May 26, 2020
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
Congratulations to Ehsan Hoque, assistant professor of computer science, the Asaro Biggar (’92) Family Fellow in Data Science, and co-director of the Rochester Human-Computer Interaction (ROC HCI) Lab. Ehsan is one of 10 new emerging leaders selected by the National Academy of Medicine to collaborate with the organization on “sparking transformative change to improve health care for all.”
Over the years, Ehsan says, his research group has gradually shifted its focus to developing technologies that help the lives of disadvantaged, ill, disabled and other individuals who struggle with socio-emotional communication, such as those with autism, severe anxiety, neurodegenerative disease, and terminal illness. For example, Ehsan helped establish the Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research at the University of Rochester; Ehsan and his students are working on creating a video analytics tool that would allow anyone with Parkinson’s, from any part of the world, to perform neurological tests in front of a computer and receive standardized metrics corresponding to the disease progression. He has also been collaborating with the Medical Center in improving end-of-life communication for final stage cancer patients. And he is co-PI of a new collaboration with Georgia Tech to develop a computational assessment toolkit to aid clinicians in treating veterans with post traumatic stress disorder.
Clearly, the National Academy of Medicine chose wisely in selecting Ehsan as one of its emerging leaders. This is an outstanding opportunity for Ehsan to help further shape the future of health sciences.
The computational modeling skills of the lab of Andrew White, assistant professor of chemical engineering, are being employed to fight COVID-19. Andrew and Gourab Ghoshal, an associate professor of physics, mathematics, and computer science, have received a National Science Foundation grant to create a mathematical model that will monitor the spread of the disease. The model will monitor the effective transmissibility of the disease at any given time, independent of how many people actually have it, to help policymakers make informed decisions about reopening the country.
Geemi Wellawatte, a PhD student in Andrew’s lab, has received a fellowship from the Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) to apply a coarse-grained modeling system to study the molecular dynamics of the proteins that the coronavirus uses to bind to host cells in human tissue. Detailed simulations could greatly speed the identification and testing of potential vaccines and therapies that could disrupt the process by which the COVID-19 virus binds to and then penetrates human cells. We wish Andrew and Geemi all the best in pursuing these promising lines of research.
Congratulations as well to:
- Four Institute of Optics students have received scholarships from SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. David Lippman, PhD student in Duncan Moore’s group, received the Optical Design and Engineering Scholarship. Ashan Ariyawansa, PhD student in Thomas Brown’s group; Gary Ge, an MD/PhD student advised by Kevin Parker and Jannick Rolland; and Benjamin Nussbaum ‘21 received Optics and Education Scholarships.
- Fifteen Hajim School scholar-athletes were selected outstanding spring sport athletes from the Class of 2020 for their contributions to their respective teams and the University community. They are:
Baseball: Aaron Craig, biomedical engineering; Jake Hertz, electrical and computer engineering
Golf: Freddie Shi, engineering science
Softball: Kathleen Desmond, mechanical engineering
Tennis: Bianca Dyer, chemical engineering; Matt Resnikoff, Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) program.
Men’s track and field: Evan Botelho, mechanical engineering; Noah Chartier, mechanical engineering; Wells Coalfleet, engineering science; Ethan Colton, mechanical engineering; Collin Gwilt, biomedical engineering; Andrew Hirsh, biomedical engineering; Leo Orsini, chemical engineering; Mark Westman, mechanical engineering
Women’s Track and Field: Lonnie Garrett, chemical engineering
It is encouraging that our University has now embarked on a phased reopening of research labs that were shut down when the New York Pause initiative was announced back in March. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics, for example, reopened with 30-40 percent of its workforce last week. In addition, 25 Hajim School labs were back in operation last week, and we are hopeful that soon even more will be.
Guidance for students: As we transition from a turbulent spring semester to the summer the Greene Center is still an available resource for all graduate and undergraduate students in AS&E. Just as during the academic year the center is staffed and able to take one-on-one career advising appointments this summer (schedule appointments through Handshake). The center also worked hard this spring to develop virtual resources as a response to Covid-19 and also has updated its website with content and resources specific for graduate students. There is also short digestible video content for general career content, some of it specifically for graduate students that can be found on the Greene Center’s YouTube channel. A Careers Unfiltered podcast series features alumni career journeys.
Reminder to faculty: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Kearns Center Upward Bound program will be held online this summer. The center is looking for faculty to create STEM content for the 9th-12th grade Rochester City School District students participating in the program. This content can include prerecorded modules, demonstrations, and/or videos about how to pursue a career in STEM. Please contact Danielle Daniels by next Monday June 1 if you would be interested in contributing or have questions. She can be reached at Danielle.daniels@rochester.edu or 585-520-7511.
Keep safe,
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
