May 6, 2019

Here are the winning entries in the 2019 Hajim School Art of Science competition: From left to right, top to bottom: Taraxacum officinale by Sarah Mossey, Crocus Vernus by Philippe Maass, Kaleidoscope Eyes by Alyssa Ho and Maddie Sabatini, and A Universe in the Tip of the Human Eye by Jose Zvietcovich.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to the winners of our Art of Science competition. Sarah Mossey, senior project manager in Creative Services, Office of University Communications, took first place with Taraxacum officinale — a dandelion, the founding symbol of the University of Rochester — with a vector overlay connecting the head of each cypsela of the seed head. “The links between the cypsela begin to take on a greater meaning when seen in the context of the organic, interdisciplinary connections happening across the University every day,” Sarah explains.

This is a great example of what we hope to achieve with this competition — striking, aesthetically pleasing images from science and technology, described in ways that connect with a broad audience.

We had a lot of wonderful images to choose from, as is evident in our other winners. Philippe Maass ’20, an economics and political science major, won second place with Crocus Vernus, whose petal “is an example of perfect symmetry in nature.” Alyssa Ho ’21 and Maddie Sabatini ’21, both of optics, won third place with Kaleidoscope Eyes by viewing Christmas lights through diffraction grating. This created a stunning spectrum of colors — “a small reminder of the beauty hidden around us every day.” And Jose Zvietcovich, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering, won the People’s Choice Award with A Universe in the Tip of the Human Eye — showing the intricate distribution of cells and collagen fibrils of various layers of the human cornea, embodying “a whole universe of tissue distributions and interactions” that make human vision possible.

Indeed, narrowing a record 84 submissions was no easy task for our panel of judges. Special thanks to them; to Brian McIntyre, director of operations at URnano and lecturer in optics, and students Marcos dos Santos ’20 and Sabastian Abelezele ’20, our organizing team; to Edmund Hajim ’58, whose generosity enabled us to double the prize money; to all who submitted entries, to all of you who participated in voting for the People’s Choice Award and to University of Rochester Libraries for providing space in Carlson where Art of Science submissions can be on permanent display. I can’t wait to do this again next year! Read more about the competition and the winning entry here.

Congratulations as well to:

Barbara Dick, this year’s very deserving recipient of our Dottie Welch Award. Barbara, the administrative assistant and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is “an amazing resource to myself and many other students,” says Chinenye Tassie ’19, one of the students who nominated her. “Her willingness to go above and beyond for us makes us comfortable to depend on her. She is always there to hold our hand, give us information about opportunities, and encourage us through dark times. Barb is the unsung hero of the department.” And that’s exactly what this award is all about.
Chinenye, by the way, was recently awarded the Natalie Madeira Cofield Woman of the Year Award by the University’s Black Student Union and Pan-African Student Association.
Kathleen Desmond, ’20 and Katherine Korslund ’20, both of mechanical engineering, are among this year’s Provost Circle Scholars. This award recognizes student athletes who exemplify excellence in academics as well as in their sport. Kathleen, who plays varsity softball, is also a teaching assistant, works with the game operations staff, and is a member of Tau Beta Pi. After graduation she plans on pursuing a master’s degree in structural engineering. Katherine, who plays varsity volleyball, says she loves “the flexibility of the curriculum, allowing me to minor in French and do structural engineering research in Ghana” as part of the field school there. This summer, she will be interning with the Launch team at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California.
Prinaya Choubey ’21 of computer science, teamed with Natasha Abrol ’22 of international relations to win the Novice Division title at the United States Universities Championship Debate Tournament. This is only the second time Rochester has won the USU Novice Championship, and the first time that two of Rochester’s international students finished as the top first-year debaters in the nation. Prinaya and Natasha debated topics ranging from closing U.S. military bases abroad, to the corporatization of American universities, culminating in the final round that raised the question of prison abolition.
Yangyang Shao ’19 and Jonathan Yakubov ’19, both of the Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) master’s program finished in first place with teammates Vincent Costantino ’19S (MBA) and Joseph Geiger ’19S (MBA) in the “MedTech and Well-Being” track of the annual New York Business Plan Competition. Their Successful Heart Solutions team won $10,000. The team develops healthcare technologies to provide physicians with preventative methods to combat patient adherence issues in heart health monitoring while reducing long term costs. This is the second consecutive year that the University of Rochester has had a first-place team.

Each year, Hajim School undergraduates, individually or in teams, participate in the Charles and Janet Forbes Entrepreneurial Competition, by submitting a business plan for a technical business. Congratulations to this year’s winners, chosen Friday:

First Place and $5,000: The EZ Water team, which aims to change the lives of 80 million Pakistanis by providing cheap, reliable, quality drinking water at their doorstep through a hyperlocal network of micropreneurs who leverage modern Hollow Fiber Membrane technology to filter, bottle, and distribute water from under one roof. Team members are Afnan Ahmed ’21, Claude Mulindi ’22, and Muhammad Miqdad ’19 of chemical engineering; Sara Anis ’20 of biomedical engineering, and Derrick Murekezi ’19 of earth and environmental sciences.
Second Place and $2,500: The WetWare Systems team, which targets athletic, civilian, and defense-related traumatic brain injuries with novel biotechnology to preemptively mitigate neurotrauma resulting from impact, acceleration, and explosive blast. Team members are Nicholas Drogo ’19 of biomedical engineering, Andrew Kaseman ’21 of microbiology, Scott McKinney ’21 of computer science, Oliver Ostriker ’19 of financial economics, and Bradley Smith ’20 of neuroscience.
Third Place and $1,000: The Hope Restoration iNitiative (HORN)-Empowers team, which is a social venture that empowers Liberian youth with disabilities through job creation and personal development, and in addition, fights plastic pollution in Monrovia, Liberia. Team members are Terrikia Benjamin ’20 of biochemistry, Emmanuel Gweamee ’20 of International relations, and Aime Laurent Twizerimana ’20 of chemical engineering.

Once again, Design Day featured a startling array of capstone projects that allowed our seniors and CMTI master’s students to fully demonstrate their ingenuity, technical and scientific skills, and ability to communicate their work. Clearly, the Class of ’19 is well equipped to leave its mark on the world!

Thanks to our Dean’s Visiting Committee, which was in town last week to hear updates on what we’re doing. As always, their feedback and advice are greatly appreciated!

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman