As 2025 draws to a close, I'm reflecting on a year of remarkable momentum for the College of Engineering and Computing. From forging new connections to opening the first building of our Innovation Complex-Innovation 1-our community delivered breakthrough after breakthrough.
Before highlighting what we accomplished together, I want to thank our Engineering and Computing Panthers whose dedication and ingenuity made this progress possible. My sincere appreciation also goes to our industry partners and community leaders whose collaboration continues to amplify our impact.
8 Ways We Advanced in 2025
- Student Excellence and Leadership
- Faculty Leadership on Emerging Challenges
- Distinguished Faculty Recognition
- Biomedical Engineering Leadership
- Florida Academy Honors FIU Faculty
- Healthcare and Technology Partnerships
- Debut of Innovation 1
- Alumni Making A Difference
Our students earned national recognition and demonstrated exceptional leadership skills this year.
- The FIU chapter of Chi Epsilon (the prestigious honors society for civil engineering) was named one of the top three chapters out of more than 100 chapters nationwide. The chapter earned the award by demonstrating exceptional commitment to scholarship, character, practicality and sociability, while Professor Ali Ebrahimian was recognized as one of the nation's best mentors.
- Students at INIT FIU organized ShellHacks, Florida's largest hackathon, drawing nearly 1,500 attendees and more than 85 recruiters from top tech companies. The 36-hour competition demonstrated how our students are building the networks and skills that launch technology careers.
Our faculty emerged as prominent voices on some of 2025’s most pressing issues.
- As a tumultuous hurricane season rolled on, Associate Professor Navid Tahvildari and Professor Giri Narasimhan advanced AI-powered flood forecasting models that have the potential to help save lives. Narasimhan’s team developed a model that delivers near-instant flood simulations for Florida’s extensive canal system, while Tahvildari advanced models that produce detailed storm surge predictions faster and more accurately than traditional methods.
- Meanwhile, Professor Mark Finlayson, who received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers earlier this year, became a leading voice explaining DeepSeek’s global impact when the Chinese AI startup dominated headlines and app store rankings across the country.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Board of Directors selected Distinguished Professor John Volakis as the recipient of the 2026 IEEE Electromagnetics Award, one of the organization’s most prestigious honors.
- Volakis was recognized “for contributions to computational electromagnetics and antenna technologies.” Presented annually, the IEEE Electromagnetics Award celebrates outstanding contributions to the theory and application of electromagnetics.
- Volakis’ selection reflects groundbreaking technical achievement and dedication to advancing technology that serves humanity across communications, healthcare, and defense applications.
Jorge Riera was appointed Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, effective December 26, 2025. Dr. Riera has served as Interim Chair since December 2021, and his permanent appointment reflects the exceptional leadership and strong support he has earned from the BME faculty.
- Under his guidance, the BME graduate program achieved a major milestone this year, ranking No. 45 among public institutions nationwide in the U.S. News & World Report Graduate Program rankings.
- His leadership has been instrumental in cultivating strategic partnerships, particularly with Baptist Health, and positioning the department as a hub of innovation in neuro and cardiovascular health, personalized cancer treatment, diagnostic bioimaging and sensor technologies.
Six faculty members earned recognition from the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL) this year.
- Professors Osama Mohammed, Naphtali Rishe, John Volakis, and Sundararaj Iyengar were named members of ASEMFL, which recognizes major achievements in science, engineering, and medicine while providing expert advice on issues critical to Florida.
- Additionally, Associate Professor M. Hadi Amini and Assistant Professor Ali Ebrahimian were selected as Rising Stars, an honor recognizing early-career faculty whose innovation and scholarly achievements demonstrate exceptional promise.
Our partnerships with Baptist Health and the Florida Heart Research Foundation are advancing cardiovascular health innovation in South Florida.
- The Florida Heart Research Foundation awarded us nearly $15 million to establish the Center for Innovation in Cardiovascular Health, housed on the sixth floor of Innovation 1. Associate Professor Joshua Hutcheson will serve as founding director, leading collaboration across multiple FIU colleges to tackle cardiovascular health challenges.
- Our biomedical engineering investigators are also working with Dr. Tom Nguyen, chief of the Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute at Baptist Health, to develop AI-powered tools for earlier cardiovascular disease diagnosis and improved patient monitoring through bio-wearables.
This fall marked a transformative milestone: the opening of Innovation 1, the first building of our Innovation Complex.
- Gregory Reis led the inaugural class in a space designed to prepare our record number of students for technology careers.
- The facility brings together faculty from the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and our new department of Multidisciplinary Engineering and Computing Education, Systems, and Management.
- Innovation 1 provides the infrastructure needed to accelerate interdisciplinary research, advance education and host our signature Senior Design Showcase.
Our graduates continued to lead innovation across industries. Here are just a few of the notable examples of Panthers succeeding in their fields in 2025:
- Sebastian Marquez, who earned three degrees from FIU—a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering, a master’s in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering—is now a new product development manager at Ceribell, a Silicon Valley neurotech startup developing AI-powered EEG systems for rapid seizure detection.
- Denisse Aranda ’10 serves as principal space systems contamination control engineer at Blue Origin, where she led contamination control for the New Glenn rocket that launched NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars.
- Laura Castro ’25 is thriving as a software engineer at Microsoft in Seattle, working on the SharePoint team to enhance accessibility and user experience—a position she secured through connections made at ShellHacks.
The achievements highlighted here represent just a portion of what our community accomplished in 2025. As we look toward 2026, I’m confident that the momentum we’ve built this year will continue to drive breakthroughs that serve South Florida and beyond.
Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season.