The team returned from the Formula SAE Michigan competition having outperformed every car the program has produced in the last 20 years—a milestone that marks a turning point for one of the University’s oldest engineering clubs.

The team’s entry, designated CR5, was the first car Citrus Racing designed entirely from scratch in six years. For the first time in 20 years, the team completed every dynamic event on the Formula SAE schedule. The CR5 car also cleared technical inspection before noon on the second day—a benchmark rarely achieved by any team in the field.

“Citrus Racing represents trust in the importance of self-guided learning,” says outgoing team leader Ryan Brennan ’26. “The result is that Citrus Racing alumni are growing not simply into engineers that can turn a wrench, but they are also learning how to work with each other across dynamic business, media, technical and social domains out of real need to operate well or suffer as an organization. We appreciate the help we received from across the . Without that help, Citrus Racing would not be nearly as strong as it is today.”

Citrus Racing is student run with faculty and staff advisors available for consultation. That model gives students opportunity take risks and learn from failures.

Brennan said the experience has shaped members into more than capable engineers. “Our members take full responsibility for every problem that lands at their feet—because they have to,” he says. “Citrus Racing is not just a club, it is an ECS sports team that transcends the years.”

New Leadership Named for 2026–27 Season

Nico O’Neill, a Ph.D. student in physics in the , will serve as the club’s president in the coming year. O’Neill has been managing much of the team’s back-end operations and was recognized for that work with the formal appointment.

Additional lead positions will be published on the once all appointments are finalized.

What Comes Next

Design work for the next Citrus Racing car is scheduled to begin by June 1, 2027. Incoming leadership will establish high-level improvement goals and set deadlines over the summer, following the same development calendar used in 2025. The team has committed to continuing development of internal combustion vehicles for the near term, while advancing electric vehicle research in parallel. Those interested in getting involved can reach the team’s leadership at formsae@syr.edu.

More Photos From Michigan

While most rising seniors are thinking about what lies ahead, Kenna Cummings ’27 is thinking about what lies beneath—the ice sheet in Greenland and a supervolcano in New Zealand, to be specific. Cummings, a geology major in the  (A&S) has been named a 2026-27 Astronaut Scholar by the (ASF).

Founded by the Mercury 7 astronauts, the foundation awards scholarships to students in their junior or senior year who are pursuing a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degree with intentions to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their degrees. Astronaut Scholars are among the best and brightest minds in STEM who show initiative, creativity and excellence in their chosen field.

The Astronaut Scholarship provides funding of up to $15,000 toward educational expenses, a paid trip to the ASF Innovators Week and Gala in Houston in August and lifelong mentoring and engagement opportunities with astronauts, Astronaut Scholar alumni, industry leaders and the ASF.

Tapping the Planet’s Hidden Heat

Cummings, who was also named a Goldwater Scholar earlier this year, is currently wrapping up her semester of research in the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) on New Zealand’s North Island. There, she utilizes microscopy and geochemistry to study the subsurface magma system that both feeds eruptions and heats deep geothermal fluids.

“The TVZ is an incredible example of how active geothermal systems can be used for energy production as well as numerous direct uses, such as timber drying and greenhouse heating,” she says.

Cummings considers herself lucky to be able to undertake research at points around the world, such as Iceland and NewZealand, where some of the most innovative developments in geothermal energy are happening. She has studied the Greenland ice sheet remotely through the lab of , assistant professor of seismology in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In Greenland, Cummings studies what a system like the one in New Zealand looks like long after its heat source has moved on. Using seismology—mapping how seismic waves travel through the earth—she traces the path that ancient hotspot took and measures how much heat remains below the ice sheet.

“From this research, I’ve learned about the range of settings that can have heightened geothermal gradients without dramatic volcanic activity,” she says. “Understanding the many ways geothermal areas can be formed and studied will help me scale innovative solutions for settings across the U.S.”

Bridging Academia and Industry

Cummings’ long-term goal is to run a research lab inside an industry geothermal company.

“I am very passionate about clear communication between academia and industry, since academic research is only made applicable through commercial viability,” she says. “To me, the line between academic research and commercial application is done right when both sectors are working to their strengths, supporting each other and building toward the same end goal that will have positive impacts on the public at large.”

Cummings says that her selection as an Astronaut Scholar is an incredible honor that comes with life-changing financial support and academic and career opportunities.

“The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has a robust alumni network that provides opportunities to learn about various fields of science and industry,” she says. “I plan to take advantage of mentorship opportunities within the ASF alumni network as well as present my research at the Innovator’s Symposium. I know this scholarship will open doors for me in both grad school and career applications. I am grateful for the numerous ways becoming an Astronaut Scholar has already begun to change the trajectory of my future research career.”

Created in 1984, ASF awarded its first seven scholarships in honor of the Mercury 7 astronauts—Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. Seven students received $1,000 scholarships. Since its inception, the ASF has awarded more than $10 million to more than 950 college students.

As a university partner of the ASF, Íř±¬ĂĹ can nominate two students for the Astronaut Scholarship each year. Interested students should contact (CFSA) for information on the nomination process (cfsa@syr.edu; 315.443.2759). More information on the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation can be .

Íř±¬ĂĹ is at the center of a regional effort to develop the energy storage workforce of the future, serving as a core partner in the and spearheading the workforce development portion of its mission through administration of the Generating Regional Opportunities in Workforce (GROW) program.

“Íř±¬ĂĹ brings together research expertise, workforce development skills and community partnerships,” says Vice President for Research . “The Energy Storage Engine lets us put all of that to work for upstate New York by connecting the science happening in our labs to the jobs and training our region needs.”

The Energy Storage Engine was launched in January 2024 as one of 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines created by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Its aim: to make upstate New York a national hub for battery technology by bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs and workforce trainers. Led by Binghamton University, the initiative recently entered phase 2 with a $45 million NSF grant.

Crucial Role

, director of strategic partnerships in the , co-coordinated workforce development during the engine’s first phase. “The energy storage sector is going to generate thousands of jobs in upstate New York,” he says. “That’s why workforce development is so important—it’s the bridge between the research happening in our labs and the economic impact we’re trying to create in our communities.”

The GROW program was established in late 2024 with a $2 million subcontract from Binghamton University. Together with Rome, New York-based nonprofit , Íř±¬ĂĹ oversaw the competitive grant program, which seeded battery and energy storage workforce training at institutions and organizations across Central and Western New York and the Southern Tier. A diverse cohort received $1.1 million in GROW awards: YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County; SUNY Broome Community College; Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT); Binghamton University; Alfred University; GreenForce Training Inc.; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at RIT; and Íř±¬ĂĹ.

These institutions developed programs for a wide range of learners, from middle and high school pupils to college students to community members. Nearly 400 participants have benefited from GROW-funded programs—a number that will increase substantially in phase two.

“Two years ago, training for battery research and manufacturing was essentially fully concentrated in Binghamton at SUNY Broome,” Crampton says. “With funding from the Engine, training was expanded to form a network of curriculum and programs across upstate. Hundreds of people have been exposed to opportunities in battery technology, many of whom would have never before considered it as a career path.”

Breadth and Inclusion

SUNY Broome expanded a Power and Energy Management seminar series, hosted a residential STEM summer camp for middle and high school students, and trained career and technical education teachers across multiple BOCES districts. The YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County brought battery science to students in Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton, including facility tours and hands-on LEGO robotics activities at the middle school level.

NTID developed a battery technician training program specifically designed for the American Sign Language community, offering a one-day workshop and an 80-hour bootcamp. Forty individuals completed training, with several earning the Northeast New York Battery Technician Credential. GreenForce Training in Buffalo delivered six accelerated production associate courses to individuals facing barriers to employment—including single parents, refugees and returning citizens—achieving an 84% job placement rate.

At the higher education level, RIT developed an 18-hour Li-ion battery curriculum delivered as a three-day immersive workshop for Monroe Community College students. Binghamton University created a new Sustainable Energy Engineering track in its electrical engineering degree. Alfred University launched a credit-bearing course in machine learning prediction of battery lifetime, enrolling 33 students and hosting a summer session that included industry professionals from Raymond Corporation.

Íř±¬ĂĹ’s GROW-funded program brought clean energy and autonomous systems education to 28 high school students from the Syracuse City School District through a six-week summer workshop. All participants—approximately half of whom had no prior coding experience—completed the program, and 27 traveled to Boston for a national competition. A majority reported increased interest in pursuing engineering or computer science majors.

Looking Ahead

With the engine now entering phase two, the workforce development pillar is set to scale significantly. The initiative is targeting a hub-and-spoke model anchored by four regional coalitions—each led by a major research university—to coordinate enrollment growth, transfer agreements, experiential learning and employer engagement. Summer 2026 internship and undergraduate research cohorts are projected to double.

“The groundwork laid by the first GROW cohort has demonstrated that building a regional energy storage workforce is possible, and that it requires meeting learners where they are: in high school classrooms, community organizations and college labs across the region,” Crampton says.

More than 350 industry leaders, researchers, manufacturers, startups, investors and government partners gathered in Rochester last week for the , a two-day event showcasing the rapid growth of one of the nation’s fastest-expanding semiconductor ecosystems. Íř±¬ĂĹ played a central role, leading the summit’s Innovation Expo and connecting University research with the companies and entrepreneurs working to turn it into products and jobs.

The summit highlighted the scale of activity stretching across Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester and Ithaca, making it clear that New York’s semiconductor ecosystem continues to grow stronger, with proliferating connections among research, manufacturing and workforce development.

Turning Research into Products

On day one, the Innovation Expo took center stage, featuring lightning talks from companies, universities and industry partners, including AIXTRON, Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Rochester, Íř±¬ĂĹ, the University at Buffalo, TOPTICA Photonics, TunaBotics, Nicslab, Era73 Technologies and others. Together they showcased emerging technologies, research breakthroughs and commercialization opportunities spanning photonics and integrated chip design, advanced materials and semiconductor devices, robotics and automation, testing and instrumentation, extended reality, and semiconductor manufacturing processes.

“The Innovation Expo provided a forum for scientists and engineers across academia, startups and established companies to learn about each other’s capabilities and needs and form partnerships for turning research into products and products into jobs,” says , vice president for research and principal investigator for the NY SMART I-Corridor’s .

Connecting Suppliers With Growing Demand

Day two featured the Supply Chain Exchange, where exhibitor showcases, one-on-one matchmaking meetings and panel discussions helped connect regional suppliers with growing industry demand. Companies including GlobalFoundries, Edwards Vacuum and Universal Instruments discussed purchasing needs and met directly with potential suppliers from across the corridor.

For businesses looking to enter or expand within the industry, the opportunities are no longer theoretical. Companies are actively seeking partners to supply bulk chemicals and industrial gases, logistics and warehousing, machined parts, robotics and automation systems, electronic components, electrical systems and sensors and advanced materials and thermal management solutions.

Workforce and Momentum

As semiconductor investments continue across New York, employers, educators and workforce organizations are focused on building the talent pipeline needed to meet future demand. As the summit discussion turned toward practical solutions and partnerships, perhaps the biggest takeaway was the sense of momentum. Across the corridor, organizations are making investments, launching initiatives and finding new ways to support the industry’s growth.

“The conversations that took place throughout the summit reinforced the tremendous momentum building across the NY SMART I-Corridor,” says Joe Stefko, president and CEO of OneROC and regional innovation officer for the NY SMART I-Corridor. “From supply chain development and workforce growth to research commercialization and international collaboration, the summit demonstrated how partners across sectors are working together to strengthen New York’s position in the global semiconductor industry.”

About NY SMART I-Corridor

The is a coalition of more than 100 organizations spanning businesses, higher education institutions, economic development groups and community-based organizations, convened by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, CenterState CEO and OneROC. Together, the coalition is positioning Upstate New York as a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, innovation and workforce development.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) , authorized by the , provides funding for regional technology development with matching support from the Empire State Development

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already making substantial changes in every industry, shifting how we work, learn and organize our daily lives. But how can AI tools shape the field of building science? That was the central question at the Industry Summit on Artificial Intelligence for the Built Environment, organized by , Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and co-director of the (SyracuseCoE).

