February 6, 2023

Left to right: Institute of Optics Director Thomas Brown, Tina Kidger, David Lippman, and Julie Bentley.

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

David Lippman says he was always fascinated with cameras growing up. “At the time, it never occurred to me that there was a whole world responsible for creating them, let alone that this was a career path I could follow,” David says in an interview at the Synopsys Optical and Photonic Solutions Blog.

Now, he’s nearing completion of a PhD at The Institute of Optics, under the mentorship of Duncan Moore, Greg Schmidt, and Julie Bentley. David, who received a prestigious Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship last year, focuses his research on applying the new technology of freeform gradient-index optics, most recently to a unique design form called annular folded lenses. He is considering career options in both industry and academia.

In the meantime, David is completing a special research project focused on lens design as taught by Rudolf Kingslake. Rudolf joined the Institute at its founding in 1929 and developed the first courses in lens design and geometrical optics offered in the US. Some of his teaching material, including more than 170 lens design problems handwritten on index cards, were recovered. The material offers a fascinating historical perspective on lens design and what it was like learning lens design from the renowned professor. David answered all of the problems and typed up solutions stretching about 300 pages which will be included in a book, co-authored by Duncan and Julie, to be published by SPIE Press this year. “I can’t wait to share the end result with the optics community,” David says.

Learn more about David’s scholarship, research, and book project.

DEBRA HARING’S LEGACY

All of us who knew and worked with Debra Haring, the former assistant dean of grants and contracts in the School of Arts & Sciences, mourned her passing during winter break. She was not only incredible at what she did, helping faculty secure grants, win awards, and be successful in their research, but she was a truly amazing person, always thinking of others, always there with a kind word.

Now we can honor Debra’s legacy with the Debra Haring Excellence in Research Award, which will recognize a faculty member in Arts, Sciences & Engineering who has done research that is having a transformative impact on the field, or who has accumulated a body of research that has advanced the discipline in fundamental ways. This award will celebrate the truly outstanding research that our faculty perform every day and how it is changing lives and impacting society in many ways.

We will solicit nominations for this award later this semester. Anyone interested in contributing to the fund for this award can contact Lisa Hall. The Debra Haring Excellence in Research Award will ensure that Debra’s legacy, her strong work ethic, her intelligence, her humor, and her kindness live on for generations to come.

A STUDENT CLUB ON THE GO

The Google Developer Student Club had a fantastic fall semester. Club president Samia Afrin ’25 reports a record 137 new members joined, bringing total membership to more than 360. The Core Team is more than 60 percent women.

First launched in 2019, the club helps students bridge the gap between theory and practice in computer science and software engineering by using Google developer technologies.

For example, the club is building an application to help customers make better environmentally friendly purchases and plans to enter the project in the Google Solutions Challenge later this year.

The club hosts a wide range of technical to nontechnical events, recently including an introduction to extended reality and a Git and GitHub Workshop, technical interview practice, trivia night, navigating a first job offer, and a meeting with Interstride CEO Nitin Agrawal. If you would like to check out this club, drop by 307 Rettner Hall from 4-5 p.m. each Friday.

GIFT SUPPORTS NSBE

A special thanks to chemical engineering alumnus Shawn D. Rochester ’97 for a generous gift to establish the Shawn D. Rochester Endowment Fund to support our National Society of Black Engineers (UR NSBE) student chapter. UR NSBE is an invaluable partner in helping us attract and retain black students in engineering and computer science. For example, each year, it sends members to the national NSBE conference to learn networking skills and connect with companies for internships and job interviews for fulltime positions. Additionally, it allows our students to meet and network with other NSBE members from across the country and be inspired by black professional engineers in leadership positions in various industries and disciplines.

Shawn was the President of UR NSBE during his tenure at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is a successful byproduct of the impact of UR NSBE and the school in terms of service to the community and developing an engineering mindset that he uses to understand better and solve challenging socioeconomic problems. Shawn is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisitions Inc. (MEOA), a $126.5 million purpose-driven Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) created to execute a business combination with a minority-owned, founded, or led company. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Black Tax: The Cost of Being Black in America, and is a sought-after speaker and economic development advocate.

Shawn hopes his gift will inspire other black and underrepresented minority alums to continue to support University programs, initiatives, and organizations that help black and minority students succeed. Shawn’s gift will help cover the expenses of conference registration and travel and will support other resources for the professional and academic growth of NSBE members annually.

Contact Tyrone Jimmison, executive director of Hajim Advancement, for more information about making a gift.

MEET GRAND CHALLENGES SCHOLARS

Left to right: Antony Georgiadis, Catherine Milas, and Quinn Taylor.

Our Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) invites undergraduates to pick one of 14 “grand challenges” of the 21st century, identified by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Students then tailor their academic experiences to address the challenge they’ve chosen, engaging in five key competencies: research, entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary studies, global experience, and service.

Three of our Grand Challenges Scholars will host drop-in sessions at the iZone this week to share their experiences with other students.

From 1-3 p.m. today, Antony Georgiadis ’23 of optics will discuss his GCSP project on Engineering the Tools for Scientific Discovery, especially his experience as an intern doing research on a sensor used for fusion experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his senior thesis working on a model of the James Webb Space Telescope.

From 6-8 p.m. tomorrow, Catherine Milas ’23 of chemical engineering will discuss her GCSP project tackling the challenge Engineer Better Medicines, with a special focus on providing accessible and quality healthcare and supporting an Innovation Challenge this spring in the iZone.

From 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Quinn Taylor ’24 of chemical engineering will discuss her GSCP project on providing access to clean water, especially her research using computational fluid dynamics to model mixing in the transition regime.

Please drop by with plenty of questions; we appreciate the willingness of these outstanding students to take the time to share their experiences!

VOICES OF XR THIS MONTH

Mary Ann Mavrinac Studio X welcomes a new round of immersive technology scholars and professionals this month as part of its speaker series, “Voices of XR.”

Today, Monday, February 6: Could holographic displays be the key to achieving realism? Get the answer with Kaan Akşit, an associate professor of computer science at University College London.
Monday, February 20: Join the Ferryman Collective, a new kind of virtual reality studio, dedicated to immersive storytelling and unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Wednesday, February 22: Learn from someone who built an AR/VR product. Sam Hessenauer, cofounder and CTO of Nanome, Inc., will discuss how he created the real-time collaborative and spatial computing platform for molecular design.
Monday, February 27: Attend a session with Ram Haddas, an assistant professor of orthopaedics at the Medical Center, who is developing world-class motion labs that leverage extended reality (XR) technologies for clinical service and research and development.

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

The Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) are partnering to offer an NSF I-Corps Regional Short Course this spring. This course is designed for graduate students, doctoral candidates, postdocs, and faculty members in STEM-related fields to explore the market opportunity of their research. If you have been working on a technology innovation, I-Corps can provide entrepreneurial education, mentoring, and funding for customer discovery. This free, virtual course is open to participants from any institution and runs February 13-March 15. See schedule details and apply here by Thursday, February 9. Contact Heidi Mergenthaler with questions.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman