News

The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) maintains strong alignment with both industry and academia, fostering a vibrant, innovative community.  The Institute works with graduate students from various technical disciplines at North Carolina State University and partner universities, along with faculty and industry, to facilitate ongoing research projects and help develop future leaders for the nonwovens industry.

At each meeting of NWI’s Industrial Advisory Board, students present their research, and the Board recognizes those who best represent the NWI Vision that the “Institute will be the global leader for research, education, and service for nonwovens and affiliated industries.”  Of the students who presented their work at the Fall IAB meeting in November 2025, four were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. Narjess presented her research in both oral and poster formats at the NWI Industrial Advisory Board Meetings in Raleigh, NC, during 2024 and 2025, and received the following award at the Spring IAB meeting on May 5, 2026.

Narjess Hajilou was recognized for “Best Presentation” for her work, “Multiscale Analytical and Modeling for PLA Biodegradation in Soil.” The award recognizes the student’s ability to clearly communicate the progress and value of their work to the membership.  Such an ability is crucial in both future academic and commercial career paths.

See more about Narjess’s work:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/15SB_Oi0g44J_2aYl2G9LN1zO_ykhJ2O3/view?usp=sharing

Best Poster Award at IBTN 2026

Lorenzo Orticochea received the Best Poster Award at the IBTN 2026 conference.

The awarded poster, titled “Design and Synthesis of Bio-Oriented High-Entropy Oxide Nanoparticles via Modified Pechini Method”, presents work on the synthesis and characterization of high-entropy oxide (HEO) nanoparticles, demonstrating the successful fabrication of these materials for biomedical applications.

Ongoing work will further explore their potential as multi-ion reservoirs and catalytic systems, with the aim of enabling advanced functionalities in next-generation biomaterials.

Leanna Pfeffer, a PhD student in the In Situ Nanomaterials Laboratory, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) fellowship, one of the nation’s most competitive honors for graduate researchers in STEM. The award recognizes her strong record of innovative, rigorous research and her vision for creating more predictive and reproducible in vitro models of the human brain. Her proposed work aims to engineer perfused, fast-maturing, blood-brain barrier neural systems using electrospun microtubes, tuned hydrogels, and integrated microphysiological design. Through this work, Leanna seeks to develop practical, high-impact tools that improve reproducibility, expand access, and advance translational biomedical research.

Summer research program for CPS high school

The summer research program for CPS high school teachers provide opportunity for pre-engineering and science teachers to spend time in bioengineering research labs and use experience to create a curriculum for use in their own classrooms.

Our weekly group meeting

Every Tuesday, students present their progress, challenges, and achievement in our weekly group meeting at SEL 2029.

SFB 2017 Annual Meeting

“Divinefavor Osinloye get his fellowship from Society of Biomaterials”

NEW ISNL Lab Space

We just moved to our new lab located at SEL 2029 at UIC East campus.