Engineers Week 2025
Design Your Future
About
Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, Engineers Week is an occasion to celebrate the extraordinary contributions of engineers and inspire the next generation.
The 2025 Engineers Week theme, “Design Your Future,” spotlights the crucial role that engineers play in developing solutions to global challenges that affect future generations.
This theme is also at the core of our work here in the College of Engineering. At UMass Amherst, we pursue “Revolutionary Engineering for All,” inspiring us to dream boldly, innovate relentlessly, and create a future shaped by our collective ingenuity.
As part of their 2025 theme, the National Society of Professional Engineers highlighted six research areas where engineers are at the forefront of addressing rapid technological advancements and societal shifts. Here is a brief example of how UMass engineers are contributing to each one of these important areas:
Renewable Energy
Kara Peterman, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, is leading a research project awarded $6.37 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to shrink the carbon footprint of the steel industry.
Circular Economy
While students at UMass, Ian Goodine and Ethan Walko founded rStream, a robotics company aiming to automate waste collection by using innovations in computer vision. They have since received grants from the NSF and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. This year, they were named Activate Fellows.
Artificial Intelligence
Joyita Dutta, professor of biomedical engineering, is using wearable sleep trackers and AI to predict early signs of Alzheimer’s disease on a $3.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Autonomous Systems
Meghan Huber, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, has developed a novel robotic hip exoskeleton to help stroke patients regain their stride.
Gene Editing
Sarah Perry, associate professor of chemical engineering, recently received support from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new approach to efficiently, reliably, and cost effectively synthesize novel strands of specialty “long RNA.”
Urban Planning
Christian Guzman, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is using geospatial mapping techniques to identify communities in Massachusetts that are most vulnerable to flooding, with the ultimate goal of empowering communities and preparing them for challenges of climate change.
Events
We are offering a few events to celebrate Engineers Week: