July 6, 2020

Tresa Elias ’20 received the Hajim School’s G. Harold Hook Prize and the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research this spring. She will remain at Rochester to pursue her PhD.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

The University has submitted to New York State a phased reopening plan that details how the institution will approach the fall semester, aligning with the governor’s guidelines and recommendations. The plan—which prioritizes the health and safety of faculty, staff, and students—is the result of extensive discussions and planning efforts from several advisory committees and working groups across the University.

The plan was included in last week’s inaugural issue of Rochester Restart, a weekly newsletter that aims to provide context for how we’re approaching the complicated tasks that come with re-establishing activities and programs at Rochester. @Rochester subscribers automatically receive Rochester Restart, but others are welcome to subscribe here. I encourage you to do so!

After two productive years at Monroe Community College, Tresa Elias–this month’s outstanding Hajim student–transferred to the University of Rochester, and promptly began to make her mark. Edward Brown, associate professor of biomedical engineering, says that Tresa is the best undergraduate researcher he has worked with.

In fact, Tresa was already doing work comparable to Brown’s top graduate students and post-docs during her senior year. (Read more here.) Tresa, born and raised in nearby Webster, NY, says her experiences at the University, and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in particular, have been all she could have hoped for, and then some. “It’s been such a great community, such a family feeling, and I enjoy it so much,” she says. I look forward to watching Tresa’s continued progress as she remains here to pursue her PhD.

Though Baja SAE national collegiate in-person competitions were suspended because of COVID-19 this spring, teams were still able to compete in virtual “static” events involving design, sales, and cost. Our team did very well, placing 14th out of about 70 teams, faculty advisor Chris Muir reports.

Graduating team members included: Loren McDonald (chief engineer), Charlie Patterson (welder), and Noah Meyers (suspension and drive train). Rising seniors: Daniel Troyetsky (chief engineer), Jaafar Al Hadab (suspension), Maddy Bedrock (president), Ethan Fahnestock (electronics), and Harris Mandell (chief mechanic).

Reminder: Students have until this Friday, July 10 to register for the Rochester COVID19 Challenge, co-hosted on Zoom by the iZone, Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, and the Hajim Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Students will work in teams with a Rochester community partner to solve a problem resulting from the pandemic. Participants will receive a certificate in community engagement and will fulfill the entrepreneurship and service competencies for some of the challenges students tackle in our Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Prizes will be awarded to the top two teams.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman