Faculty News
Publications:
Dr. Lorena Barba (MAE) has published the following paper: L. A. Barba, “Trustworthy computational evidence through transparency and reproducibility,” Computing in Science and Engineering , 23(1):58-64 (2021), IEEE Computer Society.
Dr. Emilia Entcheva (BME) has published a new experimental and computational study with colleagues from Johns Hopkins University (JHU), co-supervising a biomedical engineering PhD student at JHU: G. M. Kostecki, Y. Shi, C. S. Chen, D. H. Reich, E. Entcheva, and L. Tung, “Optogenetic current in myofibroblasts acutely alters electrophysiology and conduction of co-cultured cardiomyocytes,” Scientific Reports, 2021 Feb 24;11(1):4430.
Dr. Ahmed Louri (ECE) and his research team, which includes postdoc Jiajun Li and doctoral students Hao Zhang and Ke Wang, gave three presentations corresponding to three accepted manuscripts (the most accepted manuscripts from a single research group this year) at the 27th IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA), held February 27 - March 3. The presentations include: J. Li, A. Louri, A. Karanth, and R. Bunescu, “CSCNN: Algorithm-hardware Co-design for CNN Accelerators using Centrosymmetric Filters;” 2) J. Li, A. Louri, A. Karanth, and R. Bunescu, “GCNAX: A Flexible and Energy-efficient Accelerator for Graph Convolutional Neural Networks;” and 3) H. Zheng, K. Wang, and A. Louri, “Adapt-NoC: A Flexible Network-on-Chip Design for Heterogeneous Manycore Architecture.” HPCA is the premier and flagship conference on high performance computer architecture with a very low acceptance rate (approximately 20%). The papers introduce seminal works in developing novel and flexible accelerator architectures for efficient machine learning and graph neural networks. The findings will have a far-reaching impact on a number of critical and pervasive machine learning applications, including smart health, autonomous systems, computer vision, robotics, security, and many others. The GW Technology Commercialization Office has filed for patents derived from this work. The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the David and Marilyn Karlgaard Endowment.
Drs. J. Rene van Dorp (EMSE) and Thomas Mazzuchi (EMSE) published a book chapter titled “Three-Point Lifetime Distribution Elicitation for Maintenance Optimization in a Bayesian Context” in the book Expert Judgment in Risk and Decision Analysis, pp 147-177.
Student News
Congratulations and good luck to our SEAS students and faculty who have advanced to the semifinal round of GW’s 2021 New Venture Competition:
- Fluctuology Inc.: Zibo Hu (SEAS PhD '22), Xiangyang Meng
- Herodotus Research and Development: Isabella Elmore (SEAS BS '24), Megann Kramer
- Ophthalmal Health: Alexis Carmine (SEAS BS '24), Jackson Lamb (SEAS BS '24), Brooke Wilson (SEAS BS '24)
- vFitting: Hanhan Zhou (SEAS PhD '23), Dr. Tian Lan (ECE), Dr. Guru Venkataramani (ECE)
- Osean Seafood: Audrey Yang (CCAS BS '21), Aizhan Daniyar (GWSB BS '21), Sabina Sarinzhipova (SEAS BS '21), Wade Kuo, Spencer Hutchins
Clare Booth Luce Research Scholars application deadline: SEAS sophomores, the deadline to apply to be a Clare Booth Luce Research Scholar is Monday, March 22. Details about the program and the application are available on the SEAS website. Please email Dr. Rachelle Heller if you have questions.
Upcoming SEAS Events
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.
CSPRI Webinar: “Building Cybersecurity Resilience”
Speaker: Laura Bate, Senior Director, U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission
Thursday, March 25
12:00 noon (ET)
Register
In March 2020, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission issued a report with 82 recommendations to improve U.S. cybersecurity, including many provisions designed to better enable resilience in the private sector and partnership across sectors. Over the course of the past year, these recommendations have been built into legislation, reflected in executive action, funded through Congressional appropriations, and explored in greater detail in a series of Commission white papers. This discussion will outline the current status of the Commission's work, expand on where the work is headed, and consider what other steps are required to advance cybersecurity resilience in the US. The intent of this and future Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) webinars is to give GW faculty and students glimpses of the vibrant information security and privacy sector in the Washington, DC region and to promote dialog and debate regarding breakthrough initiatives. The potential for support for research or conference papers on related topics will be part of the discussion.
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:
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
George Talks Business
Guest: Kathy J. Warden (GWSB, MBA '99), chairman, CEO, and president of Northrop Grumman Corporation
Monday, March 8
12:30 – 1:15 pm (ET)
Register
SEAS dean, Dr. John Lach, and GWSB dean, Dr. Anuj Mehrotra, will moderate this George Talks Business discussion with Ms. Warden. Topics include the importance of advancing women and underrepresented groups in STEM; increasing gender equity in STEM education and career; and career journey and leadership lessons. The discussion will be live streamed on the GWSB Facebook page and YouTube channel.
GW Undergraduate Series: “How Did You Get That?”
Friday, March 26
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.)
In the late 1990s the National Air and Space Museum collected, by acquisition and by loan, some of the most important astronomical instruments of the modern era. On loan are: William Herschel’s original 20-foot telescope with which he “gauged” the universe; the Newtonian Cage from the 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson that Hubble used to prove that exist external to our Milky Way and they are moving away from one another; an original photodetector from the Kamiokanda neutrino telescope in Japan that was the first to detect neutrinos from a supernova in 1987; and other instruments. David DeVorkin, the senior curator for the history of astronomy at the National Air and Space Museum, will conduct a virtual tour of the gallery showing that “when we acquired new tools of perception, we found that the universe was not what we thought it was.” 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!”
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 Undergraduate Series: “Destination Moon: The National Air and Space Museum's New Look at Lunar Exploration”
Friday, April 16
10:30 – 11:30 am (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.)
In mid-2022, as part of the complete renovation of the National Mall Building, NASM will open Destination Moon, its new exhibition on lunar exploration from ancient dreams to the missions happening today. At its center will be the story of the Cold War Moon race and Project Apollo. Among the key artifacts will be the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule in which Alan Shepard became the first American in space and the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, which carried Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon and back during the first human lunar landing. The latter spacecraft has returned from a national tour that was part of the Destination Moon project. A newly restored, giant mural of a lunar crater painted by famous space artist Chesley Bonestell in 1957 opens the exhibit, and it ends with another giant mural: a panorama of the lunar surface taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts. Hanging overhead are a test vehicle for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2009, and a model of the SLS/Orion vehicle that will launch the Artemis astronauts to the Moon in 2023/24. Michael Neufeld, senior 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.
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 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: Honglu Jiang
Title: “Differentially Private Data Publishing”
Advisor: Dr. Xiuzhen Cheng (CS); Presiding: Dr. Abdou Youssef (CS)
Friday, March 12
9:00 – 11:00 am (ET)
Zoom link
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: Li Li
Title: “Geometric Properties of the Gradient of Loss Functions in Discriminant Deep Neural Networks”
Advisor: Dr. Miloš Doroslovački (ECE)
Monday, March 15
2:00 – 4:00 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