Applied Physics

(Degree conferred jointly by NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Newark, New Jersey)

Matias Daniel de Almeida

Dissertation: Modeling of Solar Cell Performance as a Function of Buffer Layer, Interlayer, and Temperature 

Advisor: Nuggehalli M. Ravindra, Ph.D.

Keitarou Matsumoto

Dissertation: Magnetohydrodynamic Processes and Non-thermal Emission in Major X-class Solar Flares 

Advisor: Satoshi Inoue, Ph.D.

Brian E. O’Donnell

Dissertation: Disentangling Non-Thermal Electron Injection and Decay in Solar Flares Using Multi-Wavelength Radio Observations 

Advisor: Bin Chen, Ph.D.

Meiqi Wang

Dissertation: Multi-Messenger Diagnostics of the Origin and Transport of Solar Energetic Particles

Advisor: Bin Chen, Ph.D.

Biology

(Degree conferred jointly by NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Newark, New Jersey)

Gianpiero Fiorentino

Dissertation: The Impact of Extinction on Biological Communities through Deep Time

Advisor: Philip Barden, Ph.D.

Amani C. Webber-Schultz

Dissertation: Ecomorphology and Biomechanics of Shark Dermal Denticles from a Fluid Dynamics Perspective

Advisor: Brooke Flammang, Ph.D.

Biomedical Engineering

(Degree conferred jointly by NJIT and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Newark, New Jersey)

Tulika Das

Dissertation: Preventing Blood Brain Barrier Permeability from Repetitive Blast Exposure Prevents the Initiation and Progression of Neuroinflammation, Neuronal Loss, and Behavioral Deficits 

Advisor: Bryan Pfister, Ph.D.

Kelly N. DiCristina

Dissertation: The Role of PERK Signaling and Its Downstream Effectors in Influencing the Intrinsic Growth State and Axonal Growth in Vitro 

Advisor: Bryan Pfister, Ph.D.

Joseph Bernard Dodd-o

Dissertation: A Rationally Designed Composite Self-assembled Hydrogel System for Biochemical Interaction with Diverse Targets 

Advisor: Vivek Kumar, Ph.D.

Lei Hao

Dissertation: Understanding Macrophage–cardiomyocyte Interactions and the Role of Regenerative Biomaterials

Advisor: Eun Jung Lee, Ph.D.

Nuran Kavakli

Dissertation: Transcranial AC Modulation of Cerebellar Nuclear Activity in Awake Animals

Advisor: Mesut Sahin, Ph.D.

Natalie Grace Kozan

Dissertation: Aligned Collagen Sponges with Sustained Release of IGF-1 for Treatment of Volumetric Muscle Loss 

Advisor: Jonathan Grasman, Ph.D.

Erick H. Nunez

Dissertation: Towards a Data-Driven and Mechatronics Framework for Post-Stroke Motor Rehabilitation: Outcome Prediction, Upper Extremity Assistance, and Lower Extremity Mobility Restoration

Advisor: Sergei Adamovich, Ph.D.

Rifath Hasan Rafi

Dissertation: Quantifying Cortical Activation and Postural Control during Vestibulo-Oculomotor Tasks in Healthy Adults Using fNIRS and Force Plate Posturography 

Advisor: Chang Yaramothu, Ph.D.

Neethan Ratnakumar

Dissertation: Optimizing Hip and Knee Assistance for Walking and Sit-to-stand Transitions: An Intrinsic Muscle Mechanics Based Predictive Approach 

Advisor: Xianlian Zhou, Ph.D.

Abhishek Roy

Dissertation: Insulin-like Growth Factor Mimicking Peptide Hydrogel for Enhanced Angiogenesis and Myogenesis 

Advisor: Vivek Kumar, Ph.D.

Ayushi K. Sangoi

Dissertation: Vergence Task-Based Neural Pathways with Binocularly Normal Vision and Comorbid Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms Convergence Insufficiency

Advisors: Tara Alvarez, Ph.D.; Suril Gohel, Ph.D. (Rutgers)

Business Data Science

Alvaro Jesus Aguado Marin

Dissertation: Beyond Words: A Systematic Multimodal Framework for Text, Images, and Extreme Helpfulness in Online Reviews 

Advisor: Jorge Fresneda Fernandez, Ph.D.

Weiting Gao

Dissertation: From Text to Insight: Extracting, Predicting, and Explaining Clinical Information from Unstructured Clinical Notes 

Advisor: Yi Chen, Ph.D.

Michael E. Smith

Dissertation: A Study of the Influence of Consumer Privacy Regulations on Digital Publishing and Advertising 

Advisors: Yi Chen, Ph.D.; Cristian M. Borcea, Ph.D.

Uras Varolgunes

Dissertation: Harnessing Graphs for Knowledge Representation in Natural Language Processing 

Advisor: Dantong Yu, Ph.D.

Chemical Engineering

Lixin Feng

Dissertation: High Purification of a Protein/Monoclonal Antibody by Ultrafiltration from Binary Mixtures Difficult to Separate 

Advisors: Kamalesh K. Sirkar, Ph.D.; Sagnik Basuray Ph.D.

Guangliang Liu

Dissertation: Glass Transition Temperature of PLGA Nanoparticles and the Application in Drug Delivery

Advisor: Kathleen McEnnis, Ph.D.

Zhixiang Liu

Dissertation: Membrane-Engineered Nanotherapeutic Platforms for Drug Delivery:  Hollow Fiber Membrane Synthesis of Lipid Nanoparticles, Biomimetic Nanocarriers, and Nanobubbles 

Advisor: Xiaoyang Xu, Ph.D.

Siddharth Tripathi

Dissertation: A Mechanistic Framework Linking Particle Properties to Product Performance: Dry Coating Based Enhancements of Pharmaceutical Powders and Blends 

Advisor: Rajesh Dave, Ph.D.

Chemistry

Kai-Yuan Chiu

Dissertation: Toward a Novel Mass Spectrometry-Based Bioanalytical Ecosystem: Engineering Functional Interfaces to Bypass the Chromatography and Quantitation Bottlenecks 

Advisor: Hao Chen, Ph.D.

Md. Tanim-Al Hassan

Dissertation: Development of Electrochemistry-Assisted Mass Spectrometry for Absolute Quantitation of Peptides with Chemical Modifications 

Advisor: Hao Chen, Ph.D.

Yanmei Li

Dissertation: BODIPY-Based Photocages for the Controlled Release of Hydrogen Sulfide and Persulfides 

Advisor: Pier Alexandre Champagne, Ph.D.

Giang T. Ly

Dissertation: Molecular and Interfacial Design of Dinuclear Schiff-Base Nickel and Cobalt Complexes for Cooperative Redox Chemistry and Photoelectrochemical Oxidation 

Advisor: Mike Eberhardt, Ph.D.

Alfonso Minervino

Dissertation: Exploring the Chemical Space of Metal-Organic Frameworks for PFAS Adsorption 

Advisors: Farnaz A. Shakib, Ph.D.; Kevin Belfield, Ph.D.

Yuliang Shi

Dissertation: Data-driven Analysis and Atomistic Simulations of Next-generation Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage 

Advisor: Farnaz A. Shakib, Ph.D.

Huifang (Bella) Yao

Dissertation: Development and Implementation of Novel Mass Spectrometric Methods for Metabolism Studies in Drug Discoveries

Advisor: Hao Chen, Ph.D.

Civil Engineering

Mary Chikondi Ngoma

Dissertation: Mechanics and Physical Attributes of Nature-Based Alterations: Rock Reinforcement and Urban Heat Island Assessment 

Advisor: Oladoyin Kolawole, Ph.D.

Computer Engineering

Ranyang Zhou

Dissertation: Holistic DRAM Enhancements: From Intrinsic In-Memory Operations to Robust Security Mechanisms  

Advisor: Shaahin Angizi, Ph.D.

Computer Science 

Ankan Dash

Dissertation: Visual Intelligence with Generative AI: Deep Learning Approaches for Image Inpainting, 3D Reconstruction, and Reverse Pass-through VR Systems 

Advisor: Guiling Wang, Ph.D.

Shen Fan

Dissertation: Toward Learning-Based Reconstruction and Part Decomposition of Man-Made 3D Geometry: Neural Implicit Representations and Scalable Supervision

Advisor: Przemyslaw Musialski, Ph.D.

Jingyi Gu

Dissertation: Robust AI Solutions for Financial Markets through Generative Modeling, Dynamic Graph Learning, and Reinforcement-Based Portfolio Optimization 

Advisor: Guiling Wang, Ph.D.

Siqi Jiang

Dissertation: Dynamic and Edge-Aware Graph Representation Learning for Financial Prediction 

Advisors: Zhi Wei, Ph.D.; Dantong Yu, Ph.D.

Erin Kenney

Dissertation: Anonymity and Accountability in Secure Messaging 

Advisors: Chase Wu, Ph.D.; Qiang Tang, Ph.D. 

Fuhuan Li

Dissertation: Large-scale Graph Algorithms and Applications with an Emphasis on FinTech Data 

Advisor: David Bader, Ph.D.

Haoran Liu

Dissertation: Semi-Supervised Learning for Annotation and Representation of Single-Cell RNA Sequencing and Spatial Transcriptomics Data 

Advisor: Zhi Wei, Ph.D.

Ali Parviz

Dissertation: Assessing and Improving Graph Reasoning and Learning 

Advisor: Ioannis Koutis, Ph.D.

Jianlan Ren

Dissertation: Computational Methods for Single-cell and Multi-OMIC Data Integration and Regulatory Network Inference 

Advisor: Zhi Wei, Ph.D.

Haotian Yin

Dissertation: Differential-geometric Methods for Neural Signed Distance Fields: Parameterized Surface Extraction and Curvature Regularization for CAD Models

Advisor: Przemyslaw Musialski, Ph.D.

Electrical Engineering 

Sara Ghasvarianjahromi

Dissertation: Computing and Retrieval under Uncertainty: Reliable Decentralized Computation and Importance-Aware Semantic Communication 

Advisor: Joerg Kliewer, Ph.D.

Yusuf Ozkan

Dissertation: Reinforcement Learning Based Clustered Scheduling for High-Throughput LDPC Decoding 

Advisor: Joerg Kliewer, Ph.D.

Yuan Zhao

Dissertation: Communication Engineering Approaches to Study Rationally Inattentive Decisions and Decisions under Information Asymmetry 

Advisor: Ali Abdi, Ph.D.

Changshi Zhou

Dissertation: Enabling ML/AI in 6G and Future Wireless Communication with Privacy Preservation, MEC Offloading and Quantum Computing 

Advisor: Nirwan Ansari, Ph.D.

Environmental Engineering 

Anirban Dhulia

Dissertation: Remediation of Soils Contaminated with Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) by Electrokinetic and Hydraulic Flushing 

Advisor: Michel Boufadel, Ph.D.

Jianyun Li

Dissertation: The Behavior and Fate of Seawater-crude Oil Emulsion 

Advisor: Michel Boufadel, Ph.D.

Targol Teymourian

Dissertation: Molecular Mechanisms of PFAS Destruction: From the Limitations of Incineration to Sonochemical Reactor Optimization 

Advisor: Jay Meegoda, Ph.D.

Guangyu Zhu 

Dissertation: Hierarchical Membrane Synthesis and Transport Phenomenon for Desalination and Resource Recovery from Hyper-Brine Wastewater 

Advisor: Wen Zhang, Ph.D.

Yihan Zhang

Dissertation: Chemical Properties and Transport Behavior of Reactive Nanobubbles: Implications on Environmental Pollutant Abatement 

Advisor: Wen Zhang, Ph.D.

Environmental Science 

(Degree conferred jointly by NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Newark, New Jersey)

Jose Manuel Diaz Antunes

Dissertation: Catabolic and Ecological Roles of Group-6 Soluble Di-iron Monooxygenases in 1,4-Dioxane Biodegradation: Evolutionary Insights, Biomarker Development, and Temperature Response

Advisor: Mengyan Li, Ph.D.

Courtney Potts

Dissertation: Endocrine Disrupting Properties of Alternative Plasticizers and Parabens in the Female Reproductive System  

Advisor: Genoa Warner, Ph.D.

Industrial Engineering 

Marco Marena

Dissertation: Machine Learning and Computer Vision with Applications in Science and Engineering 

Advisor: Bo Shen, Ph.D.

Information Systems 

Khang Hong Nguyen Dang

Dissertation: Immersive, Interactive, Intelligent, and Individualized Audio Description in 360° Virtual Reality Musical Performances for Blind and Low-Vision Users

Advisor: Sooyeon Lee, Ph.D.

Bilas Talukdar

Dissertation: Perceptual and Geometric Advances in Crowd Simulation  

Advisor: Tomer Weiss, Ph.D.

Khang Tran Phuc

Dissertation: Principles of Privacy and Security in Artificial Intelligence and Applications

Advisor: Hai Phan, Ph.D.

Materials Engineering 

Sreerag Kaaliveetil

Dissertation: An Electrochemical Sensor Platform Incorporating a Novel Microfluidic Gas-liquid Membrane Contactor and Machine Learning-Driven Data Analysis for Gas-Phase Analyte Detection 

Advisor: Sagnik Basuray, Ph.D.

Daniel D. Mottern

Dissertation: Computational Design of Nanoporous Materials for the Adsorption of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

Advisors: Sagnik Basuray, Ph.D.; Joshua Young, Ph.D.

Nicole Christina Rodriguez

Dissertation: Sustainable Agricultural Mulch Materials Based on Biodegradable Polymers 

Advisors: Murat Guvendiren, Ph.D.; Lisa Axe, Ph.D.

William Stewart

Dissertation: Engineering RNA and RNA Delivery Systems for Cellular Targeted Therapeutics 

Advisor: Xiaoyang Xu, Ph.D.

Mathematical Sciences 

(Degree conferred jointly by NJIT and Rutgers-Newark, Newark, New Jersey) 

Atul Anurag

Dissertation: The Global Phase Space of the Three-Vortex Interaction System and Its Application to Vortex-Dipole Scattering

Advisor: Roy Goodman, Ph.D.

Mark Joseph Fasano

Dissertation: Dynamics of Silicone Oil Droplets Excited by Surface Acoustic Waves 

Advisors: Linda J. Cummings, Ph.D.; Lou Kondic, Ph.D.

Michael Luo

Dissertation: Parameter Density Estimation for Cardiac Electrophysiology Models Using Data Consistent Deep Learning 

Advisor: Casey Diekman, Ph.D.

Jose L. Pabon

Dissertation: Reduced Order Models of Hydrodynamically Interacting Flapping Wings 

Advisors: Michael Siegel, Ph.D.; Anand Oza, Ph.D.

Mechanical Engineering 

Joy Datta

Dissertation: A Generative AI-Driven Computational Framework for Industry- Scale Discovery of Novel Battery Materials

Advisor: Dibakar Datta, Ph.D.

Rubayet Hassan

Dissertation: Entropic Forces near Fluctuating Surfaces

Advisor: Fatemeh Ahmadpoor, Ph.D.

Sun H. Kwon

Dissertation: Integrating Self-Powered Nanofibrous Sensors and Machine Learning for Cardiac Monitoring

Advisor: Lin Dong, Ph.D.

Niladri Talukder

Dissertation: Material Degradation and Analysis of N-doped Graphene/MOF Nanocatalysts for ORR in Electrochemical Energy Systems 

Advisor: Eon Soo Lee, Ph.D.

Transportation 

Aimee J. Jefferson

Dissertation: Significant Crash Characteristics Associated with E-Scooter and E-Bike Crashes

Advisor: Janice Daniel, Ph.D.