Dartmouth Engineer Magazine: Spring 2024

Dartmouth Engineering magazine Spring 2024 cover shows an illustration of a robot and human head with colorful gears.

In this Issue

Artificial Intelligence by Intention: Professor Eugene Santos Jr. talks about his work to improve AI's decision-making capabilities so that it can help us improve our own. Plus, Rose Mutiso '08 Th'08's path to impact; and more.

Leading Thoughts

Professor Vikrant Vaze talks to Dean Alexis Abramson about his operations research.

Leading Thoughts: "Where Innovation Happens"

Dean Alexis Abramson speaks to Professor Vikrant Vaze about how he applies his operations research to propose solutions to real-life logistical challenges — from improving travelers' experiences to decarbonizing UN peacekeeping missions.

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Features

Robot head with gears

Artificial Intelligence by Intention

BY MICHAEL BLANDING | Eugene Santos Jr., the Sydney E. Junkins 1887 Professor of Engineering, looks at how artificial intelligence (AI) can help us make better decisions in fields ranging from national security to healthcare delivery to cancer research—and he believes we hold the power to improve AI in a way that truly benefits human lives.

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Path to Impact

Ruth Mutiso '08 Th'08, recipient of the 2023 McGuire Family Prize for Societal Impact, navigates the intersections of inquiry, justice, and global energy solutions. READ MORE»

Rose Mutiso inside Dartmouth's Engineering and Computer Sciences Center

Lab Work

Laboratories across the West End enable students and professors from a range of disciplines to bring new concepts to life in Dartmouth Engineering's 60-plus labs. READ MORE»

Nicholas Curtis in Jiwon Lee's Lab

Great Hall

Powering Peace

Steve Peterson teaches course on decarbonizing UN peace missions.

Engineering students and faculty are researching ways to decarbonize United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in fragile states. READ MORE»

Better Sea Ice Predictions

Helene Seroussi in Antarctica

As the Earth's ice sheets continue to discharge more ice into the ocean, Professor Hélène Seroussi is studying how this will impact sea levels. READ MORE»

High Impact Discovery

Professor Jifeng Liu and Gideon Kassa in lab

Dartmouth Engineering team has found a new high-performance material for solar absorbers, the component that turns light into electricity. READ MORE»

Finding Favorable Quantum Defects

Yihuang Xiong stands in a lit hallway

Dartmouth researchers discover new method for identifying quantum defects in silicon with promising applications. READ MORE»

Permafrost Retrains Rivers and Carbon

Joanmarie Delvecchio stand atop permafrost in study of Arctic

New Dartmouth-led study finds permafrost is the dominant force shaping Arctic rivers and vast reservoir of carbon. READ MORE»

New Promise for Cancer Treatment

Hannah Ren

Mazilu Engineering Research Fellow Hannah Ren '24 is helping pioneer new methods for targeted cancer drug delivery. READ MORE»

Dartmouth International Vaccine Conference

Dartmouth's inaugural international conference gathered experts across academia, government, and industry. READ MORE»

DARPA Supports Sensors Work

Mattias Fitzpatrick

Professor Mattias Fitzpatrick is awarded U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Young Faculty Award. READ MORE»

Kudos: Honors and Awards

Students hold welding helmet they innovated for ENGS 21 course.

Team UniPAR (left) won Phillip R. Jackson award for better respiratory masks for welders. Plus, more faculty and student honors. READ MORE»

Alumni News

Spotlights on Alumni

Danielle Castley

Danielle Castley Th'20 talks about her work as founder of a radiation shielding company. Plus, more Dartmouth Engineering spotlights. READ MORE»

On the Job: Stephen Secules

Stephen Secules

Stephen Secules '07 Th'07 studies how to diversify engineering with the Research Group and Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Ambassadors program. READ MORE»

In Memoriam

Henry Parker

Henry W. Parker '46 Th'47

Dartmouth engineer and renowned Stanford civil engineering professor. READ MORE»


Samuel Florman speaking at podium

Samuel C. Florman '46 Th'46 Th'73

Renowned engineer, former Thayer Board member, who valued the liberal arts in engineering. READ MORE»


MORE ALUMNI OBITS»

Thayer Notes

Michelle Wang in Harbin

Notes from Dartmouth Engineering alumni from around the world. READ MORE»

Collaborations

Matthew Slein and Iara Backes

Insights into Antibodies

Findings from a study by Professor Margie Ackerman and Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine researchers offer new insights into how antibodies function in combating herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections. Ackerman and David Leib, Geisel's chair and professor of microbiology and immunology, combined expertise and resources of their labs to supervise the work of PhD candidate Matthew Slein and MD-PhD student Iara Backes, co-first authors on the study published in Cell Reports Medicine.

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First Look

Behind a colorful rainbow-lit windows, students work together inside the Design loft.

Bright Ideas

Design Corps matches Dartmouth clients with students to help tackle complex, home-grown challenges using design thinking strategies. Clients gain access to a dedicated team that leverages human-centered design to conduct research and develop solutions to improve campus life.

Photograph by Robert Gill

Back Cover

The Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest designation for sustainable features, including rooftop solar.

Award-winning Array

The Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest designation for sustainable features, including rooftop solar.

Photograph by Eli Burakian ’00