April 1, 2024

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

If you plan to watch the total solar eclipse happening in Rochester and across much of the country one week from today, you have probably heard about the importance of protecting your eyes. But have you ever wondered how solar eclipse glasses work or what can happen to your eyes if you look at a solar eclipse for too long?

James Zavislan, a professor of optics and of biomedical engineering and an associate professor of ophthalmology, provides great answers to those questions and more. He and students performed tests on the eclipse glasses the University is distributing using equipment at the Institute of Optics. It was a fun example of one of the many ways we are turning this unique event into learning opportunities for our students. Read about it at the News Center.

If you’re looking for eclipse glasses ahead of the total solar eclipse on April 8, you can pick up as many as two pairs with a University ID.

GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

The following students were recognized for their research presentations at the Graduate Research Symposium. From left: Samantha Steiner (humanities); Tyler Mason (engineering and math), Frank Cwitkowitz (engineering and math); Manasvi Patwa (People’s Choice); Hafsa Irfan (natural science); Princeton Chee (social science); and Chloe Zhang (engineering and math). Photo provided

The Hajim School’s graduate students did a terrific job showcasing their scientific findings last week at the third annual Graduate Research Symposium. The event, hosted by the office of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, featured a poster session with $300 awards for the best presentations in four disciplines.

There was a three-way tie in this year’s engineering and math category: Frank Cwitkowitz, Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD, Toward Fully Self-Supervised Multi-Pitch Estimation; Tyler Mason, Chemical Engineering, PhD, Minimizing Outgassing from High-Power Vacuum Transmission Lines; and Chloe Zhang, Biomedical Engineering, PhD, Towards Quantifying Cerebral Blood Flow of Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygen (ECMO) with Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) and Speckle Contrast Optical Spectroscopy (SCOS).

Congratulations and thank you to all students who presented their fascinating work.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPO

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

We also have an opportunity to learn about brilliant research conducted by our undergraduate students when the Undergraduate Research Expo kicks off on Friday. Organized by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the weeklong series of events begins with a Speakers Symposium on Friday, April 5 in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library. Sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Speakers Symposium will consist of four sessions, each representing a distinct disciplinary section of the University: humanities, engineering and mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences. There are six presentations during each session; each speaker will give a 10-minute presentation with five minutes of Q&A immediately after.

Learn more at the Undergraduate Research Expo website.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman