June 1-14, 2020

The May 14 GW Today article “SEAS Researcher Developing Air Filters That Could Trap COVID-19 Virus” features the research of Dr. Danmeng Shuai (CEE), which aims to use electrospinning techniques to create microscopically fine mesh for use in PPE and other filtration systems. Dr. Shuai received a National Science Foundation RAPID grant to support this project.

The National Science Foundation featured Dr. Michael Keidar’s (MAE) plasma brush research in its May 29 article, “Professor Developing Medical Equipment Decontamination System to Battle COVID-19.” Dr. Keidar received a National Science Foundation RAPID grant to support this project.

Time quoted Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) in the May 18 article “There Isn't a COVID-19 Vaccine Yet. But Some Are Already Skeptical About It.”

Dr. Xitong Liu (CEE) has received a one-year, $42,380 GW Cross-Disciplinary Research Fund grant to work on the project “Elucidating the Role of Organic Matter in Regulating Nucleation and Growth of Mineral Scales.” This project is in collaboration with Dr. Xiangyun Qiu (Department of Physics). The formation of mineral scales on surfaces poses a technological challenge to water treatment and many industrial processes. This work will investigate the role of natural organic matter and synthetic polymers in regulating the formation of mineral scales using X-ray and neutron scattering technique. Dr. Liu’s graduate student Yarong Qi will work on this project.

Dr. Ekundayo Shittu (EMSE) has received a six-month, $40,000 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) award for his project “Functional Requirements of an Advanced Nuclear Reactor and Energy Storage IES.” UT-Battelle Integrated Energy Systems (IES) may feature the coupling of advanced nuclear reactors with various energy storage options and variable renewable energy sources. The work will contribute toward quantifying how local grid characteristics affect the economic proposition and operational performance of an IES. The synthetic data along with physical models will be used to create a topography describing the system performance under differing grid boundary conditions. Ted Baker (EMSE) is the PhD student working with Dr. Shittu on this project.

The following journal article was published by Dr. Payman Dehghanian (ECE) and GW SmartGrid Lab members: T. Nguyen, S. Wang, M. Alhazmi, M. Nazemi, A. Estebsari, and P. Dehghanian. “Electric Power Grid Resilience to Cyber Adversaries: State of the Art,” IEEE Access, Vol. 8, pp. 87592-87608, 2020.

The collaborative research projects of Dr. Matthew Kay (BME) and Dr. David Mendelowitz (SMHS) to unravel the interaction between the autonomic nervous system and the heart has resulted in two new publications. BME co-authors include Jeannette Rodriguez, John Schloen, Mary Kate Dwyer, and Dr. Kate Schunke. The paper citations are: 1) J. Dyavanapalli, J. Rodriguez, C. Rocha dos Santos, J. B. Escobar, M. K. Dwyer, J. R. Schloen, K. Lee, W. Wolaver, X. Wang, O. Dergacheva, L. C. Michelini, K. J. Schunke, C. F. Spurney, M. W. Kay, and D. Mendelowitz. “Activation of Oxytocin Neurons Improves Cardiac Function in a Pressure-Overload Model of Heart Failure,” JACC: Basic to Translational Science, 2020;5:484–497; and 2) J. Dyavanapalli, A. J. Hora, J. B. Escobar, J. R. Schloen, M. K. R. Dwyer, J. Rodriguez, C. F. Spurney, M. W. Kay, and D. Mendelowitz. “Chemogenetic activation of intracardiac cholinergic neurons improves cardiac function in pressure overload induced heart failure,” American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2020 May 15. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00150.2020. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32412778.

Dr. Ekundayo Shittu (EMSE), his PhD students, Dor Hirsh Bar Gai (EMSE) and Olawale Ogunrinde (EMSE) have published the following paper: D. H. Bar Gai, O. Ogunrinde and E. Shittu. “Self-Reporting Firms: Are Emissions Truly Declining for Improved Financial Performance?,” IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 163-170, doi: 10.1109/EMR.2020.2969405.

Athena, an election tabulation audit approach, was used in the primary election audit of Montgomery County, OH, on May 20. The audit was carried out by Mark Lindeman, director of science and technology policy at the nonpartisan election advocacy nonprofit Verified Voting. Athena (algorithm and software) was developed by Dr. Filip Zagórski (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland), Dr. Poorvi Vora (CS), Neal McBurnett (independent software consultant), and CS undergraduates Grant McClearn and Sarah Morin. The research is/was supported in part by National Science Foundation awards 2015253/1421373.