September 2, 2025

A graphic with dark blue hexagonal shapes, a headshot, and text that says "Wendi Heinzelman, reappointed for third term as dean of the Hajim School."

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

I’m honored to share that I have been reappointed for a third five-year term as dean of the Hajim School, a position I’ve held since 2016. It has truly been a privilege to serve as dean and to work alongside such talented and dedicated faculty, staff, and students, and I look forward to continuing our work to advance the Hajim School’s mission.

Some of the key initiatives I will be focusing on during my third appointment as dean include:

Supporting continued growth of the Hajim School research enterprise.
Increasing opportunities for Hajim students to participate in research, internships, entrepreneurship, and global experiences.
Enhancing the sense of community and professional development support for staff.
Increasing the engagement of Hajim alumni and friends.
Overseeing the design and construction of a new Transformational Materials and Technologies (TMT) building to support faculty growth and student success in the years ahead.

While much work lies ahead, I’m excited to help enable Hajim faculty, staff, and students to excel at the highest levels and ensure the Hajim School continues to become “ever better.” Read more about my reappointment at the News Center.

TICKETS ON SALE FOR THE INAUGURAL SOUNDTRAX FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL

An orchestra on the stage of Eastman Theatre with text overlaid that says "Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester presents Soundtrax Film Music Festival October 16-18, 2025."

We’re thrilled to co-sponsor the inaugural Soundtrax Film and Music Festival, the first festival of its kind in North America! Through concerts, conversations, and special events, Soundtrax explores how the artistry, science, and technology of music and sound elevate storytelling, the audience journey, and our visual experiences.

Co-chaired by Distinguished Professor Mark Bocko, director of the audio and music engineering program, Soundtrax events will be held in the Eastman School of Music’s performance spaces, including the historic 2,300-seat Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, plus venues throughout the city of Rochester. You can save 50% off passes and concert tickets through the end of today by using the code LABORDAY50! at checkout, so act fast.

Buy tickets on the Eastman Theatre website.

TWO NEW HAJIM ACADEMIC PROGRAMS DEBUT

A student examines the wind as it flows around a model of an airplane wing.

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

At the start of the semester, we officially welcomed the first cohorts of two exciting new master’s programs in the Hajim School. The Department of Mechanical Engineering launched its new MS in aerospace engineering program and the Georgen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (GIDS-AI) and the Medical Center’s UR Health Lab began jointly offering an online MS in healthcare data science and AI.

Read about these programs and other new offerings from across the University on the News Center.

PROFESSOR JIEBO LUO FEATURED ON THE ACADEMIC MINUTE

An animation of dandelions growing in vases.

Text-to-video AI is here, but it’s far from perfect. On a recent episode of the Academic Minute, Jiebo Luo, Albert Arendt Hopeman professor of Engineering and professor of computer science, discussed how his research team developed a solution to AI’s problems generating metamorphic videos, such as a seed emerging from the earth or an ice cube melting into a single droplet.

Jiebo argues that metamorphic video simulation offers more than just a visual spectacle and could help researchers such as biologists and chemists rapidly explore hypotheses via AI models before committing to costly physical trials.

Listen to the episode on the Academic Minute website.

HOW GIDS-AI BRIDGES INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA

A blue green and yellow graphic with the Rochester skyline and text that says "Rochester Speask, the Heart of the Community, Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence."

The Center of Excellence in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence works across New York State to connect companies with the University’s experts to foster innovation and drive economic growth. Nick Koziol, the COE’s manager of business engagement and communications, recently joined Warm 101.3’s Rochester Speaks program to discuss how impactful programs including paid internships, student capstone projects, and research collaborations help businesses uncover efficiencies and create new job opportunities.

Listen to the discussion on the Warm 101.3 website.

THE HEIST HACKATHON: CRACK THE CODE TO INNOVATION

A safe with text overlaid that says "AI and business hackathon: The Heist."

This fall, the University is offering a high-stakes innovation challenge for students from the Hajim School, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Simon Business School to team up, break into real-world problems, and unlock bold solutions at the intersection of AI and entrepreneurship.

Over 22 days, participants in the Heist will select a “vault”—from AI frontiers, sustainability, medical technology, or a wildcard challenge—and race to crack it using technical ingenuity and entrepreneurial strategy. Guided by expert mentors, teams prototype transformative ideas, pitch venture-worthy solutions, and compete for prizes, mentorship, and bragging rights as the masterminds behind the most daring innovation heist.

Learn more about this exciting new hackathon at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation website.

NEW INTERVIEWING RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS

The Exponent logo featuring a dark purple circle surrounding a white asterisk.

The Greene Center for Career Education and Connections has partnered with the Simon Benet Center to offer students access to Exponent, an online platform that helps you prepare for job and internship interviews. Students get access to real interview questions from companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon, plus the chance to practice with peers, get AI-powered feedback on answers, and learn from step-by-step courses designed by industry pros.

Students can access the platform for free through the Greene Center website.

NSF OPAL COMMUNITY UPDATE

A graphic with the NSF logo and the University of Rochester OPAL logo.

NSF OPAL is a potential future user facility envisioned to serve as a learning environment and hub for diverse scientific networks, offering opportunities for fundamental research, innovation, and societal benefit. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the multi-institute initiative is to design and prototype a world-leading high power laser facility to serve research communities for decades to come.

The NSF OPAL project team will present an update to the community about progress made since the Conceptual Design Review held in April 2025. The update will be presented in person and virtually from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 3. The Zoom meeting will be recorded for those who register but cannot attend live. Register for the NSF OPAL update.

NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH

A composite of headshots of three Hajim faculty members who secured new funding awards.

Congratulations to three faculty members who recently secured funding for new sponsored research projects:

Professor Hussein Aluie from the Department of Mechanical Engineering received $762,428 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Collaborative Research: Potential Energy Generation and Release in the Oceanic Circulation.”
Professor Doug Kelley from the Department of Mechanical Engineering received $402,749 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Taming Magnetohydrodynamic Instabilities to Manufacture Aluminum with Greater Efficiency and Lower Cost.”
Professor Chenliang Xu from the Department of Computer Science received $100,000 from Sony Group Corporation for a project titled “Reinforcing Video-LLMs with Vision Rumination for Videography Reasoning.”

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman