August 24, 2020

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

I was encouraged as I helped students who had completed their quarantines move into dorms on campus. Everyone was wearing masks; everyone was keeping a safe distance from each other.

It was clear that everyone was serious about observing the protocols we have put in place to protect against COVID-19.

Let this be an example for all of us! As of Friday only five of 1,500 students tested on our campus have been positive for COVID-19. But even that small number reinforces the need for vigilance. Let’s show we can avoid what happened at UNC Chapel Hill, which had to abruptly revert to online learning after 130 students tested positive there. Click here to find how to get a free cloth face mask with University logo.

When I welcome the Class of ’24 today, I will encourage them to take full advantage of the many opportunities at our University to expand their learning experiences beyond the classroom, even amidst a pandemic. An example was the virtual Rochester COVID-19 Challenge last month, which matched 41 teams of 140 students with community partners who needed help with problems they are facing due to the pandemic. The winning team included Ilene Kang ’21 of computer science who, with teammate Casey Ryu, a linguistics and archaeology double major, helped a local grassroots organization convert its in-person conference on resisting gentrification into a virtual setting with big, bold ideas. They used the University’s newly founded Studio X as a resource. Activities like this one, held throughout the year, can also help students qualify as Grand Challenges Scholars. Kudos to Joshua Batres ’22, a GCS program assistant, who did a great job helping to organize the challenge.

I also encourage all students to check out the University’s first-ever Virtual Activities Fair this Friday through Sunday, August 28-30, during Yellowjacket Weekend. During the fair you will be able to learn about and interact with 280+ student organizations. You can even be matched with groups based on your personal interests. Connect with other students in organizations you’re interested in by virtually “visiting” each booth and much more. Sign up here. And learn more about Yellowjacket Weekend here.

Membership in an undergraduate engineering society is important for a student’s professional development, by helping you further understand the profession you’re planning to enter and by providing such opportunities as attending national conferences, obtaining internships, and performing service projects. Many of the groups have career and résumé databases. And the connections and friendships that result from participation in a student society can last a lifetime.

You can visit these websites to learn more about how to get involved.

• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Audio Engineering Society
• Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
• Computer Science Undergraduate Council (CSUG)
• Engineering World Health (EWH)
• Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Materials Research Society
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• Optical Society of America (OSA)
• Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers.
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
• Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Society
• University of Rochester Women in Computing/Minorities in Computing

Our student groups that focus on projects and design challenges are a great way for students to apply their engineering skills to meeting a challenge and, in the process, learn additional teamwork, business, and other skills.

• Baja SAE
• Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)
• Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
• Solar Splash
• Toy Adaptation Program
• UR Robotics

So, students, we have a lot to offer. Take advantage!

Congratulations to . . .

• David Williams, the William G. Allyn Professor of Medical Optics, who has been selected by the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology as the 2021 recipient of the RPB David F. Weeks Award for Outstanding Vision Research. The award annually recognizes and celebrates an outstanding ophthalmic vision scientist whose research has made meaningful contributions to the understanding or treatment of potentially blinding eye diseases. David, who directs the Center for Visual Science, is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on human vision. Read more here.
• Mark Bocko, distinguished professor in electrical and computer engineering and director of the Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences (CEIS), and Zhiyao Duan, associate professor in electrical and computer engineering. They are part of a multidisciplinary team at our University exploring “creative design at the human-technology frontier through the emerging artist-technologist occupation.” The project is supported with a one-year, $150,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation. Raffaella Borasi, Frederica Warner professor of education and director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age (LiDA), is heading the team, which also includes James Doser, director of the Institute for Music Leadership, and Joe Testani, associate vice provost for career education and director of the Greene Center for Career Education and Connections. Read more here.
• Gilbert “Rip” Collins, the Tracy Hyde Harris Professor of Mechanical Engineering and head of our High Energy Density Physics program, who is co-author of a paper in Nature Research describing an exciting project at the National Ignition Facility. For the first time, researchers were able to simulate the crushing pressure deep in the convection zone of white dwarf stars as they cease to produce their own fuel, leaving only an extremely dense core. The results add to the growing body of evidence being collected by high-energy-density researchers about the formation and evolution of planets, stars, and other astrophysical bodies, which in turn can suggest possible approaches to creating novel materials in laboratories on Earth. Read more here.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman