February 16-22, 2015

Newsletter

February 16, 2015

Faculty News

Media Mentions:

Prof. David Broniatowski’s (EMSE) research was featured in the February 10 Men’s Health article “Why Antibiotics Aren't Helping You as Much as You Think.”

Publications:

Prof. Emeritus Martha Pardavi-Horvath (ECE) reports the following recent publications: 1) A.B. Rinkevich, D. V. Perov, M. Pardavi-Horvath, and M. I. Samoylovich, “Microwave properties of 3D-nanocomposites with particles composed of Fe, Ni and Pd,” European Microwave Conference, 2014 44th, pp. 1206-1209. IEEE, 2014; and 2) the chapter “Magnetic noise - Barkhausen effect” in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ.

Other News:

Prof. Chunlei Liang (MAE) has been selected as a new member of the Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics.

Other News

Graduate Recruiting & Admissions: The Graduate Admissions office will host an online information session on February 17 at 8:00 am. Winnie Carr will recruit at the Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) regional conference in Philadelphia, PA on February 21. More information about this and other graduate recruitment events can be found at www.graduate.seas.gwu.edu. The fall application deadline has passed. Students who are still interested in applying for the fall should email [email protected]. As a reminder, all requests for graduate coordinators should be sent to [email protected].

SEAS Graduate Career Services: The Graduate Career Service Team hosted a resume workshop on February 11, providing insight on what employers look for on a technical resume as well as tips on what to include, what not to include, and how to keep your resume relevant. The SEH Graduate Open House held on February 4 provided a great opportunity to speak with prospective and current students about professional development opportunities available while attending SEAS. The team also volunteered at the 2015 Spring Career & Internship Fair. The team will host a cover letter workshop on Tuesday, February 24 and an international coffee hour on Thursday, February 26. Both events will take place in SEH 2000B from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. The weekly featured informational resource is: Legal Issues: Navigating the Interview Process and Avoiding a Legal Landmine

Guest Vignette

Industrial-Academic Partnerships: Linking Up with Industries to Translate Concepts to Practice

The Energy Efficiency Laboratory has received a $1 million DOE Cooperative Research Agreement over three years to explore new concepts to increase the fuel economy of cars by 2%. The project team includes General Motors, Valvoline, Vanderbilt Chemicals, Afton Chemicals, and others. The partners have provided another $1 million to enable the transition of the concepts to practice.

On a separate front, working with Seoul National University and a Korean Company, the laboratory is developing novel high heat capacity materials to significantly increase the efficiency of radiant floor/wall technology by impregnating microcapsules with phase change materials enclosed into polymer blends. If successful, the technology may be adopted by the industrial partner.

The Nanomaterials Laboratory also has been working with American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to develop new concepts to prevent ice accumulation on ships while traveling through Arctic seas for fuel efficiency and resolving some safety issues that ice accumulation causes on shipboard. We have found that conventional ultrahydrophobic surface designs are ineffective in preventing ice accumulation in our tests. A new approach based on ultra-high surface energy is showing promise. ABS has provided more than $450,000 for the project, including the design and construction of an all-weather cryogenic tester to measure the ice-accretion rate under simulated ocean-going conditions. The 850-pound apparatus is now undergoing final shakedown and will be installed in our Ashburn, VA laboratory in March 2015. (Provided courtesy of Prof. Stephen Hsu, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)

SEAS Events

MAE Seminar: “Rod Bundle Heat Transfer (RBHT) Thermal-Hydraulics Program Summary 2002-2013”
Presenter: Steve Bajorek, Senior Technical Advisor, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Thursday, February 19
11:00 am
SEH 3040

Engineers' Ball 2015
Saturday, February 21
6:00 – 11:00 pm
Old Ebbitt Grill (675 15th Street, NW)
Tickets to the Engineers' Ball can be picked up on the second floor of the SEH at the SEAS Student Services Front Desk (SEH Suite 2500), Monday - Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The ticket sales deadline is February 13, and the pricing is: SEAS Undergraduate Student - $35; SEAS Graduate Student - $50; SEAS Faculty, Staff, & Alumni - $50; Guests - $50. Only one SEAS ticket and one guest ticket per person is allowed. Cash only. Contact the E-Council with any questions at [email protected].

ECE Seminar: “Generation of Pure Spin Currents Using Magnetic Insulators”
Presenter: Mingzhong Wu
Wednesday, February 25
4:30 – 5:30 pm
SEH 2000B

MAE Seminar: “Enforcing realizability in explicit multi-component species transport”
Presenter: Randall McDermott, Fire Research Division, Engineering Laboratory, NIST
Thursday, February 26
2:00 pm
SEH B1270

ECE Colloquium: “Smart Home Cybersecurity: Threat and Defense in a Cyber-physical System”
Presenter: Dr. Shiyan Hu, Michigan Technological University
Tuesday, March 3
2:30 – 3:30 pm
SEH 2000B

External Events

Association of Energy Engineers National Capitol Chapter Luncheon Program: Women in Energy and Environmental Leadership
Friday, February 20
11:30 am – 2:00 pm
SEH, Lehman Auditorium
RSVP
The program will be followed by a GW Showcase on Energy and Sustainability Research and Leaders in Energy professional networking event.

SEAS Career Center News

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Summer Internship: Industrial-Systems Engineer
The NIH seeks students at all levels to complete 3-4 months of full-time internship experience before they graduate. Students will be given a project, mentor, and guidance, and will attend a number of high level meetings. Requirements: U.S. citizenship, 3.0 GPA or higher, and interest in working for the Federal Government. Interested students should contact [email protected] at NIH Corporate Recruitment.

AFRL Griffiss Institute: 2015 Summer Internship Program
The 2015 application cycle has begun for the Summer Internship Program at the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory.  This is a paid summer internship opportunity for students currently enrolled in an accredited college or university at the freshman level through the Ph.D. level (U.S. CITIZENS ONLY) to work on-site with AFRL researchers on a wide variety of research projects.  The majority of the students selected will be majoring in technical fields such as electrical and computer engineering, mathematics, and physics.  Basic information on the areas of research that the selected interns will be working in is available in the AFRL/RI Core Competencies.  The application deadline is March 20, 2015.  A copy of your resume and your current transcript are required with your application. These documents must be uploaded in .PDF format.  Application submission link.

Entrepreneurship News & Events

Office of Entrepreneurship Spring Workshop: “Special Topics: Foreign Startup Founders”
Wednesday, February 25
5:30 - 7:00 pm
255 Duques Hall
RSVP
Many of the most innovative and fastest growing businesses in the U.S. have been founded by foreign nationals working or studying here.  This presentation will discuss the immigration options available to international students as they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams through startup enterprises.  Our speaker will discuss H-1B visas, O-1 visas, the E-1 and E-2 Treaty visa status, EB-5 Investor Visa Program, as well as some of the proposed legislative changes to the immigration laws that might benefit investors and entrepreneurs.

Office of Entrepreneurship Spring Workshop: “Keeping Your Legal House in Order”
Wednesday, March 4
5:30 - 7:00 pm
255 Duques Hall
RSVP
Guest speaker Mr. Peter Weissman, patent attorney and partner at Blank Rome LLP, GW Business Plan Competition sponsor, and GW Law alumnus will discuss common legal challenges faced by startup companies from formation of the company to contractual and patent issues.  At this workshop you will learn why it is important to have a company, how to identify the key differences between the various company structures, how to avoid common contract issues, and what steps need to be taken to protect your team's valuable patents and trademarks.

GW Startup Career Expo
Tuesday, March 17
Marvin Center, 3rd floor
1:00 – 4:00 pm
Register
The GW Startup Career Expo connects students with varied educational background and interests from all local universities with some of the hottest startups seeking to hire talent in the greater DC area.  The event is free, but all startup employers and students must register to participate.

Save the date for these other Office of Entrepreneurship upcoming workshops/events:
March 18: Your Startup's Pitch and Visual Deck
April 14: GW Business Plan Competition Finals, Jack Morton Auditorium

Doctoral Dissertations

Student's Name: Amine El Haimar
Dissertation Title: "Stochastic Risk Analysis of Influenza Pandemic on Interdependent Workforce Sectors Using Input-Output Modeling"
Advisor: Prof. Joost Reyes Santos (EMSE)
Wednesday, February 25
1:00 – 3:00 pm
2600 SEH