March 13, 2023
Ranga Dias with his lab group. Left to right: Hiranya Pasan, Elliot Snider, Raymond McBride, Sasanka Munasinghe, Ranga Dias, Nugzari Khalvashi-Sutter ’23, Erin Nguyen ’24, Sachith Dissanayake, Migara Jayasingha, Ben Smoker ’24, Jose Corredor ’23, and Jay Yoo ’23. (Photo by J. Adam Fenster/University of Rochester)
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
This is how history is made.
Ranga Dias, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics, and his research team created a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen, placed it in a reaction chamber with lutetium, and let the components react for two to three days at 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
The resulting lutetium-nitrogen-hydrogen compound was initially a “lustrous bluish color,” the team describes in Nature. When the compound was then compressed in a diamond anvil cell, a “startling visual transformation” occurred: from blue to pink at the onset of superconductivity, and then to a bright red non-superconducting metallic state.
The 145,000 psi of pressure that was required to induce superconductivity is nearly two orders of magnitude lower than the previous low pressure created in Ranga’s lab.
Finally, a way to create superconducting materials at both room temperatures and a pressure low enough for practical applications!
Please join me in congratulating Ranga and his students for achieving this incredible milestone, sought by scientists for more than a century. Viable superconducting materials will enable transformative technological improvements for power grids, high-speed trains, medical imaging, fusion, and digital logic and memory, to name just a few. This achievement provides tremendous impetus for our high energy density science program. Read more about the research.
FACULTY ON ChatGPT
(University of Rochester illustration / Mikey Vargas-Rodriguez using DeepAI, an artificial intelligence image generator)
In a recent News Center story, Christopher Kanan and Adam Purtee ’19 (PhD) of the Department of Computer Science joined other University faculty and administrators in offering their thoughts on how they’re dealing with ChatGPT—and how it may affect teaching and learning down the road. The artificial intelligence chatbot can write essays and code, answer homework questions, and solve math problems. How can it be used without raising issues about academic honesty?
“The one thing I’m sure of is ChatGPT and others like it are here to stay,” says Christopher, an associate professor. “This is just Day One. Improvements are being made as we speak. You think of earlier disruptive technology like the calculator and spellcheck. This is like that, only on ultra, ultra steroids. It can do so much more.”
Both Christopher and Adam, an assistant professor of computer science, have returned to in-class quizzes or midterms for the first time since before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It just becomes harder to sort out who knows what and who’s getting help from things like ChatGPT,” Christopher says. Adam’s message is clear: “I want the students to know this information. The best way to do that is to get them alone in a room with a pencil and see what happens.”
Adam was recently taken aback when ChatGPT was able to solve a coding problem Purtee devised for his students; two weeks earlier the chatbot was unable to. “In a sense, it’s stronger than some of my intro students,” he says. “This is not a criticism of my students. They’ve had only two weeks to absorb this knowledge and learn a new skill, while ChatGPT has been trained on practically the entire internet.” Learn more about the pros and cons of CHatGPT in an academic setting.
NEW BOOK EXAMINES VLSI SYSTEMS
Eby Friedman, at left, and Rassul Bairamkulov connect pure math with practical product development in their new book about very large scale integrated (VLSI) systems.
Very large scale integrated (VLSI) systems consist of dozens of interconnected subsystems, hundreds of modules, and many billions of transistors and wires. Graph theory is crucial for managing and analyzing these pervasive systems.
In their new book, Graphs in VLSI (Springer International Publishing, 2023), Eby Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Eby’s former PhD student Rassul Bairamkulov, now at École Polytechique Fédérale de Lausanne, discuss VLSI system design from the perspective of graph theory, connecting pure mathematics with practical product development.
Their book not only provides a review of established graph theoretic practices, but also discusses the latest advancements in graph theory driving modern VLSI technologies, covering a wide range of design issues such as synchronization, power network models and analysis, and interconnect routing and synthesis. Learn more.
LAST CALL FOR ART OF SCIENCE!
Seven days left! Currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to enter submissions through this Sunday, March 19 for our annual Art of Science Competition. You can use this online form to submit photographs, illustrations, visualizations, renderings, or posters showing an artistic representation of science, technology, engineering, math, and sustainability themes. Creativity and uniqueness are favored in the judging, as well as the ability of artists to convey the meaning of their work in terms understandable to a general audience.
Entries should be high-resolution jpegs (300 dpi, at least 3,000 pixels wide on the longest edge). Cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 will be awarded to winning student entries. All entries will be eligible for a People’s Choice Award of $250. For inquiries, contact Michelle Dunn and the Art of Science team at artofsciencecontest@gmail.com.
Click here to learn about last year’s winning entries.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ASTRID MÜLLER
Astrid Müller (center) with University President Sarah Mangelsdorf (left) and Adrienne Morgan, interim vice president for equity and inclusion.
The recipients of this year’s Presidential Stronger as One Diversity Awards each modeled equity, access, and transformative change at Rochester. Among them was our very own Astrid Müller, assistant professor of chemical engineering, who received the Advocacy and Action Award. The award recognizes staff, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty who exemplify excellence in developing and sustaining an infrastructure to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Astrid joined the Department of Chemical Engineering four years ago. Since then, she has taken decisive steps to support and expand diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the department and across the institution. In addition to her research into laser-derived nanomaterials, Astrid founded and chairs the Chemical Engineering DEI Committee, which works to diversify the department faculty, to develop a pipeline to diversify student bodies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and to diversify the chemical engineering advisory board.
Astrid has created highly visible DEI content to promote diversity across all aspects of the department website and has initiated an annual DEI Panel of Equity and Inclusion in Chemical Engineering. She is a strong supporter of both women and underrepresented students at all levels of the career pipeline, from leading STEM workshops for minority high school students to mentoring department graduates in their careers.
Please join me in recognizing Astrid for her efforts in championing DEI at Rochester!
ALUMNUS IN THE NEWS
Lee Feinberg and the James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA images)
Optics alumnus Lee Feinberg ’87, optical telescope element manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, is co-recipient of the Goddard Astronautics Award. This is the highest honor that the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) bestows for notable achievement in the field of astronautics, in this case for “delivering groundbreaking engineering performance for the James Webb Space Telescope, to advance the study of every phase of cosmic history.” Learn more about the contributions that Lee and other Hajim School alumni, faculty, and students made to this remarkable project, which has delivered breathtaking images and new insights into the early formation of the universe.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
