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Join us this October for the Whiting School of Engineering’s fourth annual Connect to Campus. On Saturday, October 4, join us for a full day of engaging networking opportunities, an alumni panel, Tech Talks with subject matter experts, campus tours, and more!  

Engineering for Professionals (EP) and DEng students are invited to attend a networking BBQ and social event on Wyman Quad on Friday, October 3 to connect with each other, faculty, and alumni. Attendees are also encouraged to enjoy Baltimore’s rich culture by exploring the city on their own. 

This in-person event will take place on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus in Baltimore and is designed for EP, Homewood residential master’s and Doctor of Engineering students to build community and network with faculty, program leadership, and alumni. 

This event will be in-person and no virtual components will be offered.  

Friday, Oct. 3

5 to 7 p.m. | EP and DEng Networking BBQ and social event.*

  • This event is an opportunity for EP and DEng students who are traveling or local to connect with one another, faculty, and alumni before the formal Connect to Campus Event.

*The BBQ is restricted to EP and DEng students, faculty, and alumni. 

 

Saturday, Oct. 4

8:30 a.m. | Check-in and Coffee

  • Light breakfast will be provided.

9 to 9:30 a.m. | Welcome*

  • Sri Sarma, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Vice Dean, Graduate Education
  • Dan Horn, Associate Vice Dean, Professional Education and Lifelong Learning
  • Megan Barrett, Assistant Dean of Engineering Student Affairs

*Please note, a group photograph will be taken on the steps of Shriver Hall directly after the welcome remarks. 

9:45 to 10:45 a.m. | Campus Tours, Poster Presentations, and Coffee Break 

10:45 to 11:45 a.m. | Morning Tech Talks  

Tech Talk #1 – Dusty Descents: Fluid Dynamics of Ejecta and Multiphase Instabilities in Lunar and Martian Landings

  • Rui Ni, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering  

Tech Talk #2 – Generative AI: Understanding the Foundations, Opportunities, and Future Directions

  • Geetha Rajasekaran, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Engineering for Professionals

11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Networking Lunch*

*Lunch will be provided. 

1 to 2 p.m. | Afternoon Tech Talks  

Tech Talk #3 – The Moon and Cislunar Space: An International Stage for Innovation and Competition

  • Wes Fuhrman, Lead, Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory  

Tech Talk #4 – Scientific Machine Learning for Modeling and Control of Energy Systems

  • Ján Drgoňa, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering 

2 to 2:15 p.m. | Afternoon Coffee Break and Poster Presentations  

2:15 to 3:15 p.m. | Panels

Alumni Panel

Doctor of Engineering (DEng) Panel

  • Ashutosh Dutta, Director, Doctor of Engineering Program; Senior Professional Staff, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL); Associate Research Professor, Institute for Assured Autonomy

3:30 p.m. | Optional Happy Hour

  • Attendees are welcome to join us at Union Craft Brewery for a post-event happy hour. Two drink tickets will be provided.  

This is a draft agenda and subject to change. Updated 9-18-2025. 

Welcome

  • Sri Sarma, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Vice Dean, Graduate Education
  • Dan Horn, Associate Vice Dean, Professional Education and Lifelong Learning
  • Megan Barrett, Assistant Dean of Engineering Student Affairs

Tech Talks

  • Rui Ni, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering  
  • Geetha Rajasekaran, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Engineering for Professionals 
  • Wes Fuhrman, Lead, Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory  
  • Ján Drgoňa, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering 

Doctor of Engineering (DEng) Panel – DEng Program: Looking Ahead for Opportunities

  • Ashutosh Dutta, Director, Doctor of Engineering Program; Senior Professional Staff, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL); Associate Research Professor, Institute for Assured Autonomy 

Additional Presenter and Panelist information will be provided as soon as confirmed.

Poster Descriptions will be provided as soon as confirmed.

Tech Talk #1 – Dusty Descents: Fluid Dynamics of Ejecta and Multiphase Instabilities in Lunar and Martian Landings 

Rui Ni, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering  

  • Planetary landings on the Moon and Mars generate complex interactions between rocket exhaust plumes and unconsolidated regolith, leading to the mobilization of vast quantities of dust and granular ejecta. These interactions present both engineering hazards and scientific opportunities, influencing lander stability, surface modification, and environmental contamination. This talk presents recent advances in modeling and experimental studies of ejecta dynamics, with a focus on multiphase instabilities that arise during plume–surface coupling. High-speed imaging, scaling analyses, and computational fluid dynamics reveal the development of particle-laden shear layers, jet–particle interactions, and clustering phenomena that drive nonuniform dust transport. These mechanisms underpin the onset of coherent ejecta jets, turbulent entrainment, and lofting mechanisms that differ significantly between lunar vacuum conditions and the rarefied Martian atmosphere. By identifying the governing dimensionless parameters and instability pathways, this work advances predictive capabilities for future landing missions and supports the design of mitigation strategies to ensure safe and sustainable extraterrestrial operations.  

Tech Talk #2 – Generative AI: Understanding the Foundations, Opportunities, and Future Directions

Geetha Rajasekaran, Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, Engineering for Professionals 

  • Generative AI has rapidly evolved from a research concept into a transformative technology reshaping organizations, academia, research, and everyday life. This talk traces the journey from classical Natural Language Processing (NLP) to Large Language Models (LLMs) built on Transformer architectures, providing a technical overview of how they are trained, fine-tuned, and aligned to generate coherent text and code. Building on that foundation, the talk will examine the concepts of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for grounded answers, orchestration frameworks like LangChain for integrating tools and workflows, and the emergence of agentic AI capable of planning and acting autonomously. The discussion highlights opportunities across domains alongside key challenges such as hallucinations, bias, privacy, cost, and evaluation. The session concludes with future directions, including multimodal LLMs, efficient and edge inference, and responsible AI practices that enable trustworthy, high-impact deployments. 

Tech Talk #3 – The Moon and Cislunar Space: An International Stage for Innovation and Competition 

Wes Fuhrman, Lead, Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory  

  • The Moon is a cornerstone of solar system science and the closest world beyond our own on which humans may establish a sustainable presence. The scientific, economic, and national security value of cislunar space has brought about an era of intense international cooperation and competition, marked by unprecedented utilization of the space beyond geosynchronous orbit. In this talk I will cover global interests in the Moon and cislunar space, the technologies that are driving humanity’s expansion into space, and give a glimpse of where and how a sustainable presence could emerge on the Moon. 

Tech Talk #4 – Scientific Machine Learning for Modeling and Control of Energy Systems   

Ján Drgoňa, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering 

  • This talk presents an overview of scientific machine learning perspective (SciML) for modeling, optimization, and control of dynamical systems. We will also discuss the use of SciML methods in energy systems applications, including modeling of networked dynamical systems, building control, and dynamic economic dispatch problems in power systems. 

This event will take place on JHU’s Homewood campus. Nearby hotels can be found here, including the Inn at the Colonnade and the Study Hotel, both of which are within walking distance of campus. 

Please see our  Events Information webpage for more information about directions to campus, campus maps, and more.

South Garage (map) is the closest parking garage to the event and is located under the Decker Quadrangle with elevator access to the surface level at Mason Hall. Price: $16/weekday; $9/weekend day

San Martin Garage (map) can be used for overflow parking and is located at San Martin Center, which can be accessed via San Martin Drive. Price: $19/weekday; $9/weekend day

Please contact WSE Special Events at [email protected] no later than Monday, September 22 to request accessibility accommodations. In all situations, a good faith effort (up until the time of the event) will be made to provide reasonable accommodations. 

Campus Accessibility:

To find information about on campus accessibility, visit our JHU Accessibility webpage.

Things to Do

Museums/Places to Visit in Baltimore 

 

Additional Presenter and Panelist information will be provided as soon as confirmed.

Learn more about Connect to Campus.

Hear directly from students about why they enjoy attending Connect to Campus each year.