May 30, 2017

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to sophomores Jackson Abascal and Zachary Polansky and senior Daniel Rubery of computer science, who tied with teams from 14 other universities, including MIT, for 20th place in the finals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest , which involved a total of 133 teams. This is the oldest and most prestigious programming contest in the world. Only University of Central Florida finished higher among U.S. finalists. Well done, Jackson, Zachary and Daniel!

Several of our faculty members have been awarded 2017 University Research Awards, individually or as members of teams, to pursue promising projects that have the potential to eventually leverage external funding.

Hesam Askari and Jessica Shang, assistant professors of mechanical engineering, and Scott Seidman, associate professor of biomedical engineering, will work with Alice Quillen, professor of physics and optics, on new strategies for developing miniature robotic devices that can explore hard-to-reach places, provide targeted delivery, and do exploratory sensing.
Nick Vamivakas, associate professor of quantum optics and quantum physics, will work with John Tarduno, professor and chair of earth and environmental sciences, on building an imaging magnetometer that uses individual electron spins to measure the local magnetic field of inclusions in zircon crystals that are billions of years old, to better understand the origins of the earth’s magnetic field.
Mark Buckley, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, will evaluate two approaches to minimizing the loss of corneal endothelial cells during cornea transplants. Mark, by the way, has also received a pilot grant from the Center for Musculoskeletal Research for his project “The influence of chondrocyte mechano-protective adaptation on the progression of osteoarthritis.” (Read more.)

Congratulations as well to Jong-Hoon Nam, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, and Douglas Kelley, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, for receiving a National Science Foundation grant for their project “Mechanically-facilitated Cochlear Fluid Homeostasis.” Their project will integrate two research domains that have not been considered together in hearing science: mechanics and ion homeostasis of the cochlea. (Read more. )

Students in the human-computer interaction class of Ehsan Hoque, assistant professor of computer science, recently presented their projects, showing how they can use computing to address a wide range of problems, from helping stroke victims regain control of their motor functions, for example, to enabling musicians to measure and visualize their vibrato during practice sessions. (Read more here.)

Belated congratulations to these students who were recognized at the College’s Undergraduate Research Exposition:

Ge Song ’17 of biomedical engineering received a President’s Award for “Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscopy for Retinal Imaging and Vision Disease Detection.”
Nancy Aguilera ’18 of optical engineering received a Dean’s Award for “Measuring Organelle Size Distributions in Single Cells Using Scattered Light.”
Sarah Bjornland ’17 of optics received a Dean’s Award for “Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure on Manuscripts.”

In a recent Hajim Highlights we mentioned that a concert by the Chinese Choral Society of Rochester would include the debut of an automatic lyrics display system, developed by Zhiyao Duan, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and PhD student Bochen Li. The system can follow the music and display song lyrics in both Chinese and English to the audience in real time. Lindsey Valich describes the success of this project in more detail here.

Here’s a great way for engineers to engage in the humanities: Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates who are here over the summer are invited to join a new multidisciplinary reading group on “Science, Technology, and Culture.” The group will explore how science is shaped by the culture that surrounds it and how technological innovations change society. The first meeting is at 5 p.m., June 14 in the new Humanities Center to discuss When Breath Becomes Air — the memoir of Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the end of his residency —and to pick the next title. If you are unable to make it, but are interested or would like to participate in future meetings, email Emma_Grygotis@urmc.rochester.edu.

For those of you who were unable to attend the Diploma Ceremony for our Class of 2017, here’s the next best thing: A video of the proceedings.

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman