Newsletter of the Tagliatela College of Engineering - November 2025

This is the second issue of our two-part newsletter for this fall. In this issue we celebrate our renewal as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, one of only 20 institutions in the country to carry this designation. We also acknowledge two significant gifts in support of our Women in Engineering outreach program. Industry engagement, faculty and student recognitions, our first ever Hackathon, and an exciting international community-oriented project in India round out this newsletter.

With warm regards,

Ron Harichandran
Dean, Tagliatela College of Engineering & Vice Provost for Research

The National Security Agency’s National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations has once more named the University as one of its own — a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations (CAE-CO), a designation that will remain in effect until 2030.

The designation is given in recognition of a program that meets the rigorous — and ever more demanding — criteria of the Agency for protecting the nation’s National Information Infrastructure. In the University’s case, it is the B.S. in Cybersecurity (Cyber Operations Concentration) program that continues to satisfy those criteria. Graduates who hold this NSA-certified degree hit the job market with a more sharply honed competitive edge.

Only 19 other higher-education institutions in the country currently hold the designation.

In 2023, through an entrepreneurial initiative at the University, the Women in Engineering Program (WIE) launched its debut, with the aim to recruit girls into the STEM fields at the most opportune time — middle school. Grades six through eight are when girls see the STEM fields as a real career possibility. The high school years?   It’s often too late. Whether older girls see them as cringe, unexciting, or just plain irrelevant, the STEM fields have already passed their sell-by date for many.

In 2024, through a series of talks, visits, open houses on campus and other events, WIE reached over 750 middle school students, with 20% of the University’s incoming first-year female students having attended at least one of those events. 

In 2025, two foundations have generously funded WIE so that it can expand and continue its activities into the future. The Henry Luce Foundation — established in 1936 by the founder of Time, Fortune, and Life magazines — provided $100,000. The Town Fair Tire Foundation — established in the year 2000 by Neil Mellen, Founder of Town Fair Tire — provided $200,000.

Leveraging this support, WIE has interacted with over 1,200 students so far this year, 49.5% of whom were female.

The venues were varied and included the hosting of: in-classroom engineering experiences at seven local high schools; an Explore Engineering Careers day that was supported by engineering professionals and alumni from Sikorsky, the Vertical Flight Society, and Medtronic; the Vex Robotics competition; and science fairs and engineering expos with WIE acting as judges.

The obvious goal is to tap more deeply into the rich vein of female engineering talent that’s already been discovered. In the back of everyone’s mind, however, there’s another consideration: the giant red pill that higher-education institutions are now swallowing. Translation: the demographic cliff in enrollment, which has already begun to fall off.

An influx of female engineering students could raise those numbers back up — and everyone’s hopes in the meantime.

SERVO-ROBOT — a multinational, Canada-based manufacturer of intelligent laser-vision systems for industrial robots has tapped the University of New Haven to research more ways to incorporate Artificial Intelligence into their industry workhorses.

The company’s laser-vision systems work as the robot’s “eyes” and “brain” to automate and simplify the programming and control of complex industrial processes such as robotic welding. Welding is prevailing in all industries, and skilled manpower to do the job is scarce.

But much of automation technology is so Industry 3.0 (1.0 being mechanization and 2.0, mass production). We’re living in an Industry 4.0 world now, and AI is raising the “IQ” of robots and other automated manufacturing processes and seamlessly connecting them in an Internet of Things mind-meld.

The University’s project, led by Drs. Adrian Rusu, Muhammad Aminul Islam, and Vahid Behzadan of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science, is a two-fold one. The first part focuses on AI powering 3D laser-vision systems that feed Deep Learning algorithms to improve and control all aspects of the various welding processes, including real-time process monitoring and control.

Deep learning algorithms mimic the way the human brain works. Deep Learning itself is a category within Machine Learning — a subset of AI — that enables computers to learn without human intervention. The research team is creating Deep Learning algorithms that can detect weld placement and quality from images. The new algorithms will make automated welding more accurate and efficient.

The second part of the project is developing an AI assistant powered by a Large Language Model (LLM) to enhance customer engagement. LLMs are another type of machine learning and are designed to process language and perform tasks such as language generation. The team’s AI assistant will provide accurate, context-driven answers to queries based on the content in training materials and technical documents.

With a project like this, one thing becomes very clear, though. As intelligent as robots — industrial or otherwise — are becoming, the real brains of the operation are still the humans who are giving them their powers.

Building on his recent success with embedding an industry-recognized credential into a computer science program, Dr. Mehdi Mekni is using his recently awarded Business-Higher Education Forum Faculty Innovation Fellowship to expand the idea to other University programs, such as AI and cybersecurity.

“A student who graduates with a degree but has no experience is usually a risky asset for employers,” he explained. “Employers tend to go after candidates with some experience, a small portfolio, and credentials.”

Mekni should know, having spent 15 years working in industry before transitioning to academia. That hard-core experience inspired him to partner with Unity Technologies, one of the world’s largest game engine service providers, to incorporate the Unity credential into the Computer Science Game Design and Development concentration.

“Thanks to that partnership, more than 20 students graduated not only with their degree but also with a Unity certification — a combination that gave them a competitive edge in a fast-moving job market.”

Mekni was one of just 28 faculty nationwide — and the first from the University of New Haven —to be selected for the fellowship.

The Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE) has recognized Assistant Professor Marzieh Soltanolkottabi for her exceptional work in making the IISE student chapter a strong, active, contributor to the University community.

The development of leadership abilities, opportunities for engagement with industry executives at professional development events, and personal mentoring during their academic and early professional careers are some of the ways students reap the benefits of Soltanolkottabi’s dedication.

The award was presented to Soltanolkottabi at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, which was held from May 31 to June 3.  Her reputation, however, is about to break through regional boundaries. There’s also a nomination for the Outstanding Global Faculty Advisor Award waiting for her there.

Tarek Ibrahim

Ph.D. candidate Tarek Ibrahim has won a 2025 Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science — one of only six awardees in the U.S., the remainder of whom hail from top R1 research universities, including Stanford, Cornell, Michigan, and Northwestern.

Ibrahim, under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Hao Sun, won the prestigious, highly competitive award based on research that focuses on developing a new class of recyclable polymers. His goal is to help solve the global plastic pollution crisis as well as achieve a more efficient chemical recycling process. His work has pushed the boundaries of polymerization by building an efficient pathway toward a closed-loop, circular plastic economy.

The award has started its own chain reaction: He has been invited to present his research at the American Chemical Society National Conference in Washington, D.C. in August, where he also will have the opportunity to connect with scientists and members of the award committee.

There’s an interesting dimension to Ibrahim’s understanding and love for chemistry that goes beyond the micro level of studying polymer molecules or the macro level of their implications on the economy and the world.

He looks at chemistry as a master strategist would. “Every time I enter the lab, I’m looking at chemistry as if it’s a game of chess,“ he explains. “Each functional group is a piece with distinct moves. Once you understand their behavior, you can strategically guide the course of any reaction.”

UNewHaven and Cummins College team discussing project. Seated (l-r) are: Cassidy Krill, Alexis Fernandez, Prof. Nagasree Garapati, Koteswar Reddy Kavali, and Asfiya Kauser from UNewHaven; and Aditi S Kulkarni, Tarini More, Gargi Rajput, Avidnya Nalawade, and Prof. Avinash Shinde from Cummins College.

Currently, the city of Pune, India generates between 1,600 to 1,700 tons of solid waste a day. If it doesn’t end up in landfills, it’s burned or processed, adding to the noxious miasma that sits stubbornly over the city, whose valley-like geography tends to trap the smog that is trapping the people underneath it.

But, recently, a group from the University of New Haven teamed up with Cummins College of Engineering for Women in Pune — the first all-women engineering college in that country — to help remedy the situation using a process called pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of organic (carbon-based) materials through the application of high heat. The goal of the project: design and build a small-scale pyrolysis unit for residential community use that converts solid waste into biochar, a form of charcoal.

Advised by Nagasree Garapati, assistant professor of Chemical Engineering, and Sumith Yesudasan, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, the University of New Haven team of five students from chemical engineering and mechanical engineering handled thermal analysis and safety, process analysis, and the environmental impact of the project. The team from Cummins College, consisting of four mechanical engineering students advised by assistant professor Avinash Shinde, was in charge of designing and manufacturing the unit.

