March 5, 2018

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

As co-chair of our search for a new director for the Goergen Institute for Data Science, I am confident we will have no shortage of qualified applicants. Why? Because of the outstanding job done by Henry Kautz, the founding director, who is stepping down after launching our program and creating a great foundation for the next director to build upon. In four years under Henry’s leadership, the institute:

  • created undergraduate and master’s programs that continue to grow.
  • launched the New York Center of Excellence and the Rochester Data Science Consortium to further collaborations with local companies.
  • obtained federal funding for an REU summer research program for undergraduates and for cross training in computer science, brain and cognitive sciences, and data science for PhD students.
  • hired four faculty through interdisciplinary searches.
  • provided seed funding for 12 collaborative research projects to support key data science initiatives in health care and human and machine intelligence.
  • moved into its new home in Wegmans Hall.

Thanks, Henry, and best wishes as you pursue your research and other opportunities to serve our University. During the national search, expected to last a year, the institute will be in the capable hands of interim director Ehsan Hoque, assistant professor of computer science and the Asaro-Biggar (’92) Family Fellow in Data Science. Read more here.

The launch of the Ghana summer field school last year provided students a wonderful opportunity to visit a different country and get hands-on experience in surveying, modeling, and evaluating the historic Elmina Castle – as you can read in the blogs they wrote. The same opportunity is available this summer. Interested? Attend an information meeting tomorrow from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Goergen 109. Questions? Contact Professor Renato Perucchio.

Here’s more exciting research by our faculty:

  • John Marciante, associate professor of optics, has undertaken a research project for FemtoRoc Corp. The goal is to develop more powerful lasers that will make it commercially viable to change the surface of metals in incredible ways, so they are super water-repellent, for example. The project, expected to take six years, has a research budget estimated at $10 million. This would enable technology developed by Chunlei Guo, professor of optics, and Anatoliy Vorobyev, a senior scientist, to be used for a host of applications, including de-icing of commercial airplanes and large trucks, rust and corrosion prevention of exposed metal surfaces, and cleaner, anti-microbial surfaces for surgical and medical facilities. Read more here.
  • Edmund Lalor, associate professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience, and his lab have identified a brain signal that indicates whether a person is indeed comprehending what others are saying – and has shown the signal can be tracked using relatively inexpensive EEG (electroencephalography) readings taken on a person’s scalp. This an example of how machine learning can inform research, with exciting applications for testing language development in infants; determining the level of brain function in patients who are in a reduced state of consciousness, such as a coma; confirming that a person in a particularly critical job has understood the instructions they have received (e.g., an air traffic controller or a soldier); and testing for the onset of dementia in older people based on their ability to follow a conversation. Read more here.

Two teams of CMTI (Center for Medical Technology & Innovation) master’s students placed well in our University’s annual “America’s Got Regulatory Science Talent” competition. Students are asked to find solutions to better assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products. Eric Ravinal, Justin Schumacher, Vladimir Tokarchuk, and Rebecca Amorese finished second with their proposal for an evaluation toolkit to address key issues in additive manufacturing, including 3D printing.  Amanda Smith, Meghann Meyer, Emily Newman, and Evan Sosnow proposed an FDA ALERT smartphone-based mobile app that could be used to scan a QR code on the label of an FDA-regulated product to get reliable, FDA-approved information to help them decide whether to purchase the product, to receive recall and warning alerts, and to report any adverse effects they’ve experienced with FDA-regulated products. The team finished third. Read more here.

Thanks to John Miller, who directs the Taylor Hall machine shop, for helping  Baja SAE team members fabricate a brake pedal and other parts for this year’s off-road vehicle they’ve designed and started building to compete against other universities this spring. The team raised more than $2,700 in December from donors, but still needs about $6,000 to be able to compete in three meets this spring. Read more here.

Our Tau Beta Pi student chapter (New York Kappa) joined RIT’s New York Pi chapter in hosting a weekend District 2 Conference recently. Sixty-one students from 22 chapters in New Jersey and New York, plus 10 alumni and seven Tau Beta Pi officials gathered on the RIT campus. The conference included leadership training, a chapter operations workshop, and social and networking opportunities. Kudos to conference chairs Rebecca Walton ’18 of mechanical engineering, president of our chapter, and Leigh Bechet, president of the RIT chapter, who were both applauded by Tau Beta Pi officials for the great job they and their chapters did in preparing for and hosting the conference.

The Mark Ain Business Model Workshop Series, part of the larger Mark Ain Business Plan Competition, begins at 4 p.m. tomorrow in Schlegel 207 with an overview of the competition, followed by a workshop featuring Andrew Scheinman (CEO, Nidus BioSciences and principal and owner, Scheinman Law). The workshop is open to all in the University community and general public. Register online. Contact Matthew Spielmann with questions.

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman

 
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