Faculty News
Research:
On July 6, the National Science Foundation awarded GW $949,196 as a supplement to its existing Scholarships for Service (SFS) grant. This will allow GW to add another cohort of students from community colleges in the DC metropolitan area to its existing SFS program cohort. GW will work with Prince George’s, Northern Virginia, and Anne Arundel Community Colleges to recruit and educate five full-time students from these institutions, and, after a year of specialized learning and enrichment activities, bring them to GW. Here, they will integrate into existing GW academic programs and the current SFS cohort, graduate with a baccalaureate or master’s degree, and move on to serve government employers as cybersecurity professionals. The program is administered by GW’s Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI). The principal investigator is Prof. Lance Hoffman (CS) and the co-principal investigators are Prof. Rachelle Heller (CS) and Dr. Costis Toregas (CS). July also marks a transition at CSPRI, with Dr. Costis Toregas becoming the sole director while Prof. Lance Hoffman remains there with the title of founder.
Media Mentions:
Smithsonian Magazine quoted Prof. Megan Leftwich (MAE) in the June 29 article “How Do Sea Lions Swim, Glide, and Sometimes Even Nab Humans?’’
Publications:
Prof. Russell Hemley (CEE) and his colleagues have published the following article: R. Vadapoo, M. Ahart, M. Somayazulu, N. Holtgrewe, Y. Meng, Z. Konopkova, R. J. Hemley,and R. E. Cohen. “Synthesis of a polar ordered oxynitride perovskite,” Physical Review B (2017). The article describes the successful high-pressure synthesis of a novel ferroelectric material that had been predicted by theoretical calculations. The work was funded in part by the Capital/DOE Alliance Center (CDAC) that is now being run from GW, and the second and third authors—Muhtar Ahart and Maddury Somayazulu—are CDAC Research Scientists who will be joining GW this year.
Dr. Stephen Kaisler (CS, adjunct professor) recently published Volume 2 of the Historical Computing Machines series, titled Birthing the Computer: From Drums to Cores. The publisher is Cambridge Scholars Publishing of Newcastle-on-Type, England. This volume covers multiple machines from the mid- to late-1950s.
Conferences & Presentations:
Prof. Michael Keidar (MAE) recently gave two presentations. He gave the keynote talk “Flight experiment and recent development in micro-cathode arc technology for CubeSat propulsion” at the International Workshop on Cubesats and Propulsion, held June 24-28 in Bari, Italy; and he gave an invited talk, titled “Plasma cancer medicine” at the Eighth International Symposium on Plasma Nanoscience, held July 2-6 at Antwerp University, in Antwerp, Belgium.
Prof. Tianshu Li (CEE) recently gave two invited talks: 1) “Roles of surface on heterogeneous ice nucleation: From surface chemistry to surface topography,” at the Gordon Research Conferences on Crystal Growth & Assembly, held June 25-30 at the University of New England, ME; and 2) “New molecular insights into the nucleation of ice and clathrate hydrate,” Clathrate Hydrates Fundamentals: Bridging Molecular Structures to Microscopic Properties and Behavior, held June 20-24 at the Telluride Science Research Center, CO.
Other News:
The Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) invited Prof. Ken Chong (MAE) to a June 15 site visit of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, preceded by two days of panel meetings. The purpose of the visit was for “collegial exchange and discussion” with faculty and students on their research activities and on other areas of common concern. The visit began with a briefing by President Tim Tong, formerly the dean of GW-SEAS. One of the highlights was the report that the university’s external research grants jumped from US$150 million in 2011-2012 to US$253 million in 2015-2016. The University has a special niche in applied or translational research in the following areas: biomedical research, health care, safety (in food, disasters, mega-structures, etc.), transportation, aviation, aerospace engineering, and sustainable development. Their research includes some collaborative research with US professors.
Correction: The previous issue of the SEAS newsletter incorrectly reported that Dr. Zhongyuan Liu, who was mentioned as a team member in the June 20 Tech Briefs article “Super-Strong ‘Glassy Carbon’ is Elastic and Electric,” is a newly-appointed research associate professor. That is incorrect. The newly appointed CEE faculty member is Dr. Zhenxian Liu.
Other News
SEAS alumnus Dr. Philip Perconti was named director of the Army Research Lab last month. Dr. Perconti received his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from GW.
SEAS Events
Traffic and Granular Flow Conference (TGF17)
Wednesday – Saturday, July 19-22
TGF17 will be hosted at GW and chaired by Prof. Samer Hamdar (CEE). All details of the conference can be found on the conference website.
Entrepreneurship Events
Seed Spot Demo Day: Showcasing DC’s Social Entrepreneurs
Thursday, July 13
6:00 pm
Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW, Washington, DC
Tickets
Meet the Ventures
Information Session: Innovation and Entrepreneurship at GW
Wednesday, August 9
12:00 – 1:00 pm
45085 University Drive
Innovation Hall, Room 121
Ashburn, VA 20147
RSVP
Lex McCusker, director of Student Entrepreneurship Programs, will give an introduction to the GW New Venture Competition and the wide range of events and support resources that are available to all GW students. This information session is for anyone who wishes to learn about transforming a great idea into a product, service, or venture that can make a real difference in the world. Come learn what GW has to offer to help make you more innovative!
Introduction to I-Corps Course
Start date: Monday, August 14
Apply
This program will help determine the business model and commercialization path for anyone working on an innovative idea or project, and it will open up significant non-dilutive funding opportunities. GW recently received an NSF I-Corps Site Award, which allows the university to fund participating teams up to $3,000 in this I-Corps course. The site grants, which are available only to GW students and faculty, are useful even for those who have participated in GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship programs before. The $3,000 grant will support more extensive and ambitious customer discovery and can further validate the business model. Non-GW students and faculty are welcome to apply to the program without the funding.
Research Events
Post-Award Grant Development Boot Camp
Thursday, July 13
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Marvin Center, Room 403
More information
RSVP
NCURA Region II Traveling Workshop: Building Blocks for Research Administrators
Tuesday, July 18
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Marvin Center, Room 309
Fee is $175 for the session
More information
NCURA Region II Traveling Workshop: Contracts: Common Issues and Best Practices for All Sponsor Types
Wednesday, July 19
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Marvin Center, Room 309
Fee is $175 for the session.
More information
IRB Training Series: Institutional Authorization Agreements
Wednesday, July 19
12:00 noon – 1:00 pm
Via WebEx
For more information, please email [email protected]
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) certificates and credits are available for attendees.
Proposal Budget Training
Thursday, July 27
10:00 – 11:30 am
Marvin Center, Room 310
No RSVP required.
More information