In addition to the obvious benefits of solid waste being diverted from landfills or incineration into the air, pyrolysis’ end product — biochar — has its own contribution to make. More than just a useless residue of the process, biochar can be used as a soil amender and fertilizer to improve soil structure, increase soil nutrient capacity, and enhance water retention. Even the biogas produced by pyrolysis can be recycled and used as fuel for more pyrolysis.

In addition to the aforementioned cohort of faculty and students, there was another VIP involved in the project — the donor who provided the funding. This was Saudi Arabian businessman and philanthropist Amr Al-Dabbagh, who has a particular interest in global and community development. He is Chairman and CEO of Al-Dabbagh Group, a family conglomerate founded in 1962 by Al-Dabbagh’s father, Abdullah Mohammed Ali Al-Dabbagh, the former Saudi Arabia Minister of Agriculture.

The solid waste problem in Pune was in urgent need of a solution. We’re proud that individuals from three different part of the world wasted no time in helping to find one.  

It was a veritable pressure cooker. The students started with an idea at 11 a.m. on Saturday, but by 6 a.m. on Sunday, it had emerged to greet the dawn as a functioning, fleshed-out, app, tool, or video game.

HackNewHaven brought in students from universities across Connecticut and Massachusetts to collaborate, compete, and push themselves to see what their creativity, knowledge, and sheer willpower could accomplish under intense time constraints. Industry sponsors — including Microsoft, IBM, FactSet, and Microboard — judged the projects, along with university faculty. Major League Hacking, a global hacker community, provided mentoring.

The event was student-led, while the idea to host the Hackathon came from faculty members Thomas Rossi, assistant department chair of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science, and Shivanjali Khare, assistant professor of computer science.

Here is just a sample of the students’ talent under pressure: 

Lauren Lynch ’27, a computer science major at the University, and Khaled Khan and Ivan Mendez, computer science majors at UConn, created MindConnect, an app that focuses on the mental health of college students. They developed an AI-powered mental health assistant with an emotion-recognition scanner that provides a voice- and text-based live chatbot to provide support. The project won a Best Video game Design award.

Ritwik Babu ’25 M.S., Sampath Kothuri, ’25 M.S., and Yash Desai ’26 built an app that would create encrypted texts from person to person and machine to machine that couldn’t be seen anywhere, working to make a wall so impenetrable it would take “a billion years” to breach it. 

FindYourWay was the brainchild of Dharani Ravanam ’25 M.S., Teja Asritha Goli, ’25 M.S., Karthik Bommarthi, ’25 M.S., and Chaitanya Muga ’26 M.S. An AI navigation tool, it helps people find a safe way out of burning buildings. Tragically, many lose their lives by choosing the wrong escape routes. The project won first place in the AI navigation tool category as well as awards from Major League Hacking.

Justin Orcutt ’12 MBA, director of cybersecurity at Microsoft, looked beyond the excitement and awards: “These students are thinking about a social problem and creating solutions that can be built upon to help generations to come,” he said. “The learning experience they get from the University of New Haven and other schools in the area is extraordinary.” 

Students of the IISE Chapter with advisor Prof. Marzieh Soltanolkottabi (center) and president Seyedeh Elham Kamali (second from left)

The student chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers has received a Gold Award for its outstanding performance in the 2024-2025 academic year. 

The prestigious national award recognizes the dedication, leadership, and collaborative efforts of undergraduate students and faculty in the chapter. Assistant Professor Marzieh Soltanolkottabi advises the group, working closely with students on research projects while providing support, mentoring, and guidance on a career path.

The hands-on experience gained by the students, as well as the networking opportunities available at various chapter conferences, produce graduates who are more than ordinarily prepared to launch a career and make an immediate contribution upon landing a job in the professional world.

Your gift empowers tomorrow’s pioneers, change agents, and disruptors helping the next generation discover their purpose and instilling the confidence and knowledge they need to change their chosen fields, the communities they are part of, and the world. Consider the impact your financial support, at any level, could have on our students, faculty, and programs when combined with a matching gift from your employer.

Make sure to keep your information updated with the Office of Alumni Engagement to receive the latest event invitations, newsletters, and more! Submit a simple address change or exciting news about your career. Update your information or submit a class note online and follow @UNewHavenAlumni on social media.

Buckman Hall
300 Boston Post Road
West Haven, CT 06516

www.newhaven.edu/engineering