Faculty News
Research:
Prof. Michael Keidar (MAE) has received a five-year, $443,950 grant from US Patent Innovation for his project, “Exploring Mechanism of Plasma Cutter and Coagulator.” The project will study the basic phenomena associated with plasma generation, plasma jet formation, and plasma-tissue interaction in order to develop a plasma device to understand the basic mechanism of plasma-tissue interaction. The application is toward controlling or minimizing blood losses and tissue damage during surgery.
Publications:
Prof. Pinhas Ben-Tzvi (MAE) and his doctoral student, Paul Moubarak, have published the following peer-reviewed journal paper: Moubarak, P., Ben-Tzvi, P. "On the Dual-Rod Slider Rocker Mechanism and its Applications to Tri-State Rigid Active Docking," Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 5, Issue 1, pp. 011010: 1-10, February 2013.
Conferences and Presentations:
Prof. Jonathan Deason (EMSE) made two presentations at the Seventh International Conference on Remediation of Contaminated Sediments, held in Dallas, TX. On February 5, he presented “Equitable Cost Sharing for Degraded Urban Rivers,” and on February 6, he presented “Water Resource Development Act - Superfund Integration” and participated in a panel discussion on sediment management for urban rivers.
Prof. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE) was an invited speaker at the International Conference on Computing, Networking, and Communications (ICNC '13), held January 28-31, in San Diego, CA. He gave a presentation titled "Inter-domain QoT-aware RWA in translucent optical networks."
Other News:
Prof. Rachael Jonassen (EMSE part time faculty) recently completed a study for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) on better integration of NOAA climate services with the needs of the U.S. national security community. The study identifies six major challenges and recommends actions to address each. The report, "Climate: Opportunities for Improving Engagement Between NOAA and the US National Security Community,” is available from LMI.
Prof. Michael Plesniak (MAE) has been selected to be inducted as a 2013 Member in the AIAA Region I Engineer of the Year Honor Society. The announcement of Prof. Plesniak’s selection noted his unique technical contributions in the area of contamination and disease transport through aircraft cabins as well as his dedication in STEM education and public policy on behalf of AIAA.
Student News:
In a February 5 speech that laid out his legislative priorities and addressed immigration concerns for foreign STEM graduates, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., singled out EMSE graduate student Fiona Zhou as a representative of the talented pool of international students who come to the U.S. to study but are often unable to get visas to remain in the U.S. and work after graduation. The speech is available here. In his follow-on interview with Fox News, Rep. Cantor again mentioned Ms. Zhou. The GW Today article is available here.
Guest Vignette:
Prof. Pedro Silva and his graduate student, Mr. Arash Sangtarashha, are currently working on a project funded by the National Science Foundation that focuses on shake table tests of slender reinforced concrete bridge (RC) columns. The research team for this project also includes undergraduate students Amzaray Ahmed and Raminder K. Singh.
This research will provide a one-of-a-kind link to investigate the effects that the loading protocol and axial loads have on the damage of slender RC columns when they are subjected to powerful earthquakes. Because the seismic performance of slender RC columns can be significantly influenced by the destabilizing effects of axial loads, an innovative mass-rig system was designed to simulate the effect of axial load by placing the mass on a steel tower outside of the shake table while allowing the mass to move on a convex surface. The novel mass-rig system is shown in the photo above.
The outcomes of this research may have a significant impact on the design of slender RC bridge columns that are often part of complex and critical components of the interstate transportation system. Any unintended damage to these columns can lead to severe disruptions in the life of a city like Los Angeles, CA. Certainly, population growth will continue to place higher demands on the transportation infrastructure system, translating to an increase in the number and complexity of these freeway interchanges. If one considers that there is also a high probability that structures consisting of slender columns are most likely to be critical components of the interstate system, this research will establish vital data for the broad engineering community to use in developing future parameters for the seismic design of slender columns. (Provided courtesy of Prof. Pedro Silva of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
SEAS Events:
How Do I Become a NASA Astronaut?
Monday, February 11
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Marvin Center, Continental Ballroom
NASA astronaut and SEAS alumna Serena Aunon (BS '97) will discuss her career path from electrical engineering student at GW to NASA flight surgeon. The discussion is open to SEAS students, faculty/staff, and alumni. Registration is required.
SEAS Student R&D Showcase
Wednesday, February 20
3:00 - 6:00 pm
Marvin Center, Grand Ballroom
SEAS Engineering Expo: a career and networking fair exclusively for SEAS students, alumni and employers
Thursday, February 21
6:00 - 9:00 pm
GW Marvin Center
Schedule:
6:00 - 6:45 pm: Q&A Panel (RSVP Required) - Meeting room 309
7:00 - 9:00 pm: Career & Networking Fair - Continental Ballroom
MAE & Institute for Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series
J.D. Humphrey, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University
Friday, February 22
11:00 am
771 Rome Hall
ECE Research Blitz #2, Featuring Graduate Students
Monday, February 25
3:00 - 4:30 pm
405 Marvin Center
ECE graduate students will provide five-minute descriptions of their research projects. Topics include biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. GW faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students are invited. Refreshments will be served.
CS Colloquium: “Hardening Code without a Large Trusted Computing Base”
Dr. Greg Morrisett, Harvard University
Monday March 18
4:00 pm
640 Phillips Hall
Entrepreneurship Events:
Hoffman Lecture: Startup Success Stories
Wednesday, February 13
103 Funger Hall
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Entrepreneur Office Hour
Friday, February 8
2033 K Street, NW, Suite 750 (GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship)
1:00 - 2:00pm