Research
The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) has a vibrant research environment motivated by our dedicated faculty. Our research programs are funded by many government agencies. In addition to the government, working with academia and industry is part of our focus. We have established large-scale collaborations with government agencies and industry including Rogers Corporation and Dow Chemical, Army Research Laboratory, and Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
Research activities at the department can be classified by research areas and by research centers. The department is focused within twelve disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and trans-disciplinary research themes strengthened by the wide range of MIE faculty expertise. Department faculty are leveraging Northeastern’s global network and Institutes to build strong research partnerships, these include the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security – Burlington, MA, Roux Institute – Portland, MA, Institute for Experiential Robotics, Network Science Institute, Institute for Experiential AI, and Global Resilience Institute. The department also leads two research centers, including the Center for High Rate Nanomanufacturing and the Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute, both federally funded.
View faculty profiles to learn about their research, including work being conducted in their laboratories. Also, view our Annual Reports.
Recent News
Zheng Selected as 2026 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was selected as a 2026 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow, a 10-week residential research program, to work on advanced energy and power systems for space applications.
New Project Combines Biology, Music, and Math to Display Limb Regeneration
A project named “Morphogenesis,” led by Garret Compston and MIE/BioE Professor Sandra Shefelbine, uses Alan Turing’s pattern with musical representation to portray the biological process behind how individual cells, tissues and organs develop their specific shapes and structures when the embryo is still developing.
Ergun & Jing Win POMS Humanitarian Operations Best Paper Competition
MIE Distinguished Professor Ozlem Ergun and her recently graduated PhD student Weijia Lluvia Jing won the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) Humanitarian Operations and Crisis Management (HOCM) best paper competition for their paper “Enhancing the Effectiveness and Responsiveness of Humanitarian Food Aid Delivery Services Through Data-Driven Optimization.”
Improving How Machines Perceive and React to the World
MIE Associate Professor Laurent Lessard was awarded a $374K NSF grant for “Optimization-Based Methods for State Estimation”.