Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

10/22/2026

Computer scientists are testing whether AI could enhance a digital health intervention program aimed at generating peer referrals for HIV services in South Africa. https://bit.ly/3W2SdqU

10/20/2026

Forecasting weather 2–6 weeks ahead can help farmers plan planting and harvests and help cities prepare for changing energy needs. But these “subseasonal” forecasts remain challenging.

Applied math concentrator Hannah Guan took on that challenge during an internship at Microsoft Research, developing machine learning methods to identify and correct errors in existing weather models. She continued the work after her internship and became first author on a recent publication in Nature.

“There already exist a lot of really big physics-based models or AI foundation models that are pretty good at getting the overall trends, but they still have a lot of errors on the subseasonal timescale,” she said. “Instead of trying to predict the weather directly, we wanted to try to predict where these models that are typically used get it wrong. We're basically trying to build a model that models the error in existing models.”

Her research is one part of a broader journey that has also included studying AI, genetics and community-building through initiatives like Math Include and WECode. https://bit.ly/4hXDYwg

10/19/2026

SEAS Professor Jennifer Lewis has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. She has earned the rare distinction of membership in all three National Academies, including the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Engineering. https://bit.ly/4ymzpQP

10/15/2026

After Typhoon Pablo destroyed her home in the Philippines, Aryenne Ysabelle Rodrigo saw firsthand how deeply water infrastructure can affect a community.

Now a fourth-year environmental science and engineering student at Harvard SEAS, Rodrigo is applying that experience through internships, research and community-based projects. This summer, she worked with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, learning how stormwater systems are designed, permitted and inspected.

“With stormwater management practices in New York, I think one of the differences I see is that everything is digitized,” she said. “There’s also great cooperation between developers, not just public but also the private sector. There are clear criteria: if you disturb an amount of land, or if you make a place more impervious than it was before, then you have to submit a storm management practice design that would meet the water quality volume requirements.”

She is also helping lead Harvard’s Engineers Without Borders project to improve water access in Mirador, Guatemala.

“It’s very important for me to understand how connected we are to our environment, and how it affects communities,” she said.

Rodrigo hopes to use her education and experience to help communities like the one where she grew up. https://bit.ly/4B5CvLF

10/09/2026

What are you passionate about?

Whether you’re interested in building robots, exploring aerospace technology, advancing artificial intelligence, studying quantum computing, blending art and technology, or connecting with peers who share your experiences, there’s a place for you in our student club community.

Meet the clubs helping students learn, lead, collaborate, and innovate together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqGN1PCfa_c

Want to build a Mars rover, design a solar-powered boat, work with ...

10/09/2026

Congratulations to five Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences computer science graduate students named 2027 Siebel Scholars: Prashanth Amireddy, Tian (Sunny) Qin, Paula Rodriguez-Diaz, Itai Shapira and Kevin Zhang.

The scholars are recognized for outstanding academic achievement and leadership across areas including theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, public-sector applications, AI alignment, software security and reliability.

Each student will receive a $35,000 award for their final year of graduate studies and join a global community of more than 2,000 Siebel Scholars, researchers and entrepreneurs. https://bit.ly/4znRkYj

10/08/2026

Forest edges may store more biomass than current models predict.

During an 11-week Harvard Forest summer research program, environmental science and engineering student Luna Yin combined field measurements with airplane LiDAR data to study how tree growth differs between forest edges and interiors.

“There are a lot of different conditions that could cause the edges to grow differently,” said Yin. “There's extra sunlight exposure. They're having to deal with the wind coming right at them. Sometimes if they're right next to a field or a farm, maybe they're getting fertilizer runoff.”

Her model underestimated biomass in edge plots by 12%—a finding that could help researchers improve forest carbon storage estimates and identify biases in existing carbon capture models.

“This was really cool for me to get to do something that's a little bit of a departure from my atmospheric background, and to also get to be on the ground and traipse around the forest that I was going to be modeling,” she said. “Half of my work was field work, where I was out hiking and measuring tree biomass near the edges of forests. But the other half of my work was very coding-based.” https://bit.ly/4y3v5pv

10/07/2026

For bioengineering student Amy Zhang, a summer in the Zhou Laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute brought together her interests in computation, protein design and drug development.

Through Harvard’s PRISE Fellowship, Zhang worked on antibody drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies, combining AI-driven design with hands-on wet-lab research. The experience deepened her interest in engineering biology and helped shape her plans for graduate study and a future in drug discovery.

“I want to be able to apply engineering principles to biology,” she said. “With a lot of protein design, you're kind of altering how a biological system behaves to get a desired treatment outcome from the drugs that you're creating. This past summer I discovered that engineering for biology was something that I was really interested in. I got to make things that are biological compounds, but I also got to test them out, design them, and incorporate other tools to make a refined product.”

https://bit.ly/3VPCwTN

10/06/2026

Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Harvard SEAS Professor Mo Khalil and team are developing synthetic probes that can precisely alter individual protein activity, enabling large-scale experiments similar to genetic screens, but focused on proteins.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/47D4lkP

09/29/2026

Zander Sebenius has built a career at the intersection of engineering, business and climate innovation.

After seeing how power purchase agreements helped expand residential solar, Sebenius continued exploring how technology and business models can work together to accelerate decarbonization. Today, as Vice President of Project Investments at Rubicon Carbon, he evaluates nature-based and technology-based carbon removal projects, from reforestation to Direct Air Capture.

His advice for students interested in climate tech: explore the many paths available, from engineering and law to finance, investment and entrepreneurship.

“My north star has always been working on climate technologies with innovation from both the engineering and business sides,” he said. “The climate space is rich with opportunities, where you can apply both technical and business perspectives to unleash new business models that can make a positive impact on the world.” https://bit.ly/4rDflYO