August 21, 2023

(Photograph: J. Adam Fenster)

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

It’s hard to believe the moment is here, but today we begin the process of welcoming new students to campus for the start of the academic year! First-year Hajim School students move into the residence halls today and tomorrow.

I’m excited to speak to the new class of first-year and transfer students for the first time on Thursday. I will tell the new students about their role as engineers in society, highlight some of the design and affinity groups they can join, encourage them to take advantage of research, global, and internship opportunities, provide a look at Rochester, and reinforce our Meliora values.

It is wonderful to see the campus buzzing with student activity once again. Please join me in welcoming our new students and wishing them a bright academic future!

WIRED FOR RESEARCH

Senior biomedical engineering student Sophea Urbi Biswas adjusts an electroencephalography cap on fellow lab member Jin Dou, a biomedical engineering PhD student. The two conduct research on how humans perceive sounds under the guidance of Ed Lalor, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Neuroscience (Photograph: J. Adam Fenster)

Many of our undergraduate students have been hard at work getting their first taste of hands-on research this summer. Thirteen Hajim School students were awarded Schwartz Discover Grants this summer to fund immersive research experiences under the mentorship of University of Rochester faculty.

Sophea Urbi Biswas, a senior biomedical engineering student from Bangladesh, spent her summer attempting to see if the syntactic features of the words and phrases the participant listens to are reflected in the waves picked up by the electroencephalography (EEG) cap they wear. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Ed Lalor and his research team, Sophea relished the opportunity to apply her coding skills and gained important insight as she eyes graduate school paths.

“We take all these classes where they teach you the fundamentals of coding and how to use coding languages. But until now, I haven’t gotten to apply it to real data taken from real people,” says Sophea. “It’s exciting pursuing questions that have never been asked before and getting results that have never been found before. This project shows how powerful coding can be.”

Kudos to Sophea and all the students who took advantage of summer research opportunities. To read more about Sophea’s experience, go to the News Center.

PILOT FUNDS FOR VISUAL RESEARCH

Ferran Briggs, Michael Telias, Adam Snyder, Ed Lalor, and Susana Marcos are all PIs for the Center for Visual Science’s inaugural Pilot Funds for Vision Research program.

The Center for Visual Science (CVS) launched a new Pilot Funds for Vision Research program to promote collaborative novel research projects. The program aims to foster collaboration between CVS members from different departments and collect pilot data for future grant applications, preferably R01 grants from the National Eye Institute.

All three awards provide $50,000 in funding for one year. The inaugural awardees are:

• PIs Farran Briggs, an associate professor from the Department of Neuroscience and Michael Telias, an assistant professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience, who will model retinoic acid-driven maladaptive plasticity in the visual pathway of retinal degeneration mice.
• PIs Adam Snyder, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, and Ed Lalor, associate professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience, who will study multi-scale mechanisms of feature-based attention in humans and non-human primates.
• PIs Michael Telias and Susana Marcos, the David R. Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science and the Nicholas George Professor of Optics and of Ophthalmology, who will study the role of retinoic acid signaling in refractive error and myopia.

Congratulations to the PIs for securing funding to launch these interesting projects.

MICROPHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS NETWORK

Kevin Ling, center, and Joe Bucokovski, to his right, are biomedical engineering graduate students who recently partnered with the Warner School of Education to bring local teachers into research labs. (Photograph: Azmeer Sharipol)

A team of biomedical engineering PhD students recently established the Microphysiological Systems Network (MPSN) as a peer-networking group aimed at assisting the growing number of trainees working on tissue chip projects. The group of students, postdocs, and trainees from various labs across the University and RIT meets monthly to provide a space for peer-based training on specific tools, discussion on troubleshooting, and a platform to practice presentations.

This summer, the MPSN partnered with the Warner School of Education for their Teach the Teachers program that brings K-12 teachers from the surrounding area into research labs. The teachers participated in a series of lab demonstrations on biomaterials, 3D printing and manufacturing, and tissue chips.

The MPSN is actively recruiting new members. Look for them at the Graduate Activities Fair on September 8.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Today from 2 to 3 p.m., several Hajim School faculty are speaking during a Zoom workshop that addresses one of the most pressing issues facing academia today, titled “Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Teaching and Learning.”

Instructors are invited to learn about generative AI tools that enable users to generate text- and image-based content on demand.  This workshop will provide a brief overview of generative AI, explore teaching and learning principles from different perspectives, and devote the majority of the time to discussion and Q&A. Speakers include:

• Rachel Remmel, Teaching Center
• Chris Kanan, Department of Computer Science
• Deb Rossen-Knill, Liz Tinelli, and Whitney Gegg-Harrison, Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program
• Greer Murphy, Academic Honesty
• Jon Herington, Health Humanities and Bioethics
• Adam Purtee, Department of Computer Science
• Arjay Romanowski, River Campus Libraries

Registration is still open.

Enjoy the last full week before classes begin!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman