Celebrating our 2020 graduates

Here is a representative sampling of this year's Hajim School graduates, and the many opportunities they have had to develop their skills both in and out of the classroom.

Left to right:

Shagun Bose, ’20 computer science and psychology, interned at Intuit as a front end engineer.  A peer advisor and international student mentor, she did research in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, took music lessons at the Eastman, and performed with the No Jackets Required music group. She also is a recipient of the Department of Computer Science outstanding senior award.

Tiffany Nicholas ’20 (T5) biomedical engineering, received the Percy Dutton Prize, awarded to a student of the College graduating class who has excelled in “wholesome, unselfish, and helpful influence” among fellow students. Tiffany served as a campus tour guide, orientation leader, communications and graphics assistant, admissions interviewer, peer advisor, tutor, and student alumni ambassador.

Stephen Savchik ’20 of data science was an All-American and Garnish Scholar as a member of the men’s varsity diving team. He also was a DAAD-Rise scholar studying in Germany during the summer of 2019, building and training a computational model that classifies German recorded conversation and tweets according to whether or not they contain tag questions (a linguistic phenomenon common to the German language).

Left to right:

Fernando Zvietcovich, a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering, received the 2020 SPIE-Franz Hillenkamp Postdoctoral Fellowship  in Problem-Driven Biomedical Optics and Analytics. He is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Houston.

Mark Westman ’20 of mechanical engineering, attended the University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. A star sprinter and jumper with the men's track and field team, and president of Solar Splash, Mark also completed the Grand Challenges Scholar program.

Langchen (Elsie) Fan of biomedical engineering came to Rochester to pursue her PhD in the lab of Laurel Carney. She studied how the neurons in the midbrain respond to tone in noise, which will help us better understand how we detect signals in a noisy environment.

Left to right:

Kate Kujawa ’20 of mechanical engineering made a great save to help the women’s field hockey team win the Liberty League conference title for the second time in team history. She set new school records for wins (19) and shutouts (11) in 2018.

Joyceline Marealle ’20 of chemical engineering, interned at the Material Science and Engineering Department at MIT. She was also a Xerox Engineering Research Fellow and recipient of a Davis Projects for Peace fellowship to help girls who are at a risk of engaging in child labor in Tanzania.

Louisa Anderson ’20 and Samantha Okinow ’20, both of mechanical engineering, participated in the Digital Archaeology of Heritage Buildings of West Africa Field School. Louisa was also a research assistant, interned with Duffy Engineering, and received the department’s ASME prize for a student who makes outstanding contributions to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Samantha worked as a master electrician for the University and interned with the Surface Design Group in New York City.

Left to right:

George Klimiashvili ’20 of electrical and computer engineering participated in UR Robotics, was a research assistant in the Wireless Communications and Networking Lab, a teaching assistant, and software development intern at SITA. He is also a recipient of the Hajim School Charles L. Newton Prize.

Brina Patel,  Aime Laurent Twizerimana, Joshua Kim, and Maxwell Barton, all of the chemical engineering Class of 2020, working on their biochar senior design project, just before the pivot to remote learning. “You did great. . . You will all be fantastic engineers,” commented Jim Alkins, the machine shop supervisor in Rettner Hall.

Logan Bashford ’20 of mechanical engineering, a recipient of the Charles L. Newton Prize,  researched liquid metal batteries and molten salt flows, studied in Switzerland, took tenor saxophone lessons at the Eastman, enjoyed a class on the philosophy of beauty and the sublime, and was on the crew team as a freshman.