Engineering with Empathy

It was 1985 when Donna Strickland '89 (PhD) and her doctoral research supervisor, Gérard Mourou, invented chirped pulse amplification in the field of laser energetics and then 2018 when the pair won the Noble Prize in Physics for their discoveries. Strickland became the third woman ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert Mayer in 1963. And while this is certainly notable company for the URochester alum to be included with, what is more significant is the time between their discovery and the award of the Noble Prize, and while there are often delays in research activity, discovery and practical application, the further delay between woman winners in Physics is noteworthy.

Today, faculty and student researchers at the University of Rochester's Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Science, whose Institute of Optics and Laboratory of Laser Energetics helped to drive Strickland's work in optical engineering, are no longer waiting decades for recognition and impact from their work.

Two faculty members, Professor Ehsan Hoque in computer science and Professor Benjamin Castaneda in biomedical engineering, illustrate how Hajim nurtures students not only as engineers, but also as empathetic problem-solvers committed to practical solutions that transform lives.

Professor Hoque's work sits at the intersection of computer science, psychology, and communication. Unlike research in mainstream artificial intelligence, which prioritizes performance and speed, his research is guided by a radical question, “can technology care?" From his early work developing MACH and later to ROCspeak, both AI systems used to coach users on social and emotional skills, to SOPHIE, a virtual patient that trains medical students in difficult conversations.

At Rochester, Hoque found the perfect ecosystem for this interdisciplinary approach to engineering. The Hajim School's openness to collaboration enabled him to partner with physicians, psychologists, and ethicists, bringing systems out of the lab and into real-world trials. For undergraduates, this means that their classroom projects often evolve into national-scale studies that shape education, healthcare, and therapy.

When mentoring, Hoque urges students to ask not only "Can we build this?" but also “Who does this help?" and "How do we know it works?" Rochester undergraduates, he says, stand out for their ability to combine technical depth with emotional maturity, balancing rigorous engineering with a drive to make lives better.

Professor Castaneda's journey is equally inspiring. Trained as an electrical engineer surrounded by a family of physicians in Peru, he chose not to practice medicine but to improve it. His PhD at Rochester introduced him to medical imaging, where he saw the power of ultrasound not only as a diagnostic tool, but as a lifeline for underserved populations.

When he returned to Peru, Castaneda traveled across rural regions to ask a simple question: "What do people need most?" He quickly discovered that the greatest barrier was not equipment, but the absence of trained specialists. His response was characteristically inventive: develop low-cost, rugged ultrasound systems paired with simplified training protocols, enabling even non-specialists in remote villages to provide life-saving imaging.

At the University Rochester, Castaneda now builds on this work by integrating artificial intelligence, engineering, and remote training tools into portable ultrasound devices. The vision is bold: a future where point-of-care ultrasound is as accessible as a stethoscope.

Castaneda's lab is a hub of hands-on, mission-driven research and what excites him most is how undergraduates bring fresh energy and urgency to global health challenges. As he notes, “they can see their work make a difference almost immediately."

When families think about engineering education abroad, they often focus on rankings, research output, or job placements. Yet the Hajim School of Engineering at the University of Rochester offers something rarer and arguably more valuable: a culture of student-centered learning and innovation that blends technical excellence with human impact.

Hajim is not just training coders; it is shaping the next generation of human-centered innovators who can lead in fields where empathy and engineering converge.

What unites Hoque and Castaneda is not just their research, but the environment that enables it. Both point to URochester's collaborative culture, where engineering students are encouraged to work alongside medical researchers, psychologists, economists, and educators. Hajim offers undergraduates pathways to engage in cross-disciplinary projects, supported by funding, workshops, and mentorship networks.

This means that a student studying electrical engineering might find themselves working on healthcare delivery in rural areas, while a computer science major could be mapping language in the brain with linguists in a neuroscience MRI lab. The emphasis is always on impact-driven innovation, not research for its own sake.

Hoque captures this spirit best: “The best technology isn't the smartest – it's the most useful."