The Albert Nerken School of Engineering is excited to welcome five new faculty members for the Fall 2025 Semester.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

Dr. Emily Palmer earned her B.S. from Johns Hopkins University in Mechanical Engineering in 2018, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2019 and 2023, respectively. During her Ph.D., Dr. Palmer performed research under the supervision of Michael Dickinson on the neuronal mechanisms underlying flight stabilization in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. These days, she is generally interested in the intersection of fluid dynamics, behavior, and biological locomotion, with ongoing projects exploring those topics in whirligig beetles and other insects.

Dr. Palmer joined Cooper in 2024 as a Visiting Professor of Physics and has taught Electromagnetic Phenomena, Mechanics, Optics Lab, and an independent study on experimental techniques in neurobiology. While at Caltech, she developed a course on history, ethics, and identity in STEM, which has since been integrated into the required curriculum for graduate students in aerospace engineering. These efforts reflect her interest in developing novel transdisciplinary approaches to STEM education.

Outside of the lab, Dr. Palmer spends her time entertaining her two dogs and searching for the best pastries in New York.

“I’m thrilled to become a permanent part of The Cooper Union faculty! I know firsthand that the Cooper community is uniquely collaborative and inclusive, and I am excited to support the intellectual curiosity and passion which make Cooper students so special. So many people (myself included) become engineers because of their love of physics; as a member of the physics department, I hope to not only help students develop a strong technical foundation, but also to continue building that genuine love of science. I look forward to continuing to work with Cooper students, faculty, and staff—my brief time here has already been such a delight!”

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Dr. David J. Kim earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Yale University. His research interests include the development and application of novel water treatment technologies to strengthen resilience of existing water infrastructure and networks. In particular, he has focused on electrochemical devices that utilize electricity to destroy persistent pollutants and recover valuable resources from various streams, including ocean water and industrial waste effluents. From here, he continues to investigate their performance under these real sources and what kind of impacts they directly have on our communities. He has published his findings in numerous journals, including Environmental Science & Technology. He was the recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and has actively served as a teaching fellow and mentor in various outreach programs.

Prior to his Ph.D., he received his B.S. in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University. In his spare time, Dr. Kim enjoys running, playing video games, and exploring the endless restaurants in the city. 

“I am most thrilled to join the engineering team here at the Cooper Union! My research interests are in the development of novel water treatment strategies to bolster the resilience of our current infrastructure and treatment networks. Such directions and methods are most relevant to the urban environments here in New York City, especially as our demands continue to evolve. With my students, I am motivated to be part of a team that investigates these current challenges and explores new fit-for-purpose solutions. I look forward to working with all my students and colleagues as we advance the next generation of civil engineers and researchers.”

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Dr. Stella Banou received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Northeastern University in 2022. Her research in intra-body communications for wearable and implantable devices sparked an interest in neural applications, which she pursued as a postdoctoral researcher at NYU’s Center for Neural Science. There, she investigated multi-sensory neural circuits and designed neural, behavioral, and physiological data collection systems for animal experiments with rodents and non-human primates. Her work focuses on developing low-power wireless biosensing systems for health applications, including wearable devices and neural data recording technologies. 

Passionate about interdisciplinary innovation, she looks forward to expanding her research at Cooper Union by working with students to explore new solutions for healthcare challenges through hands-on design, prototyping, and collaborative research — with the broader goal of creating technologies that can improve the health and well-being of communities across New York City and beyond.

As an educator and mentor, Dr. Banou is committed to engaging students in active, project-based learning that emphasizes teamwork and creativity. She aims to get students excited and involved in creating healthcare solutions that make a real-world impact, encouraging them to see engineering as a way to improve lives locally and globally. At Cooper Union, she is excited to teach core electrical engineering courses and to introduce new offerings that bridge engineering and the biosciences – helping students grow as engineers, innovators, and socially conscious researchers.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Dr. Martin S. Lawless earned his Ph.D. in Acoustics in 2018 from the Pennsylvania State University with a dissertation on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the brain's auditory and reward response to reverberation in musical passages. He received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from The Cooper Union in 2013. His research interests broadly involve the human perception of sound, including areas of virtual acoustics, musical acoustics, architectural acoustics, noise, and neuroimaging.

As a Visiting Assistant Professor at Cooper from 2018-2021, Dr. Lawless worked with students on a range of undergraduate and graduate projects involving machine learning for head-related transfer functions, active noise control in office settings, and passive noise attenuation in exhaust systems.
In 2021, Dr. Lawless embarked to Paris, France, to become a postdoctoral researcher at the ∂'Alembert Institute at Sorbonne Université, where his research focused on the localization of real and virtual sound sources, as well as improving sound localization training in virtual reality. Although he left Paris in 2022, he has continued as a visiting researcher during summers. From 2022-2025, Dr. Lawless joined SUNY Maritime College as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, where his research has expanded to undergraduate engineering education, specifically examining project-based learning and problem-solving strategies.

Dr. Lawless has taught a broad range of courses including 1st-year engineering design, dynamics, thermodynamics, vibrations, heat transfer, experimentation, musical instrument design, and other acoustic electives. He is an active member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), serving as the chair of ASA's Member Engagement committee and organizer of two different mentorship programs for the professional organization. 

Outside of the classroom (though sometimes in it as well), you can find Dr. Lawless playing a variety of musical instruments, swing dancing, or baking bread.

"As both an alum and former visiting professor, returning to Cooper Union is a truly surreal moment. This institution has played a pivotal role in shaping my academic and professional journey, and I am ecstatic about the opportunity to use my new experiences and expertise to provide a profound education for others. I am really looking forward to collaborating with students on acoustics research projects, engaging with their ideas, exploring new directions in the field together, and contributing to the culture of curiosity and innovation that defines Cooper Union. Whether you are interested in research, have questions, or just want to talk – my door is open."

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Dr. Tommy George holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Harvard University, specializing in electrochemistry. Electrochemistry enables the precise control of chemical reactions using electric current and voltage, making it possible to store and release renewable energy in batteries, to electrify and decarbonize the chemical industry, and to design sensors and analytical methods with exceptional sensitivity. 

Dr. George's graduate research has focused on aqueous redox flow batteries that can charge and discharge reliably for years, as well as other electrochemical technologies designed for a more sustainable future. They were also a Pedagogy Fellow with Harvard's Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, where they served as a peer mentor for graduate students in teaching positions and engaged in research on science and engineering education. 

Dr. George holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University, where they began undergraduate research on the electrochemistry of hydrogen fuel cells. While in college, they also designed and taught weekly hands-on engineering lessons for local public elementary schools. Dr. George grew up in Danbury, CT. When not in the classroom or lab, they might be found playing tabletop role-playing games, searching for a savory breakfast pastry, or improvising in the kitchen.

"I am so excited to join The Cooper Union and to teach chemistry to new students starting this fall! I am also eager to learn from my students, to hear about what problems motivate them, and empower them to enact their values in socially impactful work – especially in the areas of sustainability and decarbonization.”