Wentworth Hosts Regional Conference of Electrical and Computer Engineering Leaders
Electrical and computer engineering department heads from across the Northeast met at Wentworth Institute of Technology on Oct. 16 and 17 for the 2026 Northeast Regional Conference of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA).
The Douglas D. Schumann School of Engineering hosted the two-day conference with sessions focused on emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities in engineering education, research, workforce development, and industry collaboration.
Representatives came from 13 institutions, including Boston University, the City College of New York, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the State University of New York at Buffalo, Trinity College, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Rochester, Western New England University, and Wentworth.
Speakers included Robert A. McDonald, the eighth U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former chair, president, and CEO of Procter & Gamble. Attendees also heard from Digaunto Chatterjee, senior vice president of engineering at Eversource Energy; John McDonald, president of the IEEE Foundation, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an honorary member of CIGRE; Joshua Niedzwiecki, vice president and general manager of Electronic Combat Solutions at BAE Systems; and Moiz Khan, head of engineering and AI market development at MathWorks.
Derek Berger, Wentworth’s vice president for University Advancement, gave opening remarks.
The event was organized by Afsaneh Ghanavati, Program Director of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Wentworth, who serves as ECEDHA’s Northeast regional leader.
“We were honored to host this gathering, and we’re grateful to Afsaneh and to all the speakers, participants and organizers who made it a success,” said Ali Khabari, dean of the School of Engineering.
