Faculty News
Media Mentions:
Prof. Evan Drumwright (CS) was quoted in "Robots Are Learning To Take Care Of Pets," a January 20 blog article on Forbes.com. The article discusses the work being done by students in Prof. Drumwright's robotics course. The blog on which the article was posted focuses on futurism, cutting edge technology, and breaking research.
Books & Papers:
Prof. Mort Friedman (ECE) has published: Tomita, H., Hagaman, J., Friedman, M. H., and Maeda, N., "Relationship between Hemodynamics and Atherosclerosis in Aortic Arches of Apolipoprotein E-null Mice on 129S6/SvEvTac and C57BL/6J Genetic Backgrounds," Atherosclerosis 220, 78-85 (2012). DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2011.10.020. His colleagues Hirofumi Tomita, John Hagaman and Nobuyo Maeda are from the Maeda-Smithies Lab at UNC/Chapel Hill.
Prof. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) published the following paper: T. Lee, "Exponential stability of an attitude tracking control system on SO(3) for large-angle rotational maneuvers," Systems & Control Letters, vol. 61, no.1, pp. 231-237.
Prof. Yongsheng Leng (MAE) and his doctoral student, Huachuan Wang, recently published a paper in Physical Review B, "Molecular dynamics simulations of the stable structures of single atomic contacts in gold nanojunctions." This work developed a new simulation method to investigate the breaking force and energetics of gold atomic contact in molecular electronics devices.
Prof. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE) has co-authored the following journal paper with his former doctoral students: M. Al-Naimi, O. Turkcu, and S. Subramaniam, "ROADM optimization in WDM ring networks," Optical Switching and Networking, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 25-38, Jan. 2012.
Prof. Vesna Zderic (ECE) and her former capstone student, Danielle Abadi, recently published the following paper based on Ms. Abadi's senior design work: Abadi D, Zderic V., "Ultrasound-mediated Nail Drug Delivery System," Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 2011;30(12):1723-30.
Conferences & Presentations:
Prof. Andrew Cutler (MAE) and his doctoral students-Gaetano Magnotti, Luca Cantu, and Emanuela Gallo-together with co-authors at the University of Virginia and North Carolina State, presented papers at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, held in Nashville, TN, January 9-12:
- Magnotti, G., Cutler, A.D., Danehy, P.M., "Development of a Dual-Pump CARS System for Measurements in a Supersonic Combusting Free Jet"
- Cutler, A.D., Magnotti, G., Cantu, L., Gallo, E., Danehy, P.M., Rockwell, R.D., Goyne, C.P., McDaniel, J.C., "Dual-Pump CARS Measurements in the University of Virginia's Dual-Mode Scramjet: Configuration "A""
- Fulton, J.A., Edwards, J.R., Hassan, H.A., Rockwell, R.D., Goyne, C.P., McDaniel, J.C., Smith, C., Cutler, A.D., Johansen, C., Danehy, P.M., Kouchi, T., "Large-eddy / Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes Simulation of a Dual-Mode Scramjet Combustor"
At the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Nashville, TN, on January 9, Prof. Chunlei Liang (MAE) presented the following paper: C. Liang, J. Chen, and J. D. Lee, "Spectral Difference Solution of Unsteady 2D Compressible Micropolar Equations on Moving and Deformable Grids," AIAA-2012-294. Prof. Liang also acted as a co-chair of a session on multidisciplinary computational fluid dynamics at the meeting.
Correction: A recent issue of the SEAS newsletter incorrectly reported the title of a paper presented by Yi Jin (ECE doctoral student)-with coauthors ECE Profs. Edward Della Torre and Lawrence Bennett, Dr. Virgil Provenzano (NIST), and ECE doctoral students Shuo Gu and Qianyi Zhao at the 2011 Conference on Magnetism & Magnetic Materials. The correct title of the paper is "Self-Similarity in (dM/dT)H Curves for Magnetocaloric Materials with Ferro-to-Paramagnetic Phase Transitions."
Other:
Prof. Mort Friedman (ECE) has been invited to serve on an advisory committee for a recently awarded NSF grant to develop case-based materials for ethics education in bioengineering and life sciences. The awardees are Vanderbilt, Alabama A&M, and the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Prof. Yongsheng Leng (MAE) received a certificate of appreciation, presented December 2011 from the American Chemical Society (ACS), for his "Valuable Contribution and Dedicated Service in the Peer Review of Manuscripts Submitted to ACS Journals."
"A p-multigrid spectral difference method with explicit and implicit smoothers on unstructured triangular grids," a 2009 article authored by Prof. Chunlei Liang (MAE), R. Kannan, and Z.J. Wang, has been included on the Elsevier "Most Cited Computers & Fluids Articles" list.
In January 2012, Prof. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE) started a two-year term as chair of the Optical Networking Technical Committee (ONTC) of the IEEE Communications Society. Prior to this, he was elected and served as secretary of ONTC from January 2008 through December 2009, and as vice-chair from January 2010 through December 2011. ONTC plays an active role in stimulating and organizing leading-edge optical networking symposia, workshops, sessions and tutorials. By working closely with standards forums such as OIF, IETF, and ITU/T1, it also serves as a proactive facilitator in the dissemination of evolving optical networking standards.
Student News
Farshad Ahdi, a doctoral student of Prof. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE), presented two papers at IEEE Globecom, held in Houston, TX in December 2011: 1) F. Ahdi and S. Subramaniam, "Optimal placement of FSO links in hybrid wireless optical networks," and 2) F. Ahdi and S. Subramaniam, "Capacity enhancement of hybrid wireless optical networks using MIMO links."
On January 8, Junfeng Wang, a doctoral student of Prof. Chunlei Liang (MAE), presented the following paper at the 1st High-order Method Workshop in Nashville, TN: Junfeng Wang, Chunlei Liang, "Study of the 2D laminar flapping wing case using the Spectral Difference method."
Other News
Nominations for the 2012 SEAS Excellence Awards for Teaching and Research are due by Friday, February 17th. The criteria and nomination forms for each of the awards are posted on the SEAS website at:
- SEAS Distinguished Teacher Award for Full Professors and Associate Professors: (PDF) (Word)
- SEAS Outstanding Young Teacher Award for Assistant Professors: (PDF) (Word)
- SEAS Researcher Awards (the Distinguished Researcher and Outstanding Young Researcher awards share the same nomination form): (PDF) (Word)
The awards will be announced by mid-March, and shortly after that, Dean Dolling will host an awards ceremony, at which each recipient will receive a $5,000 cash award and a commemorative plaque.
Want to help improve the SEAS graduate student experience? The university is gathering ideas from graduate students on ways to enhance your time at GW. To offer your suggestions or opinions, please attend a brief focus group Tuesday, January 24 at 8:30 pm or Thursday, January 26 at 8:30 pm. Pizza and refreshments will be provided! To sign up, email Elizabeth Barnett at [email protected].
Guest Vignette
Do oil and water ever mix? Well sometimes. Whenever they do, it has significant consequences. One example: When subject to high pressure and low temperature, methane and water can turn into an ice like crystal-methane hydrate, also known as "burning ice." Accumulating inside oil and gas pipelines, these compounds plug transmission lines, posing severe safety issues to the oil and gas industry. The failure in attempts to cap the Deep Horizon oil spill last year was a vivid example. In nature, methane hydrates form in the compacted sediment at deep ocean floor over millions of years, and store vast amount of energy-as much as twice all other fossil fuels combined on our planet.
One project that the research group led by Prof. Tianshu Li is currently working on is to explore the fundamental formation mechanism of gas hydrate at the molecular level. The group is using a high performance computer to simulate the nucleation and growth process of methane hydrate under realistic conditions, and trying to gain the molecular level understanding of this complex process beyond the classical nucleation theory. Such a level of knowledge will be necessary not only for preventing disasters like the Gulf Oil spill, but also for developing a strategy for sequestering CO2 by forming stable CO2 hydrates and recovering methane gas from hydrate resources in a slow and controllable manner. (Provided courtesy of Prof. Tianshu Li of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
SEAS Events
GW Cyber Security Policy and Research Institute (CSPRI) Debate
"Resolved: The Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) Should be Utilized to Try to Control Bad Behavior
Such as Copyright and Trademark Infringement"
Debaters: David Sohn, Senior Policy Counsel of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and
Paul Brigner, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA)
Wednesday, January 25
12:00 pm (Lunch provided at 1:00 pm)
309 Marvin Center
More info. . .
Teaching & Learning Cooperative and SEAS:: "STEM Education Seminar and Workshop"
Speaker:
Karl A. Smith, Cooperative Learning Professor of Engineering Education, Purdue University; and
Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor and Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering,
University of Minnesota
Friday, January 27
Seminar: "Evidence-Based Practices for Innovative STEM Education" : 10:30 - 11:45 am
Workshop: "Design and Implementation of Active and Cooperative Learning" : 1:30 - 3:30 pm
307 Marvin Center
More info and Registration. . .scroll down to see STEM event)
Entrepreneurship Events
SBIR/STTR Program Overview Webinar
This free webinar session provides an overview of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal grant programs. SBIR and STTR provide $150,000 - $1 million in early stage R&D to test early stage, high risk but high pay off ideas. This session will provide insights into the program, how it works, and how it may fit your funding needs and timelines, and it provides basic tips for more effective participation.
Tuesday, January 24
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Advance registration required.
Contact: Robert Brooke, CIT, 703-689-3080, [email protected]
GW Business Plan Competition Workshop: "Critical Success Factors for Entrepreneurs"
Presenter: Mr. Richard Stroupe (SEAS alumnus)
Thursday, January 26
5:00 pm
453 Duques Hall
This event is free and open to the public. Food and refreshments provided.
Register
Dissertation Defenses
Name of Student Defending: Stephen Fortier
Title of Dissertation: "Defining an Optimal Incident Response Mechanism for Chemical Facilities"
Advisor: Gregory L. Shaw
Tuesday, January 31
10:00 am
1776 G Street, Conference Room 120
Name of Student Defending: James Andrew Pettigrew III
Title of Dissertation: "Decision-Making by Effective Information Security Managers"
Advisor: Julie J.C.H. Ryan
Tuesday, January 31
1:30 pm
1776 G Street, Conference Room 120