Faculty News
Research:
Drs. Michael Plesniak (MAE), Lijie “Grace” Zhang (MAE), and Kartik Bulusu (MAE) have received a three-year, $599,000 National Science Foundation grant for the project “Impact of Curvature-Induced Secondary Flows on Mechanotransduction and Cell Biochemical Signaling in 3D Bioprinted Artery Models with Physiological Inflow.” The objective of this project is to study how arterial lining cells respond to complex flows, such as those that occur in various parts of the vasculature (e.g., regions of curvature, constrictions, branching) and induce forces that are transmitted to the endothelial cells. By integrating two approaches from different disciplines the team will be able to examine the cause and effect between the complex blood flow and the resulting cell response. Dr. Plesniak is the principal investigator on the grant.
Publications:
Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) has published the following article: D. A. Broniatowski. “Communicating Meaning in the Intelligence Enterprise,” Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 6, Issue 1.
Dr. Emilia Entcheva (BME) has published a paper with former and current trainees, including current BME doctoral student Julie Han. The citation is: C. M. Ambrosi, G. Sadananda, J. L. Han, and E. Entcheva. “Adeno-Associated Virus Mediated Gene Delivery: Implications for Scalable in vitro and in vivo Cardiac Optogenetic Models,” Frontiers in Physiology. March 5, 2019.
Dr. Michael Keidar (MAE) has published an invited topical review with his colleagues:K. Bazaka, J.W. Lim, O. Baranov, C. Corbella, S. Xu, I. Levchenko, and M. Keidar. “MoS2–based nanostructures: synthesis and applications in medicine,” Journal of Physics D. Applied Physics, 52 183001, 2019.
Dr. Kausik Sarkar (MAE) has published a paper with doctoral students Mitra Aliabouzar and Krishna Nandan Kumar: M. Aliabouzar, K. N. Kumar, and K. Sarkar. “Effects of droplet size and perfluorocarbon boiling point on the frequency dependence of acoustic vaporization threshold,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145, 1105-1116.
Dr. Volker Sorger (ECE) has published the following paper: R. Maiti, R. A. Hemnani, R. Amin, Z. Ma, M. H. Tahersima, T. A. Empante, H. Dalir, R. Agarwal, L. Bartels, and V. J. Sorger. “A semi-empirical integrated microring cavity approach for 2D material optical index identification at 1.55 μm,” Nanophotonics, Vol. 8, Issue 3.
Conferences & Presentations:
Dr. Tianshu Li (CEE) was invited to the University of Maryland’s Institute for Physical Science and Technology, where he gave the seminar “Complex roles of surface in heterogeneous ice nucleation: chemistry, geometry and confinement” on March 12.
Dr. Ekundayo Shittu (EMSE) represented GW at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Council of Sponsoring Institutions on March 4-6. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Ensuring a Robust U.S. Energy Future.” ORAU provides innovative scientific and technical solutions to advance research and education, protect public health and the environment, and strengthen national security. Through specialized teams of experts, unique laboratory capabilities, and access to a consortium of more than 100 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and commercial customers to advance national priorities and serve the public interest.
Dr. Volker Sorger (ECE) gave an invited talk at the Optical Society’s OFC conference, held March 3-7 in San Diego, CA. The talk was titled “A Guide for Material and Design Choices for Electrooptic Modulators.” While in California, he gave two additional talks, both on March 1. At Stanford University, he presented an invited talk at the ARO workshop on Attojoule photonics, and at HP labs in Palo Alto, CA, he presented the talk “Integrated Photonic Technologies for Attojoule Optoelectronics and Neuromorphic Information Processing.”
Dr. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE) completed an IEEE Distinguished Lecture Tour of Australia the week of March 11. The title of his lecture was “The Evolution of Data Center Network Architectures.” He gave lectures arranged by the following IEEE chapters: New South Wales (Wollongong, March 12, and Sydney, March 13), South Australia (Adelaide, March 14), and Victoria (Melbourne, March 15).
Media Mentions:
Research conducted by Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) on the impact that social media bots and Russian trolls have had on vaccine discussions on Twitter was mentioned in a Fox affiliates news piece.
Dr. Claire Silverstein (visiting assistant professor, CEE) was quoted in the March 13 WTOP-FM (online) article “George Washington U. team wins DC funding for traffic app."
Other News:
On March 14, Mr. Alex Beehler (former research professor, EMSE), who spent the last three years with the SEAS Environmental and Energy Management Institute, was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. In this position, Mr. Beehler has responsibility for policy and oversight of all sustainability and environmental operations of the most impactful organization in the world. Mr. Beehler is pictured (center) in this photo with former Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Bob Dawson (left) and Dr. Jonathan Deason (EMSE).
During March 8-15, Mr. Joe Cascio (co-director, Environmental and Energy Management Institute) served as judge for the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards, which honor individuals, teams, and installations for their continued commitment to protecting irreplaceable resources and ensuring the availability of land, water, and airspace necessary to sustain military readiness. The awards recognize efforts to ensure mission accomplishment and the protection of human health in the areas of environmental planning, waste management, and compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
Dr. Guru Venkataramani (ECE) and his colleague, Dr. Patrick Schaumont (Virginia Tech), recently published a report on the National Science Foundation (NSF) Workshop on Side and Covert Channels in Computing Systems, which they chaired in March 2018. On March 11 of this year, the report was highlighted in the Computing Community Consortium blog article “NSF Workshop Report on Side and Covert Channels in Computing Systems.”
Student News
Dr. Payman Dehghanian (ECE) and his students at the GW SmartGrid Lab attended the 10th IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies-North America (ISGT-NA), held February 18-21 in Washington, DC. At the conference, Mr. Shiyuan Wang presented the following paper: S. Wang, P. Dehghanian, M. Alhazmi, J. Su, and B. Shinde. “Resilience-Assured Protective Control of DC/AC Inverters under Unbalanced and Fault Scenarios.” Dr. Dehghanian’s students actively participated and served as organizing volunteers at the conference.
GW undergraduate students Michael Degaga (BME), Christianne Chua (BME), and Sarah Schrup (Physics) and BME doctoral students Weizhen Li and Julie Han presented their work at the Annual Biophysical Society Meeting, held March 2-6 in Baltimore, MD. Their work was supported by federal grants and the SUPER summer program, sponsored by SEAS. Their posters include: 1) C. Chua, J. L. Han, W. Li, and E. Entcheva. “Engineered live 3D “spark-cell” structures for all-optical pacing of heart tissue;” 2) M. Degaga, J. L. Han, W. Li, and E. Entcheva. “Chronic measurements of stimulated calcium transients with genetically-encoded calcium indicator and all-optical cardiac electrophysiology;” 3) S. Schrup, C. M. Ambrosi, M. Hadley, A. Villagra, and E. Entcheva. “In vitro evaluation of cardiotoxicity on human induced pluripotent stem cell-eerived cardiomyocytes after treatment with histone dacetylase inhibitors;” and 4) W. Li and E. Entcheva. “Syncytium cell growth is required for mature phenotype and IK1 contribution in human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CMs).” The students all work in the laboratory of Dr. Emilia Entcheva (BME).
The 2019 World Bank Group's Young Women in Technology (WITY) summer internship program offers practical, guided, hands-on exposure and involvement in corporate IT projects. The program is designed to enhance the educational experience of college students and help establish a future pipeline of entry level IT workers from diverse backgrounds. The application deadline is April 7.
Other News
CS Summer Classes: Expand your skills in computer science through a CS Summer 2019 Online Class. Online class options include: CSCI 1111 – Introduction to Software Development; CSCI 1112 – Algorithms and Data Structures; and CSCI 2113 – Software Engineering. Classes start May 20. Registration is now open. For more information, please contact the CS department at [email protected] or 202-994-7181.
SEAS Computing Facility
MATLAB and SolidWorks tutoring: MATLAB and SolidWorks tutoring will be offered throughout the spring semester on Mondays from 8:00 to 10:00 pm in Tompkins 401. To schedule a tutoring appointment, please email [email protected]. The workshops and tutoring will be hosted by SEAS senior Keily Gleason.
Engineering Software installation on personal computers: Most engineering programs installed in the SEAS Computing Labs—including MATLAB, SolidWorks, and others—are available for install on students’ personal computers. For a complete list of applications, please visit the SEAS Computing Facility website.
Upcoming SEAS Events
CS Internet Distinguished Speaker Series: “Vint Cerf: The Unfinished Internet”
Speaker: Vint Cerf
Tuesday, March 19
7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm)
MPA Building, Jack Morton Auditorium
Registration required
Join us for an exciting talk by Vint Cerf, a "Father of the Internet" and the recipient of both the National Medal of Technology and the Turing Award. He will discuss the origins of the internet and his vision for its future, and a Q&A session will follow. Light refreshments will be served after the talk. This event is open to the public and is part of the CS Department's Internet Distinguished Speaker Series, in collaboration with the GW chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery.
4th Annual GW Women in Engineering Professional Development Event: “Navigating Your Career”
Wednesday, March 27
6:00 – 9:00 pm
Marvin Center, Grand Ball Room
RSVP
This interactive professional development event brings together female SEAS students and alumnae to discuss how to successfully navigate a career in engineering.
GW COMPASS GALA
Thursday, March 28
5:30 – 8:30 pm
SEH, Lehman Auditorium and Green Wall
Register
The GW COMPASS GALA is the premier STEM networking event hosted at GW. The GALA provides GW STEM graduate students and community members with an opportunity to network with representatives from local organizations, gaining insight into the diverse careers available to STEM professionals. Prior to the networking reception, a protocol officer will host a one-hour briefing on networking tips and tricks to help attendees navigate the room with ease. Space is limited; appetizers and beverages will be provided at this premier event. Alcohol will be available via the drink ticket system for individuals 21 and over with a valid, government-issued ID.
Entrepreneurship News & Events
Collegiate Inventors Competition: Enter the 2019 Collegiate Inventors Competition, and take the opportunity to bring national attention to your work, gain valuable feedback from the National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees, and compete for cash and prizes. Submissions close Friday, June 7. Learn more and get started on your applications today.
GW Technology Commercialization Office 2019 Innovation Competition: Call for Technologies and Poster Session Participants
Tuesday, April 16
1:00 – 5:30 pm
SEH, Lehman Auditorium
Register
The GW Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) is showcasing promising and impactful GW research with commercial potential. This event provides a forum for idea sharing between GW researchers, entrepreneurs, and members of the venture community. Finalists will pitch their technologies for a chance to win $30,000 in prizes for the development of a prototype or proof-of-concept! All are welcome to attend the event, but GW researchers must confirm their eligibility to participate in the competition with TCO by March 4. In brief, participants must have an unlicensed invention disclosed to TCO. Email TCO to disclose your invention today (teams must include a GW inventor)!
GW New Venture Competition Finals
Thursday, April 18
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Media & Public Affairs Building, Jack Morton Auditorium
Register Here
Nine teams take the stage to vie for over $300K in funding and support at the 11th Annual GW New Venture Competition. Who will take the prize this year at the largest business planning competition in the DC area?
Dissertation Defenses
Student Name: Hanan Aldarmaki
Dissertation Title: “Cross-Lingual Alignment of Word & Sentence Embeddings”
Advisor: Dr. Mona Diab (CS)
Monday, March 18
2:30 – 4:00 pm
SEH, 2990