August 5, 2019

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to Laurel Carney, the Marylou Ingram Professor in Biomedical Engineering, and Roman Sobolewski, professor of electrical and computer engineering. They are the inaugural recipients of a Kearns Center award recognizing faculty who do an outstanding job of mentoring undergraduates in their research labs each summer. The awards were announced last week at the annual Kearns Center Research Symposium, where this summer’s Xerox Engineering Research Fellows, McNair Scholars, Kearns Summer Research Scholars, and students participating in three REUs (research experiences for undergraduates) programs presented their findings in oral presentations, lightning talks, and a poster session.

Faculty who go the extra mile to welcome undergraduates into their labs and monitor their progress can have a huge impact, especially on first-generation and/or underrepresented minority students. Laurel and Roman have an outstanding track record in this regard, so it is great to see them receive this recognition. (Read more here.)

Undergraduate summer research at our University is enhanced not only by the great mentorship students receive from faculty and graduate students, but by the additional opportunities those students have, through the Kearns Center, to participate in social events and take seminars and workshops on applying to graduate school, writing an effective purpose statement, taking the GRE, and communicating their science. Congratulations to these Hajim School summer scholars who received Deans Citations at the symposium for attending a number of events aimed at professional development and community outreach.

Audio and Music Engineering: Molly Robins ’20.
Biomedical engineering: Benjamin Richardson ’21, Michaela Alarie ’21, Ananya Goyal ’20, Sereen Assi ’21, Grace Niyo ’21, Ifigeneia Stathaki ’21, and Sophie Mackenzie ’21.
Chemical engineering: Bryan Schellberg ’21, Adebimpe Isafiade ’21, Aime Laurent Twizerimana ’20, and Eve Marealle ’21.
Computer Science: Ariel Tello ’20, Yipeng Zhang ’21, and Thabani Dube ’21.
Electrical and Computer Engineering: Anthony Pericolo ’20 and Abrar Protyasha ’21.
Mechanical Engineering: Elijah Munoz ’21.
Optics: Benjamin Nussbaum ’21, Liam Young ’20, and Jeanne Lyse Mugeni ’21.

Engineering is truly a global endeavor, which is why we also encourage our students to participate in study abroad or other global experiences as undergraduates. As an added inducement, we offer $500 Hajim School International Experience Scholarships to help offset costs for program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance, or international airfare. The most recent recipients are:

Hristijan Stojkovic ’22 of computer science, who did an internship in Serbia this summer.
Sereen Assi ’21 of biomedical engineering, who will be studying at the University of Sydney this fall.
Marcos dos Santos ’20 of mechanical engineering, who participated in the Ghana field school this summer.
Yujin Nakamoto ’21 of electrical and computer engineering, who had an internship in Hong Kong this summer.
Bartlomiej Jezierski ’21 of computer science, who will study at IES Madrid this fall.

Unique to our University, the Take Five Scholars program offers selected undergraduates a fifth, tuition-free year to complete self-designed projects unrelated to their majors and for the sole purpose of intellectual enrichment. Three of the 12 students accepted into the program this fall are Hajim students. Congratulations to:

Thomas Culeton ’20, audio and music engineering, for “Releasing the Writer Within.”
Brina Patel ’20, chemical engineering, for: “Go Green to Save Green: A Study of Environmental Effects on Society.”
Molly Robins ’20, audio and music engineering, for “Intersections of Film and Philosophy.”