Spotlight Stories
May 07, 2026
Paying It Forward: Four Northeastern Engineers on Service, Purpose, and Giving Back
Four Northeastern engineering students — Clare Chi, Hebat Elkacemi, Jimmy Cheung, and Mia Filardi—were selected this year as Patrick P. Lee Scholarship recipients, chosen not for accolades alone but for their commitment to bringing others along with them. From teaching robotics to Boston schoolchildren to leading civic engagement programs and organizing voter registration drives, each has found a distinct way to turn their education outward. Their stories reflect a simple but demanding idea: that what you receive, you owe to others.
Apr 21, 2026
The Blending of Physics and Engineering to Generate Positive Change
Brennan Bezdek, E’27, mechanical engineering, is currently on co-op at the MIT Department of Material Science and Engineering. Combining this experience with his vast array of research endeavors at Northeastern, Bezdek is planning to pursue higher education with the motivation of creating a positive impact.
Apr 08, 2026
Two Engineering Students Help Address Community Problems in Roxbury and Dorchester
Northeastern students Ruifeng Song, PhD, civil and environmental engineering, and Kriish Hate, MS’26, mechanical engineering, are a part of a project called Common SENSES–an initiative aimed at giving community members hard data through sensors and an interactive map to back up claims of pollution problems in the area.
Mar 13, 2026
Simpler, Faster, More Human: Shweta Shinde’s Path to Product Management
Shweta Shinde, MS’25, is an engineering management graduate from Northeastern whose technical background and hands-on industry experience have shaped her into a product manager focused on one core goal: making the user’s experience simpler, faster, and more human.
Mar 06, 2026
A Commitment to Accessibility and Community with Fatima Mumtaza Tourk
Fatima Mumtaza Tourk, MS’25, PhD’27, mechanical engineering, focuses her research on improving accessibility to assistive medical devices. With two current research projects that include exoskeleton devices for the hip and ankle, Toruk is committed to give access to novel mobility aids to everyone.
Mar 02, 2026
One Step Closer to Reducing Emissions with the Help of a Northeastern Co-op
Cameron Little, E’26, mechanical engineering, completed a co-op at CargoKite last year. He worked with the company with creating wind-powered container ships that uses large kites to propel them over the water, with his main role being to collect data during testing,
Feb 12, 2026
Engineering Faster Drug Delivery: A PhD Journey in Fluid Mechanics
Langqi Xing, PhD’28, mechanical and industrial engineering, currently works in the Multiphase Transport Research lab as a graduate researcher. Drawing on his interdisciplinary background and experiences at Northeastern, Xing plans to pursue an industrial role advancing fluid mechanics applications in medicine.
Feb 06, 2026
New Robot Arm created to Help with Mundane Chores
Jakub Kowalewski, PhD, mechanical engineering, MIE Assistant Professor Jeffrey Lipton, and the Transformative Robotics Lab created a novel elephant trunk-like robot arm that has the torque power to clean dishes effectively using a mechanical system called a planetary gearbox.