July 22, 2024

JJ Ruby, left, holds a baseball bat and talks to five mechanical engineering students in the Taylor Hall shop.

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

We are in the thick of baseball season, and although many people watch America’s pastime as a care-free way to enjoy the summer, Major League Baseball teams have become increasingly scientific in their efforts to get players on base and beat out the competition. One of our visiting professors from the Department of Mechanical Engineering helps the Houston Astros gain an edge through engineering, experimental physics, and computational statistics.

JJ Ruby ’21 (PhD) is the senior director of research and development for the Houston Astros, where he leads a staff of 17 software developers and research analysts. Ruby’s staff works to ingest the massive amounts of data collected on players, develop tools to analyze the data, and conduct experiments in areas including aerodynamics and biomechanics.

JJ joined the Hajim School last year and we’re fortunate to have him sharing his knowledge through guest lectures and mentoring senior design students. He has had a fascinating path in life—growing up in rural Pennsylvania, becoming a first-generation college student, conducting fusion experiments at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and now using his expertise to help some of the top athletes in the world succeed. Read more at the News Center.

NEW TECHNIQUE TO PINPOINT ‘HOT SPOTS’ IN ELECTRONICS

Three people wearing protective eye gear in a lab demonstrate heat transfer mapping techniques that are displayed on a computer screen.

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

If you’ve ever been annoyed with the constant whirring of a laptop’s fan or an overheating smartphone, the source is probably a heat transfer problem happening at a nanoscale level. Andrea Pickel, an assistant professor from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a scientist with the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, developed a new technique to help pinpoint the sources of those heat transfer problems and ultimately build more reliable devices.

The solution borrows Nobel Prize in Chemistry–winning optical super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques used in biological imaging. In a new Science Advances study, Andrea and her materials science PhD students outline their process for mapping heat transfer using luminescent nanoparticles. Read more about the study at the News Center.

CONSIDERING THE IMPACT OF PLASTICS

Close up headshot of Samantha Romanick.

A postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Biomedical Engineering recently helped explore the answer to an interesting question: If you had to stop using plastic for a month, could you do it? Samantha Romanick was one of several experts discussing the topic on Connections with Evan Dawson last week.

The conversation comes as discussions about the effects of microplastics on human health ramp up and as activists advocate for people to attempt a “Plastic Free July.” Samantha provides insight into some of the latest research around biodegradable plastics and offers helpful tips for ways to reduce your reliance on plastic products. Listen to the conversation on the WXXI News website.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman