February 3, 2020

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Thanks to an anonymous donor, 24 University students – 21 of them from the Hajim School – were able to participate in a three-day Silicon Valley Road Trip during winter break, visiting 11 tech companies ranging from startups like Clever Inc. to Amazon, Facebook, Intel, and Google. This trip, as in the past, was organized by the Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, which does a great job of prepping students ahead of time. At most of the companies, students met Hajim School alumni now working at them, and had a great opportunity to network and size up what it is like to work at a tech company.

“Before the trip, I was not sure if I wanted to work in a start-up or a large company but after meeting the people in the industry I have realized that I would love to start my career at a large company and then maybe move into a start-up,” says Vaibhav Singh ’22, who is majoring in computer science and business. “Visiting Facebook was really inspiring for me as I have always aspired to work at Facebook. To visit their campus, and meet their employees was nothing but a dream come true for me.”

Abhisesh Acharya ’21, a computer science major, says he “enjoyed the opportunity to test my understanding of life in the tech industry by talking first-hand with UR alumni. I learned that job satisfaction at larger companies is not limited since they allow you to switch to teams that are better aligned with your interests.”

Aaron Sapollnik ’22, a major in computer science and economics, also appreciated getting to compare what it’s like to work at large and small companies. “A smaller company tends to be easier to work at because there are fewer people looking over you,” he says, “meaning that the larger companies make it harder for someone to submit their projects. But being on a campus of the larger companies was like being in a small city. They had almost anything you could think of and give everyone a lot more benefits than a smaller company.”

Thanks to Joseph Testani, assistant dean and executive director, and Megan Vargulick, director of employer and alumni connections, both at the Greene Center, for all their hard work in organizing and chaperoning the students. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that funding can be found for another trip next year.

Congratulations to Jennifer Kruschwitz, assistant professor of optics, who has been elected a board member of the Inter-Society Color Council, the principal professional society in the field of color in the United States. The council was founded in 1931 with the goal of advancing the knowledge of color as it relates to art, science, and industry. Read more here.

Here’s an opportunity to support a worthy cause: our Engineers Without Borders student chapter celebrates its 10th anniversary this Friday with a dinner catered by “El Latino” and musical performances. Tickets for the event, which will be held from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the May Room at Wilson Commons, will be on sale through Wednesday. Read more here. The chapter is in the final stages of providing drinking water for a primary school in the Dominican Republic.

Students interested in tackling health problems as Grand Challenges Scholars — for example engineering better medicine, advancing health informatics, or reverse engineering the brain — please take note: We have an opportunity to send one student to the Arizona State University Entrepreneurial Experience, a three-week, fully funded program specifically designed for GCS students, open to students in the class of 2023 and 2022. If you are interested, send an email to emma.derisi@rochester.edu explaining your interest in this program and your Grand Challenges Scholars program ideas. The deadline to apply is next Monday, February 10.  You can read here about last year’s program.

Students who enjoy participating in hackathons should be sure to mark your calendars. Wegmans will be at the iZone Forum from 4-7 p.m. next Monday, February 10, to talk about the Wegmans Flower City ProAm Hackathon. This 24-hour event, to be held March 28 to March 29 at the Wegmans Food Markets Corporate Office in Rochester, aims to draw 300 students (about 75 teams) from universities across western and upstate New York. The students will work with IT pros from companies like Microsoft, Paychex and M&T Bank to address community issues specific to upstate NY.

Moreover, students who participate in the hackathon can also fulfill the service or entrepreneurship competencies of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Students who can’t attend the info session next Monday — which, by the way, will include Wegmans catering and swag – can learn more here and register here.

Graduate students are invited to submit abstracts for the inaugural AS&E Graduate Research Symposium, to be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 9 in Wilson Commons.

The research symposium will feature poster presentations, research talks, and an awards reception, where several $500 prizes will be awarded for best posters. The deadline to submit poster abstracts is 5 p.m., February 14. Submissions will be reviewed and applicants notified on or about Monday, March 2.

If you have something of your own to share with your colleagues — a thesis proposal, new research finding, or independent study — please consider submitting an abstract. Poster printing costs will be paid by the Office of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) in Arts, Sciences and Engineering.

To help prepare students for the symposium, the GEPA office will hold three pre-symposium workshops. Dates and times to be announced.

1. Poster Design: Introduction to poster design, creation, and printing. Special attention will be paid to presenting research from disciplines where posters are not a standard presentation format.
2. Presenting Your Research: The emphasis will be on presenting posters and 3-5 minute research overviews.
3. Networking at Conferences: This will include practice starting research conversations.

The symposium is sponsored by GEPA and the Graduate Student Association.

If you have any questions about the event or abstract submission process, contact Katie Mott (Katie.Mott@rochester.edu).

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman