April 14-20, 2014

Newsletter

April 14, 2014

Faculty News

Honors & Awards:

Prof. Can Korman (ECE) has been selected to receive a Chairmanship Award in recognition of outstanding leadership and service as 2013 Chair of the National Capital Area Magnetic Society. Prof. Korman will receive the award at the IEEE Awards Banquet on April 26.

Research:

Prof. Evan Drumwright (CS) has been awarded $50,000 by NASA and the Open Source Robotics Foundation to conduct a one-year project on advancing robotic simulation.

Media Mentions:

Alan Friedman (visiting scholar, Cyber Security Policy Research Institute) was interviewed about the online bug “Heartbleed” on WTOP on April 9 (audio). He was interviewed again on WTOP on April 10, this time to discuss computer password security (audio).

Publications:

Prof. Philippe Bardet (MAE) and his doctoral student Matthieu Andre have published the following paper: “Velocity field, surface profile and curvature resolution of steep and short free-surface waves,” Experiments in Fluids, 2014, 55, 1-19.DOI 10.1007/s00348-014-1709-5.

Conferences & Presentations:

Prof. Claire Monteleoni (CS) will give two invited talks later this month, both with the title “Climate Informatics: Recent Advances and Challenge Problems for Machine Learning in Climate Science.” Her first talk will be held on April 23 in the Pattern Theory seminar, hosted by the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University. She will deliver her second talk on April 29 as the invited guest lecturer in the course “Mathematics of Climate,” in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Georgetown University.

Other News:

Prof. Ken Chong (MAE) was invited to serve as a mentor and facilitator of the NSF CAREER Workshop, held at the University of Maryland, April 5-7.  Approximately 150 young faculty members participated in the workshop.

Student News

Congratulations to the CEE students who were recognized for their scholarly accomplishments at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) National Capital Section Annual Banquet on March 18:

  • Anna Porras: Anna received the $1,000 Hathaway Memorial Award
  • Eric Prokop: Eric received a $1,750 award
  • Julian Olin: Julian received the $1,000 Hummel Memorial Award
  • Mark Arnoldy: Mark was named the outstanding GW CEE Senior of the Year

On April 8, CEE senior Terasa Vassallo received the 2014 Student Award of Excellence and a $500 scholarship from the National Capital Chapter of the American Concrete Institute. The award is granted annually to undergraduate students from universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area who have a strong interest in pursuing a career related to concrete structures. Terasa was nominated for this award by Profs. Sameh Badie and Pedro Silva.

Sam Zapolsky, a doctoral student working under Prof. Evan Drumwright (CS), has been awarded an ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Fellowship.

SEAS Computing Facility News

Wolfram Mathematica now available to GW students and faculty: SEAS and CCAS partnered last summer to offer GW students and faculty a Wolfram Mathematica site license. Mathematica is now available for download and installation on both university-owned and personal computers.  For more information on how to download and install Mathematica, please contact the SEAS Computing Facility at [email protected]  or visit http://seascf.seas.gwu.edu.

Which version of Windows should you have?  Microsoft ended its support for Windows XP on April 8, and will no longer release security patches and updates for it.  As a result, Windows XP computers will become increasingly more vulnerable to security risks and viruses.  If your system must remain on Windows XP due to compatibility with a specific application or research requirements, we strongly advise that it be disconnected from the network.

Windows 7 is the most supported Windows Operating System on campus. Windows 8 is gaining popularity on campus and is the default Windows Operating System for new purchases.  Windows 8 works well with touch screen tablets and monitors, and is supported by the SEAS Computing Facility and Division of IT.  However, before you purchase a Windows 8 computer, please be aware that Windows 8 is not supported for the GW enterprise applications (Banner, EAS, Kronos and GWDocuments).

Many software vendors have not yet released versions of their applications that are supported on Windows 8.  Please ensure that the applications you plan on using are supported on Windows 8 before you decide to purchase a computer with Windows 8.  If you need assistance identifying the right Windows Operating System, please contact the SEAS Computing Facility at [email protected]  or visit http://seascf.seas.gwu.edu.

COMSOL Conference 2013 User Presentations now available: Comsol holds an annual conference at which multiphysics enthusiasts exchange their ideas through contributed papers, presentations, and posters.  More than 700 author-contributed works in a wide range of research, engineering, and industry multiphysics applications that were presented at conferences held in Boston, Bangalore, and Rotterdam in the fall of 2013 are now available online.

Free COMSOL Multiphysics Workshop at GW
Friday, April 18
 

Security Awareness Series: Compliance and Risk Management - A University Perspective
Wednesday, April 30: Foggy Bottom Campus
Thursday, May 1: Ashburn Campus
A GW Infomail will be sent out later this month with more information and an RSVP link.

Guest Vignette      

Conventional water treatment is confronting great challenges from sustainable development. Sustainable water treatment requires advanced techniques to mitigate emerging contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals and personal care products, endocrine disrupting compounds), to reduce energy and its associated carbon footprint, and to recover and reuse resources from the waste. We contend that promising materials-based strategies will be able to address the challenges of the water-energy-resource nexus, and novel nanomaterials will have great potential to oxidize, reduce, and separate contaminants, harvest renewable or waste energy for water treatment, and recover valuable resources and convert wastes into value-added products.

Professor Danmeng Shuai’s research interest is primarily focused on the development and demonstration of novel nanomaterials for sustainable water treatment. Particularly, he is interested in fabrication of reactive nanofibers and nanoparticles (see figures above) for water treatment. These functional nanomaterials will utilize renewable or waste energy (e.g., solar irradiation, renewable electricity, mechanical vibrations) to drive water purification, and will transform wastes into valuable products.  (Provided courtesy of Professor Danmeng Shuai of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

SEAS Events

MAE Seminar: “Enabling Faster, Better Medical Device Development and Evaluation with Modeling and Simulation:Regulatory Perspective”
Speaker: Dr. Tina M. Morrison, Advisor of Computational Modeling Center for Devices & Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration
Monday, April 14
2:00 pm
771 Rome Hall

Interview Skills Session: “Ace the Interview”
Wednesday, April 16
5:00 – 6:00 pm
109 Staughton Hall
Interview tips, advice, practice and more!  All SEAS students are welcome.
Questions?  Contact Emmy Rashid, SEAS Career Services Director

CEE Seminar: “Nano- and Micro-Composites for Biomedical Applications”
Speaker: Prof. Ulrike Wegst, Dartmouth College
Thursday, April 17
4:00 – 5:00 pm
640 Philips Hall

Frank Howard Distinguished Lecture
Speaker: Dr. Mario Livio, Internationally Renowned Astrophysicist & Prize-Winning Author
Thursday, April 17
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Marvin Center, Continental Ballroom
More info and registration
After the lecture, Dr. Livio will be available for a book signing. Copies of his book will be available for purchase. A reception follows the lecture.

MAE Seminar: “On the Damping-Induced Self-Recovery Phenomenon in Mechanical Systems”
Speaker: Prof. Dong Eui Chang, The University of Waterloo, Canada
Tuesday, April 22
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall

ECE Colloquium: “Optimal Control of Wireless Networks: From Theory to Practice”
Speaker: Dr. Eytan Modiano, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wednesday, April 23
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
640 Phillips Hall

CEE Seminar: “Environmentally Relevant Properties of Polymer Carbon Nanotube-Nanocomposites”
Speaker: Dr. Howard Fairbrother, Johns Hopkins University
Friday, April 25
12:00 – 1:00 pm
640 Phillips Hall

MAE Seminar: “Hydrodynamic Ship Design Optimization Considering Uncertainty”
Speaker: Dr. Emilio Campana, CNR–INSEAN National Research Council of Italy – Marine Technology Research Institute
Thursday, May 1
2:00 pm
640 Phillips Hall

ECE Colloquium: “Coordinated Task Management and Scheduling for MapReduce”
Speaker: Prof. Weikuan Yu, Auburn University
Friday, May 2
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
640 Phillips Hall

MAE Seminar: “Nanogenerators as New Energy Technology & Piezotronics for Functional Systems”
Speaker: Dr. Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology
Thursday, May 8
11:00 am
736 Phillips Hall

SAVE THE DATE: Pelton Senior Design Competition & Senior-Alumni BBQ
Wednesday, May 14
5:00 – 9:00 pm
Marvin Center Grand Ballroom
Registration required

MAE Seminar: “Basic Research in Spacecraft Actuator Control Allocation & Parameter Identification”
Speaker: Dr. Frederick Aaron Leve, Research Aerospace Engineer Guidance, Navigation, & Controls Group, The Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate
Thursday, May 15
11:00 am
736 Phillips Hall

MAE Seminar: “Microfluidics Assisted Bio- and Nano-materials Synthesis”
Speaker: Prof. Amy Shen, University of Washington
Monday, May 19
1:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall

MAE Seminar: “Geometry of Collectives: Control, Dynamics, and Reconstruction”
Speaker: Dr. P. S. Krishnaprasad, University of Maryland College Park, Institute of Systems Research
Thursday, May 22
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall

External Events:

USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo
Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27
Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
More info
Over 750 leading STEM organizations will present hands-on science and engineering activities for people of all ages. The event is free of charge.

Dissertation Defenses:

Name of Student Defending: Kumar Jeev
Title of Dissertation: “Dynamic Interaction between Cap and Trade and Electricity Markets”
Advisor: Michael Duffey (EMSE)
Tuesday, April 29
1:00 pm
1776 G Street, Conference Room 120