July 18, 2022
Zhen Bai, assistant professor of computer science, is leading a collaborative research project with the Warner School to help high school students and teachers learn basic machine learning concepts and methods and understand patterns hidden in multi-dimensional data.
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
An “intelligent” computer uses artificial intelligence (AI) to think like a human and perform tasks on its own. Machine learning is how a computer system develops its intelligence. Both are woven into the fabric of everyday life. And yet, there is an enormous skills gap in AI for the future workforce, especially given the limited AI learning opportunities for K-12 students and teachers alike.
Zhen Bai, assistant professor of computer science, is leading a project to address this problem in collaboration with education experts Michael Daley and Raffaella Borasi at the Warner School and with Jiebo Luo of computer science. With support of a National Science Foundation grant, the team will develop a novel program for classroom learning and teaching. It will allow high school students and teachers with limited math, programming, and data skills to learn basic machine learning concepts and methods—without complicated programming—and then discover complex scientific phenomenon and thought-provoking patterns hidden in real-world data. Programs like this could not only bolster but diversify the savvy workforce we will need to realize the full potential of AI and machine learning. Learn more.
RESEARCH NEWS
It has long been thought that when walking is combined with a task – both suffer. Eleni Patelaki, a biomedical engineering PhD student at the Medical Center, is lead author of a study in Cerebral Cortex showing that this is not true for everyone. Eleni, a member of the Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, and her colleagues, found that study participants who improved at a task while walking had a change in frontal brain function which was absent in the participants who did not improve. This brain activity suggests increased flexibility or efficiency in the brain.
“To the naked eye, there were no differences in our participants. It wasn’t until we started analyzing their behavior and brain activity that we found the surprising difference in the group’s neural signature and what makes them handle complex dual-tasking processes differently,” Eleni says. “These findings have the potential to be expanded and translated to populations where we know that flexibility of neural resources gets compromised.” Learn more.
OUTSTANDING STUDENT
Andrew Rojnuckarin’ 23.
Our University is ranked R1 for its high research activity. It is also relatively small compared to its peers and boasts a 10:1 student to faculty ratio.
Andrew Rojnuckarin ’23, a chemical engineering major, didn’t understand how important those factors would be when he enrolled at Rochester. But he does now. Rochester’s smaller size made it easier for Andrew to participate in student leadership roles. He is president of the University’s Engineers Without Borders student chapter, for example.
“I think the biggest advantage for me was the access to research opportunities,” he adds. “I found it really easy to reach out to professors and get research experience starting my sophomore year, which was really great.” Andrew, who is interested in pursuing a career in biotech or pharmaceuticals, is working this summer as an Eisenberg Summer Research Fellow in the lab of David Foster, associate professor of chemical engineering.
Andrew is the 2022 recipient of the Department of Chemical Engineering’s Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award and the department’s Albert K. Ackoff Award for academic achievement as a junior. Learn more.
ALUMNAE NEWS
Yuting Yang, at left, and Anna Gaines.
Two Hajim School alumnae, Yuting Yang ’16 of mechanical engineering and Anna Gaines ’15 of biomedical engineering, have found a way to “help people re-focus on the sweeter things in life and sweeten their surrounding communities.” They are partners in The Sugar House, which makes macarons. The two say they apply their Hajim School know-how to help reduce waste, maximize productivity, track and measure customer feedback, analyze what they bring to market, and improve their processes. “Engineers love to innovate and solve problems,” says Yuting. “Entrepreneurs need those skills, too.” Learn more here, including their advice for others interested in becoming entrepreneurs.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
