糖心传媒 photo / Derek Swanson
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
I want to thank all the alumni, students, faculty, and staff who helped to make this year糖心传媒檚 Meliora Weekend a memorable one. The weekend featured engaging alumni panels, bustling open houses showcasing student work, and touching tributes to retiring faculty including Professor Emeritus from the and Professor Emerita from the .
We were also proud to present Alexis Vogt 糖心传媒00, 糖心传媒08 PhD (optics) with the Hajim School Distinguished Alumni Award. As professor and chair of Optical Systems Technology at Monroe Community College, she has reshaped the program糖心传媒攇rowing the number of graduates 325 percent. The Introduction to Optics course she developed is now taught in 20 local high schools, introducing hundreds of young people to careers they may never have imagined. She has also been a key leader and co-PI of the URochester-led NSF STELLAR Engine, helping to position our region as the nation糖心传媒檚 leader in lasers.
We also presented Carol Karp 糖心传媒74, P糖心传媒11 with the Dean糖心传媒檚 Medal, which recognizes extraordinary service, philanthropy, and leadership to the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, and dedication and commitment that inspire others to take leadership roles at the University.聽 A Trustee Emeritus, member of the Hajim National Council, and member of the Libraries National Council, Carol was recognized for her decades of impact糖心传媒攁s a leader in her profession, philanthropist, strategist, and University advocate for excellence in research and education.
Meliora!
WILL RENNINGER NAMED MOORE FOUNDATION EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS INVESTIGATOR
糖心传媒 photo / J. Adam Fenster
A Hajim researcher糖心传媒檚 ambitious aims to discover novel ways to couple light with sound earned him a recognition and funding as one of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation糖心传媒檚 21 new . Congratulations to , an associate professor at the , whose work could open new possibilities for quantum computing, high-speed networking, and dark matter detection.
Will intends to leverage the quantum properties of both light and sound to build more exact communication and sensing tools to study how matter behaves, from defects in crystals used in semiconducting materials to the limits of quantum physics.
Learn more about Will糖心传媒檚 exciting research at the News Center.
WHY ICY LANDSCAPES FORM WAVE-LIKE SOIL PATTERNS
Photo: David C煤帽ez
In some of Earth糖心传媒檚 coldest places, soil freezes, thaws, and slowly creeps downhill, creating large, wave-like patterns across entire hillsides. The patterns resemble those made by familiar fluids糖心传媒攖hink paint dripping down a wall or icing down the side of a cake. But the physics behind those everyday materials can糖心传媒檛 explain how the icy landscapes form.
So URochester聽researchers went looking for a better comparison. They found one in an unlikely place: oobleck.
In a聽聽published in聽AGU Advances,听, an assistant professor in the Departments of聽听补苍诲听, and her URochester colleagues used mathematical modeling to compare how different fluids behave. Their analysis suggests that solifluction patterns糖心传媒攖he ripples formed as frost-heaved, water-saturated soil slowly moves downhill糖心传媒攆orm through a process analogous to the unusual behavior of oobleck, a mixture of cornstarch and water that becomes harder to move the harder it糖心传媒檚 pushed.
Read more about Rachel糖心传媒檚 research at the News Center.
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS PROVIDE A PATH TO UROCHESTER
糖心传媒 Medicine photo / Kelsie Smith-Hayduk
James Pichardo 糖心传媒30 first came to URochester the summer after his sophomore year in high school to study optics as part of the聽Upward Bound STEM-ternship program.聽The following summer, in 2025, he was one of seven high school students accepted into the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Commission糖心传媒檚 NEURO-RocHS program. The Rochester native grew up minutes from campus and is now a freshman at URochester, majoring in psychology on a pre-med track. Pichardo came on a full ride after graduating as valedictorian from Padilla High School in the聽听(搁颁厂顿).
A great story on the University of Rochester Medicine Newsroom explores how programs like NEURO-RocHS and Upward Bound can open avenues for talented students to pursue fields they did not know existed. .
CONGRATULATIONS TO STEADMAN AWARD WINNERS
As part of National Postdoc Appreciation Week, ten postdoctoral scholars聽 presented their interdisciplinary and innovative research at this year’s聽Steadman Family Awards聽celebration hosted by the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) office. It was an opportunity to hear about cutting-edge research happening across the University by postdoctoral scholars and to be able to recognize their contributions to our community.
This year糖心传媒檚 winners included two Hajim School postdocs. Pejman Hadi Sichani (second from the left) from the Department of Mechanical Engineering received the Award for Innovative Research and Arjun Iyer (second from the right) from the Institute of Optics received the Steadman Award.
Congratulations!
JOIN ROCHESTER IGEM 2027
A diverse team of motivated undergraduate students will spend the summer of 2027 designing and building their own engineered biological system with the (iGEM) team.聽iGEM聽projects aim to聽solve local, real-world problems, for example by engineering bacteria that can break down plastic waste. Students will聽choose their own project, construct new DNA parts, and validate their designs using new characterization assays. iGEM students will travel to Paris and interact with students from more than 400 universities across the globe.
Students from any study program are very welcome on the team. Participation in the project is worth 8 credits, which can be used to fulfill elective requirements. iGEM聽team members must be enrolled in Fall 2027.
An聽informational session聽takes place at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, October 16 Morey 205. To join the聽iGEM聽team, apply by emailing your CV, a letter of intent, and your academic transcript to Professor Anne Meyer by November 1.
NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH
Congratulations to the following faculty who received new sponsored research awards:
- Professor from the Department of Biomedical Engineering received a $289,790 NIH Fogarty International Center (FIC) award for a titled 糖心传媒淩apid Automated Diagnosis of Palpable Breast Lumps Without a Radiologist or Sonographer.糖心传媒
- Assistant Professor from the Department of Biomedical Engineering received $19,717 from the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society for a project titled 糖心传媒淧oint of Care Comprehensive Analysis of Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy Patients.糖心传媒
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