Structured as a working session, the May 4 summit featured expert panelists from industry, academia and government agencies, with 12 companies represented and a total of 35 participants. After opening remarks from Professor Dong, the first panel of the day explored AI applications in smart and human-centered buildings. Presentations included:

• From Equipment to Ecosystem: An AI Strategy for Thermal Energy Systems and the Built Environment, presented by Josiah Johnston, senior director of data science at Daikin Open Innovation Lab Silicon Valley
• AI in Buildings: A Perspective From the Field, presented by William Healy, senior director at TRC Companies
• Using AI for Building Optimization, presented by Evan Torkos, vice president for strategy at Nantum AI
• The Restoration of a Building or Home’s Comfort, a New Set of Opportunities With AI, presented by Michael Birnkrant, chief architect, service and aftermarket at Carrier Corporation

A moderated discussion led by SyracuseCoE’s executive director, , gave attendees a chance to dig deeper into these AI advances before breaking for a student poster session and lunch.

The afternoon panel widened the lens to AI’s role in building-connected infrastructure, covering the following topics:

• Load Flexibility and Electrified Commercial Buildings, presented by Mark Bremer and Julia Griffith from National Grid
• Hallucination of AI in Critical Infrastructure, presented by Herbert Dwyer, founder and CEO of EMPEQ
• A Semantic Foundation Unlocks Rapid Deployment of AI in the Built Environment, presented by Andrew Rodgers, co-founder of ACE IoT Solutions
• AI-Powered Communities: From Data to Resilience, presented by Nancy Min, co-founder and CEO of ecoLong
• Using GenAI to Accelerate Decarbonizing NYC Commercial Real Estate, presented by Thomas Yeh, consulting technical advisor, NYSERDA

The summit concluded with small group discussions: four breakout groups each co-facilitated by Íř±¬ĂĹ faculty and populated with a cross-section of academic and industry voices. This format ensured that the day’s themes were stress-tested in conversation and built the foundation for future collaborations. Dong plans to apply for funding for an interdisciplinary research center, such as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, that will advance university-industry partnerships in the healthy buildings field.

The summit made clear that AI’s role in the built environment is no longer speculative—it is operational and growing rapidly. From smarter HVAC to grid-scale flexibility to community resilience, the challenge now is deploying these tools thoughtfully, sustainably and at scale.

This event was supported by the University’s  through their Team Building for Large, Collaborative Grants program.

To be notified of future events and opportunities, sign up for SyracuseCoE’s Ěý´Ç°ůĚý.

Ethan Coffel has built his research around one of the most consequential questions of our time: as the climate changes, what happens to the systems human society depends on?

For that work—and for the teaching and service that have made him one of the ’s most distinctive junior faculty members—Coffel has been named this year’s recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research, the school’s highest honor for untenured faculty.

Coffel accepted the award and spoke at the Maxwell School’s Graduate Convocation today in Hendricks Chapel.

The Moynihan Award has been presented annually since 1985, when it was established by then-U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, himself a former member of Maxwell’s junior faculty from 1959 to 1961.

Coffel, assistant professor of geography and the environment, joined Maxwell in fall 2020 following a Neukom Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dartmouth College and holds a Ph.D. in earth and environmental sciences from Columbia University.

His research centers on a simple but urgent idea: human society depends on a stable climate, and as that stability erodes, the consequences reach into food systems, water supplies, energy grids and more. He uses global Earth system models alongside geospatial and socioeconomic data to understand how climate extremes will reshape the world, and what that means for the people living in it.

His current NSF-funded project, detailed in a recent Íř±¬ĂĹ News feature, examines not just how climate affects crops, but how crops affect the climate around them. Corn and soybean fields across the Midwest may be moderating local temperatures, buffering the very heat waves that threaten them, and Coffel is working to quantify how much, and whether that effect will hold as the world warms.

Since joining Maxwell, Coffel has published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles, including five as lead author, in some of the field’s most prestigious outlets, including Nature Climate Change and Nature Food. His research has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Guardian and the BBC. He has received two National Science Foundation grants, awarded in 2021 and 2023, totaling $942,713.

Peng Gao, professor and chair of the department, nominated Coffel for the award.

“In his five years at Íř±¬ĂĹ, Dr. Coffel has distinguished himself as an exceptional and reflective educator,” Gao wrote. “He approaches course design and instruction with careful deliberation, continuously refining his methods and introducing innovative approaches to enhance the curriculum and foster student engagement.”

That reputation carries into the classroom. Coffel teaches two large-enrollment core courses, GEO 155: The Natural Environment and GEO 215: Global Environmental Change, and has developed three new courses expanding the department’s physical geography curriculum, including GEO 371: Climate Extremes and GEO 700: Seminar in Climate Science, a graduate-level course that draws students from earth science, geography and environmental engineering backgrounds alike.

Dean David M. Van Slyke praised Coffel’s contributions across all three pillars the award recognizes.

“Ethan exemplifies what the Moynihan Award was created to honor—a scholar whose research pushes the field forward, whose students leave his classroom genuinely changed and whose commitment to this department goes well beyond what’s asked of someone at his stage,” Van Slyke said. “This is exactly the kind of recognition Ethan has earned, and we are proud to celebrate it with him.”

Story by Catherine Scott

For Eva Quackenbush ’26, an interest in maternal and fetal health that began with personal curiosity has grown into a rigorous public health research project with direct implications for how clinicians monitor and make decisions about the most vulnerable newborns.

Quackenbush, a public health major with a concentration in healthcare management in the , worked under the mentorship of , associate professor of public health, on a study examining whether patterns detected in fetal heart tracing—the monitoring of a baby’s heart rate during labor—can predict short-term outcomes for infants born between 23 and 26 weeks of gestation. These babies occupy a narrow clinical window clinicians call “periviable,” a zone where survival has improved in recent decades but where the tools guiding clinical decisions remain poorly understood.

An Understudied Population

Fetal heart tracing is a well-established tool used to signal when medical intervention may be needed in full-term pregnancies. But its predictive value in periviable births has been largely unexplored. That is the gap Quackenbush and Kmush set out to close.

Their study drew on a retrospective cohort of 90 periviable deliveries at a regional referral hospital in upstate New York between January 2017 and August 2022. In their project, two independent maternal-fetal medicine specialists reviewed four key fetal heart tracing indicators—baseline heart rate, variability, accelerations and decelerations—and compared them against an overall composite score. They analyzed those patterns against neonatal outcomes, including lung disease, eye defects, brain hemorrhage and mortality.

The findings were consistent across every model tested: none of the fetal heart tracing patterns were statistically associated with adverse birth outcomes, meaning that the patterns could not reliably predict which babies would fare worse.

“Our research concluded that the heart tracing patterns in this population of periviable infants have no predictive value,” Quackenbush says. That may sound like a null result, but it is a meaningful one, because establishing what does not predict outcomes in this population is itself a critical step toward better clinical understanding, she says.

Building New Skills

Undertaking this clinical research project required Quackenbush to build an entirely new technical skill set. She had no prior experience with coding, but with guidance from Kmush she learned R, the statistical coding language, and applied it to complex regression analyses and data modeling.

“Dr. Kmush has been an incredible mentor for the statistical analysis work that I have been conducting,” Quackenbush says. “She has been guiding my familiarization with R, as well as the process of preparing research for presentation at all levels.”

Quackenbush’s  work in the lab was made possible in part by the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE), which helped fund her project and teamed her with Kmush as a faculty mentor. Quackenbush also broadened her clinical health background through involvement with the University’s and an internship with the . And beyond coding, she built competencies in scientific writing and research communication, skills she says she will carry into her next career phase.

This spring, she and Kmush presented their findings at the conference in Baltimore, an unusual distinction for an undergraduate researcher. Quackenbush says they hope their study will serve as a foundation for expanded research in the periviable population, including studies with larger sample sizes to further validate the results.

From Data to Policy

This fall, Quackenbush will begin legal studies at the in New York. Her goal is to work in health policy, focusing on improving health outcomes through policy determinations, compliance issues and interdisciplinary collaboration.

While her future path moves her out of the lab, an experience she says has been as much about personal growth as scientific discovery, Quackenbush sees her time there as central to the work ahead. “While my career won’t be directly related to clinical public health activity, I anticipate including many concepts from the public health field into my work in health policy,” she says.

Whether it’s analyzing data or shaping health policy, Quackenbush says her goal remains to work toward better outcomes for patients. She leaves the lab having contributed one more piece of a puzzle that clinicians, families and policymakers are still working to  solve.

Understanding of copper formation means examining material forged at depths of nine to 19 miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Remarkably, Emerson Long ’26 has spent the past year recreating those conditions in a campus lab.

Long is a double major in geology and physics in the (A&S). She and her faculty mentor, , professor of petrology and experimental geochemistry in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, have spent the past year examining how copper behaves when magma (molten rock) and fluid coexist at the crushing pressures and temperatures of the lower continental crust.

The work has implications that reach far beyond the laboratory. That’s because copper is used in modern and clean energy technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, lithium ion batteries and LED lighting.

“While my research doesn’t directly relate to finding and extracting copper deposits, it does give us a better understanding of the entire system for copper deposit formation,” Long says. “It’s really exciting to me to contribute to that understanding in some way.”

Going Deep to Understand the Surface

Copper deposits near the Earth’s surface that are extracted from mines are formed when copper-rich hydrothermal fluids move upward through the crust and deposit minerals along the way. Those fluids originate much deeper in the Earth’s magmatic systems, where molten rock and aqueous fluid coexist under intense heat and pressure. Long and Thomas are studying how copper splits itself between magma and fluid at those extreme source conditions.

Previous research on copper partitioning has focused on shallower, upper-crust-level conditions. This project goes beyond prior work to assess what happens at conditions equivalent to those found in the lower continental crustal source regions where magmas are generated. It’s a largely unexplored frontier in the study of copper deposit formation.

High-Pressure Science

To simulate those deep-Earth conditions in the lab, Long runs experiments in piston-cylinder devices, instruments capable of generating extraordinary pressures and temperatures found miles underground. When an experiment concludes, the magma cools into a glass and the fluid gets trapped in tiny pockets within a piece of quartz, called fluid inclusions. Long then uses a suite of sophisticated analytical instruments to measure the copper concentration in both the glass and the fluid inclusions.

That “deep dive” into the data helps extract meaning from material forged under those precise conditions. “I really enjoy the hands-on aspects of this research the most,” Long says. “I’ve had a few other short-term projects that have been more computational-based and I’ve realized that I really love lab work. I also just find the high-pressure experiments to be really fun and it’s really crazy to me still that we can emulate such extreme conditions in the lab.”

That focus recently took her to the facility in Denver, where she used specialized instrumentation (laser ablation ICP-MS, a type of mass spectrometry), one of the only ways to measure the chemistry of fluid inclusions. There are only a handful of facilities in the U.S. capable of doing that type of analysis, a notoriously difficult process.  “It was a really great experience,” Long says. “I learned so much about the technique and it was really amazing to be there and help with the analyses since it is such a niche method.” Being at the U.S. Geological Survey facility also allowed her to observe professionals conducting scientific research for a government organization, she says.

Long also took her studies globally experience that mirrors a prompting students to shape the future as engaged global citizens by combining studies in diverse areas of interest. She enjoyed both her science major and French/Francophone Studies minor during an immersive experience there, where she lived with a French host family, learned more about French history and culture, participated in a community internship conducting physics research at the University of Strasbourg, and took several courses in French.

Mentorship and Mastery

Later, Thomas’ science lab on campus provided Long with a wealth of experiential learning opportunities and allowed her to gain an impressive range of technical skills. She has conducted electron microprobe analysis, laser ablation mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Those experimental and analytical methods  represent an arsenal of cutting-edge geochemical lab techniques capable of identifying the chemical fingerprints of minerals and rocks at an extraordinarily fine scale.

The (SOURCE) supported Long’s work through Bridge and Fellowship awards. She also worked with the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising. She says her awards, including a summer living stipend, made it possible to dedicate added time over a summer in Syracuse to sustain the momentum on her lab research.

In August, Long begins Ph.D. studies in geology at Purdue University, where she’ll continue conducting similar experimental research. For her, the appeal of the geological field goes beyond technique or career preparation. It is about being able to contribute in a hands-on way to one of the defining challenges of the coming decades: building the clean energy economy the world needs, starting with a deeper understanding of the Earth beneath our feet.

Lucas Heffler ’26 is heading to one of the most storied research institutions in the world. The chemical engineering senior has accepted a position at (LANL) in Los Alamos, New Mexico—a facility synonymous with scientific breakthroughs and home to some of the brightest minds in the country. One of 17 National Laboratories supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, LANL has long stood at the frontier of discovery in science, engineering and national security.

Born out of the Manhattan Project during World War II, LANL made history as the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Today, the lab’s primary focus is to modernize the United States’ nuclear stockpile and maintain its safety, security and reliability. LANL’s scientists and engineers conduct advanced research in areas including national security, energy, geophysics and supercomputing.

Heffler will begin his position as a research and development engineer at LANL this summer. He became interested in the National Labs system through connections with (ECS) alumni and gained valuable industry experience through internships and the Nuclear Chemistry Summer Schools (NCSS), a Department of Energy workforce development program administered by the American Chemical Society. Heffler completed a six-week NCSS program at San Jose State University in California, where participants attend lectures, visit research facilities  and conduct hands-on laboratory exercises to build their expertise in nuclear chemistry.

Heffler took advantage of ECS resources like attending resume reviews and employer information sessions offered through Career Services.

“Getting that experience of just being comfortable talking to employers definitely helps while on job interviews,” says Heffler.

Looking back on his coursework, Heffler says that Chemical Engineering Laboratory I and II helped him discern his career interests and prepare to enter the workforce. Setting up experiments, analyzing data and writing technical reports are all skills he will rely on in his work as an research and development engineer.

Heffler found supportive faculty in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, including Program Director Katie Cadwell and his advisor, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering Radhakrishna Sureshkumar. He also appreciated the opportunity to take classes with professor Theodore Walker, who draws on his experience as a senior scientist for ExxonMobil.

“Having professors that have worked in industry and can look at things from an industry standpoint is enlightening,” Heffler says.

“Lucas possesses a rare combination of technical depth, creative insight and problem-solving skills,” says Sureshkumar. “After working closely with him as his advisor and instructor, I am delighted by his highly deserving appointment at LANL. He is a natural leader who will undoubtedly make major contributions to the profession.”

Before Charity Hosler ’27 and Somya Chakraborty ’28 decided to study biomedical engineering, they were once wide-eyed children discovering science through hands-on experiments and the possibilities in STEM.

Now, enrolled in the (ECS) and serving as the president and vice president, respectively, of the (BMES), Hosler and Chakraborty are doing their part to educate future generations of STEM enthusiasts.

Each year, one of the main events organized by the BMES is STEM Day, which allows current engineering students to teach lessons about the core principles of aerospace, biomedical, chemical and civil engineering to Central New York children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

“Just the excitement of learning about science. It’s really cool being able to give back for the next generation,” Hosler says. “And it’s really cool to think we could be the reason some kid decides to come to Syracuse to study biomedical engineering.”

Hosler, Chakraborty and other BMES members organize activities at four stations, each focused on a particular field of engineering.

During this year’s STEM Day on Feb. 28, students made slime at the chemical engineering station, learning about polymers and the chemical phase changes the substances undergo as the slime is formed. At the civil engineering station, students built structures that were mechanically sound and could withstand the elements like wind and water.

At the biomedical engineering station, students encountered a hand grabber, which simulated the bones and muscles in a hand, using straws and string to depict how hand muscles move. They also participated in a candy DNA activity, where, using Twizzlers and gummy bears, children learned how the base pairs of DNA match up with each other and what DNA looks like and why.

Demonstrating aerospace engineering, students launched cups into the air, observing Newton’s Third Law, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

“I was brought up being exposed to science at a young age, and that’s part of what made me want to become a biomedical engineer. You can really tell how much these kids love science,” Chakraborty says. “Watching the gears in their brains turn in real time while they’re trying to figure something out is fascinating to me. This brings me a lot of joy because that’s how I felt as a kid when I went to these sessions.”

What Is Biomedical Engineering?

BMES aims to answer that question, helping students connect with each other, discover potential research opportunities, explore possible career paths and develop their networking skills.

Both Hosler and Chakraborty say their organization feels a responsibility to share why biomedical engineering is a timely, important and interdisciplinary specialty.

Biomedical engineers can be responsible for developing, processing and mass-producing drugs and potential life-saving medications, and often they’re tasked with ensuring quality control when a drug is produced. Or they could be charged with improving how medical devices like pacemakers, heart implants and stents that are going to be used by medical professionals worldwide are sanitized. They’re also involved with biomaterials, such as studying how to install a device into a patient without causing negative responses.

“Biomedical engineering is an important field, and I think it’s important for students to get connected with other biomedical engineers and form connections with the people in your major,” Hosler says. “Through the Biomedical Engineering Society, we become more well-rounded, better biomedical engineers who have a desire to serve our communities.”

“I love that this field allows me to be involved in medicine and have an impact on someone’s life behind the scenes,” Chakraborty says. “You’re dedicating your life to solving a problem that a lot of people are dealing with by trying to find a solution.”

Connecting Students to Research and Career Opportunities

BMES holds study nights each semester and organizes volunteer activities in the community each month. The organization also serves as a bridge between academia and the related industries in the medical field, conducting site visits at different local biomedical engineering facilities.

Partnering with the Chemical Engineering Society, members visited Lotte Biologics, a biopharmaceutical production facility in East Syracuse, touring the space and connecting with industry professionals.

BMES also hosts professors for informal gatherings where students can learn about potential research opportunities across campus.

“A lot of our students are interested in doing research, but they don’t really know how to get started. We help bridge that gap, introducing freshmen and sophomores who are looking to start their research journey to faculty who are involved with relevant research,” Chakraborty says. “We’re making a difference by connecting students with each other while helping to advance our major.”

, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), has been selected for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Visiting Faculty Research Program (VFRP), a competitive initiative that embeds university faculty in AFRL facilities to advance cutting-edge research alongside the nation’s top defense scientists and engineers.

This summer, Sanyal will conduct research focused on estimating and predicting the trajectories of resident space objects (RSOs) using intermittent “short arc” measurements—a critical challenge in space domain awareness as the number of objects in Earth’s orbit continues to grow.

The AFRL VFRP fosters long-term collaborations between academic researchers and the Air Force Research Laboratory, strengthening ties between university expertise and national defense priorities.

The research will expand on previous research Sanyal did through the VFRP program in summer 2024. During that work, Sanyal worked with his AFRL mentor, Andrew Dianetti, to develop an orbit and uncertainty prediction scheme that is stable and robust to time-varying uncertainties on the dynamics of RSOs.

These uncertainties are primarily due to interactions between the upper atmosphere, the solar wind and the geomagnetic field. Those factors pose challenges to long-term accurate prediction of RSO trajectories from measurements carried out by ground and space-based sensors. These sensors can only view a short segment of an RSO’s trajectory.

“This summer, I will develop this research further by developing a novel machine learning approach to model the uncertain dynamics and find patterns in the uncertainties,” says Sanyal. “The goal is to use this summer research as preliminary research for a future research proposal to AFOSR [the Air Force Office of Scientific Research] on formation maneuvers involving multiple spacecraft doing active maneuvering for capturing potentially hazardous and inactive RSOs, which will involve energy and momentum interchange between the active spacecraft and inactive RSO. It can also be used by the Space Surveillance Network to predict RSO orbits and potentially identify actively maneuvering targets.”

“Professor Sanyal’s selection for the AFRL Visiting Faculty Research Program is a strong endorsement of his leadership in space systems and uncertainty-aware dynamics,” says , interim associate dean for research in ECS. “His work addresses a critical national need in space domain awareness, and it exemplifies how fundamental research at the University can translate into impactful solutions for national defense and space safety.”

“Professor Sanyal’s work contributes directly to the advancement of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department’s strategic research area of aerospace exploration, robotics and autonomous systems. Congratulations to Professor Sanyal for receiving this prestigious award,” says , interim chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering.