On Friday, December 6th, was the Fall 2019 edition of our Building Bridges event. 138 students from 66 different schools in 11 states signed up to participate, to learn all about engineering. Students picked from 17 different professor-led sessions, with each topic including some sort of presentation and/or hands-on activity. The day started with a breakfast and introduction to Northeastern (and college in general) by Claire Duggan, Director for the Center for STEM Education, and Rich Harris, Assistant 
Dean for Academic Scholarships, Mentoring and Outreach and Director of NUPRIME. Students then attended two sessions which they selected according to their engineering interests; see below for participating faculty and topics. During lunch, the NU Chapters of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) talked about their organizations efforts and club life on campus. Following this, students sat in small groups with a Northeastern student and asked questions about college and STEM in general. The day wrapped up with a raffle and feedback forms, as well as an optional campus tour. Thank you to all Northeastern faculty, staff, and students for 
making this day possible!
Participating Faculty:
- Ali Abur: Using Solar Energy to Power Loads [Electrical Engineering]
Examine a small-scale solar PV system, and learn how solar energy can be transformed into electrical and used to power loads. - Sidi Bencherif: Polymeric Hydrogels to Improve Life Quality [Bioengineering & Chemical Engineering]
Learn about polymers by making your own hydrogels and understand how they can be used as a drug/cell delivery device. 
Joshua Gallaway: Storing Electricity with Batteries [Chemical Engineering]
We need better batteries for automobiles, buildings, and the power grid itself: learn all about engineering batteries.- Xiaoning Jin: Data Analytics for Smart Manufacturing [Industrial Engineering]
Introduction to and interactive demonstration of smart manufacturing and data analytics (statistics, machine learning, AI, etc). - David Kaeli: Talking to Your Robot [Electrical & Computer Engineering]
Interact with a robotic arm to carry out a set of tasks and learn how servo motors are controlled using software. - Michael Kane*: Sustainable and Efficient Buildings [Civil Engineering]
Explore the relationships between heat input, thermal storage, and heat transfer using the concept of balance point or equilibrium temperature. 
Abigail Koppes: Microscopy U [Bioengineering]
Learn about tissue engineering and how fluorescence microscopy is used to visualize samples in engineering and health applications.- Philip Larese-Casanova: Drinking Water Treatment [Environmental Engineering]
Learn how river water is converted to drinking water and conduct your own tabletop treatment plant. - Danielle Levac: Virtual Reality Technologies for Rehabilitation [Computer & Bioengineering]
Learn about virtual reality and how can it help patients learn and relearn movement skills after injury or illness. - Xue Lin*: Deep Learning Security and Acceleration [Computer Science & Computer Engineering]
Learn about deep learning security and acceleration: data extraction techniques for Artificial Intelligence. 
Andrew Myers: Harvesting Energy with Wind Turbines [Civil Engineering]
Learn the basic mechanics of lift-driven wind turbines and compete to design a wind turbine rotor that generates the most power.- Ugurcan Ozdemir: Designing Earthquake Resistant Buildings [Civil Engineering]
Explore the world of structural engineering: see how designing earthquake-proof structures is important to the safety of millions. - Alireza Ramezani: Bio-Inspired Robots [Electrical Engineering]
Learn about the process and background needed to build and control biology inspired robots. 
Aatmesh Shrivastava*: Power Issues in IoT Devices [Electrical & Computer Engineering]
Learn about self-powered and ultra-low power circuits and systems for Internet of Things devices through a research presentation and lab tour.- Rifat Sipahi: Mobile Robots and their Coordinated Motion [Mechanical & Electrical Engineering]
Learn about low-cost mobile robots from manufacturing to software development, how to coordinate the robots, and undergraduate research opportunities at NU. - Eugene Tunik*: Brain Stimulation and Virtual Reality [Bioengineering & Neuroscience]
Explore cutting-edge technology used in the neurosciences to study the brain and behavior, such as TMS and EMG, as well as virtual reality (VR) and robotics used to examine human behavior. - Gunther Zupanc: Regenerating the Central Nervous System [Bioengineering & Neuroscience]
Learn about the fundamental processes underlying the repair mechanisms facilitated by stem cells, and how the biological information can be connected to a mathematical framework to explain and predict the biological repair phenomena.
* = first time Building Bridges faculty
