May 28, 2024

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Although the River Campus has quieted down since commencement weekend, members of the Hajim School are as busy as ever. Students are off on exciting internships, our researchers are hard at work in the lab, and our scholars are attending conferences to discuss the latest breakthroughs in their fields.

One exciting recent research development came from the lab of Will Renninger, associate professor of optics and physics. He and his team used surface acoustic waves to overcome a significant obstacle in the quest to realize a quantum internet.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, Will and his collaborators describe a technique for pairing particles of light and sound that could be used to faithfully convert information stored in quantum systems—qubits—to optical fields, which can be transmitted over long distances. Read more at the News Center.

LIN LAB DEVELOPS STREAMLINED MICROCOMB LASER

University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster

Meanwhile, in the lab of Qiang Lin, professor of electrical and computer engineering and optics, his team engineered lasers that offer a new path for on-chip frequency comb generators.

Light measurement devices called optical frequency combs have revolutionized metrology, spectroscopy, atomic clocks, and other applications. But challenges with developing frequency comb generators at a microchip scale have limited their use in everyday technologies such as handheld electronics.

In another study published in Nature Communications, they describe new microcomb lasers they have developed that overcome previous limitations and feature a simple design that could open the door to a broad range of uses. Read more at the News Center.

BAJA TEAM COMPETES IN WILLIAMSPORT

Christopher Muir

Students from Yellowjacket Racing had a fun, successful, and mud-covered weekend at the Baja SAE Williamsport event in the mountains of Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River. They fielded one of 102 teams competing from as far away as Brazil.

“The team worked extremely well together,” reports their advisor, Professor Chris Muir from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “They had some setbacks that required a teardown and rewelding of some components on Saturday that resulted in a shortened list of dynamic events. They came in 25th in acceleration, which gives some sense of the capabilities of the car. For the endurance race, it was a challenging course and some equipment failures early on took them out for a portion of the day. They were able to get things welded up and repaired and finished strong.”

You can see photos and videos from the event at the @meliorabaja Instagram account, including a wild moment when driver Elizabeth Martin ’25 (microbiology) rolled the car over during the endurance competition. The cars are made for just this type of thing, so she was fine and after a few minutes of inspections, she was back in the race. Special thanks to the team for giving me and several others from the Hajim School a shoutout on the body of this year’s car!

MICHAEL CHAVRIMOOTOO RECEIVES OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION AWARD

Congratulations to Michael Chavrimootoo ’24 PhD (computer science), who was selected by Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs for an Outstanding Dissertation Award. Michael was nominated by his department, chosen by a faculty panel, and receives $1,000 as part of the recognition. His advisor is Professor Lane Hemaspaandra and his dissertation is titled, “Separations and Collapses in Computational Social Choice and Complexity Theory.”

ADARSH KUMAR ’24 RECOGNIZED IN PHOTO CONTEST

Adarsh Kumar

Congratulations to Adarsh Kumar ’24 (computer science), who was recognized for his photography skills in the annual “UR Experience” photo contest hosted by the International Services Office (ISO). Adarsh’s photo was one of the top entries of the 49 submitted by international students for the contest.

Adarsh worked with the International Students’ Association to take photos of more than 40 international students as part of the ISA’s graduation photoshoot initiative. Because of his efforts, these students preserved beautiful memories from this major life milestone. Read more about Adarsh’s work and the other winning entries at the News Center.

LLE ON THE COVER OF LASER FOCUS WORLD

University of Rochester photo / Jacob Deats

The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics is the subject of the latest cover story for Laser Focus World. The story features an in-depth interview with Valeri Goncharov, the Distinguished Scientist and Theory Division Director at LLE and an assistant professor of research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, about LLE’s work in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion in the quest for clean sources of energy. Read the full story at Laser Focus World.

JIEBO LUO’S LAB PROVIDES THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INSIGHT ON CROWDFUNDING

The Wall Street Journal turned to some of our computer scientists to better understand the psychology of crowdfunding. A recent story references an analysis of 8,355 GoFundMe campaigns available on a single day in 2019 conducted by Jiebo Luo, the Albert Arendt Hopeman Professor of Engineering, and computer science PhD student Hanjia Lyu. Read more about their findings.

JULIE BENTLEY LENDS EXPERTISE ON MIRRORS TO LIVE SCIENCE

Getty Images photo

Can mirrors facing each other really create infinite reflections? Live Sciences set out to answer the question and looked to Professor Julie Bentley from the Institute of Optics for her expertise. Read the article find out her answer.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE HAJIM SCHOOL’S ADVANCEMENT TEAM

I’m excited to welcome Jenna Dell, associate director of advancement, to the Hajim School community! Jenna joined the University of Rochester earlier this month and has already hit the ground running. She joins us after six years at the education consulting firm EAB and will work closely with Derek Swanson, who was promoted to executive director of advancement earlier this year. Together, they do critical work to build relationships with the Hajim School community and secure gifts that help us advance our mission. We are fortunate to have them on our team.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman