March 18, 2026

Location: Schlegel Eisenberg Rotunda

Regulation is a powerful force in the United States. It shapes how individuals build their livelihoods and how society pursues important goals. Yet regulation is often seen as a vast and technical system, dominated by lawyers and lobbyists, and difficult to understand in practice. In this talk, Dr. Kalmenovitz will take the audience on a guided tour of the regulatory system, unpacking how it works and why it produces surprising consequences. Drawing on his research, he will introduce the “Regulation Tracker,” a set of data tools that convert dense regulatory text into systematic measures. He will highlight two central insights: well-intentioned regulation can backfire, and regulatory decisions are shaped by the incentives of thousands of individual bureaucrats. The broader message is that regulation is not a black box but rather a dynamic system that can be measured, analyzed, and better understood.

Speaker: Dr. Joseph Kalmenovitz, Assistant Professor of Finance, Simon Business School, University of Rochester

Date: April 23 ,2026

Location: Schlegel Eisenberg Rotunda

This talk will offer an inside look at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) and its pioneering work with some of the most powerful lasers in the world. The speaker will highlight emerging technologies, including OMEGA Next and NSF OPAL, the world’s highest-power laser, and discuss how these advances are opening new possibilities in laser–plasma science. From particle acceleration to the pursuit of fusion energy, the innovations being developed at LLE are helping expand the frontiers of scientific discovery and shaping the future of energy research. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester is a unique national resource that combines the collaborative environment of a university with the capabilities of a national laboratory. As the largest Department of Energy–funded university-based laser laboratory in the country, LLE supports cutting-edge research while training the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Speaker: Dustin Froula, Professor of Physics, Plasma & Ultrafast Laser Science & Engineering Division Director, LLE