Dec. 12, 2016

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to 22 students recently initiated into Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, which elects students of junior standing and higher based on scholastic achievement and exemplary character. They are:

Audio and music engineering: Timothy Dick ’17.  Biomedical engineering: Claire Kaiser ’17, Janet Sorrells ’17, Brittany Schutrum ’17, and Albert Chen ’17. Chemical engineering: Eric Holmgren ’17, Haberly Kahn ’18, Matthew Prohaska ’17, Emily Volk  ’18, Melissa Becker ’17, Andrew Chavkin ’17, Rui Gao ’18, Megan Whalen ’17, Elizabeth Mauser ’17, Logan Williamson ’17, and Unni Kurumbail ’18. Electrical and computer engineering: Brianna Herron ’18 and Justin Fraumeni ’17. Mechanical engineering: Alexander Boyd ’18, Joshua Hersh ’17, Rebecca Walton ’18, and Jacob Erichson ’18.

They join an honorary society that has done exemplary work providing tutoring for upper level classes and hosting regional TBP conventions. My thanks to all involved.

Nine students just back from attending the Society of Women Engineers national conference in Philadelphia are enthusiastic about the opportunities they had to practice their networking skills, meet professional engineers, connect with companies, and attend workshops on a range of topics, from effective leadership to overcoming the obstacles that still confront women and underrepresented minorities in engineering. Click here to read the testimonials of Nicole Naselaris ’19 of optics;  Shira Johnston ’17 and Haley Miyaoka ’18 of chemical engineering; Kathryn LaBine ’18, Rebecca Walton ’18 and Meghan Patrick ’18 of mechanical engineering; Sophie Zhang ’17 of electrical and computer engineering, and Frances McAfee ’19 and Marina May ’17 of biomedical engineering.  I especially liked Marina’s observation that “It was an incredibly empowering experience to be surrounded and supported by so many successful women.”

Congratulations to five students who have received $500 Hajim School International Experience Scholarships to study abroad this spring. They are Chiamaka Alozie ’17 of chemical engineering, who will be studying in Iceland as part of the Green Program; Abigail Eberts ’18 of electrical and computer engineering, IES Madrid, Spain; Diana Magana ’18 of optical engineering, University of Auckland Exchange, New Zealand; Brianna Herron ’18 of elecrical and computer engineering, IES Madrid, Spain; and Elizabeth Stanitz ’18 of mechanical engineering, IES Queen Mary, United Kingdom. The awards can be used to help offset costs of program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance and international airfare.

This past week marked the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the United States’ entry into World War II. Click here for a look at how this affected our University and the vital role our Institute of Optics played in developing night warfare and other optical devices used by Allied soldiers, sailors, and pilots during that conflict. Be sure to check out the video of Carlos Stroud, professor of optics, describing some of those devices in detail.

Have great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman