April 1, 2019
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
Congratulations to three of our biomedical engineering faculty members — Danielle Benoit, Catherine Kuo, and Amy Lerner — who have been inducted as fellows in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Danielle was elected for her “outstanding contributions to the design of ‘smart’ materials to treat diseases, control cell behavior, and answer fundamental biological questions.” Catherine was selected for her “innovative contributions to understanding mechanical regulation of embryonic development to inform tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies.” And Amy was elected for “outstanding contributions to orthopaedic biomechanics, engineering design education, and diversity in engineering and academia.” AIMBE, which advocates for the value of medical and biological engineering to society, selects the top two percent of medical and biological engineers to its College of Fellows. “Three new fellows in one year is fantastic!” says Diane Dalecki, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. I heartily concur! These are three very deserving recipients.
Congratulations as well to two of our NAE Grand Challenges Scholars — Afnan Ahmed ’21 and Joshua Batres Wang ’22, both of chemical engineering — who were accepted for the fully funded GCSP Entrepreneurial Experience summer program at Arizona State University.
Ranga Dias, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received a $667,000 grant from the Department of Energy to find superconducting materials with a critical temperature comparable or higher than room temperature and to develop novel experimental techniques that are essential to discover such transitions. This is Ranga’s second major grant this academic year. It ties in nicely with our High Energy Density Physics initiative, with an emphasis on quantum materials. Well done, Ranga!
Speaking of High Energy Density Physics, there is more exciting research to report from the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. For the first time, researchers there have found a way to turn a liquid metal into a plasma and to observe the temperature where a liquid under high-density conditions crosses over to a plasma state. Their observations, published in Physical Review Letters, have implications for better understanding stars and planets and could aid in the realization of controlled nuclear fusion—a promising alternative energy source whose realization has eluded scientists for decades. Congratulations to lead author Mohamed Zaghoo, a research associate at the LLE, and his colleagues. Read more here.
Robert Boyd, professor of optics, and Svetlana Lukishova, a senior scientist at the Institute of Optics, along with Victor Zadkov of the Institute of Spectroscopy in Troitsk, Russia, are the editors of a new book Quantum Photonics: Pioneering Advances and Emerging Applications (Springer Nature 2019). It provides the latest advances in modern quantum, nano-, and nonlinear photonics and examines historical experiments during 1900─1956 involving light pressure, single photons, and nonlinear optics, complimented with reprints and translation into English of some pioneering experimental papers. It is available online through the University of Rochester subscription for the Springer Series in Optical Sciences. The book is already getting good reviews. “It looks just great and I think it will be of general interest,” says Scott Carney, director of the Institute of Optics. “And despite the technical-sounding title, it contains quite a lot of fascinating history.” Read more here.
Optics alum Kyle Fuerschbach ’14 (PhD) has been selected as the 2019 recipient of The Optical Society (OSA) Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award. Kyle, now a senior member of the technical staff of the optics and sensors engineering group at Sandia National Laboratories, is being honored for his ground-breaking PhD work in the development of freeform optical surfaces to create optical devices that are lighter, more compact, and more effective than ever before. The late Kevin P. Thompson, a former scientist at the Institute of Optics, co-advised Kyle, who received the Outstanding Dissertation Award in Engineering and Applied Sciences for 2014-2015. Read more here.
Two of our student teams will have open houses this week to display the vehicles they have designed, built, and will take into competition. Drop by the Goergen Hall Atrium from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to learn more about the Human Powered Vehicle Competition (HPVC) team. HPVs are aerodynamic vehicles, driven solely by human power, that use concepts from traditional bicycles to serve as efficient means of land transportation. HPVs focus on optimizing human strengths while compensating for human weaknesses. This weekend the team will compete against 49 other universities in the E-Fest North ASME HPV Competition at Michigan State University.
Drop by Goergen Hall again the following day, Thursday, 4:30-6 p.m. to learn about this year’s UR Baja SAE off-road vehicle from team members. They’ll be competing against 98 university teams on April 11-14 at Cookeville, TN and 99 teams on May 16-19 at the Quail Canyon Special Event Area in California.
These teams work hard to design, build, and test their vehicles. We wish them all the best.
Four computer science seniors — Sharfuz Shifat (also economics), Sandesh Paudel, Andrew Nyaisonga (also math), and Carolyn Zelicof (also digital media studies) — have come up with a new social networking platform called CrossRoads Create. It allows students to connect over ideas, find collaborators, and discover amazing projects that their peers are working on, and much more. You can learn more at launch event at 5 p.m. Friday, April 5 in the Kessler Forum of the Barbara J. Burger iZone. RSVP on Facebook.
The spring 2019 round of the Technology Development Fund has started with awards of up to $100,000. Eligible projects propose the development of a technology to a commercial endpoint. A submitted invention disclosure to UR Ventures is required for an application. Submit pre-proposals to omar.bakht@rochester.edu by Friday, April 26. View more information online. The awards are open to all faculty, staff, and students.
Last, but not least, this is Graduate Student Appreciation Week. I can’t say enough about the invaluable role our grad students play in our labs and classrooms, and will continue to play as the next generation of researchers and educators. Thanks to our AS&E and SMD offices of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs for putting together a week-long series of events to express our appreciation to these students.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
