November 18, 2019
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics, who is also affiliated with the Materials Science Program, continues to do remarkable things with the technology his lab has developed to “etch” the surfaces of metals with intricate micro and nanoscale patterns. This makes the surfaces superhydrophobic, or water repellent. A new paper in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces describes a metallic structure the lab created in which the etched surfaces of two parallel aluminum plates face inward, creating a watertight compartment. Even when submerged in water for months at a time — and punctured numerous times — the “unsinkable” structure pops back to the surface. Possible applications could include unsinkable ships and flotation devices. And the inspiration for this? Diving bell spiders and rafts of fire ants. Read more and see a great video by Matt Mann here.
Alumni, please take note: You can help us update our alumni records — and help the University better understand its entire alumni community — by completing this census by December 31. This will help us create more relevant and meaningful network programs. All of the data will be treated as confidential and will not be shared outside of the University.
Two of our students who are veterans are profiled in a Veterans Day article by University Communications. Sam Miller, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering who rose to captain while serving in the Air Force, is carrying out his research on fluid dynamics and instabilities at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Mike Pawlicki ’21, a computer science undergraduate, is a former Navy SEAL and son of Ted Pawlicki, an associate professor of computer science. Though older than most of his classmates, Mike says he learns from them every day. And the rest of us should take every opportunity to learn from our veterans as well. It is a real source of pride that our University is ranked 10th on the 2019–20 US News & World Report rankings of “Best Colleges for Veterans.” Read more here.
Four of our undergraduates – Demetrious Dowdell ’20 of optics, Dominique Dorvil ’21 of computer science, Sharifa Sharfeldden ’21 of electrical and computer engineering, and David Reynoso ’20 of mechanical engineering — recently attended a GEM GRAD Lab at Cornell University with staff from the Kearns Center. The GRAD Labs are hosted by the National GEM Consortium to support and motivate students from underrepresented backgrounds who are thinking about graduate school. We currently have five GEM Fellows who are graduate students at the University, which has been a member of the consortium since 2009.
These highly interactive one-day events feature speakers on topics ranging from “Why graduate school” and “How to apply” to testimonials about real life research and internship experiences.
Sharifa says the event was a “great opportunity” to:
- learn about applying and obtaining funding for graduate school
- “meet many like-minded students”
- connect with people doing research in fields that she is interested in.
Demetrious says he was motivated by a speaker who stressed the importance of being persistent; another assured him it was not too late to apply for graduate school, and to never count himself out.
Students and faculty interested in pursuing or learning more about GEM Fellowships are welcome to contact Liz Daniele of the Kearns Center at liz.daniele@rochester.edu.
UR Makers, Baja SAE, the SPIE graduate student organization, STEM Initiative, and Solar Splash will all have booths at Maker Faire Rochester from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. This is a venue for engineers, artists, scientists, and crafters to show their experiments, projects, and hobbies. Sounds interesting! Learn more here.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
