March 13, 2017

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Here’s great news for Hajim students who want to study abroad: Our University has joined the Institute for International Education’s Global Engineering Education Exchange (Global E³) program. (Read more here.) This will make it even easier for our students to explore education abroad options at 39 top engineering schools in 23 countries — and to enjoy experiences like these:

Marcelina Martynek ’18 of computer science stood atop the leaning tower of Pisa and felt “a moment of absolute bliss and beauty.” Janson Ho ’18 of chemical engineering describes his solo week-long trip across Japan as  an “unbelievable experience.” Nathan Contino ’17 of computer science marveled at the wall-mounted machines that dispense “warm, perfectly soft-on-the-inside” baguettes in Paris — no matter what hour of the night. Collin Larkin ’18 of chemical engineering relished the “Harry Potter-esque” atmosphere of historic Magdalen College at Oxford University. Study abroad?  “Just do it!” advises Luke Dengler ’18 of chemical engineering. He completed two engineering courses towards his major, two social science courses for electives –and got to see Tasmania. After all, “getting out of your comfort zone makes you grow as a person,” says Adam Aboudi ’17 of computer science after spending a semester in Hong Kong,  “Let yourself be changed to fit the culture, instead of criticizing the other culture for not being up to your standards,” adds Peter Fiala ’17 of optical engineering after living with a family in Morocco.

Thanks to these students for sharing their study abroad experiences and photos from last semester. And congratulations to these students who also studied abroad last fall:

Biomedical engineering: Hong Chen ’18, Jingxiao He ’18, Corrine Kennedy ’18, and John Krapf ’18 IES Madrid; Julia Herman ’18 and Daniel Myers ’18 IES Auckland; and Wen-Hsin Yang ’18 University of Bristol.

Chemical engineering: Gabrielle Dimoff ’18 IES Christchurch; Ellison Etnier ’18, Claire Evans ’18, Solange Munezero ’18, and Johanna Oasan ’18 University of Sydney; and Anna Kopp ’18, Sarah Lanzafame ’18, and Marina Morrow ’18 IES Auckland.

Computer science: Hector Cardenas ’17 and Jacob Schechner ’18 AIT Budapest.

Optics: Charlotte Debossu ’17 IES Christchurch, Haley Knapp ’18 IES Madrid, and Jordan Rabinowitz ’18 Rothberg International School in Jerusalem.

Several of these students benefited from $500 Hajim School International Experience Scholarships. The application deadline for summer/fall 2017 is April 3. Read more here.

A semester studying abroad is not the only way Hajim students can gain a valuable global experience. Dominique James and Emma Luke, both biomedical engineering sophomores, spent their winter break with a Global Brigades team of student volunteers who helped to dig trenches and lay pipe to bring water to the homes in El Censo, Honduras. Read here about their experiences and the new perspectives they gained.

Syed Reefat Aziz ’17 of biomedical engineering, a KEY student, has made several trips overseas with the UR Debate Union, most recently to the World Universities Debate Championship in the Netherlands, where he distinguished himself as a student judge, advancing into the elimination rounds. For his KEY project, Reefat is helping establish a debate team at East High in Rochester and introducing debate to madrassa (Islamic school) students in Bangladesh. You can read more here about this worthy project and Reefat’s passion for debate.

Congratulations as well to Ibrahim Mohammad ’17 of mechanical engineering, Omar Soufan ’17 of biomedical engineering, and Min A ’18, an engineering and business double major. They are among the members of Team Meliora, which finished among six finalists at the regional Hult Prize social entrepreneurship competition in San Francisco. Sixty-four schools competed. The team’s startup company will build homes for refugees from recycled plastics. Ibrahim and Omar, you may recall, are the same students producing 3D-printed prosthetic upper limbs for Syrian war refugees at a physical rehabilitation center they established on the Lebanese border. Their work will have incredible impact on those in need.

Ever wonder what a hackathon is all about? Here’s a great video that answers that question, recorded at the recent DandyHacks 2017 by Anis Kallel ’17, a dual computer science and business major.

For years, Dottie Welch was the “go-to” person for biomedical engineering undergraduate students who needed a form signed, an update on their academic status — or a word of encouragement or support to get through a stressful time. Each year, in her honor, we present the Dottie Welch Student Enrichment Award to a Hajim School faculty or staff member “whose performance and dedication enriches the student experience in the tradition exemplified by Dottie Welch” during her 25-plus years of service. Nominations will be accepted until April 12.  Please email the name of the person you’d like to nominate and one or two sentences explaining why to Hajimschool@ur.rochester.edu.  Nominations will be compiled on an electronic ballot that will be available April 17 to 27. The award will be presented at Design Day on May 5.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman