June 1, 2020

Gregory Hernandez ’20 of audio and music engineering, at center, is a recipient of both a Fulbright Scholarship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Many of you have been wondering about what is going to happen this fall. In a message shared with the University community last week, Provost Rob Clark has suggested developing an academic plan that would have undergraduate students in Arts, Sciences & Engineering, and at the Eastman School of Music, start in-person instruction in August as previously scheduled, with an option for mixed-mode (remote) instruction available for those students who may not be able to travel to campus.

In order to reduce the amount of travel to and from the campus, the fall break in October would be omitted and instruction would continue through to the scheduled Thanksgiving break. Following Thanksgiving, instruction, including exams, would be completed online.

It is important to note that any plan must be approved by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Read the full message.

This has been a very good year for National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships at our University. I am especially proud that half of the 12 awards were for Hajim students.

They are:

  • Raquel Esther Ajalik, PhD student, biomedical engineering
  • Jeffrey William Beard, PhD student, biomedical engineering
  • Gregory Hernandez ’20, audio and music engineering
  • Daniel Krajovic ‘20, chemical engineering
  • Gabriel Sarch ’20, biomedical engineering
  • Sydney Shannon ‘20, biomedical engineering

Also receiving fellowships are these recent Hajim School alumni:

  • Eva Hansen ’18 biomedical engineering, now at the University of California at San Francisco
  • Anna Kopp ’18 chemical engineering, now at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
  • Emma Luke ’19 biomedical engineering, now at the University of Utah
  • Raymond Yu ’19 optics, now at the University of Southern California

Two of this year’s 11 University recipients of prestigious Fulbright grants are also Hajim students. They are:

  • Gregory Hernandez ’20, audio and music engineering
  • Anna Weldy ’20, chemical engineering

Note that Gregory Hernandez, this month’s outstanding student, appears on both lists. Gregory will be pursuing a masters in acoustical engineering from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom with his Fulbright Award. Then he will attend Duke University to earn his PhD in electrical and computer engineering, concentrating on acoustic metamaterials, with support of his NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

“Greg is one of the most engaged students I’ve ever had, and he really wants to learn the material,” says Mark Bocko, chair and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  “He loves to make things and test them in the lab. He has all the skills and motivation and I look forward to seeing where his career takes him. I’m sure it will be very far!” Read how Gregory found the University of Rochester quite by accident — and why he fell in love with the audio and music engineering program.

The Georgen Institute for Data Science is well positioned to provide insights into the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to the success of Institute director Mujdat Cetin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, in obtaining funding for a collaboration with Cornell University and creating working groups engaging faculty across the University with shared data science research interests.

This resulted in a recent study showing that social distancing dramatically reduced the rate at which  COVID-19 cases were doubling in all but three states, but has not significantly reduced the number of new cases still being reported each day.

That means the disease is still spreading, albeit more slowly, but not actually contracting. As a result, the states now reopening businesses and relaxing restrictions “do not have much headroom” for error, says lead author Aaron Wagner, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. “You’re right on the edge of it starting to blow up again.”

Both River Campus and Medical Center researchers were able to collaborate on the study with colleagues at Cornell under the auspices of the newly created Greater Data Science Cooperative Institute. The goal of the federally funded initiative is to develop a shared mathematical foundation that integrates the different tools and viewpoints used by electrical and computer engineers, mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientists – so that advances in data science will be enduring and broadly available. The focus is on applications in medicine and health care.

Have a great week, and please remember to practice social distancing and wear a mask in public. Put safety first!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman

 
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