June 30, 2025

A composite of 10 headshots of faculty members who recently received promotions.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

I am happy to announce that seven Hajim School instructional and tenure-track faculty will receive promotions effective July 1:

Edward Brown, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, promoted to professor.
Zhiyao Duan, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, promoted to professor.
Edmund Lalor, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, promoted to professor.
Whasil Lee, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, promoted to associate professor with tenure.
Melodie Lawton, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Chemical Engineering, promoted to associate professor of instruction and associate chair.
Gonzalo Mateos, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, promoted to professor.
Monika Polak, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Computer Science, promoted to associate professor of instruction.

Three additional faculty members were promoted earlier this academic year:

Rob LaVaque, senior lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, promoted to distinguished lecturer.
Ming-Lun Lee, associate professor of instruction in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, promoted to professor of instruction.
Sarah Smith, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, promoted to associate professor of instruction.

Please join me in congratulating these faculty members, whose hard work has paid off and have reached important new milestones in their professional careers!

HAJIM SCHOOL LEADERSHIP REAPPOINTMENTS

A composite of headshots of Mujdat Cetin, Paul Funkenbusch, and Renato Perucchio.

Three key leaders of the Hajim School were also reappointed for new terms effective July 1:

Professor Mujdat Cetin will serve another term as the Robin and Tim Wentworth Director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.
Professor Paul Funkenbusch will serve another term as associate dean of education and new initiatives.
Professor Renato Perucchio will serve another term as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

I look forward to our continued work together!

BRAD NILSSON RECEIVES ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP

A graphic with dark blue hexagons, a headshot, and text that says "Bradley Nilsson, Director of the Materials Science Program, Andrew S Kende Professor in Synthetic Organic Chemistry."

Congratulations to Brad Nilsson, the director of the Materials Science Program, who was named the Andrew S. Kende Professor in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. The professorship was established to support a faculty position in the Department of Chemistry in the field of synthetic organic chemistry to honor the contributions of Professor Andrew S. Kende during his 35-year career as a professor.

LUNABOTICS TEAM SHOWS GROWTH AT NATIONAL CHALLENGE

Students from the University of Rochester's Lunabotics team pose with their robot at a national competition.

At the end of the academic year, one of our newer student teams had a strong showing at a national competition at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The UR Lunabotics Team sent a contingent of 14 students to the Lunabotics Challenge, up from the seven who went last year for their first time competing in the national event.

To improve the design of their off-world construction robot this year, the students said they implemented a servo drive to provide real-time feedback to the control system to make real-time adjustments and maintain accuracy, an auger screw for deposition, steel buckets for collecting regolith instead of 3D-printed ones for greater strength, and made better strides at using autonomy code. Of the 38 teams competing, UR Lunabotics placed 13^th in the STEM engagement report, 18^th in presentation and demonstration, 23^rd in systems engineering paper, and 26^th in project management plan.

“We had a lot of fun moments during the trip,” says Weiting Tan ’27 (electrical and computer engineering). “Everyone loves wearing the protective suits in the comp field and we took some funny pictures with the suit on. One especially heart-warming moment is when two members, Josh and Alex, brought homemade hardtack to share with the team. At that time, we were feeling tense due to new issues with the robot, and the hardtacks helped us de-stress a lot and lift the team’s spirit.”

While on the trip, the team also visited the Kennedy Space Center and got to watch SpaceX launch a Falcon 9 rocket. We’re proud to support our students through these important experiential learning opportunities!

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AND SIGNATURE EVENTS FOR MELIORA WEEKEND

Graphic that says "Meliora Weekend 2025, September 18-21, 2025" and shows photos of the three main headliners: Erik Larson, LIsa Genova, and Trevor Noah."

More than 10,000 people are expected to gather across all campuses from September 18-21 for Meliora Weekend 2025, which will feature alumni reunions, academic lectures, performances, athletics competitions, and family fun.

The University just announced headliners that include bestselling author and historian Erik Larson (The Devil in the White City), comedian Trevor Noah (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah), and New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova (Still Alice, Every Note Played). Read about the headliners on the News Center.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

The University will be closed on Friday in celebration of Independence Day.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman