Departmental News
Recent departmental news items will be posted here. For more news see our news archive or the news from the University of Rochester Newscenter.
Selçuk Köse Named Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor Selçuk Köse will become chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering on July 1, 2026, succeeding Marvin Doyley.
Thomas Howard Promoted to Full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Thomas Howard has been promoted to Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, effective July 1, 2026. Prof. Howard came to the University of Rochester in 2015, though his ties here run deeper than that: he earned his bachelor's degrees in electrical and computer engineering and mechanical engineering at Rochester before completing his PhD in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. Earlier in his career, he was a research technologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a lecturer in mechanical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, and a postdoctoral associate and research scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Today he directs Rochester's Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where his group develops robots that learn to handle complicated tasks on their own, with work spanning robot motion planning, human-robot interaction, and medical robotics. His honors include a NASA Early Career Faculty Award in 2019 and a NSF CAREER Award in 2022. He also advises the University of Rochester's robotics club, which recently competed in its fourth NASA Lunabotics competition this past May.
New Funding
Congratulations to electrical and computer engineering faculty who secured a new sponsored research project!
Lunabotics Team Competes in National Challenge
The University of Rochester fielded one of 47 teams from across the country that competed in the Lunabotics Challenge at the Kennedy Space Center in May.
Hajim and Departmental Awards
Congratulations to the electrical and computer engineering staff below who were presented awards this year.
DAAD RISE Scholars
Congratulations to the most recent DAAD RISE participants from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering!
Undergraduate Research Symposium - April 2026
Congratulations to Ulizes Atlixgueno, an ECE Junior, who won the Deans Award for best presentation at the 2026 Symposium.
Newly Funded Research
Associate Professor of Research Cristiano Tapparello receives NIH funding.
Remembering Professor Emeritus, Thomas Hsiang 1948-2026
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has lost another beloved former faculty member.
Hajim School International Experience Scholarship Awardees
Congratulations Mairimar Lopez and Emmanuel Mercado!