April 18, 2022

Andrew White, Mark Bocko, and Thomas Howard.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Congratulations to three of our faculty members who are being recognized by the Rochester Engineering Society.

Andrew White, associate professor of chemical engineering, is the 2021 Kate Gleason Young Engineer of the Year. Andrew is an outstanding researcher and teacher. He is recognized as a leader in AI-driven materials design and received the University’s Curtis Award for Nontenured Teaching Excellence in 2019. Andrew’s service extends beyond the lab and classroom. He helped organize data science in chemical engineering technical sessions for annual meetings of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for 5 years. He is a reviewer for 25 peer-reviewed journals. And his research group hosts Rochester City School District students during the summer to teach them thermodynamics in virtual reality.

Mark Bocko ’84 PhD, our Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences, is a 2021 Engineer of Distinction. Mark served 15 years as ECE’s department chair. He created a new program in audio and music engineering that continues to grow in popularity. Mark helped lay the groundwork for Rochester’s participation in AIM Photonics and has supported more than 200 industry/university collaborations at the helm of CEIS. He has received five University teaching awards, the Hajim School Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and the Edmund A. Hajim Outstanding Faculty Award in 2021.

Thomas Howard ’04, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is a Kate Gleason Young Engineer of the Year finalist. His lab’s remarkable work has helped put the University back on the map in robotics with groundbreaking research in robot mapping, planning, control, and human-robot interaction. Tom’s research, teaching, and mentoring skills were recognized with the Wilmot Distinguished Assistant Professorship for 2019-2021. Tom works with Rochester City School District students through the Kearns Center’s Upward Bound Math/Science Program. He is a featured presenter at the Rochester Museum and Science Center and is a judge for FIRST Lego League and FIRST Robotics Competitions.

Congratulations as well to these students who have received scholarships through the Rochester Engineering Society:

Lianming Hu ’23 of mechanical engineering, RES Joseph W. Campbell Memorial Scholarship.
Maya Liseth Parada ’23 mechanical engineering, RES Susan L. Costa Memorial Scholarship.
Anand Idris ’23 optical engineering, IEEE Engineers Scholarship.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

There are more than 7 billion people in the world, each one possessing a genetic fingerprint that makes them one in 7 billion, Raquel Ajalik explained in her presentation at the Three Minute Thesis Competition.

The ability to communicate our science and technology to the general public is more important than ever. Raquel Ajalik, a biomedical engineering PhD student, demonstrated how to do that when she received the People’s Choice Award in the recent Three Minute Thesis Competition.

Raquel, who works with the labs of Hani Awad, the Donald and Mary Clark Professor of Orthopaedics and professor of biomedical engineering, and James McGrath, professor of biomedical engineering, studies the healing response of tendon connective tissue. Raquel explained how 60 percent of therapies fail in the development phase because they are screened in simplified two-dimensional culture dishes and animal models that fail to recapitulate the intricacies of the human body. Raquel described a microphysiological device she has designed, about the size of a USB chip, called the human tendon-on-a-chip that takes patient-derived cells and places them in an environment that closely mimics the human body.

“It’s soft and squishy in the tendon tissue, has hard interfaces simulating bone, and we even introduce blood components,” she says. “What we can do with this technology is screen drug candidates into an injured model of the human tendon and monitor if the healing is improved or not in response to that drug candidate. . . We can take this technology and place it into the clinical trial phase of the drug development pipeline to better inform and assess drug candidates.”

GRAND CHALLENGES SCHOLARS

Joshua Batres, Samantha Kapushy, Claude Mulindi, Tiana Salomon, and Helen Shammas are among our Hajim School class of ’22 Grand Challenges Scholars.

As we mark our first five years administering the Grand Challenges Scholars program at Rochester, did you know that:

Fifty-one students have successfully completed the program.
More than half are women and more than half are international students.
In addition to Hajim engineering and computer science students, the program has attracted students from 15 other majors, including biological sciences, business, English, and music.

Congratulations to Emma Derisi, our GCS director, for developing a strong program, building bridges with other programs on campus, and above all for being such a great mentor for our scholars. Learn more here.

As part of our monthly celebration of outstanding students, we recognize five more Hajim School class of 2022 GCS scholars. These profiles describe not only the achievements of these outstanding students, but the wealth of opportunities they have at our University to fulfill the requirements of the GCS program.

Joshua Batres, engineering science and business, participated in the Engineers Without Borders project to provide clean water to a school in the Dominican Republic. He also participated in a summer entrepreneurial program at Arizona State University, thanks to the GCS program. These experiences helped sparked his interest in pursuing a career in the start-up culture where “you can observe the impact and really see the changes you are making.”
Samantha Kapushy, chemical and mechanical engineering, has worked in the labs of Pierre-Alexandre Gourdain, associate professor of physics, and Danae Polsin, a scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. These experiences helped her address the challenge of providing energy from fusion. Samantha, who will work as a global product development engineer with General Motors after graduating, envisions a career in sustainability and other green initiatives.
Claude Mulindi, engineering science, was a member of the EZ Water Team that won the 2019 Forbes Entrepreneurial Competition with a plan to provide clean water to millions of Pakistanis. He learned that even the best ideas to help developing countries do not get far without funding. Claude, who will work as an internal audit analyst at an investment bank, wants to “be the one on the other side of the desk . . . giving out the funds and helping small businesses in similar situations be able to raise capital.”
Tiana Salomon, biomedical engineering, was a team leader for the University’s 2021 iGEM team that designed a novel device to detect sepsis. She appreciated the chance to work on “different sides of a project,” weighing entrepreneurial considerations and regulatory policies in addition to the science and technology involved. Tiana will pursue a PhD in regenerative sciences at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. “It is a program I am incredibly excited about and very much looking forward to,” she says.
Helen Shammas, biomedical engineering, served as the hardware manager for the 2020 iGEM team that designed a non-invasive method for the detection of endometriosis, then as hardware advisor for the 2021 team, a role she will continue this year. Helen will stay at Rochester to earn a master’s in medical device design through the Center for Medical Technology and Innovation (CMTI). She would like to pursue a career improving access to health care in low-resource regions.

CETL SEEKS TUTORS

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is seeking applicants for tutors and study group leaders for the fall 2022 semester. Apply if you are passionate about helping others and have done well in your coursework. Find more information on the requirements and application instructions. Contact cetl@rochester.edu with questions.

INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATES

Thanks to more than 300 in-person attendees, including more than 130 undergraduates, 100 graduate students, and representatives from more than 37 companies, who contributed to the success of the recent Spring 2022 Industrial Associates Symposium hosted by The Institute of Optics. Students engaged in more than 120 interviews with company representatives during the event.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman