January 29, 2018

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Here’s another great example of how Hajim School faculty members are collaborating with colleagues in other disciplines, in this case doing research to improve the protection and lessen the disparities for victims of domestic violence. Two of our associate professors of optics — Andrew Berger and James Zavislan, our associate dean for education and new initiatives — are working with Catherine Cerulli and John Cullen at the Susan B. Anthony Center to improve the alternative light source (ALS) lights used by many jurisdictions to more quickly detect bruising that the naked eye cannot yet see. While existing ALS technology works well for light-skinned victims, it’s a lot less effective for people of color. As part of the project, Andrew and Jim will be working on optical methods to show bruises below the thin layer of melanin, the natural pigment that provides color to skin and can mask bruises in dark-skinned people. Read more here about this exciting two-year, community-based study, which has received a $200,000 grant from the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Scientific Advisory Committee Incubator for pilot programs.

Congratulations to Ching Tang, emeritus professor of chemical engineering, who has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his role in helping to pioneer the organic light-emitting diode, or OLED. Used in flat panel displays found in computers, cell phones, and televisions, OLEDs provide “increased power efficiency, longer battery life, and improved display quality,” the Hall of Fame notes. Read more here.

Gonzalo Mateos, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is co-author of a paper that earned a 2017 IEEE Signal Processing Society’s Young Author Best Paper Award for PhD student Morteza Mardani of the University of Minnesota. Georgios B. Giannakis at Minnesota is also a co-author. “Subspace Learning and Imputation for Streaming Big Data Matrices and Tensors,” in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, puts forth innovative, real-time algorithms to extract actionable information from highly incomplete, multi-dimensional streaming data structures (known as tensors), and facilitate data imputation as a byproduct. The algorithms in the paper are shown to positively impact Internet traffic monitoring tasks as well as image reconstruction quality when applied to in vivo dynamic cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.

Scott Carney, director of the Institute of Optics, and Eric Brandt, our executive director of advancement, are back from what Eric describes as an “awesome” trip to China. The itinerary included visits to companies and universities. Sunny Optical, for example, is providing “exciting opportunities for our students to work with one of the world’s leading producers of optics for mobile devices and automotive applications,” Scott notes. “Our trip to Wuhan and the Optics Valley there was very impressive,” he adds. “Our distinguished alumnus, Xiangdong Cao, hosted us at Hongtuo Tech where they are developing novel laser technology for applications from medicine to industrial cleaning.” Scott and Eric also visited Zhejiang University where an Institute collaboration with the Joint International Research Laboratory of Photonics is “cross-fertilizing ideas and innovation between our great institutions,” Scott reports. They also learned about international programs at Shan Dong University that offer exciting opportunities for our students to study abroad and for us to recruit great students from SDU. Our outreach to overseas universities and companies have created opportunities for students and faculty, both here and abroad, and will continue to do so in the future.

Students interested in qualifying to become Grand Challenges Scholars are invited to information sessions at 3:30 p.m. February 5 and February 22 in Lattimore 306A. Sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, the program recognizes students who successfully combine research, community engaged learning, internships, entrepreneurship, and global experiences to address one of 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. This is a great opportunity for students to proactively take ownership of their learning experience here, and receive recognition that will help them find jobs and fellowships.

Join the University community in celebrating local entrepreneurship on Friday, February 2, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Feldman Ballroom. This is an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to connect with the Gwen M. Greene Career & Internship Center, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, the Barbara J. Burger iZone at River Campus Libraries, the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, and Meliora LaunchPad. Music, free appetizers, and low-cost beverages will be provided.

The Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) program is now the e5 program, offering selected students a fifth, tuition-free year of college to launch a project and engage in an experiential pursuit. Contact e5 program administrator Angela Buchiere to learn more or attend the information session Wednesday, January 31, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Lattimore 306A. The spring application deadline is Thursday, March 22. The application is now available as an online form.

NSF I-Corps Upstate New York (UNY) Node is offering a short course for researchers interested in exploring the market potential of their work and learning entrepreneurial skills. The course, geared toward doctoral candidates and post-docs, is offered at no cost to participants and consists of both in-person and remote meetings over a two-week period starting February 23. An entire team can participate in conducting customer interviews, learning about the business model canvas, and developing clear plans for taking the next steps. Graduates are able to apply for other NSF grant awards, including the National I-Corps Teams program, which carries a $25,000 award. The program is limited to eight teams. Apply online. Contact Matthew Spielmann, senior program manager at the University’s Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, with questions and to learn more.

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman