July 15, 2019
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. Qiang Lin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is among the latest recipients to join this elite group. Qiang, an expert in integrated quantum photonics and nonlinear nanophotonics, studies the fundamental physics of light and its applications, including secure communication and advanced computing. The PECASE award recognizes outstanding researchers who have exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the twenty-first century, and Qiang is certainly in that category. Read more here.
Congratulations as well to Dustin Froula, senior scientist and leader of the Plasma and Ultrafast Physics Group at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Dustin is a recipient of the 2019 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research from the American Physical Society. Dustin’s citation is for his “innovative experiments that demonstrate turbulent dynamo in the laboratory, establishing laboratory experiments as a component in the study of turbulent magnetized plasmas, and opening a new path to laboratory investigations of other astrophysical processes.” Read more here.
Hussein Aluie, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Xin Bian, a PhD student in the Aluie lab, describe a new set of conservation laws – fundamental laws describing natural processes – that are unique to turbulent flows within magnetic fields in a paper published in Physical Review Letters. This has led to a set of simplified equations that can be potentially applied in multiple areas of research, including the evolution of stars and galaxies, and the accretion of matter in space; predicting space weather around Earth due to the solar wind; and magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF), an experimental approach to achieving controlled fusion in a lab. In the course of this study, Xin and Hussein used over 16,000 computing cores and about 6 million CPU hours on the supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This was posted last week as a University Research News headline on the DOE’s Office of Science homepage. Read more here.
Members of our Solar Splash student team turned in their best performance ever at this year’s World Championship of Intercollegiate Solar/Electric boating, held June 11-15 at Springfield, Ohio. Competing against 10 other college teams, Chris Dalke ’19 of computer science, and Melanie Almenas ’22, Andrew Gutierrez ’19, Ben Martell ’19, and Mark Westman ’20, all of mechanical engineering:
- Won the Innovation Award for their new data-gathering telemetry system
- Won the Most Improved Team award
- Took 1st place for their video presentation
- Took 3rd place for their technical report
- Finished 4th in the endurance race (number of circuits completed during four hours, relying only upon the solar panels to recharge the batteries)
- Finished 5th overall
The team’s faculty advisor, Ethan Burnham-Fay, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, accompanied the students to Springfield. Read more here to learn how the telemetry system gave the team a big edge in this year’s competition. Well done!
The Institute of Optics annual summer Photon Camp brought 25 local high school students to campus last week for faculty lectures, visits to local optics companies, and a chance to work on projects in the Institute’s laboratories. Thanks to Dustin Newman, undergraduate program manager; Trevor O’Loughlin, interim lab coordinator; and faculty members Nick Vamivakas and Clarke Eastman for planning and organizing the camp. And thanks to these Institute undergraduate students who served as camp counselors: Chris Pressimone, Milly Bishop, Mervin Lim Pac Chong, Ben Nussbaum, Maddie Sabatini, and Lauren Scheg. This is a great opportunity for young people to learn about the field of optics, and start thinking about it as a possible career choice.
We’re going to miss David Williams, who has stepped down as dean for research for Arts, Sciences & Engineering, but we certainly respect his desire to return full time to his research, his position as the William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics, and his role as director of the Center for Visual Science. During his eight years as dean, David made huge contributions to the AS&E research enterprise. He created and supported opportunities for cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations throughout the University, and took a leadership role in the AR/VR initiative, which includes several Hajim School researchers. He sponsored numerous workshops for new and early career researchers, as well as grant management staff. He introduced the use of research productivity tools and analyses, and instituted the PumpPrimer seed funding program. Perhaps the best indicator of David’s legacy is this: At a time when federal research funding declined or remained flat, AS&E research funding (excluding LLE) increased 38 percent. Well done, David. Read more here.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
