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WELCOME CLASS OF 2030!
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | APRIL 10, 2026
VOLUME CXXIII No. 22
NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
New foreign language courses offered as a general elective
A machine learning filter: AI’s role in safe public drinking water
BY VEDHESH A. KAMARAJ, OPINION COLUMNIST
BY TASHA KHOSLA, HEAD COPYEDITOR Dr. Tao Ye, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean Engineering, received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his research on using AI to help make public drinking water safer. According to the NSF, this award is offered “in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” CAREER award selection is based on two criteria, which are “1) performance of innovative research at the frontiers of science, engineering, and technology that is relevant to the mission of the sponsoring organization or agency; and 2) community service demonstrated through scientific leadership, education, or community outreach.” Ye’s award, titled “CA-
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PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSHUA DAYO
APIDA Heritage Month event itinerary BY PRISHA VAGVALA, FEATURES EDITOR Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the cultures and contributions of these communities in America. One of the best ways to do this is by exploring their traditions and experiences through events at Stevens. Throughout April, the Office of Student Culture and Belonging is hosting events that honor the art, food, music, story-
Stevens team sets its sights on a revolutionary approach to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope BY ANTHONY CURCIOPETRACCORO, STAFF WRITER
For all the fellow space nerds out there, a new project, aided by Stevens’ faculty, is aiming to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope. While the Stevens project announcement coincides with national news of the Artemis II launch, this one hits close to home and will surely excite the Stevens community. For those looking to catch up, the Hubble Space Telescope is an observatory launched into outer space in 1990 by NASA. Hovering about 370 miles above Earth, this school-bus-sized spacecraft has captured astonishing images of black holes, deep-space objects, and neighboring galaxies, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. Roshanak Nilchiani, an associate professor of Systems Engineering, and Ph.D. candidate Rashika Sugganahalli Natesh Babu have teamed up with David Barnhart, professor of asNEWS (2-4)
APIDA Heritage Month Asian, Pacific Isalnder, Desi America Heritage Month is being celebrated at Stevens. See how Stevens will show tribute to different cultures! FEATURE (7-8)
Admitted Students Weekend Welcome new Ducks! Learn more about Stevens traditions and where you fit in the flock!
tronautical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), to extend the longevity of a pivotal tool in this telescope’s journey through space. A core feature of the Hubble Space Telescope is its ability to maintain precise orientation, which is directly supported by a device called a gyroscope. This sensor properly orients the telescope in 3D space by measuring its angular velocity. This is what allows it to capture high-quality images of space. The telescope was equipped with six of these devices, of which only a limited number are currently usable. Engineers have theorized various ways to replace these crucial parts, all of which have proven extremely costly and complex. The team at Stevens and USC has developed a joint solution that will enable nanosatellites to effectively guide the Hubble Space Telescope. The nanosatellites would act as an exter-
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Microplastics? Alzheimer’s Disease? Artemis II? Read about what’s going on in the world of science. PULSE (12)
Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.
telling, and activism that define APIDA communities. Stand Up Comedy Show feat. Ali Mehedi and Yoshiko Watson On April 2, the Office of Student Culture and Belonging also hosted a stand-up comedy show featuring Ali Mehedi and Yoshiko Watson. Ali Mehedi, a software engineer and comedian, brought a global perspective to the stage, “touching on borders, culture, and language.” Yoshiko Watson opened the night
with her “sharp wit and strong stage presence,” according to the Office of Student Life Ducklink. Events like this provide a space to hear perspectives from APIDA communities, similar to last year’s panel during APIDA Heritage Month, where students shared their personal stories and experiences from being members of these communities. BreakFAST It is often nice to have something from a different culture, and APIDA Month
Bomb’s away: police take missile from Stevens fraternity
is the perfect time to do so for the Filipino community by having a traditional Filipino breakfast. Some staple items include savory fillings like silog, which is a combo of garlic fried rice and itlog, fried egg. Filipino breakfast is usually hearty and can include dried fish (tuyo), sweet sausage, pandesal bread, and coffee. A good Filipino breakfast is high in protein and fiber-rich, and keeps you full for the day. On April 2, the Filipino As-
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Stevens expands the foreign language program with new courses and foreign language cultural events. The program comes with new courses that will satisfy general elective requirements. Students will be able to put their knowledge learned from the classes directly into practice in the real world. The Department of Foreign Languages, directed by Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) professor Zachary Balog, continues to update its course offerings as students equipped with new language skills will be more marketable and extend their future career choices. Students will also be exposed to music, food, and entertainment from different cultures within the curriculum. The program currently offers courses in three languages: Chinese, French, and Spanish. Spanish has the deepest course line-
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LOCAL NEWS
New executive order requires NJ Transit BY HUGO HOLLAND, bomb squad’s about to be rolling up, we have to evacSTAFF WRITER uate.” This was the descrip- to clean up its act
Local police recently retrieved a four-foot-long piece of weaponry from a Stevens fraternity, igniting debate over how and for how long it had been in the organization’s possession. On March 26, the Jersey City Bomb Squad, in coordination with Hoboken police and the university, removed from 530 Hudson St., the house of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, a “World War II-era ordnance,” according to a joint statement. The Hoboken Fire Department first identified the object during a “routine inspection” of the house. A Stevens spokeswoman later added that the object was considered an “antique,” though details about it remained murky. In interviews with The Stute, several members of the fraternity helped shed light on the object’s history at the house, the events that took place on the day it was taken, and the plans to commemorate the history and meaning behind “Trixie the Torpedo,” the name given to the projectile by the fraternity. “Hey, by the way, a
tion from Dustin Conway, the group’s Chief Historian, of what he was told by another fraternity member on the unusual afternoon of March 26. “So I threw on shoes and went outside, which is not a very good idea without socks.” Another member described the distant sound of sirens as the tip-off that not all was as usual. “I was just on Babbio patio, and I hear a bunch of sirens going off, and I check our personalized channel and see ‘Huh, there’s a bomb squad at our house,’” Clark Gabriel Laforteza, the group’s Deputy Chief Historian, described. The police stayed at the house for several hours, which allowed for other fraternity members, such as freshman Connor McGinley, to notice the commotion. “I was walking to the house, and there were five other brothers standing outside, and they told me, ‘The cops came. They’re taking the bomb.’” The source of all this commotion was a bomb, though one which turned
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BY JOSHUA BODENSTEIN, NEWS EDITOR
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 16 on March 23, directing NJ Transit to overhaul the commuter experience by improving cleanliness, safety, accessibility, and digital services. The order sets firm deadlines, with the goal of having riders notice real changes by this summer. The executive order comes amid years of mounting frustration from commuters. According to ComplaintsBoard.com, NJ Transit has a 1.3-star rating and 529 complaints, with 93% unresolved. NJ Transit serves more than 925,000 weekday trips across 264 bus routes, three light rail lines, and 12 commuter rail lines, making it the third-largest transit system in the country. At that scale, systemic failures in cleanliness and reliability affect hundreds of thousands of riders daily. The order has two main components. Within 45 days of signing, Acting
Commissioner of Transportation Priya Jain, who also serves as Chair of the NJ Transit board of directors, must develop and deliver a comprehensive improvement plan to the Governor’s office. The plan is directed to prioritize cleanliness of stations, buses, and rail cars; accessibility of NJ Transit-owned properties; public safety measures like lighting, cameras, and law enforcement presence; and the digital experience for riders, with a focus on the usability and reliability of real-time tracking features on the NJT website and mobile app. To shape that plan, NJ Transit is hosting three public listening sessions where riders can share their concerns. The first virtual session took place on March 31, with each participant granted two minutes to speak. An online survey will also be posted to the NJ Transit website. Within 45 days of the plan’s delivery, NJ Transit will fast-track implementation of the highest-priority
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