News & Events

James Kaklamanos, assistant professor of civil engineering, was honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of this year’s 10 New Faces of Civil Engineering worldwide. The program recognizes the next generation of civil engineering professionals, 30 years and younger, who have demonstrated the potential to lead the field to new heights. Kaklamanos, who serves as faculty adviser to Merrimack’s ASCE student chapter, was cited for his exemplary work with students.

Assistant Professor Rickey Caldwell contributed to a recent Zippia panel, Understand How the Pandemic Changed the Job Market. Caldwell was among thousands of experts surveyed across many different fields and his market insights were featured on the main page.

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering James Kaklamanos was recently profiled in a monthly feature article by the Seismological Society of America (SSA), as part of their “At Work” column.

Dr. Brandi Baldock and co-authors Dr. Anthony Fernandez, Dr. Jimmy Franco, Dr. Brian Provencher and Dr. Mark McCoy from Merrimack’s department of chemistry & biochemistry recently published an article in the Journal of Chemical Education entitled “Overcoming the Challenges of Remote Instruction: Using Mobile Technology to Promote Active Learning.”

Paul Zipper, adjunct lecturer in criminology and a detective lieutenant atthe Massachusetts State Police, was interviewed for a May 8, 2017,Channel 4 I-Team report on how state investigators pinpoint the causes of fire. Zipper said each fire is like a mystery. “To simplify it, we are doing an autopsy,” he said. “We have a death of a building, and we try to figure out what caused it.”

Dr. James Kaklamanos, associate professor of civil engineering, was interviewed by The Washington Post in conjunction with their coverage of the Morocco earthquake that occurred in Sept. 2023. He appeared in parts of two portions of their live updates after the earthquake: (1) What to do in an earthquake, and (2) Why many buildings in Morocco were vulnerable to the earthquake.

Dr. Brandi Baldock, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is our final STARTer of the semester. Her project, “Inclusive Learning in the STEM Gateway: Design & Evaluation of Robust Alternative Assessments for Chemistry Curriculum,” focuses on developing strategies to support and evaluate student achievement of non-cognitive chemistry program outcomes, with the ultimate goal of improving inclusivity and student retention in STEM fields.

The Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section (BSCES) honoredassociate professor of civil engineering James Kaklamanoswith the College Education Awardrecognizing his exceptional teaching and mentorship. The BSCES also named professor emeritus David “Doc” Westerling recipient of the Horne/Gaynor Award for his philanthropic activities in the public interest.

Dr. Craig Looney, associate professor in the department of physics, gave a presentation entitled “Making high-quality videos on an inexpensive DIY Lightboard (with technical tips relevant to all budgets)” at the Spring 2023 meeting of the New England Section of the American Physical Society.

Azam Noori, associate professor of biology, was recently invited to serve as a guest speaker at the NASA Space Crop Production Team. Her research titled “Lycopersicon esculentum Molecular and Physiological Responses to Silver Nanoparticles” discusses using silver nanoparticles to improve crop production in space. Noori’s project was completed at Merrimack College with the assistance of the Department of Biology and several undergraduate students.