August 17, 2020

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

This is going to be an interesting semester, to say the least! We’ve come up with some creative, nontraditional ways to reopen our campus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is our opportunity to show we have the resilience and determination to keep our campus open.

Today new and returning undergraduates begin arriving on campus. I encourage students to read more here about the procedures for signing in and being tested. I’ll officially welcome our Class of ’24 by Zoom next Monday.

Many of our staff and faculty will be returning to campus as well in coming days.  I urge them to read more here about the procedures for doing that. Updated information on which buildings are open can be found here.

I can’t stress enough the importance for all of us returning to campus to be diligent about observing the mask-wearing, social distancing, and Dr. Chatbot protocols that have been developed to protect against COVID-19. We recently encouraged students to read and take to heart this commitment; I urge our staff and faculty to read and take to heart a similar commitment that has been developed for them.

I am confident that if we unite as a community, and think about not only our own safety, but the safety of those around us, we will be able to remain open as planned.

We start the semester with some very exciting news on the research front. Gilbert “Rip” Collins, the Tracy Hyde Harris Professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate director of science, technology, and academics at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), is the principal investigator for a new $12.96 million NSF Physics Frontier Center, hosted at our University in collaboration with researchers at MIT, Princeton, the Universities of California at Berkeley and Davis, the University at Buffalo, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) will focus on understanding the physics and astrophysical implications of matter under pressures so high that the structure of individual atoms is disrupted. This will shed light on not only the structure and evolution of planets, stars and other astronomical bodies, but on ways to create materials with novel properties in our laboratories here on Earth.

Faculty members Eric Blackman and Ryan Rygg of the Department of Physics and Astronomy; Suxing Hu, Mohamed Zaghoo, and Philip Nilson of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics; Jessica Shang and Hussein Aluie of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; and Miki Nakajima of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences are the UR senior investigators for this project. Collins, Hu, Rygg, and Zaghoo are also affiliated with the Materials Science Program. Special thanks to Cindy Gary, our associate dean for grants and contracts, who did a wonderful job helping to orchestrate this submission. Read more here.

Congratulations as well to David Turnbull, a scientist at LLE, who has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award from Fusion Power Associates. David, a member of the Plasma and Ultrafast Physics Group, is being recognized for his contributions and experiments involving plasma photonics and laser-plasma instability research, and also for his leadership abilities. Read more here.

Here’s an exciting opportunity for our PhD students: A new, NSF-funded training program in augmented and virtual reality. Students admitted to the program take three new innovative courses and benefit from a variety of professional development opportunities, including industry internships and immersive professional development encounters with industry leaders. In addition, students will also work on innovative, interdisciplinary AR/VR research projects. Upon completion, students receive a certificate.

PhD students in electrical and computer engineering, optics, biomedical engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, computer science, or neuroscience are welcome to apply. PhD students in other departments can also enroll if the program administrators decide their participation in the program will benefit them.

To apply for fall 2020, complete the application form by September 10. Read more here.

Finally, a lot of people have poured a tremendous amount of effort into preparing for this semester, including many unsung heroes — for example, the essential workers and front-line staff who maintained our buildings, looked after the needs of students who remained on campus this summer, and kept our University running in myriad other ways during the last six months. President Mangelsdorf recognizes them in a recent video message and those of us returning to campus should be sure to express our thanks as well.

Have a great week,

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman