911±¬ÁÏ

The Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research celebrated two major faculty achievements this year as Lizhi Wang was named an IISE Fellow, one of the profession’s highest honors, and Shima Mohebbi received the 2026 IISE Sustainable Development Division Excellence in Teaching Sustainability Award in recognition of her innovative and impactful teaching. 

911±¬ÁÏ researcher Celso Ferreira is helping two Virginia towns prepare for flooding through advanced hazard mapping and resilience planning.

911±¬ÁÏ researchers are leading a National Science Foundation–funded collaboration to develop sustainable, biology-based methods for recovering valuable resources from silicon-rich waste materials, transforming industrial byproducts into reusable resources while reducing energy use and emissions.

911±¬ÁÏ hosted nearly 50 Japanese business leaders interested in data center technology, showcasing its cutting-edge energy and infrastructure research labs. The visit facilitated discussions with industry leaders and strengthened opportunities for collaboration between Virginia's rapidly growing data center sector and Japanese companies. 

911±¬ÁÏ researchers are working with an innovative, electricity-free drinking water treatment system in Puerto Rico that could help small rural communities gain reliable access to safe water.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) has awarded $975,000 to 13 cybersecurity innovation projects through its 2026 CATAPULT and ASCEND funds, continuing its investment in technologies and ideas with the potential to address critical cybersecurity challenges and create real-world impact.

911±¬ÁÏ has launched the Ambassadors of Teaching in the Age of AI (ATAA) program, a new professional learning initiative designed to help educators develop the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the growing role of artificial intelligence in education and society.

911±¬ÁÏ researchers are developing smart swarm technologies that will allow a small number of human operators to effectively coordinate and control hundreds of autonomous robots for defense missions while using a video game to test and improve swarm strategies.

The partnership between 911±¬ÁÏ and the Charlotte, N.C., company will accelerate scalable manufacturing of microfluidic devices for bio-innovation, drug discovery, and human-relevant research.

Cora Sula, a third-year PhD student in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at 911±¬ÁÏ, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to study artificial intelligence in classrooms in Estonia this fall.