Featured Stories
Rutgers: When a Movie Saves a Life
NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey, July 18 -- Rutgers University issued the following news:
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When a Movie Saves a Life
Renyu Liu, an award winning filmmaker and anesthesiologist, brings his vision to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
By Jodi McCaffrey
An eight-minute movie that Robert Rizzo watched during a film festival saved his life three months later.
Wakeup Stroke, a short produced by Renyu Liu, an anesthesiologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, follows an independent older adult living alone who experiences a life-changing stroke.
"He texted me, 'Renyu, can
... Show Full Article
NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey, July 18 -- Rutgers University issued the following news:
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When a Movie Saves a Life
Renyu Liu, an award winning filmmaker and anesthesiologist, brings his vision to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
By Jodi McCaffrey
An eight-minute movie that Robert Rizzo watched during a film festival saved his life three months later.
Wakeup Stroke, a short produced by Renyu Liu, an anesthesiologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, follows an independent older adult living alone who experiences a life-changing stroke.
"He texted me, 'Renyu, canyou believe I'm having a stroke? Because I watched the film, I knew what to do," Liu recalled; "Your film saved my life."
While working at his desk in August 2021, Rizzo, the founder of the New York City International Film Festival, suddenly experienced numbness and weakness on the left side of his body. Remembering the warning signs he had learned from the film, Rizzo immediately called 911. He recovered without any lasting disabilities.
"When we submitted the film to the festival, Mr. Rizzo told me he was moved to tears because his brother had died from a stroke at the age of 50," Liu said.
Liu, an award-winning physician-scientist, educator and filmmaker, joined Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School this spring, as professor and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. He said compelling stories can transform complex medical concepts into memorable lessons that inspire action and improve health outcomes.
Beyond raising awareness about strokes, the film addresses a rising societal challenge: the increasing number of older adults living alone and the unique health risks they face. Wakeup Stroke received the Best Short Narrative Film Award and the Humanitarian Award at the 2021 New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF) and was later selected for the World Health Organization Health for All Film Festival.
Life Imitating Art
Rizzo's experience later inspired another film My Stroke Story: This Movie Saved My Life, which received the Best Educational Film Award and the Humanitarian Award at the 2025 NYCIFF. It's part of a series in which patients recall their journey before and after a stroke.
The first episode in the series My Stroke Story: I Want to Tell You My Big Mistake, a documentary that Liu also produced, highlights how strokes can affect people of all ages - and how delaying a call to 911 can have devastating consequences. The film received three awards at the 2023 New York City TV Festival and was later selected for the World Health Organization Health for All Film Festival.
Advancing Innovation and Improving Health Outcomes
Liu joins Rutgers after a 25-year career as a physician-scientist and educator at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he held appointments in both anesthesiology and critical care and neurology.
His research spans neuroscience, stroke, pain medicine and opioid pharmacology. His team has investigated how opioids interact with diverse receptor systems and demonstrated that salvinorin A, a naturally occurring compound found in the perennial plant Salvia divinorum, can selectively dilate cerebral blood vessels without significantly affecting systemic blood pressure and may offer a novel approach for potential stroke treatment.
Beyond the laboratory, Liu has tailored his stroke action awareness programs to diverse language environments and communities worldwide, including Stroke 120, Stroke 112 and Stroke 911. By linking stroke signs and symptoms to emergency medical phone numbers, these initiatives simplify the recognition of stroke symptoms and encourage rapid activation of emergency medical services.
His contributions to global stroke awareness earned him the 2025 World Stroke Organization's Stroke Service Award.
"I've devoted much of my time to promoting stroke action awareness because every second matters," Liu said. "When people know what to do and act quickly, lives can be saved, and disabilities can be prevented."
A New Chapter
As vice chair for academic affairs, Liu will help lead the department's academic mission, strengthen research and scholarly activity, support faculty development and foster innovative educational initiatives. His vision centers on three priorities: people, purpose-driven scholarship and integration.
"My role is to listen, learn, and support, helping create an environment where every member of the team feels respected, empowered, and able to succeed," he said. "By strengthening connections across disciplines and roles, we can amplify what we can achieve together."
Looking ahead, Liu hopes to help lead innovative initiatives that bridge science, education, and the arts to advance patient care, research, and public health.
"I see this as a unique opportunity at Rutgers to build on the strong foundation already in place and further elevate our shared impact through innovative research and educational programs," he said. "This is an exciting and important moment, and I am honored to be part of it."
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Original text here: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/when-movie-saves-life
Manchester University to Host Regional Student Environmental Conference
NORTH MANCHESTER, Indiana, July 18 -- Manchester University issued the following news:
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Manchester University to host Regional Student Environmental Conference
Manchester University will host the inaugural Regional Student Environmental Conference on Monday, Sept. 28, organized by Earth Charter Indiana and Manchester's Center for Environmental Resilience and Social Engagement.
This event will connect youth and local experts for environmental education, stewardship, and action. The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with a welcome session, followed by morning sessions led by high school and
... Show Full Article
NORTH MANCHESTER, Indiana, July 18 -- Manchester University issued the following news:
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Manchester University to host Regional Student Environmental Conference
Manchester University will host the inaugural Regional Student Environmental Conference on Monday, Sept. 28, organized by Earth Charter Indiana and Manchester's Center for Environmental Resilience and Social Engagement.
This event will connect youth and local experts for environmental education, stewardship, and action. The conference will begin at 9 a.m. with a welcome session, followed by morning sessions led by high school andcollege students who will share success stories about implementing environmental initiatives in their communities.
The day will continue with a plenary session by entomologists and educators Kristie Reddick and Jess Honaker, also known as, "The Bug Chicks." This event, as part of Manchester University's Values, Ideas and the Arts (VIA) series, is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided for all attendees thanks to generous sponsors. In the evening, The Bug Chicks will host a professional development workshop for educators.
The afternoon will have sessions focused on taking action, led by local experts and organizations.
This event welcomes all high school and college students, as well as educators. RSVP by Sept. 21 at https://www.manchester.edu/event/regional-student-environmental-conference/.
For the media
Manchester University, in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers vibrant and transformative student experiences. Learn more at www.manchester.edu/about-manchester.
Our mission and values
Manchester University respects the infinite worth of every individual and graduates persons of ability and conviction who draw upon their education and faith to lead principled, productive, and compassionate lives that improve the human condition.
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Original text here: https://www.manchester.edu/manchester-university-to-host-regional-student-environmental-conference/
MIT PhD Candidate Develops Soft Bioelectronics to Decode Communication Between Brain and Body
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 18 -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology posted the following news:
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Diana Grass: Listening to the body's language
The PhD candidate builds soft bioelectronic technologies to decode signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
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Growing up in Colombia, Diana Grass had a simple response whenever someone told her something was impossible.
"I'll figure it out."
It's a phrase that she still lives by today as PhD candidate in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), as she develops soft bioelectronic devices to study
... Show Full Article
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 18 -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology posted the following news:
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Diana Grass: Listening to the body's language
The PhD candidate builds soft bioelectronic technologies to decode signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
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Growing up in Colombia, Diana Grass had a simple response whenever someone told her something was impossible.
"I'll figure it out."
It's a phrase that she still lives by today as PhD candidate in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), as she develops soft bioelectronic devices to studythe physiological signals through which the brain and body communicate.
"I've always been fascinated by one question: How do complex systems work?" Grass says.
An instinct to get to the bottom of things has guided Grass' unconventional academic journey across continents and disciplines. Before becoming a neuroscientist and engineer, Grass studied philology and education to understand how language evolves, preserves knowledge, and shapes human communication. Looking back, she sees a common thread. "I wasn't just studying language," she says. "I was learning how complex systems communicate."
But it wasn't until she moved to the United States and began working as a medical interpreter that her scientific interests took a new direction.
"Every day, I translated conversations between physicians and patients with neurological disorders," she says. "Watching those interactions sparked a fascination with the brain. I was intrigued by how a single organ could shape how we communicate, and ultimately who we are."
Working alongside clinicians, Grass watched them rely on laboratory tests, medical imaging, and vital signs to understand what was happening inside the body. Despite remarkable advances in medical imaging and diagnostics, clinicians still rely largely on isolated snapshots of biological processes that are continuously changing inside the body.
"The body is communicating all the time," she says. "We still lack the tools to understand its language."
Determined to better understand the brain, Grass returned to school to study neuroscience with a minor in pre-medicine. She joined an immunology laboratory at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where she investigated neuroimmune communication and gained a new appreciation for the body's interconnected physiology.
Before becoming a neuroscientist and engineer, Diana Grass studied philology and education to understand how language evolves, preserves knowledge, and shapes human communication.
"Until then, I had been fascinated by the brain," she says. "My work in immunology made me realize that the nervous system doesn't function in isolation," she says. "It continuously communicates with the immune system and peripheral organs to coordinate physiology and maintain homeostasis. To understand health and disease, we have to understand how those interactions preserve or disrupt that balance."
That realization transformed her scientific focus from understanding the brain to understanding how the nervous system coordinates physiology through continuous communication with the rest of the body, beginning with the immune system.
The complexity of that question ultimately brought Grass to pursue a PhD in medical engineering and medical physics with the HST program. She works in the Bioelectronics Group, led by Polina Anikeeva, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor and head of MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Grass also uses facilities in the T.J. Rodgers Laboratory and MIT.nano, and is part of the K. Lisa Yang Brain Body Center.
Today, Grass develops soft bioelectronic devices that integrate seamlessly with soft peripheral tissues without damaging them, to continuously monitor multiple physiological signals while enabling electrical recording and stimulation of neural circuits. These technologies provide a new way to investigate how neural communication coordinates physiology across the entire body. This knowledge could enable earlier diagnosis, more precise therapies, and a new generation of bioelectronic medicine.
For Grass, the work has taken on an even deeper significance since becoming a mother. Grass has two school-age children and for her, the possibility of developing technologies that help detect disease earlier and personalize treatments isn't just a scientific goal; it's one she hopes will shape the future of medicine for the next generation.
"I want to contribute to a future where medicine understands the body physiology well enough to predict disease instead of simply reacting to it, personalize therapies with greater precision, and ultimately give families more healthy years together," she says. "Because once you become a parent, every scientific question becomes deeply human."
The complexity of Grass' research has required her to step well beyond her original training. After studying neuroscience and immunology, she immersed herself in materials science, systems physiology, device fabrication, bioelectronics, and surgery to develop the tools needed to answer fundamental biological questions.
"I've always been fascinated by one question: How do complex systems work?" Grass says. "Whenever something seemed impossible, I would always say, 'I'll figure it out.'"
"The scientific question was bigger than any one discipline," she says. "HST taught me to begin with biology, not disciplines. Once you understand the biological principles, medicine, engineering, and science stop being separate fields. They become complementary ways of answering the same question."
The constant need to learn a new discipline has been both the most rewarding and challenging part of Grass' research so far.
"Every time I crossed into a new discipline, I felt like an immigrant again," she says. "I had to learn a new language, understand a new culture, and earn the trust of people who had spent their careers there."
Grass' passion for understanding cultures extends well beyond the lab. Soon after arriving at MIT, she co-founded the Graduate First-Generation Low-Income Student Group to create a supportive space for students and connect them with the resources they need to thrive. What began as a small initiative has grown into a community of more than 300 graduate students representing over 60 countries, connecting students with faculty, alumni, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.
"It has been really rewarding to see new GFLI leaders emerge and continue this legacy," Grass says.
As an avid traveler, Grass' favorite pastime is exploring new cultures, whether that be through learning a new traditional recipe or a new language. She speaks four languages fluently and can say "thank you" in roughly 50 more.
Whether she's cooking Thai food with her children or introducing friends to recipes from around the world, she sees food as another language capable of connecting people across cultures. That same philosophy shapes how she thinks about science.
"I've realized that every culture has its own language and every scientific discipline its own way of understanding the world," she says. "Looking back, every stage of my life has been about understanding how complex systems communicate. Today, my goal is to help medicine understand the principles that govern communication across the human body in health and disease."
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Original text here: https://news.mit.edu/2026/diana-grass-listens-to-bodys-language-0717
Intuitive Machines and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Announce Successful Migration of the Nation's Largest Lunar Dataset
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, July 18 -- The Texas A&M University College of Engineering issued the following news:
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Intuitive Machines and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station announce successful migration of the nation's largest lunar dataset
The partnership secures long-term access to more than 1.8 petabytes of critical lunar surface imagery and topographic data.
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Intuitive Machines and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) today announced the successful migration of the nation's largest lunar dataset to Texas A&M's high-performance data infrastructure. The operational
... Show Full Article
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, July 18 -- The Texas A&M University College of Engineering issued the following news:
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Intuitive Machines and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station announce successful migration of the nation's largest lunar dataset
The partnership secures long-term access to more than 1.8 petabytes of critical lunar surface imagery and topographic data.
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Intuitive Machines and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) today announced the successful migration of the nation's largest lunar dataset to Texas A&M's high-performance data infrastructure. The operationaldeployment secures long-term access to more than 1.8 petabytes of critical lunar surface imagery and topographic data, preserving the foundational digital infrastructure required for future cislunar operations.
Intuitive Machines is the prime contractor for the operation of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and NASA's Shadowcam instruments. Together, the data sets represent approximately 67% of NASA's total planetary data holdings. By protecting and scaling access to this vital dataset, the partnership provides the lunar intelligence required for civil, academic, and commercial partners to map, navigate, and land on the Moon.
"For 16 years, the LROC team has built the scientific foundation that supports nearly every modern lunar mission across civil space, academia, and commercial exploration," said Intuitive Machines LROC Principal Investigator, Mark Robinson. "With this archive safely and securely migrated, we're enabling the next generation of lunar science and operation with data that's already shaped where we go and how we get there."
"The partnership between TEES and Intuitive Machines represents a bold step forward in advancing Texas' leadership in space-based research and innovation," said Dr. Robert H. Bishop, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Texas A&M Engineering and Director of TEES. "By distributing lunar data through the West Campus Data Center, we are positioning Texas A&M as a vital facilitator for space science, helping to enable researchers, students and industry collaborators to explore the Moon's mysteries and drive discovery."
The high-performance data infrastructure optimizes delivery of critical operational assets within the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS), including:
* High-resolution images: More than 2.6 million Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images of the lunar surface
* Terrain models: More than 640,000 Wide-Angle Camera (WAC) high-resolution images of the lunar surface
* Landing site analysis data: Products supporting Artemis and CLPS landing site selection, including Intuitive Machines lunar missions
* ShadowCam images: Observations from ShadowCam, a NASA-funded instrument operated by the LROC team that reveals permanently shadowed regions
* Apollo-era scans: Digitized film scans from all NASA human lunar surface exploration
By protecting and advancing access to the nation's lunar data assets, Intuitive Machines reinforces its position as the primary digital and physical architecture layer supporting the expansion of the lunar economy.
Researchers, mission designers, and commercial partners interested in accessing the LROC and ShadowCam data can explore the publicly available archive through the NASA Planetary Data System.
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About Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is a leading space infrastructure company that builds spacecraft, connects networks, and operates infrastructure-as-a-service for commercial, civil, and national security customers.
With a proven track record across the space domain, the Company, through organic growth and portfolio expansion, has built over 300 spacecraft, delivered over 260 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface, and provided precision navigation expertise that has guided spacecraft across our solar system.
These capabilities form an integrated Built-Connect-Operate infrastructure service company, enabling customers to achieve mission and campaign outcomes through a single prime solution. Intuitive Machines' technology has been demonstrated across the space domain and is engineered to support the next century of opportunity in space.
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About TEES
Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) is the official research agency for Texas A&M Engineering and is pivotal in advancing interdisciplinary research across The Texas A&M University System. TEES is dedicated to addressing complex challenges through applied engineering research, managing research grants and contracts and actively fostering partnerships with industry, government and academia, benefiting Texas A&M Engineering faculty and researchers. Technology transition efforts in TEES help move research from the lab to industry and consumers. Additionally, TEES enhances engineering expertise through workforce development, trains professionals in emerging fields and engages educators and students to inspire future engineers.
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Original text here: https://news.engineering.tamu.edu/news/2026/07/17/intuitive-machines-and-texas-am-engineering-experiment-station-announce-successful-migration-of-the-nations-largest-lunar-dataset/
Emory University Winship Cancer Institute: Multiple Myeloma Trial Provides First Randomized Evidence for Optimal Duration of Maintenance Therapy
ATLANTA, Georgia, July 18 -- Emory University Winship Cancer Institute issued the following news release:
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Multiple myeloma trial provides first randomized evidence for optimal duration of maintenance therapy
Results of the randomized Phase 3 ENDURANCE clinical trial by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offer new insights into the optimal maintenance therapy strategy for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are not undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant.
With a median follow-up of seven years, overall
... Show Full Article
ATLANTA, Georgia, July 18 -- Emory University Winship Cancer Institute issued the following news release:
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Multiple myeloma trial provides first randomized evidence for optimal duration of maintenance therapy
Results of the randomized Phase 3 ENDURANCE clinical trial by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offer new insights into the optimal maintenance therapy strategy for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are not undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant.
With a median follow-up of seven years, overallsurvival rates in the ENDURANCE trial were almost identical between patients who continued lenalidomide (an oral immunomodulatory drug) until their disease progressed and those who stopped after two years.
The publication was co-authored by Sagar Lonial, MD, FACP, FASCO, chief medical officer of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, with colleagues from the ECOG-ACRIN Myeloma Committee, the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) and cancer centers across the country. S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD, and Shaji Kumar, MD, both hematologists from Mayo Clinic, were senior and first authors, respectively.
According to Lonial, "This is the first randomized trial to show that limited duration lenalidomide maintenance does not sacrifice overall survival in the context of no transplant and triplet induction." Lonial is professor and chair of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, where he holds the Anne and Bernard Gray Family Chair in Cancer. He also serves as vice chair of the IMF Board of Directors.
The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health and conducted through the NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (NCT01863550). Additional support was provided by Amgen.
Read the International Myeloma Foundation's press release (https://www.myeloma.org/news-events/multiple-myeloma-news/landmark-ecog-acrin-endurance-study-co-authored-international-myeloma-foundation-leaders-provides).
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Original text here: https://winshipcancer.emory.edu/newsroom/articles/2026/multiple-myeloma-trial-provides-first-randomized-evidence-for-optimal-duration-of-maintenance-therapy.php
Binghamton University: Mechanical Engineering Department Celebrates 2025-26 Accomplishments
BINGHAMTON, New York, July 18 (TNSjou) -- Binghamton University issued the following news:
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Mechanical Engineering Department celebrates 2025-26 accomplishments
By Chris Kocher
The summer break at Binghamton University is nearly over, with students returning to campus in just a couple of weeks. The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science is looking back on its student, faculty, and research accomplishments for 2025-26.
CAREER Award
Assistant Professor Robert Wagner won a $569,573 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
... Show Full Article
BINGHAMTON, New York, July 18 (TNSjou) -- Binghamton University issued the following news:
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Mechanical Engineering Department celebrates 2025-26 accomplishments
By Chris Kocher
The summer break at Binghamton University is nearly over, with students returning to campus in just a couple of weeks. The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science is looking back on its student, faculty, and research accomplishments for 2025-26.
CAREER Award
Assistant Professor Robert Wagner won a $569,573 National Science Foundation CAREER Awardto incorporate machine learning with both simulated and real-world experiments to analyze the behavior of polymer chains. Polymers can be stretchy, soft, or stiff, but how their molecular structure contributes to their mechanical properties is less understood.
STEM training for teachers
This summer, Binghamton University offered local middle and high school teachers a deep dive into microelectronics research so they can take that knowledge back to their students. The Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, included ME faculty and staff members, as well as colleagues from the College of Community and Public Affairs, and the University's Analytical and Diagnostics Lab (ADL).
New AI center
A record-setting $55 million commitment from a Binghamton University alumnus and New York state will establish the Center for AI Responsibility and Research, the first-ever independent AI research center at a public university in the U.S.
Part of the Empire AI project, the center will be supported by a $30 million commitment from Tom Secunda '76, MA '79, co-founder of Bloomberg LP, who is a key private sector partner and philanthropist involved in Gov. Kathy Hochul's Empire AI consortium. This will be coupled with a $25 million capital investment from Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Faculty news
Associate Professor Scott Schiffres and his startup company, ChipAdd, were featured in a Watson Review story about faculty who are developing their research ideas to market. His work improves the cooling capabilities of microchips by 3D-printing structures directly onto the devices, rather than using bulky heat sinks.
Schiffres, Distinguished Professor Bahgat Sammakia, Distinguished Professor Ronald Miles, and Professor Junghyun Cho were honored among Binghamton's inventors at the third annual Innovation to Impact Symposium.
This spring, Professor Changhong Ke received the SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.
Research news
Assistant Professor Jian Zhou, PhD '18, will lead a five-year, $1.84 million project for the National Institutes of Health to create a dual-sensing ear canal probe that will more accurately and reliably detect otoacoustic emissions, which the human cochlea generates in response to auditory stimuli. The probe will use patented technology that Zhou and Distinguished Professor Ronald Miles developed by mimicking how spiders hear through their webs.
Distinguished Professor Guangwen Zhou contributed to research published in Nature about how different gases can affect oxide reduction, which has the potential to revamp scientific understandings and current industrial practices. Collaborators included Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and Columbia University.
The Integrated Electronics Engineering Center received a $1.2 million award from South Korea's National Nano Fabrication Center to develop the next generation of "2.5D" (2.5-dimensional) electronics packaging. The goal is to better bridge the gap between silicon microchips and the supporting components that make our devices work. Distinguished Professor S.B. Park serves as IEEC director.
Professor Shahrzad "Sherry" Towfighian and PhD candidates Mahmood Chahari, Osama Abdalla, and Elham Mahmoudi published research in the journals Nano Energy, Sensors, and IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics about the best transduction materials and designs for energy harvesting-based load sensors to use in smart-knee replacements.
Student news
A story in the Watson Review highlighting undergraduate research talked to senior Malcolm John, who is working with Professor Junghyun Cho on advanced semiconductor packaging with a focus on evaluating the mechanical strength of hybrid bonding. He examines how factors such as contamination, surface preparation, and material behavior affect bond strength.
Junior Dimitri Mohamed is one of two Binghamton students who received the Department of Defense's highly competitive Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship. It covers full tuition and study abroad costs, and provides an annual $30,000 stipend, paid summer internships, and, after graduation, guaranteed civilian employment with the DOD.
Senior Timothy Tran has created a playable 3D-printed acoustic guitar. Unlike a traditional instrument, it's made of thermoplastic filament and pieced together using a press-fit method.
Annaliese Santoro '26 served in the sustainability cohort at Binghamton's Sustainability Hub in the Science Library, where she helped to coordinate programming and outreach that support campus sustainability efforts. Throughout the semester, she organized student interest group meetings designed to bring together sustainability-focused student organizations and initiatives.
Alumni news
This spring, Jacob Kumpon '22 won a BOLD (Bearcats of the Last Decade) 10 Under 10 Award, which honors alumni who have graduated within the last 10 years, demonstrated a very high level of career achievement since leaving campus, and show great potential for future leadership. He is the co-founder and COO of KLAW Industries, a recycling company transforming millions of tons of waste glass each year into next-generation concrete infrastructure.
Zachary Pozniak '15 has built an enormous following on TikTok and Instagram by turning everyday laundry into engaging short-form videos. His creative content has reached millions and helped elevate his family's New York business into a global name in garment care.
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Original text here: https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/6369/mechanical-engineering-department-celebrates-2025-26-accomplishments
Becky Brown Elected Chair of Western Carolina University Board of Trustees
CULLOWHEE, North Carolina, July 18 -- Western Carolina University issued the following news:
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Becky Brown elected chair of WCU Board of Trustees
Western Carolina University's Board of Trustees elected Becky Brown as chair during a special called meeting on Thursday, July 9. Brown succeeds Casey Cooper, who completed his term as chair and will continue serving on the board through June 30, 2029.
Becky Brown
A retired senior state government leader, Brown brings more than three decades of experience in fiscal management and public administration. She served for 31 years as director of Budget
... Show Full Article
CULLOWHEE, North Carolina, July 18 -- Western Carolina University issued the following news:
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Becky Brown elected chair of WCU Board of Trustees
Western Carolina University's Board of Trustees elected Becky Brown as chair during a special called meeting on Thursday, July 9. Brown succeeds Casey Cooper, who completed his term as chair and will continue serving on the board through June 30, 2029.
Becky Brown
A retired senior state government leader, Brown brings more than three decades of experience in fiscal management and public administration. She served for 31 years as director of Budgetand Management for the North Carolina Department of Labor and is widely respected for her strategic leadership and stewardship of public resources.
A 1971 graduate of WCU, Brown has maintained a longstanding commitment to the university through both leadership and service. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2020 and previously served on WCU's Foundation Board, Alumni Board of Directors and Catamount Club Board. She has also completed executive leadership programs at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University.
The board also elected Jake Robinson as vice chair and Susan Strum as secretary.
Jake Robinson
Robinson, a 2010 WCU graduate and president and CEO of Champion Credit Union, has served on the Board of Trustees since 2021. A former Catamount men's basketball standout, he has remained actively engaged with the university through board and committee service.
Susan Strum
Strum, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2024, is a 1987 WCU graduate with degrees in biology and chemistry and a master's degree in biochemistry from Wake Forest University. She is head of Assay Development at Sapere Bio and previously served as chair of WCU's College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Council.
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Original text here: https://www.wcu.edu/stories/posts/becky-brown-elected-chair-of-wcu-board-of-trustees.aspx
