April 22, 2019

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Attendance at national professional society conferences is a great opportunity for our students to gain networking skills, talk to employers about internships and job opportunities, and broaden their horizons in general. So, it was remarkable that 50 members of our National Society of Black Engineers student chapter were able to attend the NSBE national conference in Detroit last month.

“Of the 50 students, several received interviews for both internships and full time offers at well-known companies like General Dynamics, Google, Boston Scientific and more! All students were able to leave the convention with either an opportunity or the motivation to continue to excel,” says president Gabriel Guisado ’19 of biomedical engineering. Talia English ’21 of engineering science says attending the conference “was very rejuvenating for me. It helped to reassure me that there are many successful and worthwhile opportunities that await me and that taking all of these challenging courses is worth it.”

Congratulations and thanks to the chapter and its officers for all the hard work that goes into organizing this, and to the departments that joined with the Hajim School in providing funding support.

Each year the College honors outstanding student contributions to campus life with Student Life Awards, also known as “the Rocky’s.” This year’s recipients include:

Andrew Thankson ’22 of computer science, who received the Andrew Fried Prize for showing outstanding qualities of character, superior moral judgment, and interest in serving fellow students.
Shingirai Dhoro ’20 of electrical and computer engineering, who received the Communal Principles Award, for exemplifying this year’s principle: Responsibility.
Suman Kumar ’19 of mechanical engineering, who received the Presidential Award for Community Service. This is given to a senior for outstanding participation and leadership in addressing social causes in the community beyond the campus.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers student chapter which received the Award for Excellence in Programming. The award recognizes a student organization or group, either formal or informal, for its exceptional creativity, planning, and execution of a University program.

Read more here.

Congratulations as well to:

Chantelle Y. Lim ’19 of biomedical engineering, who has been awarded a graduate fellowship from Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. Chantelle will receive a cash stipend of $10,000 to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She plans to conduct magnetic resonance imaging research to further elucidate how brain structure and function might change due to neurological disorders. Tau Beta Pi Fellowships are awarded on the basis of high scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession.

Biomedical engineering alumna Mercy Asiedu ’14, now completing her PhD at Duke University, who has been selected as one of 20 Schmidt Science Fellows. This post-doctoral program, offered by Schmidt Futures in partnership with the Rhodes Trust, provides each fellow with a $100,000 stipend and one year of personalized mentoring from an internationally accomplished scientist in a scientific discipline different from student’s area of PhD work. The goal is to foster greater interdisciplinarity. Read more here.

Our Baja SAE off road vehicle team finished 4th in sales and 19th in design among 96 university teams from around the world competing in Cookeville, TN recently. During the endurance race, the steering rack became bent and some suspension bolts sheared off, but team members were “able to think on their feet, fix things up quickly and finish the race on all 4 wheels, a great success,” says faculty advisor Chris Muir. Their next competition will be in May at the Quail Canyon Special Event Area in California.

Jonathan Yakubov and Yangyang Shao of the TEAM (Technical Entrepreneurship and Management) master’s program will be competing with Heart Health Intelligence in the statewide finals of the New York Business Plan Competition in Albany this Friday. The team has developed preventative methods to combat patient adherence issues in heart health monitoring while reducing long term costs. Two other University of Rochester teams will also be competing.

Here’s a great opportunity for undergraduates to become involved in researching equity issues at our University and implementing changes:Â Sign up for the Undergraduate Workgroup of the Commission on Women and Gender Equity in Academia. The workgroup, which is seeking new members for 2019-2020, focuses specifically on Eastman School of Music and River Campus undergraduates. “We strive to change the framework of undergraduate self-advocacy at the University of Rochester by allowing students a unique outlet to bring their equity concerns to a committee of peers who will work for effective change,” says Amber Williams ’19, who leads the workgroup. Students who are interested can apply here (sign in with your University email) by end of today, April 22. Questions? Contact Amber at awilli77@u.rochester.edu.

Commencement reminder: Graduating seniors, please tell your department undergraduate coordinator by this Friday, April 26 the number of guests you will bring to the school-wide reception, to be held on the Hajim Quad from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., May 19.

Are you wondering if your pick for the People’s Choice award came out on top in the Hajim School Art of Science Competition? Drop by Carlson Library at 1 p.m. next Wednesday, May 1 when we announce the winners of this year’s competition. We had a record number of entries. Food and refreshments will be provided. Read more here.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman