UNT has opened its new $12.6 million biomedical engineering building at the Discovery Park campus where open concept classrooms and labs create a collaborative environment for cutting-edge research and learning. Biomedical engineering is one of the fastest growing programs at UNT, having grown more than five-fold since its first class in 2014 by focusing on diverse educational tracks and unique degree plans that give graduates an edge in the highly technical workplace. Four new, full-time faculty bring with them a range of expertise from neuroelectronics to electrophysiology.

April Becker, assistant professor of behavior analysis, earned the prestigious 2019 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities for her improvements in behavioral assessment testing for stroke research. Becker hopes that the new level of test sensitivity will lead to a better understanding of stroke-related effects and treatments in humans. She and Jared Armshaw, a master's student in behavior analysis, will complete the development and validation of the test with the help of other students in UNT's Neuroplasticity and Repertoire Restoration Laboratory.

To help fulfill a tremendous need for highly trained engineers and scientists, the U.S. Office of Naval Research is funding an initiative that will help UNT students learn more about Naval STEM careers and develop interdisciplinary skills needed to pursue them. A team at the College of Engineering, led by Anupama Kaul, director of the PACCAR Technology Institute, will receive $750,000 for educational and research initiatives in materials, manufacturing and electronics. The initiative will highlight the benefits of miniaturized systems that are at the heart of micro-electro-mechanical systems and nanotechnology.

Miguel Acevedo, College of Engineering Regents Professor and member of UNT's Advanced Environmental Research Institute, was recently awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to dig deep in tackling the growing global problem of food insecurity. Acevedo and his collaborators are seeking solutions to the high amount of salt found in agricultural soil and irrigation water in regions where water is limited or where traditional fertilizer and irrigation management have altered water and soil quality. It's a problem that affects crops in those areas, leading to a decrease in food production.

UNT's Reconfigurable Computing Lab was a finalist for the Tech Titans of the Future – University Level Award, which spotlights educational institutions that encourage and support students in choosing engineering- and technology-related disciplines as a preferred academic and career path. The lab, led by associate professor of electrical engineering Gayatri Mehta, has created Untangled, a series of online puzzle games that task players with solving design problems of increasing difficulty. Player moves are recorded and used to solve placement and architecture challenges for energy efficient circuit design.