October 27, 2025

On stage, Tina Kidger holds up a commemorative plaque while standing next to Tom Brown.

Dustin Newman / University of Rochester photo

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Last week, the Institute of Optics brought nearly 500 people from about 40 companies, universities, and government labs to the Rochester Riverside Convention Center for the fall Industrial Associates Meeting. Representatives from Apple, Meta, Nikon and elsewhere came to hear about our cutting-edge research and recruit our students for internships, co-ops, and jobs.

During the event, the Institute gave a touching tribute to the late Emery L. Moore, former SPIE President and Fellow who has had a remarkable impact on the optics community and generously supported the Institute of Optics. In 2023, Emery and his wife Tina Kidger endowed the Kidger-Moore Distinguished Professorship in Optics as part of the Wyant Challenge. Tina and her son David were present for the memorial and Tom Brown, the director of the Institute of Optics, presented a plaque to Tina thanking her and Emery for their extraordinary generosity to advance the field of optics in Rochester and beyond.

The Industrial Associates Meeting was co-located with SPIE Optifab 2025, the largest optical manufacturing conference and exhibition in North America, making Rochester the center of the optics world. Visit Rochesterfirst.com for coverage of the Industrial Associates Meeting.

CENTER FOR VISUAL SCIENCE 2025 RETREAT

Dozens of people sit at tables in the Feldman Ballroom.

On the heels of the Industrial Associates Meeting, the Center for Visual Science convened their annual retreat on campus last Friday. The event provided CVS faculty and trainees opportunities to discuss their latest research, industry leaders to talk about research and development opportunities, and start-up incubators and UR ventures to talk about how they are helping to build the Rochester vision ecosystem. Thank you to Susana Marcos, the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science, and her team for organizing this important event.

EAGL WORKSHOP HOSTED BY DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Students present their research in a poster session in Wegmans Hall.

The Department of Computer Science also recently brought regional leaders in theoretical science to campus for the 8^th Eastern Great Lakes Theory of Computation Workshop. About 70 faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students from the US and Canada gathered for student poster sessions and talks by six forerunners in quantum computation, cryptography, and machine learning. Special thanks to Assistant Professors Kaave Hosseini and Anson Kahng for organizing the workshop along with their colleagues from Cornell and Syracuse.

APPLY TO JOIN THE EDGE CONSORTIUM SCHOLARS PROGRAM

To address a critical talent shortage in the semiconductor industry, the University of Rochester and six other universities formed the EDGE Consortium in 2023 to forge new pathways into STEM jobs and training. The EDGE Consortium is seeking students to join the 2025-2026 scholars program.

The program brings together hundreds of students from our member schools across the country, the best minds in nanotechnology from industry’s leading companies, and workforce development leaders & allies in federal, corporate, and higher education spaces. Through a combination of in person and virtual programming, the Scholars Program connects students with similar interests to the nationwide network of EDGE Scholars, to STEM trailblazers, and to a wide range of research, internship, and employment opportunities.

Register as a 25-26 Scholar on the EDGE Consortium website. Zoom info sessions take place at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29.

NOMINATE AN EVER BETTER GRADUATE MENTOR

A gray graphic that says "Ever Better Graduate Mentor" with oliv branches.

Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs recently launched the Ever Better Graduate Mentor program to recognize those who have distinguished themselves in benefitting graduate students in their academic and professional development. Mentors can be anyone in the University community that have become mentors to graduate students, including advisors, PIs, faculty, staff, and even other graduate students.

Graduate students can nominate a mentor by providing a paragraph explaining how the mentor has been valuable to their academic or professional development. Selected nominees will be recognized in the GEPA Connection newsletter and contacted individually to be thanked for their mentorship. Nominate an awardee using the Google Docs form today.

NEILLY AUTHOR SERIES AND FAIRBANK ALUMNI LECTURE PRESENTS EDWARD ASHTON ’96 PHD

Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7, looks at the camera with his arms folded. Behind him is an extensive bookshelf and a framed movie poster for Mickey 17.

Adam Fenster / University of Rochester photo

Hajim School alumnus Edward Ashton ’96 PhD (electrical and computer engineering) will speak at the the Neilly Author Series and Fairbank Alumni Series at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 at the Hawkins-Carlson Room in Rush Rhees Library. Ashton is the author of six sci-fi novels, including Mickey7, which was adapted into a major motion picture by Academy Award-winning director Bong Joon Ho, starring Robert Pattinson and Mark Ruffalo.

The event begins with a cocktail hour from 5-6 p.m. followed by his lecture, “So That Just Happened: A Random Walk Through the Literary World, with Cameos from Heisenberg, Schrodinger, and Bohr,” and a book signing will follow from 6-7:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to all, but registration is requested. Read this Rochester Review profile on Ashton for more information about his incredible talents as both a cancer researcher and author.

SYNTH LAB GRAND OPENING

A graphic to promote the grand opening of the synth lab featuring Gene Wilder from the movie "Young Frankenstein" with text that says "It's Alive."

Kyle Ohlschlager / University of Rochester photo

The audio music and engineering program will host the grand opening of their state-of-the-art new synthesizer lab from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, October 31 in the Computer Studies Building room 602. The event is a Halloween Spooktacular featuring prizes for the best costume, cider, donuts (and of course Halloween candy) along with scary synth music. It will also feature alumnus Rick Carl ’19 (audio and music engineering) ’20 MS (electrical and computer engineering), a hardware engineer at Moog Music Inc., who designed several of the synths featured in the lab.

ASME PUMPKIN LAUNCH TAKES PLACE ON HALLOWEEN

An aerial view of the Wilson Quadrangle during the pumpkin launch competition.

Adam Fenster / University of Rochester photo

Make sure to stop by the Wilson Quadrangle from 1-5 p.m. on Friday, October 31 for the annual Pumpkin Launch event hosted by our ASME chapter. Teams from the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Monroe Community College will use catapults, trebuchets, and air cannons to hurl pumpkins hundreds of feet in a precision contest. The event has been happening every fall for about 40 years and is one of our most fun traditions.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman