Jinglong Zhao’s Innovation Pipeline: Fusing Business with Engineering
by Mia Knežević, CISE Staff How does your DoorDash order get to your doorstep so quickly? Jinglong Zhao, Assistant Professor of Operations and Technology Management at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business — and faculty affiliate of both the Center for Information & Systems Engineering (CISE) and the Hariri Institute — has some answers. Zhao’s […]
BEACON Launches Today, Delivering AI-powered Global Disease Surveillance
By Maureen L. Stanton Infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging at an unprecedented rate, with profound impacts on global health. In just the first three months of 2025, the U.S. recorded as many measles deaths as it did in the previous 24 years combined. New zoonotic diseases, naturally transmissible between humans and animals, continue to […]
How American Sign Language Helped Reveal Languages’ Hidden Patterns
Discoveries could transform how we learn, recover, and model language By Maureen L. Stanton Are words arbitrary? For centuries, scientists believed that words are essentially random sounds that are given meaning. For example, there’s nothing about the sound of the word “dog” that tells you what it means—it’s just something we’ve learned. Following this logic, […]
Advancing Sustainability Through AI-driven Research and ENERGIZE Graduate Training
Junior Faculty Fellow Spotlight: James Chapman, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering By Alex Grzybowski High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have major applications to the world of materials science. These alloys contain roughly equal amounts of five or more different elements with different crystal structures, which allows the materials to have increased strength, hardness, wear resistance, thermal stability, and […]
AI-powered Breakthrough in Plasma Science Delivers New Computational Efficiencies
Unlocks Potential for Space and Fusion Research By Maureen Stanton Plasma physics plays a critical role in a wide array of scientific and technological fields, from understanding the Sun and other stars to predicting space weather, advancing fusion energy, and exploring cosmic phenomena like black holes and neutron stars. However, accurately simulating plasma behavior is […]
New Research Introduces Privacy-Preserving AI Framework for Detecting Cognitive Impairment from Voice Recordings
By Hariri Institute Staff A collaborative team of researchers, including Hariri Institute faculty affiliates Vijaya Kolachalama, PhD, FAHA, associate professor of medicine, and Rhoda Au, professor of epidemiology, anatomy & neurobiology, has developed a new computational framework that can detect early signs of cognitive impairment from digital voice recordings—while protecting individual privacy. The findings, published in […]
News Article or Big Oil Advertisement?
A BU-led study shows how advertisements, formatted like journalism, are being used by oil giants to influence public opinion. The researchers reveal strategies to help readers recognize ads and reduce their susceptibility to misleading claims. By Alison Gold In the battle against climate disinformation, native advertising is a fierce foe. A study published today in […]
ENERGIZE NRT: Training the Next Generation of Energy Innovators
Climate change is one of the greatest problems facing humanity. Hariri Institute talks with ENERGIZE NRT CoPIs Emily Ryan (Engineering) and David Coker (Chemistry) to explore how this new BU interdisciplinary program is tackling this challenge head-on. By Maeve Smillie The escalating frequency and severity of extreme weather events like record-breaking heat waves, devastating wildfires, […]
Tianyu Wang (ECE) Advances Energy Efficiency in AI Data Centers
By Mia Knežević, CISE Staff Writer Artificial intelligence already consumes a massive amount of energy — and the demand is only expected to grow. According to Energy Digital, data centers powering large-scale AI systems accounted for an estimated 1–1.5% of global electricity use in 2022. That number is projected to double by 2026. Tianyu Wang, […]
Rabia Yazicigil (ECE, BME) Advances American Wireless Communications with $6M Northeast Microelectronics Hub Grant
by Margaret Stanton, CISE Staff The COVID-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain. By 2020, the U.S. produced just 10% of the world’s semiconductors—down from 37% in 1990. In response, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act was passed to boost R&D and revive domestic manufacturing, with a goal of increasing U.S. […]