Engineering Research at Dartmouth Skip to main content
Research

Engineering Research at Dartmouth

Dartmouth engineering researchers work within an integrated community of experts in their fields, unencumbered by departmental divisions. Our faculty and students are versatile thinkers who can define a problem, place it within the broad social and economic contexts, and articulate a clear vision for a human-centered approach toward a solution.

Most research projects are collaborations that integrate one or more engineering disciplines with other sciences. Students working in these labs learn important lessons about the interconnectedness of the world and develop both depth and breadth that make them innovators and leaders in emerging technologies.

Research by Program Area

Icon representing Biological/ Chemical

Biological/ Chemical

Learn More
Icon representing Biomedical

Biomedical

Learn More
Icon representing Electrical/ Computer

Electrical/ Computer

Learn More
Icon representing Energy

Energy

Learn More
Icon representing Materials Science

Materials Science

Learn More
Icon representing Mechanical/ Operations/ Systems

Mechanical/ Operations/ Systems

Learn More

Culture of Collaboration

Dartmouth Engineering is a close-knit community of scholars with a broad range of expertise. The culture of collaboration extends across the hall, across campus, and beyond. Many research projects engage colleagues from other institutions such as Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Geisel School of Medicine, Tuck School of Business, Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, and CRREL, as well as industry—and offer numerous research opportunities for undergraduates.

Learn More

Research Quick Takes

Yineng "Phoebe" Sun headshot

Sep 24, 2026

Optimizing Complex Delivery Systems

PhD candidate Yineng "Phoebe" Sun Th'17 Th'26 is first author, with Lecturer Armin Fügenschuh and Professor Vikrant Vaze as co-authors, of "Physics-aware truck and drone delivery planning using optimization & machine learning" published in Computers & Operations Research. The presented framework has been shown to reduce delivery time and energy use compared with simplified planning approaches. "This work matters because it brings realistic physical modeling into operations research, showing how optimization and data-driven methods can work together to make complex delivery systems both more efficient and more practical," said Sun.

Sie Hendrata Dharmawan presents at the conference in Italy.

Sep 24, 2026

Revealing Structure in Complex Data

Industry PhD student Sie Hendrata Dharmawan presented four papers from Professor Peter Chin's LISP Lab at the 35th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks in Padua, Italy. "I am grateful to Professor Chin, the LISP Lab, and my collaborators for making this possible, and to Muhammad Farrukh and colleagues for trusting me to present their work on topological anomaly detection. What ties these papers together is a question I care about deeply: how do we capture the structure hidden in complex data? Whether it's adding loop structure to graph neural networks, measuring a node's sphere of influence with game theory, or detecting communities across multiple networks, the conference gave us great feedback and follow-up work, and I'm looking forward to diving into it," said Dharmawan.

Paulina Umansky on a glacier in Alaska

Sep 17, 2026

Detecting Life in Icy, Extreme Environments

This past summer, PhD student Paulina Umansky, who works with Professor Ian Baker on Antarctic ice microstructure and Professor Jacob Buffo on life detection in planetary ices, lived on the Taku Glacier in Alaska for three weeks as a participant in the Juneau Icefield Research Program. "The Juneau Icefield serves as an analog for environments across the solar system such as Mars and Europa. I conducted a pilot study on 'Life Detection Across Taku Glacier,' collecting subglacial and supraglacial samples. In the field, I learned several assays and applied them to analyze these samples, quantifying biosignatures present across the icefield," says Umansky.

Colin Meyer headshot

Sep 17, 2026

Early Career Program Award

Professor Colin Meyer received an Early Career Program (ECP) Award from the DEVCOM Army Research Lab. ECP awards support creative basic research in science and engineering; enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators; and increase opportunities for young investigators to pursue research in areas relevant to the US Army. "As climate change drives sea‑level rise and amplifies hazards in mountain regions, I’m excited to launch a multidisciplinary effort that links the physics of frozen soils with societal needs. Our work will focus on frost heave, permafrost‑related hazards, and the dynamics of subglacial environments. By integrating laboratory experiments, mathematical models, and thermosyphons technology, we aim to develop actionable solutions for infrastructure resilience through adaptation," says Meyer.