Research
Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research
The Electrical and Computer Engineering department nourishes a vibrant research environment motivated by our dedicated faculty and graduate students. Our research programs are funded by many government agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Homeland Security, and numerous local and national industries.
Research activities at the ECE Department can be classified by research areas and by research centers and institutes. The department offers eight research areas of focus and is either the lead or partner of nine research centers and institutes.
Faculty also conduct research in their labs. View faculty profiles to learn about their research, including work being conducted in their laboratories. Also, view our Annual Reports and college-wide research efforts.
Quick Facts
external research awards (FY2024)
tenured/tenure-track faculty
research centers and institutes (leading or affiliated with)
Research Strengths
Our research strengths encompass the full gamut of cutting-edge ECE technologies: embedded systems and internet-of-things, robotics and cyber-human systems, networking (mobile/wireless as well as the Internet of the future), big data analytics and machine learning. Northeastern’s historic strengths in ECE include communications and digital signal processing, power and control systems, power electronics, RF/microwave magnetic materials, device technologies, and computer engineering.
Biomedical Research and Collaborations
Northeastern ECE faculty are engaged in a range of biomedical projects in collaboration with fellow world-class researchers in the Boston-area medical community. These projects span all disciplinary areas and include MEMS/NEMS sensors for biological detection; applications of wireless technology in biomedical implants; biomedical imaging hardware and signal processing; brain-computer interface technologies; disease detection and tracking; and many more.
Recent News
First Observation of Quantum Oscillations in Second-Order Electrical Transport
COS/ECE Professor Mingzhong Wu and his team recently published “Quantum Oscillations of Nonlinear Electrical Transport in a Topological Dirac Semimetal” in Physical Review Letters.
NSF CAREER Award to Develop Next Generation Optical Frequency Combs
ECE Assistant Professor Sunil Mittal was awarded a $560K NSF CAREER award for “On-Chip Coupled Resonator Arrays for Generating Unconventional Classical and Quantum Optical Frequency Combs (CRAYONS).”
Best Paper Award at 3DV 2026 for LAPA Multi-Camera Point Tracking
ECE Associate Professor Sarah Ostadabbas and her team of PhD, MS, and postdoctoral researchers at the Augmented Cognition Lab received the Best Paper Award at the 2026 International Conference on 3D Vision for their paper on “Look Around and Pay Attention: Multi-camera Point Tracking Reimagined with Transformers”.
Patent for Arc Fault Detection for Solar Power Systems
ECE Professor Bradley Lehman was awarded a patent for “Arc fault detection using current signal demodulation, outlier elimination, and autocorrelation energy thresholds.”