Faculty News
Awards & Honors:
On February 25, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) announced its newly elected Class of 2021 Honorary Fellows and Fellows. Dr. Keidar (MAE) has been elected a Fellow. AIAA confers the distinction of Fellow upon individuals in recognition of their notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics and astronautics. Since the inception of this honor, 1,980 distinguished persons have been elected as a Fellow. The induction ceremony for the new Honorary Fellows and Fellows will take place later this year.
Publications:
Dr. David Nagel (ECE) and Faisal Mohd-Yasin have published the following paper in the online, open access, refereed journal Sensors: F. Mohd-Yasin and D. J. Nagel, “Noise as Diagnostic Tool for Quality and Reliability of MEMS,” Vol. 21, paper 1510 (2021). Faisal, who received his MS degrees at GW, is now a senior lecturer in Griffith University (Queensland, Australia).
Dr. Chung Hyuk Park (BME) has published two papers in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, one with his former postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Juyoun Park, and another with his former postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Jaeyeon Lee and his collaborators at Southern Methodist University. The citations are: 1) J. Park and C. H. Park, “Recognition and Prediction of Surgical Actions Based on Online Robotic Tool Detection,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3060410; and 2) J. Lee, X. Zhang, C. H. Park and M. Kim, “Real-time Teleoperation of Magnetic Force-driven Microrobots with 3D Haptic Force Feedback for Micro-navigation and Micro-transportation,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3060708.
Dr. Vesna Zderic (BME) has published two papers with her former students Ivan Suarez, Tania Singh, Bianca Karpinecz, and Natalie Edwards, and with collaborators. The citations are: 1) I. Suarez-Castellanos, T. Singh, D. Chatterjee Bhowmick, J. Cohen, A. Jeremic, and V. Zderic, “Effect of Therapeutic Ultrasound on the Release of Insulin, Glucagon, and Alpha-Amylase from Ex Vivo Pancreatic Models,” Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. Published February 17, 2021 (online ahead of print). doi: 10.1002/jum.15661; and 2) B. Karpinecz, N. Edwards, and V. Zderic, “Therapeutic Ultrasound-Enhanced Transcorneal PHMB Delivery In Vitro,” Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine. Published January 25, 2021. doi: 10.1002/jum.15641.
Media Mentions:
Vice featured research conducted by Dr. Aylin Caliskan (CS) in the February 22 article “Sexist AI is Even More Sexist Than We Thought.”
The February 23 Washington Business Journal article “SoftBank-backed Arlington driver safety startup to partner with GWU on software development” featured the partnership between Dr. Samer Hamdar (CEE) and local company Moment AI.
On February 23, Dr. John Helveston (EMSE) gave a radio interview with the South Korean radio program “tbs eFM This Morning” about Apple's attempt to enter the automotive industry. A recording of the interview is available online.
Other News:
Dr. Volker Sorger (ECE) has been invited to join the editorial board of OPTICA as an associate editor. OPTICA is the top journal in the field of optics and photonics with an Impact Factor of 10. As the flagship journal of The Optical Society (OSA), it has a reach of 26,000 members worldwide.
SEAS Events Re-cap
In celebration of Engineers Week, the SEAS Engineers’ Council hosted a virtual Student-Professor Awards Ceremony on February 26 to recognize the achievements of our SEAS faculty and students. Congratulations to the SEAS faculty members who received awards:
Professor of the Year Awards:
- BME: Dr. Jason Zara
- CEE: Dr. Zhengtian Xu
- CS: Dr. Gabriel Parmer
- ECE: Dr. Shahrokh Ahmadi
- EMSE: Dr. Tom Mazzuchi
- MAE: Dr. Peng Wei
Teaching Excellence Award: Dr. Amir Aslani (ECE) and Dr. Megan Leftwich (MAE)
Best Virtual Learning Experience Award: Dr. Matthew Kay (BME)
Upcoming SEAS Events
BME Seminar: “Human iPSC-based Microphysiological Systems for Disease Modeling, Drug Screening and Space Biology”
Speaker: Dr. Deok-Ho Kim, Johns Hopkins University
Wednesday, March 3
11:00 am – 12:00 pm (ET)
WebEx link
CSPRI Dialog # 3: “Block Chain and Disaster Risk Reduction”
Tuesday March 9
8:00 – 9:00 am (ET)
Register
The GW Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) continues its webinar series on the intersect of blockchain and disaster risk reduction, which is a discipline primarily focused on delivering operational activities on the ground ahead of, during, and after manmade or natural disasters. Many of the researchers active in the field may not have the time or inclination to explore how breakthrough technologies, such as blockchain, can support their work. Creating research agendas and papers at the intersection of these two disciplines is a task in itself. This webinar addresses incentives and barriers that face scientists on both sides of the issue, i.e., blockchain and disaster risk reduction. Discussants this month include researchers from GW, as well as Colombia and France. The process to support publications of shared research in Frontiers in Blockchain will also be highlighted.
ECE Seminar: “Bayesian Learning for Autonomous Decision-Making”
Speaker: Dr. Alec Koppel, Research Scientist, US Army Research Laboratory
Tuesday, March 9
10:00 am (ET)
WebEx link
This seminar will be hosted by Dr. Mahdi Imani (ECE). It will count towards the department’s colloquium requirements.
WiE Webinar: “The Biomechanics of Human Birth”
Speaker: Dr. Megan Leftwich (MAE)
Wednesday, March 10
12:00 - 1:00 pm (ET)
Register
Join the SEAS Center for Women in Engineering (WiE) for a discussion on the biomechanics of human birth. Giving birth is a common, everyday occurrence and yet, from a bioengineering framework, not much is known about fundamental forces during labor and delivery. Due to the significant challenges of studying birth in vivo, and because of limited previous analysis, there is a great benefit to building synthetic, simplified models for experiments. With these robust models, we can simulate a variety of labor and delivery scenarios to understand fundamental mechanics and to discover relationships between geometry, birthing fluid properties, and delivery forces. By understanding the biomechanics of late stage labor and delivery, it may be possible to recognize when these mechanics fail, preventing vaginal delivery or causing preterm birth.
CS Lecture: “The Magic of Immersive AR Experiences”
Speaker: David Thompson, creative director and co-founder of Balti Virtual
Thursday, March 11
5:00 – 6:00 pm (ET)
Online lecture
David Thompson, creative director of Balti Virtual (BV), will give a brief overview of where the industry is today and what the future holds for this technology, and he will present some of the work on BV's new AR Platform HypARlinks. HypARlinks can be used for AR entertainment, e-commerce, education, and more! David will explore the challenges of building content for the different file formats needed for AR, discuss the pipeline involved, demonstrate the easy process for creating a HypARlink, and showcase some of Balti Virtual's latest work. This event is a special topic lecture for the Course CSCI 6907 Augmented and Virtual Reality. To attend, please RSVP to Dr. Hurriyet Ok by March 10.
BME Seminar: “High-density EEG, Robotic Lower Limb Exoskeletons, and Bionic Prostheses”
Speaker: Dr. Daniel Ferris, University of Florida
Wednesday, April 7
11:00 am – 12:00 pm (ET)
WebEx link
Entrepreneurship News & Events
GW Innovation Center Events
GWIC Spring 2021—We’re OPEN!
Bring your ideas and questions to the Innovation Center. We are here to help you with a range of expertise, from 3D modeling to equitable venture plans and human-centered design.
M06 Virtual Hours
Mondays 6:00 – 7:00 pm (ET) and Wednesdays 1:00 – 2:00 pm (ET)
GWIC student fellows, Phoenix Price, Isabelle Carney, and Jamie Horowitz, will host virtual office hours to assist in making, design, and social impact project development.
Virtual Mentor Hours with Innovation Center Co-directors
Fridays 12:00 – 1:30 pm (ET): GWIC Founder and SEAS Chief Evangelist, Annamaria Konya Tannon
Thursdays, 1:00 – 2:00 pm (ET): GWIC Co-director, Erica Cusi Wortham
For details and links, please visit the GWIC Events Page and Instagram @gwinnovationcenter.
GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Events:
2021 GW New Venture Competition Workshop: “How to Pitch to an Investor”
Monday, March 8
2:00 – 3:30pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later.)
Pitching your business idea can be tough. Whether you are trying to win a business model competition or persuade prospective funder to support a venture, it’s crucial to articulate a concise yet compelling and interesting story about your venture: the “pitch deck.” Learn the Five Big Things about your strategy that must be covered as well as the key elements of a good deck. We’ll also cover the best practices to help you nail your presentation!
Pitch Deck Design Workshop
Tuesday, March 9 | 5:00 – 6:00 pm or
Thursday, March 18 | 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later.)
Learn more about the design do's and don'ts, tips and tricks for best-in-class slide design, and how to create an engaging slide deck that will interest any audience and help reinforce your pitch presentation in class, at work, or pitching for investment or at a competition.
