October 16, 2017

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Even talented students can struggle at times. Ehsan Hoque, just named to the Science News “10 Scientists to Watch” list for 2017, can personally attest to that. Ehsan, an assistant professor of computer science, is a pioneer in developing apps that help people hone their speaking and social skills. And yet, he dropped out of his first computer science course as an undergraduate — not once, but two semesters in a row. Ehsan gladly recounts mishaps from his undergraduate days to illustrate the importance of resilience. Click here to read more. Congratulations, Ehsan, and thanks for sharing those experiences!

Congratulations as well to:

Two alumnae and a major supporter of the Institute of Optics who received awards at the recent New York Photonics 2017 Annual Meeting. Susan Houde-Walter ’83 (MS) ’87 (PhD), a former Institute faculty member and co-founder and CEO of LaserMax Inc., received the RRPC (Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster) Entrepreneur Award. Alexis Vogt ’07 (PhD), Endowed Chair and Professor of Optics at Monroe Community College, received the RRPC Education Award. John Bruning, former president and CEO of Corning Tropel and current member of our University’s Board of Trustees and our Hajim School Dean’s Advisory Committee, received the RRPC Leadership Award.
Sreepathi Pai, who recently joined the Department of Computer Science as assistant professor. Sreepathi was a member of a team named one of five champions in the recent IEEE/Amazon/DARPA GraphChallenge. Sreepathi and his colleagues gave a talk on their submission at the IEEE High Performance Extreme Computing conference in Waltham, MA.
Sarah Smith, a PhD student in Mark Bocko’s group in electrical and computer engineering, who is the recipient of the Best Student Paper Award for “Modeling the Effect of Rooms on Frequency Modulated Tones,” which will be presented at the 143rd Audio Engineering Society Convention in Manhattan this week.
Radha Bahukutumbi, Dustin Froula, and Christian Stoeckl, all senior scientists at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, who have been named Fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). This is not only a great honor for each of them individually, but a tribute to the depth of talent that has helped make LLE an internationally recognized research facility.

Much of the credit for LLE’s stature goes to its director since 1983 — Robert McCrory — who recently stepped down from that position and will retire from the University at the end of this year. Click here to read more about his contributions to LLE, which is such an important partner with the Hajim School. We wish all the best to Bob, and look forward to exciting new research from LLE in the future under new director Michael Campbell, especially in high energy density physics.

Our Department of Biomedical Engineering is hosting its first annual Biomedical Engineering Graduate School Fair from noon to 5 p.m. on October 27. This will be an opportunity for undergraduate students to explore opportunities from regional colleges and universities that have graduate programs of interest to biomedical engineering students. Undergraduates will be able to present their research in a special networking and poster session in the afternoon. Click here for more information, and here to register.

Need help with your engineering courses? Members of Tau Beta Pi Honor Society offer free tutoring in mechanical, biomedical, and chemical engineering, optics, electrical and computer engineering and audio and music engineering from 3 to 4 p.m. each Sunday in Carlson 310. You can contact Rui Gao for more information.

Each year, multiple scholarships of $1,000 or more are awarded by the Rochester Engineering Society to engineering undergraduates enrolled in local colleges. Hajim School students who have completed two years or have achieved junior standing, who have an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, and who plan to continue their engineering studies in September 2018 are encouraged to apply by November 1. Click here for more information and instructions.

Researchers interested in exploring the market potential of their work and learning entrepreneurial skills — especially doctoral candidates and post-docs — can take advantage of a Short Course offered at no cost to participants through the Upstate New York (UNY) NSF I-Corps Node. If you work with a team, the whole team can participate in conducting customer interviews, learning about the business model canvas, and having clear plans for taking the next steps. The Short Course kicks off on Friday, November 3. Click here to apply. Contact Matthew Spielmann, senior program manager at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship, with questions and to learn more.

Students inspired by Omar Soufan ’17 of biomedical engineering and Ibrahim Mohammad, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, who reached the semifinals of the Hult Prize earlier this year with Team Meliora, have an opportunity to enter the next Hult competition, which will focus on “harnessing the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people.” The Hult Prize is the world’s largest social entrepreneurship competition. The winners of the Hult Prize @ University of Rochester campus competition will advance to a regional semi-final, all travel expenses covered. Register your team online by Monday, October 23.

Our Engineers Without Borders student chapter has been doing a great job designing and installing a clean water system for a school in the Dominican Republic. You can support their efforts by attending a benefit concert from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday in the May Room, featuring the Ramblers, Vocal Point, After Hours, Yellowjackets, and other groups. Limited tickets will be available at the door, but can be purchased in advance at Common Market.

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman