January 22-27, 2019

Newsletter

January 22, 2019

Faculty News
Research:

Payman Dehghanian

Dr. Payman Dehghanian (ECE) and his colleague Dr. Miguel Lejeune (GW Business School) have received a 2019-2020 Duke Energy Innovation Fund grant of $13,583 for their project, “Weathering the Storms: Maximum Wind Utilization and Harnessing the Power Grids’ Built-In Flexibility.” They will work with the leadership team at Sustainable GW to accomplish the project goals and the envisioned milestones. Dr. Dehghanian is the lead principal investigator (PI) on the project, and Dr. Miguel Lejeune is the co-PI. Student and faculty at the GW SmartGrid Laboratory strive to collaborate with researchers in various fields and from diverse backgrounds to enhance the ways in which they think, design, plan, operate, and control the smart electricity grid and the energy infrastructure for enhanced resilience against weather disasters and cyber-attacks.

 

Conferences & Presentations:

Dr. Samer Hamdar

Dr. Samer Hamdar (CEE) and his students participated in the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, which was held January 13-17 in Washington, DC. Dr. Hamdar gave an invited talk with the support of Dr. Claire Silverstein and Mr. Deng Pan at the “Modeling Uncertainties in Cooperative Automated Vehicles” workshop. The presentation was titled “Driver Behavior in the Era of Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Perspective on Data and Modeling Needs.” Deng Pan presented the paper “Statistical and Machine Learning Based Anomaly Detection Using Traffic Detector Data” (D. Pan, W. Zhang, and S. Hamdar). And, as the chair of the Traffic Flow Modeling for Connected and Automated Vehicles Sub-Committee, Dr. Hamdar organized and presided over the “Real and Virtual Data Collection Platforms for Connected and Automated Vehicles Modeling, Calibration, and Validation” workshop.

On January 10-11, Dr. Rachael Jonassen (director, Climate Change EEMI) participated in a panel in Bangkok, Thailand for the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She serves as senior adaptation expert advising ADB in developing and delivering good practice guidance on climate resilient infrastructure design in the transport sector.

 

Publications:
Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) and his graduate student Michael Smith have published the following paper with their colleagues: X.Huang, M. C. Smith, A. M. Jamison, D. A. Broniatowski, M. Dredze, S. C. Quinn, J. Cai, and M. J. Paul. “Can online self-reports assist in real-time identification of influenza vaccination uptake? A cross-sectional study of influenza vaccine-related tweets in the USA, 2013–2017,” BMJ Open, 9(1), e024018.

 

On January 14, a research team led by Dr. Russell Hemley (CEE), published its findings of new evidence of superconductivity at near room temperature in Physical Review Letters. Dr. Maddury Somayazulu (associate research professor, CEE), Dr. Muhtar Ahart (associate research professor, CEE), Dr. Hemley, and their colleagues at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Argonne National Laboratory published: M. Somayazulu, M. Ahart, A. K. Mishra, Z. M. Geballe, M. Baldini, Y. Meng, V. V. Struzhkin, and R. J. Hemley. “Evidence for Superconductivity above 260 K in Lanthanum Superhydride at Megabar Pressures,” Physical Review Letters, 122, 027001. These findings, featured in the January 16 GW Today article “SEAS Researchers Discover New Evidence of Superconductivity at Near Room Temperature,” could open the door to a new era of physics.

 

Student News
BME doctoral student Reham Kaifi, advised by Dr. Vesna Zderic (BME), is the first author on this recently published paper: R. Kaifi, L. Price, A. Chen, B. Sarani, and V. Zderic. “Intra- and Interobserver Reliability and Variability of Femoral Artery Pseudoaneurysm Measurements Between Pre- and Postprocessed B-mode Sonographic Images,” Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, December 2018.

Deghanian Headshot

Junior BME student Shirali Nigam was recently selected to serve a three-year term on the Education Committee for the National Biomedical Engineering Society. She is the only undergraduate student on the committee of 11 people. The BMES Education Committee is charged with assessing and providing educational opportunities to enhance professional development, fostering educational best practices, and working with accreditation committees. Shirali also serves as a student member on the internal advisory board for the proposed SEAS Center for Women in Engineering

 

Upcoming SEAS Events
BME Seminar: “Single Molecule Studies of Cell Membrane Remodeling: Implications for Cancer Metastasis”
Speaker: Dr. Inhee Chung (GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences)
Wednesday, January 30
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Marvin Center, Rooms 413-414

 

External Events
WOW Talk ("What's Our Work" Seminar Series)
Speakers:

  • Dr. Neil Johnson (Physics), “Darker Side of the (Current and Future Quantum) Internet”
  • Dr. John Paul Helveston (EMSE), “Technology Change, Sustainability and China”
  • Dr. Keith Crandall (Computational Biology Institute), Topic to be announced

Wednesday, February 6
4:00 – 5:00 pm
SEH, B1220
These short talks (15-20 minutes each) are designed to introduce faculty and students to current and exciting research projects undertaken in labs in the SEH; to initiate discussion, collaborate, and share expertise; and to promote research performed in the SEH and at GW.

 

Spring Break Python Camp
Monday, March 11 – Friday, March 15
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
GW Gelman Library
Registration required
Learn Python and foundations of programming in this five-day, non-credit, interactive, mini-course over Spring Break. This opportunity is for beginners and does not require any programming experience. The workshop uses as its curriculum “ Get Data Off the Ground with Python,” an OpenEdX course by Dr. Lorena Barba (MAE). Learn more.

 

Entrepreneurship News & Events
The GW New Venture Competition (GW NVC) deadline is a few weeks away (February 6), but you still have time to enter. Who knows, you could walk away with the $10,000 clean energy prize or dozens of other prizes. At the very least you will get feedback on your idea to make it stronger. Make sure to apply by 1:00 pm on February 6.

 

Panel Discussion: “Becoming an Entrepreneur: How to Harness Your Passion to Make Your Dream a Reality”
Wednesday, January 23
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Marvin Center, Room 302
Register
In partnership with the GW Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service's King Week, this panel event will feature several innovative and successful entrepreneurs who will discuss how students can follow their dreams of starting their own ventures.

 

2019 George Hacks Medical Solutions Hackathon: “Innovation with a Social Impact”
Saturday, January 26 (9:00 am) through Sunday, January 27 (4:00 pm)
SEH, B1 and Lehman Auditorium
The Second Annual George Hacks Medical Solutions Hackathon will host undergraduate students for a 24-hour interdisciplinary innovation competition incorporating themes of business and entrepreneurship, medical technology, and public health. Students will work in small teams to create deliverable solutions to pitches gathered from various healthcare organizations including the Veterans Association, Engineering World Health, the GW Hospital, Open EMR, and more. As students are hard at work applying their skill sets and implementing design thinking to the problem at hand, they will have access to mentorship, technical workshops, and networking opportunities. Prizes will be awarded to the top four teams. Learn more.

 

Webinars and Workshops: New Venture Competition 101
Thursday, January 24 | Monday, January 28 | Monday, February 4
Register for the In-Person Workshop (District House B117)
Register for the Webinars
Join the GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for an info session on how you can compete with your start-up idea in one of the nation’s top university competitions! Don’t miss out on your chance to compete for up to $300,000 in total prizes!

 

Panel Discussion: “Life After Shark Tank: It’s Not Just About The Money”
Wednesday, January 30
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Marvin Center, Betts Theatre
Register
The GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship is excited to bring in a panel of previous Shark Tank participants and current DC-based entrepreneurs to talk with budding student entrepreneurs on campus about what it takes to really get in front of an investor and how to land those imperative business deals.

 

GW Innovation Center: Inaugural Fast Fashion Textile Tech Hackathon
Saturday and Sunday, February 9-10
The GW Innovation Center (GWIC) invites SEAS students to participate in the inaugural Fast Fashion Textile Tech (FFTT) Hackathon. Interdisciplinary teams will collaborate during the Hackathon to disrupt the fashion and textile industry in the areas of: sustainable supply chains, conscious consumerism and textile waste, and wearable tech. By the end of the weekend, teams will have created and presented a solution, whether it be a product or proposal, to a panel of expert judges. The hackathon will include: food, workshops and mentor guidance, materials and resources (e.g., sewing machines, 3-D printers, Adobe Suite), swag bags, and prizes. Learn more or contact the FFTT team.