November 2, 2020
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
I hope all of our faculty, staff, and especially students will take full advantage of our Election Day break from classes tomorrow. You’ve earned it! This has been an extraordinarily trying time for everyone. The necessary protocols to protect against COVID-19 have put a lot of stress on all of us. Now more than ever, we need to keep adhering to those protocols. But for at least one day we can all take a break from the pressures of teaching and studying. And please, give yourselves a collective pat on the back for a job well done!
As University President Sarah Mangelsdorf emphasized in her message to faculty, staff, and students last week, “you have all done a tremendous job of acting responsibly and in the best interests of our collective health, well-being, and safety.” I urge you to read her full message on the importance of demonstrating respect—both in our interactions with each other in the current political and social climate and in continuing to follow health and safety guidelines.
RESEARCH NEWS
The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) is one of 10 LaserNetUS member facilities that have been granted a three-year collective award of $18 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). LaserNetUS is a network of the most powerful laser facilities in North America.
The funds will be distributed among the 10 participating institutions to expand user access to their laser facilities for frontier research and student training. The findings from these experiments could have a broad range of applications in basic research, advanced manufacturing, and medicine. This is great news, confirming the importance of the research opportunities offered at LLE and the other participating facilities, and enhancing opportunities for collaboration with scientists from across the globe. Read more here.
In other research news, back in 1999, Tom Brown, a professor of optics, and one of his graduate students, Kathleen Youngworth, began investigating optical beams that exhibited a spoke-like radial pattern with intriguing properties. They weren’t sure what the applications might be, but Tom and subsequent students in his lab kept at it.
And now those early explorations have led to a very important application indeed: A way to visualize individual molecules in greater detail than ever before–even how they wobble and oscillate. And that could shed invaluable insights into the biological processes involved, for example, when a cell and the proteins that regulate its functions react to a virus, such as the one that causes COVID-19.
Tom and his collaborators, Miguel Alonso, professor of optics, and Sophie Brasselet, director of the Fresnel Institute in France, describe their new technology– called CHIDO (Coordinate and Height super-resolution Imaging with Dithering and Orientation)—in a new paper published in Nature Communications. Congratulations as well to co-lead authors Luis Aleman-Castaneda, a PhD student in Miguel’s group, and Valentina Curcio, a PhD student in Sophie’s group. Read more here.
ADAPTING TO COVID-19
Here’s another great example of how our Hajim School faculty have been pitching in to help us confront the challenges of COVID-19. Our River Campus Music Department wanted to continue its traditional performance of the rousing finale of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture on the final day of classes last spring. But because of the pandemic, student musicians could not safely gather for a live performance in front of Rush Rhees Library. So, musical director Rachel Waddell worked with Steve Roessner, our Grammy Award-winning senior lecturer in audio and music engineering, who stitched together images of Rachel conducting and of students individually pre-recording their performances. The resulting video released on the University’s YouTube channel was big hit.
Now, Steve is working with the River Campus Symphony Orchestra, which is collaborating with the Oberlin College Arts and Sciences Orchestra, on a pre-recorded performance for release in December. Rachel sees this an opportunity for her musicians to learn how to record and present themselves for video or virtual performance. Great work, Steve. Read more here.
From noon to 1 p.m. next Monday, November 9, Andrew Berger, professor of optics; John Lambropoulos, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science; Lewis Rothberg, professor of chemistry and chemical engineering, and John Kessler, professor and chair of earth and environmental sciences, will describe how they’ve designed and developed online versions of their courses and are teaching them this semester. Register here for their Online Learning Symposium.
FOR STUDENTS
The University’s Speaking Fellows are undergraduate students who specialize in tutoring public speaking and helping fellow students with their presentations, conversations, interviews, and more. They are a great resource this time of year when many students are interviewing for internships, jobs, and other opportunities, and preparing project presentations. Students can schedule an appointment with a fellow on the Writing, Speaking and Argument Center website here.
Do you have writing to do? Do you like working with others around? Students in the College are invited to join a writing group in the Writing, Speaking and Argument Center. Groups meet weekly for two hours via Zoom, and focus on goal-setting and shared writing time. Bring any kind of academic, professional, or creative writing. Learn more and enroll online. Email rachel.lee@rochester.edu with questions.
Learn about our Baja-SAE team, a student-run, non-profit organization that designs, fabricates, tests, and competes with a single-seater off-road vehicle. The virtual session takes place this Wednesday, November 4, from noon to 1 p.m. EST, as part of the Miner Library High Noon series.
The next in a monthly virtual coffee hour and chat on Female Perspectives in Optics, sponsored by The Institute of Optics, will feature Jannick Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering and director of the Center for Freeform Optics and the R.E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design & Engineering. The coffee hour will start at 11 a.m. this Thursday, November 5. Sign up here to learn more about Jannick’s interesting career path and cutting-edge research.
Join the Undergraduate Philosophy Council for a relaxed, informal Zoom discussion of the philosophy of science, epistemology, and metaphysics from 3-4:30 p.m., Saturday, November 7. No prior experience necessary in philosophy or science. Share your thoughts, ask questions, or simply listen and learn. Register here.
Interested in entrepreneurship? Join Professors Duncan Moore and Mike Riedlinger by Zoom to learn about their Technical Entrepreneurship course (cross-listed as ENT 425, OPT 481, and TEM 411) from noon to 1 p.m. next Tuesday November 10 or Wednesday, November 11. This interdisciplinary spring course combines technological know-how with innovation management, providing students with the opportunity to learn from startup founders, STEM-based entrepreneurs, and other professionals in the field. Students, working on multidisciplinary teams, will be given a mentor from the community to help guide the development of an actionable business plan. This is a great way to help you satisfy the entrepreneurship competency for our Grand Challenges Scholars program. RSVP to lynn.reiner@rochester.edu for a Zoom link.
CELEBRATION 2020
Aidymar Bigio, Margo Georgiadis, Lisa Norwood, and Donna Strickland shared some great insights about the under-representation of women in science and technology during our recent Women Leaders in STEM panel discussion. You can now see the video and read a summary of their advice for tackling this problem here. Thanks again to Aidymar, Margo, Lisa and Donna for participating!
HELP KEEP OUR CAMPUS HEALTHY
I urge everyone who has not done so already, to get a flu shot. As Ralph Manchester, our vice provost and director of the University Health Service explains in a message to the University community, getting a flu shot is more important than ever because of COVID-19. “UHS is currently managing a full program of COVID-19 testing and prevention efforts on top of regular patient appointments, and the addition of a potential flu outbreak within the University community would significantly strain our ability to see and care for all patients in need,” Ralph says.
Have great week! And please remember to wear those masks, keep a safe distance, wash your hands, and report to Dr. Chat Bot daily if you are coming on campus!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
