Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Northeastern University College of Engineering
professor holding mechanical design component

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

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Image for Interdisciplinary Team Receives NSF FIRE Grant to Study FireScreens for Wildfire Safety
Faculty

Interdisciplinary Team Receives NSF FIRE Grant to Study FireScreens for Wildfire Safety

MIE Professor Yiannis Levendis, CEE Professor Luca Caracoglia, Affiliated Faculty Michelle Laboy, and MIE Assistant Professor Jeffrey Lipton were awarded a $1.06M NSF Fire Science Innovations through Research and Education (FIRE) grant for “Investigating Potential Solutions to Reduce Wildfire Risk Through Structural Hardening.”

Image for Thermal Management Breakthroughs Developed for Extreme Space Environments
Faculty

Thermal Management Breakthroughs Developed for Extreme Space Environments

MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng spent his summer collaborating with NASA engineers to develop advanced thermal management materials, including heat-harvesting cells and phase-change gels, designed to prevent battery explosions and withstand extreme space environments.

Image for What do teachers think about AI?
Faculty

What do teachers think about AI?

COE Industrial Engineering Professor Abe Zeid, Executive Director Claire Duggan, and Associate Teaching Professor and Associate Director Jennifer Love of the Michael B. Silevitch and Claire J. Duggan Center for STEM Education are working on the NSF-funded project “Modernizing Education: Using AI to Improve Students’ Learning and Build Skills for the Future” with 30 local high school STEM teachers.

Image for Leveraging Operations Management to Address Healthcare Inequalities and Drug Development for Rare Diseases
Faculty

Leveraging Operations Management to Address Healthcare Inequalities and Drug Development for Rare Diseases

MIE Associate Professor Tugce Martagan published her research on “Rare diseases are not rare: Challenges and opportunities for OM research” in Production and Operations Management.