Faculty News
Research:
Dr. Adam Aviv (CS) is principal investigator on a one-year, $149,000 National Science Foundation grant for the project “SCC-PG: Privacy and Fairness in Planning When Using Third-Party, Heterogeneous Data Sources.” The goal of this research is to study how privacy and fairness impact heterogeneous data sources, such as from ride share data or exercise tracking, and how they impact the distribution of city planning and resources. This planning grant will support community outreach on these topics through workshops in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD. The research is in collaboration with Dr. Aylin Caliskan (CS), Drs. Adam Bates and Nikita Borisov (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), and Dr. Celeste Chavis (Morgan State University).
Publications:
Dr. Aylin Caliskan (CS) and her former undergraduate researcher Ryan Steed, who is now a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, have published the following paper: R. Steed and A. Caliskan, “A set of distinct facial traits learned by machines is not predictive of appearance bias in the wild,” AI and Ethics (published January 12, 2021).
Drs. Emilia Entcheva (BME) and Matthew Kay (BME) have published a high profile article in Nature Reviews Cardiology, a journal with an Impact Factor of 20.260. The citation is: E. Entcheva and M.W. Kay, “ Cardiac optogenetics: a decade of enlightenment,” Nature Reviews Cardiology (2020). In this high-profile review article, Drs. Entcheva and Kay provide an in-depth discussion of groundbreaking technological achievements over the past 10 years in the field of cardiac optogenetics. This is an area where their research labs have excelled, positioning GW and SEAS at the forefront of all-optical technologies for high throughput drug screening, optical neurocardiology, and optical therapeutics.
Dr. Chung Hyuk Park (BME) has recently published two papers. Through his collaboration with colleagues at Virginia Tech, MIT, and Michigan Tech, he published: J. Barnes, S. M. FakhrHosseini, E. Vasey, C. H. Park and M. Jeon, “Child-Robot Theater: Engaging Elementary Students in Informal STEAM Education Using Robots,” IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 22-31. Through his collaboration with an undergraduate capstone team and co-mentors Drs. Vesna Zderic (BME), David Lee (BME), and Igor Efimov (BME), he published: R. Kim, J. Schloen, N. Campbell, S. Horton, V. Zderic, I. Efimov, ... and C. H. Park, “Robot-Assisted Semi-Autonomous Ultrasound Imaging with Tactile Sensing and Convolutional Neural-Networks," IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics (published December 24, 2020).
Dr. Volker Sorger (ECE) has recently published three papers: 1) J. Paul, M. Miscuglio, Y. Gui, V. J. Sorger, and J. K. Wahlstrand, “Two-beam coupling by a hot electron nonlinearity,” Optics Letters, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 428-431; 2) R. Amin, R. Maiti, Y. Gui, C. Suer, M. Miscuglio, E. Heidari, J. B. Khurgin, R. T. Chen, H. Dalir, and V. J. Sorger, “Heterogeneously integrated ITO plasmonic Mach–Zehnder interferometric modulator on SOI,” Scientific Reports, 11, Article number 1287 (2021); and 3) R. Amin, R. Maiti, J. B. Khurgin and V. J. Sorger, “Performance Analysis of Integrated Electro-Optic Phase Modulators Based on Emerging Materials,” IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1-11.
Conferences & Presentations:
Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) has made the following presentations/ published the following conference papers: 1) B. Yu, K. Gamagedara, S. Kim, T. Lee, and J. Suk, “Geometric Control and Experimental Validation for a Quadrotor UAV Transporting a Payload,” IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, held virtually, December 14-18, 2020; and 2) M Sridhar, J. Pohly, C. Kang, D. Landrum, T. Lee, and H. Aono, “Effects of Vein Structures on Fluid-structure Interaction of Flexible Flapping Wings at High Altitudes,” AIAA Scitech Forum, held virtually January 11-25, 2021. At the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Dr. Lee also chaired the session “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.”
Other News:
Drs. Rachelle Heller (CS), Tim Wood (CS), Bhagirath Narahari (CS), and Jason Zara (BME) formed a team that spent a year as part of a learning circle with NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology). After a one-year review of their outreach to enroll women into computer science, the team received a $10,000 grant to undertake the design, development, and launch of a social media presence with the intent of reaching potential applicants for both BA and BS degrees in computer science. Other computer science departments in their learning circle were Syracuse and Temple Universities.
Student News
BME doctoral student Shuyue Guan, advised by Dr. Murray Loew (BME), is the first author on this recently published manuscript: S. Guan and M. Loew, “An Internal Cluster Validity Index Using a Distance-based Separability Measure,” 2020 IEEE 32nd International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI), Baltimore, MD, USA, 2020, pp. 827-834, doi: 10.1109/ICTAI50040.2020.00131.
Upcoming SEAS Events
CVP & GW Speaker Series: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEM”
Friday, January 29
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET
Register (All registrants will receive a Zoom link with login information).
Why isn’t there more diversity, equity, and inclusion in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)? Join GW and CVP for an in-depth discussion on this subject, featuring a diverse panel of STEM leaders. We will explore the hurdles to a STEM career and what can be done to increase representation and opportunities within such fields. Topics will include: why STEM is a promising career choice, what individuals can do to overcome obstacles to success, and what institutions and businesses can do to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM fields.
Entrepreneurship News & Events
CS Research Professor Ben Harvey is the subject of a new I-Corps video. In this video, Dr. Harvey discusses how the I-Corps program helped his team learn how to create a start-up to commercialize research ideas they had developed in a lab at GW. One of the key benefits that I-Corps provided was funding for customer discovery, which his team used to help launch their company, AI Squared.
Deadline to enter GW New Venture Competition: The 2021 GW New Venture Competition (NVC) application is open for any GW student (enrolled in a full degree program) to apply. Applications are due on February 3, at 1:00 pm ET. Watch the NVC video.
GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Events:
Human Centered Design Workshop: “Designing Innovative Solutions for Social Challenges”
Tuesday, January 19
5:00 – 6:00 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later)
This experiential and interactive workshop exposes students to the tools, tactics, and frameworks used by innovators, entrepreneurs, and designers to empathize with populations they seek to serve, define problem sets, and come up with innovative solutions.
Create Professional Looking Videos Fast with Adobe Rush
Thursday, January 21
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later)
This workshop will guide you through everything you need to know about creating professional looking videos in the blink of an eye using Adobe Premiere Rush! The lightning fast workflow of Rush allows you to focus on telling your story without having to get too bogged down learning complicated tools and tricks. By the end of this workshop you will know all the essential steps of producing your own professional looking video. Adobe Rush, along with all of the Creative Cloud Applications are available to all GW students, faculty, and staff as part of GW's status as an Adobe Creative Campus.
Hackathon: “Innovate the Future of the Built Environment”
Friday, January 22 – Friday, January 29
1:00 – 4:30 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later)
Join the design sprint to improve the ways people interact with the physical world! In partnership with Arup, the GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship is looking for solutions to improve the ways people interact with the physical world through the built environment. This virtual, experiential, and interactive hackathon exposes students to core problem statements in the built environment and physical world focusing on UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically, on #6: Clean water and sanitation, #7: Affordable and clean energy, #11: Sustainable cities & communities, and #12: Responsible consumption and production.
2021 GW New Venture Competition 101: “Insider Tips on How to Compete”
Saturday, January 23 | 1:00 – 2:00 pm and
Tuesday, January 26 | 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later)
Did you know that the GW New Venture Competition (GW NVC) is one of the largest collegiate entrepreneurship competitions in the country? Students will be vying for over $500,000 in cash and prizes to help take their startup to the next level. Want to learn more? Join us for a virtual discussion with the NVC team to get tips and tricks on how to make your application a winning one!
GW New Venture Competition Alumni Panel
Wednesday, January 27
5:00 – 6:30 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later)
Are you thinking of entering the 2021 GW New Venture Competition yourself or curious about what it’s like to participate? Find out from our past NVC student alumni panel. Plus learn about their tips on how to make it to the NVC finals and what they wish they had known before applying. Join us for a great panel discussion with our NVC alumni panelists.
External Events
GW Undergraduate Series: “The First Moon Landing: A History in Artifacts”
Tuesday, February 2
2:30 – 3:30 pm
Register (Students must register in advance using their GW email address. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.)
The material legacy of the Apollo program is immense. Thousands of artifacts from rocket engines to spacesuits to the ephemera of life aboard a spacecraft are represented in the Smithsonian’s collections. In this presentation, Dr. Teasel Muir-Harmony, curator of the Apollo collection at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, reassesses the history of the Moon landing through the most evocative objects of the Space Age. Dr. Rachel Riedner, associate dean of undergraduate studies, will moderate the discussion. This session is part of the GW Undergraduate Series, “Can't Get to DC Museums, Historical Sites, and Political Institutions? We will bring them to you!”
GW Career Center Events & Services:
Virtual coaching appointments available: Make your appointment with Dr. Merrill, the STEM industry coach. If you need tips on the virtual job search or virtual Interviewing or would like to work on your career strategy, spruce up your resume, or land an internship, make a virtual coaching appointment with her in Handshake or email her for more information.
Technical interview preparation: If you have a technical interview coming up, sign-up for the new technical interview slots in Handshake! See tips for technical interviews in Handshake Article # 18641, Technical Interview Tips.
Conference and Career Fair Prep Boot Camp I
Tuesday, February 9 | 12:00 – 1:30 pm | RSVP
Conference and Career Fair Prep Boot Camp II
Thursday, February 11 | 4:00 – 5:30 pm | RSVP
At this interactive event, students can have their resumes reviewed, as well as their Handshake, LinkedIn and GW Career Connect profiles. You will also have an opportunity to develop and practice your “pitches,” and there will be a brief overview of professional branding, networking, and employment prospects.