Introduction to Lean Innovation Session
Friday, March 12
1:00 – 3:30 pm
Register (A virtual room link will be sent to you later.)
Do you hope to solve a global problem, start a new business, develop a new product, or simply have an idea? We’re inviting the entire GW community to attend a half-day introductory workshop, offered monthly every 3rd Friday, to learn how savvy innovators start the process.
External Events
Save the Date: GW Digital Health Summit
Wednesday, April 14 – Friday, April 16
GW will host its inaugural Digital Health Summit focused on the acceleration of digital technologies in health care and the implications for health care and academic environments alike. Presentations and discussions will focus on the state of the science, innovation and development with digital health technologies, as well as the gaps and opportunities that exist. The multi-day summit will focus each day on a key topic related to digital health: Day 1: Educational Needs; Day 2: Emerging Tech; and Day 3: Use of Tech. The summit will be hosted by GW’s: School of Nursing, SEAS, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Office of the Vice President for Research, and Medical Faculty Associates.
GW Undergraduate Series: “Climate Crisis: An Exhibition in-development at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum”
Thursday, March 4
3:00 – 4:00 pm (ET)
Register (Students must register in advance using their GW email address. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.)
To invoke the word “crisis” is to stake out a strong position in presenting the topic of climate change and its increasing impacts on life on our home planet. In the face of such destabilizing change, what actions might we take, whether at global or local scales? What conceptual tools might we need? What responsibilities do we have to fellow humans and to the planet? In particular, what responsibilities does the Smithsonian have as one of our nation’s preeminent science and cultural institutions in presenting this topic to diverse national and international audiences? This presentation will bring you into the exhibit team’s work, our choices, and the special place of exhibitions in stimulating public dialogue on a vital contemporary issue. Dr. Martin Collins, curator of the National Air and Space Museum’s Department of Space History, will present. Dr. Rachel Riedner, associate dean of undergraduate studies, will moderate the discussion. This session is part of the GW Undergraduate Series, “Can't Get to DC Museums, Historical Sites, and Political Institutions? We will bring them to you!”
GW Research Showcase (formerly GW Research Days)
Monday, April 12 – Friday, April 16
Presenting at GW Research Showcase is a résumé-worthy opportunity for students to receive feedback on their projects, hone their presentation skills, and compete for prizes. This year’s event will be held virtually. All students and trainees are invited to submit their abstracts, which are due by 11:55 pm on Tuesday, March 2.
WOWTALKS:
The WOWTALK (What’s Our Work) Series brings together colleagues and students from disciplines associated with GW's Science and Engineering Hall—and related fields—to present new research and share ideas. These short talks (15 minutes each) are designed to introduce members of the GW community to current and exciting research projects, to initiate discussion, collaborate, share expertise, and promote research performed in the SEH and at GW. Students are welcome to attend. All WOWTALK sessions will be held via Zoom.
WOWTALK XXI
Wednesday, March 3
4:00 pm (ET)
Zoom link will be made available later
Speakers:
Zhenyu Li - Biomedical Engineering
Dale Lupu - The End of the Story Matters: Implementing supportive (palliative) care for people with kidney disease
Mark Reeves - Physics
WOWTALK XXII
Wednesday, April 7
4:00 pm (ET)
Zoom link will be made available later
Speakers:
Dwight Kravitz - Psychological and Brain Sciences
David Nagel - Electrical and Computer Engineering
Diana Pardo Pedraza - Anthropology
GW Career Center Events & Services:
Virtual coaching appointments available: Make your appointment with Dr. Merrill, the STEM industry coach. If you need tips on the virtual job search or virtual Interviewing or would like to work on your career strategy, spruce up your resume, or land an internship, make a virtual coaching appointment with her in Handshake or email her for more information.
Technical interview preparation: If you have a technical interview coming up, sign-up for the new technical interview slots in Handshake! See tips for technical interviews in Handshake Article # 18641, Technical Interview Tips.
Dissertation Defenses
Student Name: Yuan Le
Title: “Back-Pressure Based Throughput Enhancement Algorithms for Cognitive Radio Networks”
Advisor: Dr. Xiuzhen Cheng (CS); Presiding: Dr. Hyeong-Ah Choi (CS)
Monday, March 15
10:00 am – 12:00 pm (ET)
Webex link
Student Name: Shang Zhao
Title: “Machine Learning in Augmented Reality for Medical Training: An Intelligent Training Framework”
Advisor: Dr. James Hahn (CS); Presiding: Dr. Abdou Youssef (CS)
Monday, March 29 (ET)
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Webex link