redmond, Washington to work on the tech giant’s government cloud servers.
 |
By: Joseph O'Connell
Don Roosan, who joined the faculty in Merrimack College’s School of Engineering and Computational Sciences this fall, is among the nation’s leading experts in quantum AI and its impact on healthcare.
 |
By: Joseph O'Connell
Jamie Kimberley, a new faculty member joining Merrimack College this fall, studies how materials respond to extreme dynamic environments ranging from outer space to underground.
 |
By: Michael Cronin
More than 200 students representing all five schools proudly presented at locations across campus research work and projects across various disciplines.
 |
By: Michael Cronin
Merrimack College students are teaching robots to dance, read and interact with the greater community.

Notable & Quotable

Dr. Zachary Kissel, associate professor of computer and data sciences, was featured in Politico's Weekly Cybersecurity . In it, Kissel talked about privacy and surveillance.

Dr. James Kaklamanos, associate professor of civil engineering, published two peer-reviewed journal papers in Earthquake Spectra, which is viewed as one of the top journals in the field of earthquake engineering. The first paper develops a regional seismic velocity model for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains based on measured shear wave velocity, sediment thickness, and surface geology.  The second paper investigates how current practices of input ground-motion selection influence site response analysis results and their variability, when considering different tectonic settings.

Dr. James Kaklamanos, associate professor of civil engineering, was interviewed by The Washington Post in conjunction with their coverage of the Morocco earthquake that occurred in Sept. 2023. He appeared in parts of two portions of their live updates after the earthquake: (1) What to do in an earthquake, and (2) Why many buildings in Morocco were vulnerable to the earthquake.
Dr. Craig Looney, associate professor in the department of physics, gave a presentation entitled "Making high-quality videos on an inexpensive DIY Lightboard (with technical tips relevant to all budgets)" at the Spring 2023 meeting of the New England Section of the American Physical Society.
Dr. James Kaklamanos, associate professor of civil engineering, was one of two earthquake engineers interviewed by Interesting Engineering on the multitude of buildings that collapsed in Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquake.
Associate Professor James Kaklamanos was recently interviewed for a feature article on earthquakes in Turkey published on InterestingEngineering.com, a website that profiles the latest events, developments, and breakthroughs in engineering, science and technology. Kaklamanos teaches in the civil engineering department at Merrimack’s School of Science and Engineering.
Dr. Brandi Baldock, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is our final STARTer of the semester. Her project, “Inclusive Learning in the STEM Gateway: Design & Evaluation of Robust Alternative Assessments for Chemistry Curriculum,” focuses on developing strategies to support and evaluate student achievement of non-cognitive chemistry program outcomes, with the ultimate goal of improving inclusivity and student retention in STEM fields.
Sadegh Asgari, associate professor of civil engineering in the School of Science and Engineering, recently co-authored an article published in the Journal of Automation in Construction, a top-tier journal in the field of construction and civil engineering. Asgari's study introduces a novel method for automatically recognizing activities of multiple heavy construction equipment using sound data collected by a single-channel, off-the-shelf microphone.
Azam Noori, associate professor of biology, was recently invited to serve as a guest speaker at the NASA Space Crop Production Team. Her research titled "Lycopersicon esculentum Molecular and Physiological Responses to Silver Nanoparticles" discusses using silver nanoparticles to improve crop production in space. Noori's project was completed at Merrimack College with the assistance of the Department of Biology and several undergraduate students.
Azam Noori, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology, presented her research at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in Portland, OR. Her presentation "Lemna minor for Silver Nanoparticles Phytoremediation" focuses on using common duckweed (Lemna minor) in removing silver nanoparticles from an aquatic environment.

Events