November 20, 2017

Dear members of the Hajim School community,

Matthew Bergkoetter ’17, who just received his PhD, and Scott Paine, another optics PhD student in Professor Jim Fienup‘s research group, have completed analysis of data gathered during cryogenic testing of the James Webb Space Telescope at Johnson Space Center. The students spent four weeks in Houston, weathering the rains of Hurricane Harvey and working to assist NASA personnel in measuring residual wavefront error of the now fully-assembled telescope while it is in a vacuum chamber that simulates the environmental conditions of space. They employed image-based wavefront sensing techniques to measure the pupil phase in the observatory’s various science instruments, which will be used to verify that the as-built alignment of the optical elements meets specifications. Other NASA personnel working on this included Institute of Optics alumni David Aronstein ’02, and two former PhD students in the Fienup group, Thomas Zielinksi ’11 and Alden Jurling ’15. The telescope is NASA’s next great multi-purpose observatory, and the most powerful space telescope ever built. It is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2019.

Hajim school students are well represented on our men’s soccer and women’s field hockey teams that advanced to their respective NCAA tournaments.

The women’s field hockey team, which won the Liberty League title for the first time in the program’s history, includes co-captain Nancy Bansbach ’19, Kathryn Colone ’21, Alyssa Garvin ’21, and Catherine Hauser ’20 of biomedical engineering; Emma Schlecter ’20 of chemical engineering; Maya Haigis ’20 of data science; and Katherine Kujawa ’20 of mechanical engineering. Maya was named to the Liberty League All-League second team.

Hajim students represent more than half the men’s soccer team roster, including Christian Baltier ’20, Ryan Aspenleiter ’19, Josh Cooley ’20, Anurag Dwivedi ’21, Geoffrey Rouin ’18, Gabe Sarch ’20, and Zach Lawlor ’20 of biomedical engineering; Lucas Loecher ’19, Nik Angyal ’19, Alex Di Perna ’18, J.R. Eisold ’20, and Mitch Volis ’20 of chemical engineering; Mouhammed Thiam ’20 of computer science; Patrick Conway ’19, a dual economics and computer science major; Bryce Ikeda ’19 and Milan Fatschel ’19 of electrical and computer engineering; and Aidan Miller ’20 of mechanical engineering. Nik and Bryce were elected to the Academic All-District III First Team for excelling in the classroom as well.

I salute all of our Hajim school student athletes who manage to balance classwork and “team” work to make the most of their experience here.

Design Day might seem a long way off, but students are already engaged in their projects. Last week, for example, biomedical engineering students presented elevator pitches summarizing the challenges they are tackling. For example: Are there ways to help a deaf surgeon communicate in the operating room? Is there a way to insure all those IV’s at a patient’s beside don’t get mixed up? Wheelchairs pose three main problems for people with limited mobility: belongings stowed in the back are not easily accessible; the chairs are not conducive to “sitting around the dinner table”; the leg rests are hard to maneuver and make it hard to get in and out of the chair. Could modifications help individualize wheelchairs for people with special needs? These are among BME’s current senior design projects. “I think you can see it’s going to be a very interesting year,” says Amy Lerner, associate professor of biomedical engineering, who coordinates the department’s design projects.

Members of our Society of Women Engineers student chapter attended their organization’s national conference in Austin, TX, last month, with help from a Hajim Student Organization Supplemental Grant. “The event was a huge success and all of our members who attended learned a lot,” reports Haley Knapp ’18 of optics, the group’s conference coordinator. Several of the students related how helpful it was to hone their networking and interview skills, attend seminars, and get a sense of what is available in their fields. Also, “it was inspiring to hear powerful women engineers in my field talk about their work, journeys, and successes, and it helped reinforce some of my confidence that I have chosen the right field of study,” says Frances McAfee ’19 of biomedical engineering. You can read more about the Society of Women Engineers here.

Have great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman