January 22, 2018

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Two recent videos posted at the University’s News Center help illustrate the wide range of research that occurs in the Hajim School.

For example, Michelle Esponda, who recently completed her MS in biomedical engineering, explored in her thesis how robots can not only perform repetitive tasks, but also be designed with more of the versatility and adaptability of the human body. Check out this video for more information.

Gaurav Sharma, professor of electrical and computer engineering, worked with Peter Christensen, assistant professor of art history, on converting scans of buildings into highly detailed 3D models. Christensen analyzed the ways that standard German architectural designs for the train stations along the Ottoman Railway in Turkey were subtly altered by the local workers who actually constructed the buildings, reflecting the different environmental conditions and cultural aesthetics of their own communities. The video embedded in this article describes the contribution of Gaurav’s lab.

The College Dean’s Office is piloting a new student funding portal for the spring, summer, and fall 2018 semesters. The portal will serve as the central place for undergraduate students to request supplemental funding from College departments in order to participate in academic or co-curricular experiences. More information about the portal can be found on the College Supplemental Funding website.

Congratulations to Andrew K. McCallum, who received his PhD from the Department of Computer Science in 1996. He has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery “for contributions to machine learning with structured data, and innovations in scientific communication.” Andrew, one of 54 ACM members selected for this honor in 2017, is a professor in the College of information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

This sounds like a fun evening for a good cause: Two PhD students — Ryan Trombetta of Hani Awad’s lab in biomedical engineering and Yifan Gao of Wyatt Tenhaeff’s lab in chemical engineering — are among the faculty and student cast members of “Us and Them,” a play being performed at the Medical Center’s Flaum Atrium at 5 p.m. Jan. 30.  This is to benefit a Humans for Education project to build a new school in Kenya. Food, drinks, a photo booth, and silent auction are included. Tickets are available here.

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman