Gary Kong / University of Rochester
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
We begin a new academic year today, and more than 300 new Hajim undergraduate students and more than 160 new Hajim graduate students will begin their first classes at URochester. Hundreds more students will return from exhilarating global experiences, internships, and research endeavors.
There is much to be excited about as we start the new semester. We are helping to lead exciting new multi-institutional research endeavors, our faculty are assuming new leadership positions at the University, our students are placing well in national competitions, and our alumni are contributing to incredible engineering feats that will help us explore the universe in new and fascinating ways.
I wish you all the best as we turn the page to a new year. We remain steadfast in our mission to promote and support the highest quality research that advances solutions to pressing societal problems and to advance education in engineering and applied science through engaging experiences and environments that promote critical thinking, creativity, equity, ethics, and leadership, creating lifelong learners.
Meliora!
ALUMNI HELP NASA SEE THE UNIVERSE IN NEW LIGHT
NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya
When NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope begins transmitting images from a million miles away in outer space, it will be thanks in part to countless Hajim School alumni who helped design, build, and test the telescope.
URochester alumni at L3Harris designed and built Roman’s optical eye, communication systems, guide sensors, and electronic components. Dozens more alumni at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as California-headquartered Teledyne Technologies, had a hand in designing and refining the telescope, from work on its coronagraph to its flight detectors.
Read about URochester’s connections to Roman and the discoveries that lie ahead at the News Center.
DEEP DIVES AND HIGH STAKES
Speaking of Hajim alumni helping to explore the unknown, BUZZ magazine recently profiled two people who are asking questions—and finding answers—at the planet’s most demanding frontiers. One descends to the ocean floor to study coral reefs under stress. Another helps NASA anticipate the risks of sending humans beyond Earth’s orbit.
Their workplaces could hardly be farther apart. But Marcelina Martynek ’18 (brain and cognitive sciences and computer science) and Mary Skow ’07 (chemical engineering) are guided by the same discipline: asking precise questions, testing assumptions, and using evidence to make decisions when the stakes are high.
Read about their fascinating careers at the News Center.
NEW NSF-FUNDED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER EXPLORES TURBULENCE
URochester photo / Grant Taylor
I’m delighted to share that URochester is part of a new $30 million National Science Foundation–funded Science and Technology Center, or STC, focused on one of science’s most stubborn problems: predicting—and ultimately controlling—turbulence.
Led by Michigan State University, the STC for Transformative Explorations in Multi-Physics and Engineering of Scientific Turbulence (TEMPEST) brings together physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and AI researchers from eight universities. The STC launches on September 1 with a five-year, $30 million grant from the NSF, with more than $2.7 million going to researchers at URochester.
URochester’s efforts will be led by two faculty from the Department of Mechanical Engineering: Hussein Aluie, URochester’s principal investigator on the initiative, and co-PI Associate Professor Jessica Shang. Congratulations!
Read more at the News Center.
HAJIM FACULTY PROMOTED TO NEW ROLES
Congratulations to several Hajim School faculty who recently received new roles at the University:
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS PLACE SECOND IN DEBUT CHALLENGE
I’m proud to share that four biomedical engineering students earned second place and a $15,000 prize in the Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge. The DEBUT Challenge, established by NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) in 2011 and later joined by VentureWell and eight other NIH Institutes and Offices (ICOs), recognizes exceptional undergraduate innovation in biomedical design.
For their senior design project, biomedical engineering students Julia Rothschild, Anika Sagar, Ryan Dugan, and Nika Kazumyan created a novel neonatal respiratory support interface. Their project was designed to provide respiratory support to preterm babies without causing injuries. The team’s faculty supervisor was Assistant Professor Marisol Herrera-Perez and their senior design instructors were Professors Ben Castañeda and Scott Seidman.
Read more about their project at the DEBUT website.
STUDENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY FOR ALGEBRA TUTORING
Undergraduate students are encouraged to participate in a new volunteer program organized by URochester’s Warner School of Education, the Rochester City School District, and the Rochester Education Foundation. Student volunteers will serve as mentors and tutors in algebra classrooms within the Rochester City School District. Through orientation, classroom engagement, and reflective seminars, participants will contribute to student success in Algebra, explore the broader contexts of education, and develop their own sense of agency as community members.
No experience or educational prerequisites are required; the program welcomes all students interested in making an impact in the local community. This Google Doc has more information, including how to apply.
IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
The Rochester section of IEEE Women in Engineering will host a city-level resource fair, “Discover Rochester,” designed for international students, recent graduates, and newcomers exploring the area. The event aims to help attendees navigate local housing, transportation, and community life while connecting with regional organizations.
The event takes place from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8 in the Kate Gleason Auditorium at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County. Register to attend.
MINDFUL PROFESSOR TRAINING PROGRAM
The Mindful Professor Training Program will be held this fall on the River Campus and is open for registration. The program is rooted in cutting-edge research and practices and aims to offer participants a variety of tools to access ways to return to calm, be present with themselves and others, utilize mindful leadership skills, enhance teaching effectiveness, as well as learn what actions they can take to support students’ well-being.
The program takes place on select Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. beginning September 9 in Douglass Commons room 401. Visit the Mindful University Project website for more information.
NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH
Congratulations to the following faculty who secured funding for new sponsored research projects:
- Assistant Professor of Research Aaron Bauer from the Institute of Optics received $476,392 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences through a subaward with Trestle Optics LLC for a project titled “Ultra-broadband multimodal microscopy with a catadioptric lens.”
- Associate Professor Wyatt Tenhaeff from the Department of Chemical and Sustainability Engineering received $354,061 from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Energy and Transport Systems for a project titled “Monovalent Cation Ion Exchange Membranes with Extreme Selectivities and Permeance Enabled by Quaternized and Crosslinked Ultrathin Films.”
LABOR DAY
The University will be closed next Monday, September 7, in celebration of Labor Day. The next edition of Hajim Highlights will appear on Tuesday, September 8.
Have a great start to the academic year!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
