October 11, 2021

We are proud to recognize the contributions of, left to right, Beauclaire Mbanya ‘20, Charity Wallace ’09, and Mario Simpson ’99 as part of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

This week we continue our celebration of underrepresented minority faculty members, staff members, and alumni of the Hajim School who serve as outstanding role models.

“I am thankful to God for this prestigious scholarship,” Beauclaire Mbanya ‘20 said when he was named a 2021 Global Rhodes Scholar—only the third in our University’s history. “I’m very excited but humbled, as this is a major step in a long journey. I’m glad I am able to make my family and loved ones proud.” Those who have had an opportunity to work closely with Beauclaire, know these words were not mere platitudes. They reflect the deeply ingrained values and beliefs that Beauclaire, a chemical engineering alumnus, learned while growing up in Cameroon, Africa. And they help to explain his remarkable record of scholarly achievements and co-curricular contributions—including a Davis Projects for Peace grant and a Schwarzman Scholarship–that caught the eye of the Rhodes Scholar committee. Read more here.

Charity Wallace ’09 is working at the cutting edge of the pharmaceutical industry, testing mRNA-based therapeutic drugs and new vaccines for Moderna, the company that has immunized millions of people against COVID-19. The path to her position as principal research associate at one of the world’s leading biotech companies has been anything but easy for the biomedical engineering alumna. However, the “tough” four years she spent as a first-generation undergraduate at Rochester “toughened me up” for the journey, Charity says. She is enthusiastically “paying those lessons forward” as a volunteer in the Real Reader program, mentoring and supporting young engineering undergraduates who, as Charity herself experienced, often struggle to balance the demands of a rigorous engineering curriculum with a social life. Read more here.

The A’s and B’s that Mario Simpson ’99 earned while attending Penfield School District through the Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program did not prepare him for the rigors of pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Like Charity, Mario struggled but persevered. Like Charity, Mario also mentors our students through the Real Reader program. Moreover, as a member of our Visiting Committee and the Department of Electrical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, Mario raises questions we need to address: Are we really doing everything we can to prepare the next generation to have successful careers after graduation? “Technical skills are definitely important, but cultural fit and the ability to problem-solve are more important,” he says. Read more here.

DANDYHACKS IS BACK

The 9^th rendition of the annual DandyHacks hackathon returns to an in-person format on October 22-24 at the Feldman Ballroom. This beginner friendly hackathon welcomes any graduate or undergraduate student over the age of 18 enrolled in a North American institution to register. There is no fee to participate. You can submit a project with three additional teammates; if you don’t have a team, organizers will help you find one. Questions? You reach the student organizers at greetings@dandyhacks.net, or drop them a line on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

DandyHacks is special because its student organizers do their best to ensure that regardless of your experience and background in coding, you will learn something new, and have fun all the while.

For example, Tram Nguyen ’22 decided to explore programming when she was invited to participate in DandyHacks last year. She entered the hackathon as part of a team that won a prize for an app that tracks and stores an individual’s location data over two weeks for COVID tracing purposes. By December she had won nine prizes at other hackathons. (Read more about her projects here.)

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

This Thursday we will all have an exciting opportunity to learn firsthand about the ways Ranga Dias, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and of physics and astronomy, has advanced the quest to achieve viable superconducting materials at room temperatures. Ranga, who is also affiliated with the Materials Science Program, will be the featured speaker from noon to 1 p.m. during a virtual Huang Speaker Series in Technology and Innovation presentation. The even will be moderated by Gilbert ‘Rip’ Collins, associate director of science, technology, and academics at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and the Tracey Hyde Harris Professor of Mechanical Engineering. This will be a great opportunity to find out about Ranga’s ground-breaking research and just how close we might be to an energy-efficiency revolution, hoverboards, and magnetically levitated trains. Thanks to Robert Huang ’70 (MS), ’76M (MA) whose generosity and vision have made this exciting speaker series possible. Learn more and register here.

CENTER FOR FREEFORM OPTICS

Here’s a great video created by our Center for Freeform Optics, directed by Jannick Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering. It describes the Center’s groundbreaking work on combining freeform optics with a conformed curved metasurface to create a new type of optical component called a metaform. This has enabled the Center to create far more compact AR/VR eye wear. The Center’s work in this area could also have exciting applications in LED lighting, 3D sensing, and medical and military optical devices.

LEARN ABOUT OUR MAJORS

A reminder to students who are still undecided about which Hajim School major is best for you: Faculty from each of our majors are giving presentations as part of our Full Spectrum series to help you decide. This week’s presentation:

Chemical Engineering with Marc Porosoff, assistant professor. 2 p.m. this Friday October 15. Zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/93355946074

CONGRATULATIONS TO . . .

Three people with ties to The Institute of Optics, who recently received awards from the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster/New York Photonics, an organization that promotes the New York State optics, photonics and imaging industry by fostering the cooperation of business, academia, and government.

G. Michael Morris, a former Institute faculty member, former president of the Optical Society (now Optica), founder of RPC Photonics Inc. and current CEO of Apollo Optical Systems Inc., received the RPPC Entrepreneurship Award. The award is given to individuals demonstrating creativity, an innovative spirit, and drive in creating an industry-leading company in the optics, photonics, and imaging industries. Companies that Mike has established have created hundreds of jobs and continue to employ people in Rochester today.

Alexis Vogt ’00 ’08 (PhD), the Endowed Chair and Professor of Optics at Monroe Community College, received the RRPC Leadership Award. Under her leadership, enrollment in the MCC Optical Systems Technology program has grown by 1920% over five years. She leads optics dual enrollment programs with 16 area high schools and trains teachers to incorporate optics courses into high school curricula. Alexis was recently named executive director of workforce and higher education at AmeriCOM, the American Center for Optics Manufacturing.

Brian J. Thompson is the inaugural recipient of RRPC’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Brian is an emeritus professor and a former director of The Institute of Optics, dean of engineering and applied sciences, and provost. “His influence on the field of optics goes well beyond his academic teaching, research, and administration skills. Brian has a passion for assuring scientific and technical knowledge is published and disseminated to industry. In this regard he practices what he preaches with over 180 publications to his name,” says Tom Brown, interim Institute director who presented the award.

ALUMNI NEWS

Recent biomedical engineering graduate Michael ‘Andy’ Romack ’20, who interned at Mack Molding Co. during the summer of 2019, is now a manufacturing engineer at the company’s headquarters in Arlington, Vt., according to a story about the company’s internship program in Vermont Business Magazine. The story illustrates how a strong internship program not only benefits students, but the companies that host them! Of the more than 100 students who have interned at Mack, for example, more than 20 returned to full-time positions with the company after graduating.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman