In a piece for the National Academies of Engineering (NAE), two Hajim School of Engineering researchers explore the potential for using computing to help promote eco-friendly lifestyles. 

Computer science PhD student Adiba Proma and associate professor Ehsan Hoque authored an invited paper for NAE Perspectives with Robert Wachter, the Holly Smith Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco.

The researchers suggest that we can help people reduce their carbon footprint by using the same design principles behind apps to inspire people to exercise, eat healthily, and sleep well. By altering three habits—consuming a more plant-based diet, opting to walk or bike instead of driving occasionally, and washing clothes with cold water—we can decrease our annual carbon footprint by 6.1 percent.

This approach could also combat climate misinformation.

(University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Rochester a $1 million Regional Innovation Engines Development Award grant to begin developing the next generation of lasers.

This planning grant project, called NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing laser technologies in the Rochester region (NY), will bring together a variety of institutional, industrial, and business partners to lay the groundwork for establishing an innovation and economic hub built around the Science, Technology and Engineering of Lasers and Laser Applications Research (STELLAR).

“Rochester has a rich history of innovation and education when it comes to optics, photonics, and imaging technology, in large part because of the creative, academic, and research environment at the University of Rochester, RIT, and MCC,” says Thomas Brown, the director of the Institute of Optics, who will lead the effort with Jonathan Zuegel, a professor of optics and a distinguished scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

“STELLAR promises to continue this legacy by growing an advanced laser and optics ecosystem that will provide educational and economic opportunities for many future.”

This grant will also boost the “manufacturing ecosystem” for lasers.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), has named the University as one of six new grant-supported Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites to provide undergraduate students with hands-on research opportunities in STEM priority areas related to semiconductors.

Rochester is the only New York State institution to receive this grant, which will bolster research and development and help build the workforce in semiconductors and microelectronics in New York State and throughout the country.

“The University of Rochester is focused on growing our research enterprise in areas of historical strength and distinction, and optics and photonics are certainly areas where we excel in discovery and innovation,” says University President Sarah Mangelsdorf.

“As a research-intensive university, we place a high value on providing our undergraduate students with meaningful research experiences. With this award, we’re uniquely positioned to play a major role in building and innovating a next-generation semiconductor ecosystem, including producing the future engineers who will lead it.”

Learn more about this research opportunity for undergraduates.

Monday, June 5–8, noon–1:30 p.m. EDT daily
Virtual

Registration is open for the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Clinical Education Initiative (CEI) Sexual Health Center of Excellence’s virtual ninth Annual NYS Sexual Health Conference. This year’s theme is “Emerging Issues and Practice Updates” and topics include antimicrobial resistant gonorrhea, STIs of the eye, congenital syphilis, the future of HIV PrEP, updates on new biomedical STI prevention strategies, and more.

This free conference is intended for clinicians working in New York State or caring for New York patients. The CEI Sexual Health Center of Excellence is coordinated out of the University of Rochester Center for Community Practice in the Division of Infectious Diseases. See the conference agenda and register.

Thursday, June 29, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Helen Wood Hall

Hosted by the Environmental Health Sciences Center and the new Institute for Human Health and the Environment, the symposium will feature Richard Woychik, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, as well as other external and internal speakers. It will also include a poster session and flash talks selected from submitted abstracts; all types of research related to health and the environment are welcome. Learn more about the symposium, or register and submit abstracts online.