December 2, 2019

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to Julie Bentley, associate professor of optics, who is recipient of the 2019 RRPC Education Award from the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster for being “instrumental in teaching and helping many young optics entrepreneurs develop their first designs and launch their optics businesses.” The award is given annually to an individual who inspires students to embrace optics, photonics, and imaging sciences and guides them in career development — and Julie has certainly been outstanding in those roles. Read more here.

Congratulations as well to:

  • Fernando Zvietcovich, a PhD candidate in the lab of Kevin Parker, the William F. May Professor of Engineering and dean emeritus of engineering and applied sciences. Fernando is the winner of the 2020 SPIE-Franz Hillenkamp Postdoctoral Fellowship in Problem-Driven Biomedical Optics and Analytics. The annual award of $75,000 supports interdisciplinary problem-driven research and provides opportunities for translating new technologies into clinical practice for improving human health. Fernando, who is co-advised by Jannick Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering, will work on translating a novel biophotonics-based optical coherence elastography (OCE) method, developed and designed for the non-invasive quantification of corneal spatial biomechanical properties in 3D, into in vivo clinical use for diagnosing and monitoring the treatment for human ocular disease.
  • Manuel Guizar-Sicairos ’08 (M) ’10 (PhD), an Institute of Optics alumnus and currently a beamline scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, who is the 2019 recipient of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) Prize for 2019. Manuel, who was a PhD student in the lab of Jim Fienup, the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics, is continuing to make “seminal contributions to method and algorithm development, and application of coherent lensless imaging, ptychography, x-ray nanotomography, and scanning small-angle x-ray scattering.” Read more here.

Twelve Hajim School seniors who are members of the University’s Society of Women Engineers student chapter recently attended the SWE national conference in Anaheim, CA. When you hear their comments about their experiences in Anaheim, you will understand why the Hajim School, along with the Students’ Association Appropriations Committee, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, and the Susan B. Anthony Center joined in sponsoring and supporting their travel to the conference.

For example:

This was Liora London’s first-ever conference as an undergrad, and “was even more of an impactful experience than I could have imagined,” the mechanical engineering major says. “It was incredible being able to hear from powerful female engineers who have gone through the same struggles I have in trying to accomplish my academic goals.” Liora received a job offer from Northrop Grumman. Not bad for a first conference!

Isabelle Hoffman, also a mechanical engineering major, went to the conference believing she wanted to be a commercial product designer. “But after talking to many companies I realized I wanted to design mechanical systems like trucks, airplanes or aerospace instead after hearing about the excitement in the industry.”

Amanda Tatem of chemical engineering says: “Walking into a huge room filled with accomplished women in engineering gives a feeling that you don’t always get as a woman in an engineering classroom – belonging. Thanks to this conference I feel empowered to start my career as a woman in engineering.”

Between networking events with professors, community outreach events, and social events, SWE provides the opportunity to meet other students studying engineering. Learn more here.

The Ain Center for Entrepreneurship’s second annual Creative Collision Challenge focused on accessibility within university and college campuses. The three winning teams were:

  • AccessIT, including Shakhlo Gaibova ’21 of biomedical engineering and Snigdha Thummalapalli ’20 of the Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) master’s program, who proposed a mobile app with interactive map and crowd-sourced information. They took first place and a $1,000 prize.
  • W.A.R. – We Are Ready –including Theo Mambu ’20 of TEAM. This team  proposed a mobile app with a public safety focus and took second place and $500.
  • Career Readiness, including Linh Hoang ’22 of biomedical engineering and Tyler Knight ’20 of TEAM, who proposed career networking and placement for students with disabilities. They won third place and a $250 prize.

Thanks to Scott Seidman, professor of biomedical engineering, who served as a mentor. Read more here about the format for this competition.

Our University is ranked No. 9 among the nation’s top 25 graduate programs for entrepreneurship studies, up 8 points from last year, according to the latest annual survey by Princeton Review. The undergraduate program is ranked No. 42, the first time the University has appeared in the top 50 since the survey’s inception. More than 300 institutions responded to the survey. Learn more about entrepreneurship programs, events, and competitions offered through the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman

 
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