July 26, 2021

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

After serving as Director of The Institute of Optics for several years, Scott Carney will be stepping down to take on the position of Chief Scientific and Technology Officer (CSTO) at The Optical Society (OSA). Scott has accomplished much during his term as director, including enhancing the undergraduate and graduate academic programs, introducing a new online MS program, expanding the research mission of The Institute, growing the Industrial Associates program, creating a cohesive community, and developing connections with alumni. We are all grateful to Scott for his dedication to The Institute and for his work to make The Institute ever better. We wish him the best in his new role.

Tom Brown, professor of optics, will serve as interim director. Tom has been involved in every aspect of The Institute, from directing the Hopkins Center to enhancing The Institute’s academic programs to leading the University’s participation in the AIM Photonics TAP (Testing, Assembly and Packaging) efforts. An OSA Fellow and Mercer Brugler Professor, Tom is uniquely positioned to lead The Institute forward and capitalize on the many opportunities facing The Institute in research and education. I am thrilled that Tom is taking on this director role and look forward to working with him to capitalize on these opportunities.

CONGRATULATIONS TO . . .

Eileen Pullara, academic operations manager for the Department of Computer Science and a recipient of this year’s Witmer Award for Distinguished Service. The award recognizes staff members whose careers have been characterized by outstanding and sustained contributions to our University. No one could be more deserving of this award than Eileen. A dedicated University employee for nearly 50 years, she has served the Department of Computer Science admirably since 2003, balancing budgets and helping guide the department through an unprecedented growth in enrollments.

In addition, Eileen has assisted in training colleagues University-wide in new financial and human resource management systems. She also played a key role in the launch of the Goergen Institute for Data Science, assisting with grant administration, finance, and hiring new staff.

Most telling of all is how Eileen pitched in to help address the challenges of the past year. “Her ethos of caring and inclusion has been particularly precious over the course of the COVID pandemic,” writes Michael Scott, the Arthur Gould Yates Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science. “It was Eileen who figured out how to implement our required furloughs with minimal impact on staff member lives and finances; who balanced hours, workloads, and schedules to accommodate child care and elder care challenges; who arranged to keep the department open while keeping everyone safe.”

Thank you, Eileen, for all you’ve done!

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Here are two more examples of the fruitful collaborations that occur thanks to the close proximity of the Medical Center to our engineering and computer science offices on the River Campus.

Ehsan Hoque, associate professor of computer science, and Mohammad Rafayet Ali and Taylan Sen of Ehsan’s Rochester Human-Computer Interaction (ROC HCI) Lab have been doing exciting work with palliative care expert Ronald Epstein and oncologists at the Medical Center to perfect SOPHIE (Standardized Online Patient for Healthcare Interaction Education). SOPHIE is an online virtual “patient” that helps physicians practice how to communicate effectively with late-stage cancer patients about their disease.

As many as 68 percent of late-stage cancer patients leave their doctor’s offices either underestimating the severity of their disease, overestimating their life expectancy—or both. These misunderstandings can hinder the ability of patients and their families to make realistic decisions about whether to continue aggressive treatments or instead turn to palliative care. This project could have a major impact on improving the conversations that matter most for late-stage cancer patients and their families. Read more.

A version of a mobile device first developed by Mark Bocko, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in collaboration with Hyekyun Rhee, professor of nursing, is now undergoing clinical trials as a research tool to detect advance indicators of chronic respiratory disease symptoms. ADAMM-RSM is produced by Health Care Originals Inc. which licensed the ADAMM technology originally developed by Mark and Hyekyun as a personal device adolescents could wear to better manage their asthma.

The company further refined the technology so that it can be worn as a flexible patch with a rechargeable battery anywhere on the upper torso, front or back. The personal device is not yet on the market, but the company developed ADAMM-RSM to measure more respiratory factors for use as a research tool. Health Care Original’s co-founders include Sharon Samjitsingh ’13, an alumna of our TEAM masters program. Read more.

OUTSTANDING STUDENT

Be sure to check out this profile of Raiyan Abdul Baten, a PhD student in electrical engineering, who is featured by ResearchGate as an inspiring research story for his work with Ehsan Hoque’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab.

Raiyan, you may recall, was lead author of the lab’s paper in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface last year describing how social media platforms recommend we should “follow” people who likely share the same ideas and interests. However, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram could help us become more creative—a quality that is increasingly valued in our society—if they instead steered us to people with ideas and interests different from our own. (Read more.)

The profile explains how Raiyan’s own creative endeavors as a gifted digital illustrator and designer, make him a “natural fit” for creativity research. Raiyan, for example, has designed book covers and worked as a graphic designer for the global charity Save the Children in Bangladesh.

REMINDER TO STUDENTS

All students who plan to enroll and be on campus for the 2021–22 academic year are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by August 1. If it’s not possible for you to be vaccinated by then, the University will make all efforts to provide the vaccine to you upon your arrival on campus. This FAQ includes details about the vaccination requirement, including a list of vaccines that are currently accepted to meet the requirement.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman