June 1, 2026
°µÍřłÔąĎ photo / J. Adam Fenster
Dear members of the Hajim School community,
The United Nations  that 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and communities from California to the Middle East rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water. Common desalination techniques, such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation, are energy-intensive, require pre- and post-water treatment, and leave behind a concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine. The brine byproduct wreaks havoc on sea life when it’s deposited back into the ocean by raising the salt level and lowering oxygen in the water.
But a novel approach developed at the  offers a way to overcome these drawbacks. Researchers developed a new solar-thermal desalination process to produce fresh water in an energy-efficient way that does not leave behind brine and requires no chemical additives to pre-treat the water. A team led by , a professor of optics and of physics and a senior scientist at °µÍřłÔąĎ’s , describes their method in a  published in Light: Science & Applications.
Read more about this exciting technology on the News Center and .
DALAL FAMILY ESTABLISHES NEW FELLOWSHIP IN AI ETHICS
As part of For Ever Better: The Campaign for the University of Rochester, Siddhartha “Sid” Dalal ’71 (MA), ’73S (MBA), ’76 (PhD) and his children—Nemil Dalal and Preeyel Dalal ’06—have committed more than $1 million to establish the Dalal Family Postdoctoral Fellowship in AI Ethics at the . The new fellowship will advance research and teaching focused on responsible design, development, deployment, governance, and societal implications of AI systems.
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YANAN GUO RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED PAPER AWARD AT COMPUTER SECURITY CONFERENCE
Congratulations to Assistant Professor  from the , who is the senior author of a study that won a Distinguished Paper award at the .
Yanan and her colleagues from Zhejiang University in China and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore were recognized for their paper titled “Demystifying and Exploiting ASLR on NVIDIA GPUs.” The conference is the premier forum for presenting developments in computer security and electronic privacy, and for bringing together researchers and practitioners in the field.
DARREN LIPOMI’S MEMOIR OFFERS A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
Congratulations to , chair of the , whose new book comes out today. Darren’s memoir offers readers an insider’s perspective of scientific discovery in academia and he’s discussed it on and . I look forward to reading it!
DANTE JIKIA ’29 SELECTED FOR CHINA DEEP DIVE PROGRAM
Congratulations to optical engineering and physics student Dante Jikia ’29, who will become the first Hajim School student to participate in the China Deep Dive: Global Young Leaders Program. Launched in 2024, the program is an immersive two-week fellowship that combines classroom lectures at Peking University, followed by field studies and trips in and outside Beijing. Dante secured the opportunity with support from °µÍřłÔąĎ’s Student Fellowships Office.
Dante became curious about Chinese culture through friends he met while growing up in Brooklyn, NY, and began studying Chinese formally during his first semester at °µÍřłÔąĎ. He hopes to become fluent in Chinese and pursue a post-baccalaureate fellowship to study in China. As a first-year student, Dante was active on campus, participating on the electronics team of the CubeSat Club and working for Dining Services and Event and Classroom Management.
Read about all of the University’s participants at the Student Fellowships Office website.
FIVE STUDENTS AWARDED HAJIM INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE SCHOLARSHIPS
The Hajim School Dean’s Office is pleased to provide funding to five students to support study abroad experiences in the fall of 2026. We offer grants for undergraduate students to pursue academic studies or credit-bearing, career-oriented, and research internships abroad. This international exchange is intended to better prepare Hajim students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world. Congratulations to the following recipients:
- Ngoc Le Bao Dao ’27 (data science)—Nanyang Technological University
- Elisa Espinola Hernandez ’28 (biomedical engineering)—Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Samuel Mateyos Yacob ’27 (data science)—DIS – Study Abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Kebron Zewda ’27 (data science)— IES Abroad Barcelona – Engineering
- Naod Wondosen Zewede ’27 (computer science)—IES Abroad Barcelona – Engineering
Learn more about these scholarship opportunities at the Center for Education Abroad website.
EVER BETTER GRADUATE MENTORS
Congratulations to two Hajim School members and partners who were recognized as Ever Better Graduate Mentors through the Graduate Mentorship Recognition Program. This initiative, organized by the Office of Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs for the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, celebrates mentors who have gone above and beyond in supporting graduate students’ academic and professional development.
- , the Wilson Professor of Electronic Imaging and chair of the
- Biomedical engineering PhD student Deepak Sonker
Their dedication, guidance, and support make a lasting difference in the graduate student experience at the University of Rochester. Please join me in congratulating them!
HAJIM STAFF AND PARTNERS RECOGNIZED AS UR STARS
Congratulations to the Hajim School staff members and partners who were recently recognized by others at the University as UR Stars who embody Meliora values. UR Stars is a University-wide employee recognition platform designed to reinforce a culture of appreciation and collectively celebrate achievements together across the University, strengthening our shared values as “One University.”
The individuals recognized from March through May include Luke Auburn (Dean’s Office), Michelle Dunn (Dean’s Office), Alexander Falter (Office for Global Engagement), and Sarah Mills (CS). Well done!
EXPLORE THE SPRING ISSUE OF ROCHESTER REVIEW
Check out the spring issue of the University’s flagship magazine, which offers compelling stories that showcase the spirit of our community including a cover story about the science of sleep that features researchers including Professor Doug Kelley from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It’s arriving in mailboxes and available online.
NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH
Congratulations to the following faculty who secured new sponsored research projects:
- Professor from the Department of Computer Science received $382,380 from the John Templeton Foundation for a project led by the University Hospitals of Cleveland titled “Transforming Healthcare through the Power of Love: Expanding and Spreading the ‘Living and Leading with Love’ Framework.”
- Associate Professor from the Department of Chemical and Sustainability Engineering received $482,077 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Leveraging Microthermometry for Thermally Coupling Tandem Reactions.”
- Jannick Rolland, the director of the and the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering, received $55,000 from the Coherent/II-VI Foundation for a project titled “Establishing and Verifying the Fundamental Optical and Material Capabilities and Limitations of Metasurfaces.”
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
