2022 News Archive
Electrical engineering alumnus Paul Muntner '91 receives the 2022 Joseph A. Vita Award from the American Heart Association
Electrical engineering alumnus Paul Muntner ’91, a professor of epidemiology and the associate dean for research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health, recently received the2022 Joseph A. Vita Award from the American Heart Association. The award recognizes scientists whose research has had a major impact on the field of cardiovascular biology or cardiovascular health during the past five years.
Patrick Lee Scholars in ECE and AME
Congratulations to Kevin Fobare ’24 ECE and Seth Roberts ’23 AME recipients of the Patrick Lee Foundation scholarship!
A laser that could ‘reshape the landscape of integrated photonics’
A team of researchers led by Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, has developed the first multi-color integrated Pockelslaserthat emits high-coherence light at telecommunication wavelengths, allows laser-frequency tuning at record speeds, and is the first narrow linewidth laser with fast configurability at the visible band. It will pave the way for new applications of integrated semiconductor lasers in LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing that is used, for example, in self- driving cars. The technology could also lead to advances in microwave photonics, atomic physics, and AR/VR.
Jameson Morris AME '23 Wells Award Recipient
Congratulations to Jameson Morris, AME ’23, one of this year’s recipients of the Wells Award, given annually to Hajim School students who excel in both engineering or computer science and in the humanities. The award was created by the family of Robert L. Wells, a ’39 graduate of mechanical engineering who became a top executive at Westinghouse. Wells felt strongly that engineers “needed the balance of the humanities” to be competent in their field.
Professor Sidney Shapiro passes away at the age of 90
Professor Sidney Shapiro, former chair of electrical and computer engineering, passed away on September 15, 2022, at the age of 90. Survived by his loving wife, Janice [Yeutter] Shapiro; daughters, Sara Ruth Littlefair and Johanna Sue (Phillip) Kelley; grandchildren, Jennifer (Andrew) Wallace, Erika (Ryan) Bowen, Brian (Taylor) Gifford, Shaina (Isaac Smith) Gifford, Jillian Littlefair and Jason Littlefair; great-grandchildren, Jacob, Ayden, Alexander, Zachary, Nathaniel, Lily, Noah and Levi; many nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends.
Thomas Howard Career Award Recipient
Five University researchers have received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which recognizes early-career faculty: Thomas Howard, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; Ross Maddox, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience; Sreepathi Pai, an assistant professor of computer science; and Andrea Pickel and Jessica Shang, assistant professors of mechanical engineering. The award provides recipients five years of funding to help lay the foundation for their future research.
Professor Tom Howard and UR Robotics Students aim high at NASA robotics competition
The robotics team from the University of Rochester will put months of work and several all-nighters on the line at Kennedy Space Center during May 23-27.
ECE faculty are key partners in ambitious $15M project to produce superconductive integrated circuits and systems
Cloud computing that supports so much of our digital society—from Facebook to Google to Amazon—is fast but uses incredible amounts of energy.
The ECE department mourns the passing of alumni Peter Halfdan Helmers
Peter Helmers passed away peacefully at home on April 22, 2022. He was 68 years old and resided in Penfield, New York.
Commencement 2022
It was a beautiful weekend to celebrate the ECE and AME Class of 2022! View the commencement ceremony >
Stephen Wu Receives Curtis Award for Teaching Excellence
“This had to be one of the best Covid-acclimated classes that I have taken in the last two semesters... I learned so much,” one student said after taking ECE 221: Electronic Devices and Circuits during the fall of 2020 from Stephen Wu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Students inducted to Phi Beta Kappa
Congratulations to these students who were recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. Inductees are chosen based on exceptional academic performance and a letter of recommendation from a faculty or staff member. Particularly strong candidates are elected as juniors, the rest as seniors. (Note: many of these students are also completing majors outside the Hajim School.)
Senior engineering students show their work
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED: Thang C Le (right) demonstrates his team’s autonomously controlled robot, which combines several sensors and modules to safely navigate buildings on campus as it delivers packages.
Tianwei Jiang ’22 and Zilin Zeng ’22 of audio and music engineering receive the Professors’ Choice Award
As another academic year draws to an end, we have so many student achievements to recognize! For example, 13 research projects involving Hajim students were presented at the Speakers Symposium and poster session at this year’s Undergraduate Research Exposition. In addition, eight of our Grand Challenges Scholars showed their posters. You can see the posters of undergraduate researchers from across AS&E and the Medical Center at the Expo’s digital website.
Andrew Hahn, PhD student, honored with Edward Peck Curtis Award
The University’s Edward Peck Curtis Awards for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student is given to a small number of full-time graduate students who have a role in undergraduate education. Recipients have assisted in undergraduate instruction and have had significant face-to-face interaction with undergraduates in the classroom or laboratory.
Rochester Engineering Society Awards
The 2021 Recognition Awards by the Rochester Engineering Society
Smart acoustic devices: coming soon to a screen near you?
A Rochester team including Ben Kevelson ’22, pictured, is using flat-panel technology to build a more cost-effective smart device that can also function as a touch interface. The team is led by Michael Heilemann, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Evelyn Ferwalt ’23 Recognized with Research Initiative Award
Evelyn Ferwalt ’23 of electrical and computer engineering received the runner-up prize, in this year’s Research Initiative Awards, These awards, created by the Friends of University of Rochester Libraries, are given to students working on capstone or independent research projects or senior theses. The awards recognize excellence in the early phases of research, which includes working with faculty and librarians.
Electrical engineering alumnus Kevin Klem ’80 and mentorship
Electrical engineering alumnus Kevin Klem ’80, a participant in the Meliora Collective Mentorship Program, is an example of the wonderful mentors who draw on their own experiences to provide our Hajim students with invaluable career advice. Just ask Charles Pan ’22 of mechanical engineering and Rose McDonogh ’21 of electrical and computer engineering, now pursuing her master’s degree here. Both have benefited from Kevin’s insights.
Bruce Arden, former dean of engineering, dies at 94
“Luck ushered me into digital computing,” Bruce Arden wrote in a memoir shared with his friends and family.
Professor Gonzalo Mateos selected for the 2021 IEEE Signal Processing Society
Gonzalo Mateos, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Asaro Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science, who has been selected for the 2021 IEEE SPS (Signal Processing Society) Pierre-Simon Laplace Early Career Technical Achievement Award “for contributions to distributed, online and robust signal processing over networks.” The award is presented to an individual who, over a period of years in his or her early career, has made significant technical contributions to theory and/or practice in technical areas within the scope of the Society.
Tanzeem Choudhury ’97 has been named a fellow of ACM
Electrical engineering alumna Tanzeem Choudhury ’97 has been named a fellow of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), the world’s largest and most prestigious society of computing professionals, for contributions to mobile systems for behavioral sensing and health interventions. Tanzeem, who was an exemplary undergraduate here, is now the Roger and Joelle Burnell Professor in Integrated Health and Technology at Cornell Tech and co-founder of HealthRythms Inc. She was named one of 35 top innovators under 35 by MIT’s Technology Review. Tanzeem is an outspoken advocate for gender equity.