Editor's note: The SEAS newsletter will be published on a bi-weekly basis during the summer.
Faculty News
Research:
Profs. Gabriel Parmer and Poorvi Vora (both of CS) have been awarded a $99,673 National Science Foundation grant. The research project will apply principles from operating system design to the development of secure bulletin boards for voting. The PIs are excited about the possibility of applying this new approach to their voting system, which is being considered for use by the City of Takoma Park, MD, for its November municipal election.
Media Mentions:
Prof. Julie Ryan (EMSE chair) was quoted in "Cybercrime Surveys Aren't Telling Us What We Need to Know," an article in the June 28 issue of the MIT publication Technology Review. (Note: a log-in is required to access the article).
Books & Papers:
Prof. Howard Eisner (EMSE) recently had a new book, Systems Engineering: Building Successful Systems (ISBN: 978-1-60845-701-4), published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
Prof. Tianshu Li (CEE) has co-authored the following paper with his collaborators at UC Davis: T. Anh Pham, Tianshu Li, Sadasivan Shankar, Francois Gygi, and Giulia Galli, "Microscopic modeling of the dielectric properties of silicon nitride," Physical Review B 84, 045308 (2011).
Prof. Chunlei Liang (MAE) has co-authored: E. Konstantinidis and C. Liang, "Dynamic response of a turbulent cylinder wake to sinusoidal inflow perturbations across the vortex lock-on range," Physics of Fluids, Vol. 23, 075102, (2011). The co-author, Dr. Konstantinidis, is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, Greece.
Prof. Julie Ryan's (MAE chair) edited book, Leading Issues in Information Warfare & Security Research, has been published by Academic Publishing International. A synopsis of the book is presented here:
"As virtually every aspect of society becomes increasingly dependent on information and communications technology, so our vulnerability to attacks on this technology increases. This is a major theme of this collection of leading-edge research papers. At the same time there is another side to this issue: if the technology can be used against society by the purveyors of malware etc., then technology may also be used positively in the pursuit of society's objectives. Specific topics in the collection include cryptography and steganography, cyber antagonism, information sharing between government and industry as a weapon, terrorist use of the Internet, and war and ethics in cyberspace, to name just a few. The papers in this book take a wide ranging look at the more important issues surrounding the use of information and communication technology as it applies to the security of vital systems that can have a major impact on the functionality of our society. This book includes leading contributions to research in this field from nine different countries and an introduction to the subject by Professor Julie Ryan from George Washington University in the USA."
Conferences & Presentations:
Prof. Ken Chong (MAE) gave a lecture last week on nuclear power plant mechanics, safety, and research challenges at the Northwestern University Summer Institute on Nanomechanics, Nanomaterials and Manufacturing. The theme for this year is energy. The Summer Institute is open to all faculty members and fellowships are available.
Prof. Howard Eisner (EMSE) presented a half-day tutorial, "Thinking Outside the Box - in Systems Engineering and Integration," at the 21st Annual INCOSE International Symposium June 20-23, in Denver, CO.
Prof. Michael Plesniak (MAE chair) has attended a number of conferences and workshops this summer. He attended the 41st AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference and Exhibit, June 27-30,in Honolulu, HI, where he co-organized invited Multiphase Flow sessions and led the session-concluding open floor discussion. He also chaired two sessions at the conference: 45-FD-11 Physiological and Multi-phase Flows, and 182-TFM-22/CFD-40/ FD-44 Multiphase Flow II (Invited). Prof. Plesniak also was an invited participant at the NSF-sponsored Workshop for Developing and Sustaining Productive Graduate Research Groups in Engineering, held July 11-12, in Arlington VA. Finally, he participated in the Workshop on Resonance, Flexibility and Bio-propulsion on July 14, at Princeton University.
Other News
On July 13, the "kick-off" event for the LMI-GW MOU was held in the Dean's Conference room. The Logistic Management Institute (LMI) awarded $36,000 as LMI Summer 2011 fellowships for Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE) doctoral student research. Selected as LMI Summer 2011 Fellows were Irina Payosova, Phillip Schrader, and Emmanuel Donkor (sitting in photo from left to right) conducting research related to their respective topics:
1. Net zero water and energy-efficient water supply in an urban setting.
2. Analysis of cost risk for the growth stage of the production of algal biofuels.
3. Optimal capital structure of project financed infrastructure investments: a chance constrained formulation.
Standing from left to right are: Julie Ryan (GW), Jonathan Deason (GW), Kristin Cheman (LMI), William Moore (LMI), Amita Singh (LMI), David Gallay (LMI), Dean Dolling and Rene van Dorp (GW).
The LMI-GW MOU serves as a three-year agreement to collaborate on and promote joint capabilities related to various research projects of interest to LMI and GW and funded as student fellowships under LMI's Academic Partnership Programs. These fellowships will provide support for research on topics that align with LMI's strategic plan and key initiatives. The program and this collaboration are intended to accomplish the following:
- Build and enhance strategic partnerships between LMI and GW faculty
- Leverage the academic expertise of GW to accelerate R&D and support a strong technology base
- Provide access to cutting-edge research performed at GW in areas aligned to LMI's program groups and client needs
- Grow and enable LMI and GW talent in new and existing research areas
- Introduce leading GW university faculty and students to LMI and its mission
SEAS Events
MAE Seminar: "Recent Developments in the Viscous Flux Formulations for the High Order Spectral Volume Navier Stokes Solver"
Ravi Kannan, Research Engineer, CFD Research Corporation
Monday, September 12
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall
More info . . .
MAE Seminar: "Intelligent Continuum Surgical Slaves"
Nabil Simaan, Vanderbilt University
Monday, September 26
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall
More info . . .
MAE Seminar: "A Kalman/Particle Filter-Based Position and Orientation Estimation Method Using a Position Sensor/Inertial Measurement Unit Hybrid System"
William Melek, University of Waterloo (Canada)
Thursday, October 27
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall
Dissertation Defenses
Name of Student Defending: Erkinay Abliz
Title of Dissertation: "Sub-micron Particles to Activate Photodynamic Therapy Agents within Deep-seated Targets"
Advisor: Prof. Jason Zara (ECE)
Friday, July 29
3:30 pm
640 Phillips Hall