New Faculty 2024-2025

Irving Barron Martinez joins the faculty after having earned a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Rochester.

Barron studies digital image processing, particularly in the fields of digital forensics and information security. His work aims to provide new image-based communication techniques with a focus on privacy and security. This involves the development and application of signal processing techniques, including but not limited to enhancing, analyzing, and interpreting digital images.

Barron’s research has been published in journals such as IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. His academic performance and research background earned him the Becas al Extranjero fellowship from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnologias (CONACYT) to support his PhD studies.

At Rochester, Barron will teach courses including senior design, wireless communications, signals, and entrepreneurship for engineers.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, electronic engineering, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
• Graduate degrees: MS, electronic engineering with specialization in digital signal processing, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí; MS, PhD, electrical and computer engineering, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, University of Rochester

Pooja Bhalode joins the University after having served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware.

Bhalode’s research lies at the intersection of molecular, particulate physics, and systems engineering to devise resource-efficient and sustainable processes. At Rutgers, she focused on particulate physics and systems engineering - capturing powder flow physics for process modeling and optimization of pharmaceutical manufacturing lines. At Delaware, she continued the investigation across such different length scales by investigating molecular aspects of solvent selection to devise sustainable strategies for process manufacturing and recycling.

Bhalode’s work has been published in journals including Nature Chemical Engineering and Science Advances.

At Rochester, Bhalode’s research lab will focus on integrated decision-making across different scales of product-process lifecycle for devising circular and sustainable solutions. To this end, we will develop innovative strategies for integrating information across different length scales and enabling multiscale systems engineering. She will join as a research assistant professor in October before transitioning to a tenure track faculty role in 2025.

• Undergraduate degree: BE, chemical engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology
• Graduate degrees: MS, chemical engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; PhD, chemical engineering, Rutgers University
• Most recent appointment: postdoctoral researcher, University of Delaware

Benjamin Castañeda joins the faculty after having served as a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).

Castañeda’s research focuses on the development of point-of-care medical devices for limited-resource settings, overcoming challenges in environments that lack the necessary equipment, infrastructure, and specialized personnel. His research uses biomedical ultrasound, photogrammetry and AI techniques to help diagnose and treat chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetic foot, or Parkinson’s disease.

Castañeda has been twice finalist for the Young Investigator Award from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He obtained an honorable mention from the worldwide engineering contest of Mondialogo, sponsored by UNESCO and Daimler, and obtained an honorable mention in the SPIE Medical Imaging International Conference. In 2013, he received the Academic Innovator Award from the Peruvian Government for his continuous work in the development of medical technology. The same year, he won the Best Patent from the Peruvian Government for an automated staining system for tuberculosis detection. The same invention received a silver medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. He is also the founder of Medical Innovation & Tecnology, a Peruvian start-up focused on the development of telemedicine technology for rural areas.

At PUCP, Castañeda founded the Medical Imaging Laboratory and the Biomedical Engineering undergraduate program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led PUCP's effort to build 350 mechanical ventilators which were used in more than 20 hospitals in Peru.

• Undergraduate degree:
• Graduate degrees: MS, computer engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology; PhD, electrical and computer engineering, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

C.M. Downey joins the faculty after having earned a PhD in computational linguistics at the University of Washington.

Downey develops methods to improve the efficacy of natural language processing (NLP) tools for under-resourced languages lacking the abundant data needed to train modern machine learning models.

Downey earned the University of Washington Graduate School Presidential Dissertation Fellowship and has publications in the proceedings of Association of Computational Linguistics and its associated workshops. One of Downey’s publications won the Best Paper Award in the 3rd Workshop on Multilingual Representation Learning (2023).

At Rochester, Downey will continue research to expand NLP to under-resourced languages, while adding a focus on systems that can benefit scholars doing linguistic field research: the documentation, preservation, and revitalization of endangered or otherwise under-documented languages around the world.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, linguistics, Russian, Tulane University
• Graduate degrees: MS, PhD, computational linguistics, University of Washington
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, University of Washington

Yanan Guo joins the faculty after having earned her PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

Guo studies the security vulnerabilities in modern computing systems—at both the hardware and the software level—and designs defense mechanisms to make these systems more secure. 

Guo’s research has been published in prestigious conferences in computer security, computer architecture, and machine learning, including  the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P), the USENIX Security Symposium, the International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems (ASPLOS), the IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO), and the International Conference on Machine Learning. Her work has been shortlisted for the Top Picks in Hardware and Embedded Security 2023.

At Rochester, Guo will continue her research in computer security and computer architecture, with a goal of building secure, high-performance computing systems. She will teach the CSC 252: Computer Organization course in the fall.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, telecommunications engineering, Xidian University
• Graduate degrees: MS, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, University of Pittsburgh

Darren Lipomi joins the faculty after serving as a professor of nanoengineering and associate dean for students at the University of California San Deigo’s Jacobs School of Engineering.

Lipomi's research interests include the molecular engineering of electronic and electroactive polymers, especially the mechanical properties of semiconducting polymers for flexible solar cells, biomechanical sensors, and phenomena that occur at the intersection of materials chemistry with human perception and cognition.

Lipomi is the recipient of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator award, the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the National Science Foundation BRITE-Pivot award. He hosts a podcast, “Molecular Podcasting with Darren Lipomi” and associated YouTube channel that together have more than 16,000 subscribers. These venues serve as a resource to students, postdocs, and other early-career researchers.

At Rochester, Lipomi will lead the Department of Chemical Engineering and serve as a professor of both chemical engineering and materials science.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, chemistry, Boston University
• Graduate degree: PhD, chemistry, Harvard University
• Most recent appointment: Professor and associate dean for students, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego
• Postdoctoral fellowship: chemical engineering, Stanford University

Yukun Ma joins the faculty after having earned her PhD in economics at Vanderbilt University.

Ma’s research focuses on economic theory and its practical applications. Her work earned her the Best Student Paper Award in the 2023 Midwest Econometrics Group (MEG) Conference. She received additional accolades including a Vanderbilt University Graduate Fellowship, Kirk Dornbush Summer Research Grants, and a Peking University Graduate Fellowship.

At Rochester, Ma will continue her research in robust inference for clustered data, machine-learning and high-dimensional methods, as well as weak identification in instrumental variables regression. She will teach the ECON 518: Econometrics II and DSCC 265/465: Introduction to Statistical Machine Learning courses in the fall.

• Undergraduate degree: BA, physics; BA, finance, Nankai University
• Graduate degrees: MA, economics, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University; PhD, economics, Vanderbilt University
• Most recent appointment: Doctoral student, Vanderbilt University

Ibrahim Mohammad ’18, ’23 PhD (mechanical engineering) joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Rochester’s TriForce Institute for Multiphysics Modeling.

Mohammad studies the behavior of fluids, particularly those that can conduct electricity and are subjected to electromagnetic forces, an area called magnetohydrodynamics. He studies the magnetohydrodynamics of industrial systems using experiments, simulations, and mathematical derivations. Specifically, he focuses on the magnetohydrodynamic stability of aluminum electrolysis cells and liquid metal batteries.

Mohammad’s research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and JOM, the journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. He is an associate member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.

At Rochester, Mohammad will teach courses including fundamentals of instrumentation nad measurement, incompressible flow, advanced mechanical design, and mechanics lab.

• Undergraduate degrees: BA, mathematics; BS mechanical engineering, University of Rochester
• Graduate degrees: MS and PhD, mechanical engineering, University of Rochester
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral associate, University of Rochester

Eileen Otte joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and the Center for Soft Nanoscience at the University of Muenster.

Otte’s research concentrates on the fundamental properties and diverse applications of structured light fields, in areas such as singular and nano-optics, nanoscale imaging and sensing, quantum cryptography, and optical manipulation.

Otte has coauthored 24 peer-reviewed articles, including 14 first author publications. Her PhD work, performed at the University of Muenster and the University of the Witwatersrand was honored with summa cum laude and the University of Muenster Dissertation Award in Physics, and published as a book in the Springer Theses series. She has also received the Research Award 2020 of the Industrial Club Duesseldorf, is a junior class member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts, and was listed among the Emerging Leaders 2021 and Emerging Talents 2021 of the Institute of Physics’ Journal of Optics. Her postdoctoral research was supported by the PRIME program of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as well as the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials Postdoctoral Fellowship of Stanford University.

At Rochester, Otte’s research focuses on three intertwined themes – structured-light imaging, sensing, and computing – aiming for so far unseen insights into the nanoscale and quantum world of materials.

• Undergraduate degree: BS, Physics, University of Muenster
• Graduate degrees: MS and PhD, Physics, University of Muenster
• Most recent appointment: Postdoctoral fellow, Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University.

Wenjie Zang joins the faculty after having served as a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Irvine.

Zang’s research aims to advance the next-generation catalytic materials and devices for applications in energy, water, and the environment. She aims to develop efficient and durable catalysts with multi-dimensions, provide fundamental insights into catalytic mechanisms, and build next-generation battery devices to address challenges in energy conversion and storage, transportation, and sustainable technology.

Zang’s research has earned her recognition including a Microanalysis Society Postdoctoral Scholar Award, Best Poster Award at the International Symposium on Advanced Microscopy & Spectroscopy, and Best Oral Presentation Award at the International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies.

At Rochester, Zang’s lab will use spatially resolved scanning transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to explore the interfacial properties, electronic and structural dynamics of materials, and leverage these understandings to develop better catalysts and push the performance to the limit.

• Undergraduate degree: BE, materials science and engineering, Chang’an University
• Graduate degrees: MS, materials science, Tianjin University; PhD, materials science and engineering, National University of Singapore
• Most recent appointment: Postdcotoral scholar, University of California, Irvine