May 9, 2022
Alison Peyton ‘22 of mechanical engineering applies the finishing touches to a 9-foot-long replica of a Jaekelopterus—a genus of eurypterids or sea scorpions that swam in shallow seas more than 400 million years ago. See more photos from our recent Design Day celebration here and check out the detailed descriptions of nearly 100 student capstone projects at our website.
Dear members of the Hajim community,
Another challenging but ultimately rewarding academic year culminates this week with Commencement. Please check our Hajim School Commencement website for details about the Order of the Engineer Induction Ceremony on Thursday, our University-wide Commencement on Friday, and our individual department and program ceremonies on Saturday. I will enjoy the opportunity to meet as many of you as possible in person! Unlimited tickets to commencement are now available. Learn more.
Our Hajjm School graduating class includes 425 seniors, 137 master’s students, and 47 doctoral students.
A closer look at our Class of ’22 graduating seniors shows that 30.8 percent are women, 6 percent are underrepresented minorities, and 45 percent are international students.
Computer science leads with 156 degrees, followed by mechanical engineering (63), biomedical engineering (62), and electrical and computer engineering/audio and music engineering (61).
Biomedical engineering continues to shine with women representing 62.9 percent of its graduating seniors, followed by chemical engineering with 44.6 percent and mechanical engineering with 38 percent.
Numbers aside, we congratulate each of our Class of ’22 undergraduates and graduate students. Please join us at Commencement as we celebrate their remarkable achievements!
PHD STUDENTS RECOGNIZED
Left to right, Michael Chavrimootoo, Shoieb Ahmed Chowdhury, Andrew Hahn, and Kevin Ling.
The Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student was established by our former life trustee to recognize graduate students who excel in advancing the teaching mission of the University by providing highly skilled and innovative instruction to Rochester’s undergraduates. We are proud to recognize four Hajim School PhD students who are among this year’s recipients. They demonstrate the tremendously important role our graduate students play. Congratulations to:
Michael Chavrimootoo, PhD candidate in the research group of Lane Hemaspaandra, professor computer science. “As a TA, as an instructor, and as someone who has worked closely with our undergraduate students in the world of research, he is without peer in my 33+ years here,” Lane says.
Shoieb Ahmed Chowdhury, PhD student in the research lab of Hesam Askari, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “Shoieb exemplifies the best characteristics of a teacher,” Hesam says. Shoieb has helped undergraduates thrive in two of the most challenging courses in the department.
Andrew Hahn ’20 ‘21(MS), a PhD student in the lab of professors Michael Huang (advisor) and Zeljko Ignjatovic in electrical and computer engineering. Andrew is the “most sought-after TA” in the department and provided invaluable guidance for an adjunct professor new to our campus.
Kevin Ling, PhD candidate in the lab of Danielle Benoit, professor of biomedical engineering and director of our Materials Science Program. Kevin’s work on incorporating a new unit on CAD (computer-aided design) in a BME course will benefit students not only while at our University but well into their careers.
Read more here about the ways they have helped our undergraduates thrive in the classroom and lab.
PHI BETA KAPPA
Congratulations to these students who were recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. Inductees are chosen based on exceptional academic performance and a letter of recommendation from a faculty or staff member. Particularly strong candidates are elected as juniors, the rest as seniors. (Note: many of these students are also completing majors outside the Hajim School.)
- Audio and music engineering: Joseph Bumpus.
- Biomedical engineering: John Bates, Thai Cam Linh Hoang, Justin Jablonski, Sameer Jain ’23, and Kexin Li.
- Chemical engineering: Kareem Abdelmaqsoud, Kudzai Mbinda, and Amanda Strenk.
- Computer science: Valerie Battista ’23, Benjamin Carleton, Benned Hedegaard, Timothy Hornick, Mandar Juvekar, Kharissa King, Sangwu Lee, Vladimir Maksimovski, Abdul Moid Munawar, Arian Nadjimzadah, Anh Nguyen, Michael Pirrall, Conor Taliancich, Hecong Wang, Yiyao Yu, and Bokai Zhang.
- Data Science: Yaozhong Huang, Juney Lee, Zachary Mustin, Sherif Negm, Tuan Pham, Emma Schechter, Yihan Shao, Wei Wu, Siyu Xue, and Zihe Zheng.
- Electrical and computer engineering: Lydia King ’23 and Tabib Wasit Rahman ’23.
- Mechanical engineering: Margaret Dix, Jarod Forer, Peter Schaefer, Helena Schreder, Tamoy Seabourne, Damon Yargeau, and Lale Yilmaz.
- Optics and optical engineering: Megan Frost, George Funkenbusch, Jacob Sacks, Yaocheng Tian, and Yuning Xia.
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
Ehsan Hoque and Jiebo Luo, both faculty members in the Department of Computer Science, are collaborating with Ray Dorsey at the Medical Center on new ways to use AI and remote sensing to improve the lives of people suffering with Parkinson’s disease. Please take five minutes to watch this video from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. It includes commentary from Ehsan, Jiebo, and Ray, and other researchers, staff members, and patients involved with the Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence. This is an excellent summary of the exciting research that is transforming the care of Parkinson’s patients.
STUDIO X
Students and faculty: Would you like to use Meta (Oculus) Quest 2, the most popular headset available with a range of VR experiences? How about the Lume Pad, a tablet that produces 3D images that can be seen without the assistance of glasses or a headset? Or 360-degree cameras and audio recorders to record in all dimensions? Read more here about the range of equipment that can be reserved for use within Studio X or checked out and taken outside of the library. For more information contact Emily Sherwood. To have a conversation about supporting the purchase of new equipment for Studio X, contact Pamela Jackson, senior director of advancement for the River Campus Libraries.
GIDS SEED FUNDING
The Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) invites proposals for up to $20,000 of data science seed funding. The GIDS seed funding program supports collaborative, data science-related research efforts, with the goal of attracting major external funding. Principal investigators must be University faculty members, and at least one PI or co-PI should be a GIDS affiliated faculty member. Proposals are due June 15 and can be submitted via REDCap.
ALUMNI NEWS
Maged Michael, who received his PhD from the Department of Computer Science in 1997, has been selected a co-recipient of the 2022 SIGACT/SIGOPS Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize in Distributed Computing—the highest honor awarded in the theory of parallel and distributed computing. Long a member of the technical staff at IBM Research, Maged moved to Facebook (now Meta) in 2016. Learn more.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
