August 26, 2019,

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

In addition to welcoming students back to campus, I am excited to introduce four outstanding new faculty members.

Fatemeh Nargesian joins the Department of Computer Science as a tenure-track assistant professor after completing her PhD at the University of Toronto, where she was a member of the Data Curation Group. Her research explores some of the key challenges of data management: how to manage extremely large data repositories—a concept known as a “data lake”—so that information can be searched far more efficiently and can be better integrated. She has also researched ways of making Open Data accessible and usable for data scientists.

Adam Purtee joins the Department of Computer Science as an assistant professor of instruction after serving as an adjunct instructor. Adam, who received his PhD in computer science from the department in 2018, has also been a lecturer at Rochester Institute of Technology. His research explores artificial intelligence, in particular areas of machine learning, as well as how computer systems understand and interpret natural language and how information about the world can be understood by computer technology. This fall he will teach courses on artificial intelligence, computer networks, and introductory computer science.

Sarah Rose Smith joins the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an assistant professor of instruction after completing her PhD in the department this spring. Her research explores the ways in which audio, particularly instrumental vibrato, reverberates as its signals are reflected and absorbed by objects and surfaces within a space. This fall she will teach an introduction to audio and music engineering and an upper level (junior year) portfolio course, in which students complete a semester long independent research or design project on an acoustical topic of their choosing.

Andrea Pickel joins the Department of Mechanical Engineering as a tenure-track assistant professor after completing her PhD at the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on using experimental and numerical methods to address fundamental problems in heat transfer, particularly at the nanoscale. The work has potential applications for data storage and the development of optoelectronic and integrated circuit devices, and for advancing the understanding of nanoscale energy transport and conversion. She also explores ways to harness the unique properties of luminescent materials to develop better techniques for measuring temperature with nanoscale spatial resolution, particularly with high temporal resolution.

A warm welcome to all four, and many thanks to the members of the search committees who assisted in finding and interviewing candidates.

Congratulations to Jannick Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering, who has been selected as the 2019 Alumna of the Year by the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Click here to learn why pursuing her PhD there, studying medical instrumentation with professor Harry Barrett, was “the best-ever decision” along Jannick’s career path.

Congratulations as well to Eryn Fennig, a PhD candidate in the lab of Duncan Moore, the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor in Optical Engineering Science. Eryn is a recipient of the 2019 Advanced Photonics Best Student Paper Prize for “Planar Light Guide Concentrators for Building Integrated Photovoltaics.” The paper, co-authored by Duncan and research engineer Greg Schmidt, was presented at the Optical Devices and Materials for Solar Energy and Solid-state Lighting (PVLED) meeting at the recent OSA Advanced Photonics Congress, held in San Francisco. Read more here.

Have a great week and enjoy the Labor Day Weekend!

The next Hajim Highlights will come out next Tuesday, September 3.

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman