Faculty News
Research:
Dr. Ahmed Louri (ECE) has been awarded a three-year $1.1 million National Science Foundation grant for the project “Photonic Neural Network Accelerator for Energy-efficient Heterogeneous Multicore Architectures.” Dr. Louri and his research team will leverage photonic technology’s (device and architecture) unique properties to design deep neural network accelerators for heterogeneous multicores to improve parallelism, energy-efficiency, and scalability for various machine learning applications. The proposed research bridges a very important gap between photonic technology, hardware architects, and machine learning. As such, and due to its cross-cutting nature, it will have a significant impact on the computer industry and far-reaching societal impacts.
Publications:
Dr. Suresh Subramaniam (ECE) published the following paper with his former graduate student Jingxin Wu and a collaborator: J. Wu, S. Subramaniam, and H. Hasegawa. “Efficient dynamic routing and spectrum assignment for multifiber elastic optical networks,” IEEE/OSA Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 190-201, May 2019.
Dr. Arkady Yerukhimovich (CS) and colleagues have published the following paper: S. G. Choi, J. Katz, D. Schröder, A. Yerukhimovich, and H-S. Zhou. “(Efficient) Universally Composable Oblivious Transfer Using a Minimal Number of Stateless Tokens,” Journal of Cryptology, 32(2): 459-497 (2019).
Conferences & Presentations:
On May 6 and 7, Dr. Lorena Barba (MAE) participated in the briefings for the release of the National Academies consensus study “Reproducibility and Replicability in Science,” of which she is a co-author. This included presentations on the Hill to Senate and House committees, to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and to the National Science Foundation, with the NSF Director, Dr. France Cordova, in attendance. Dr. Barba also presented during the report’s public-release webinar on May 7. The National Academies press release includes a link to the report. Physics World reported on the study’s release in the May 8 article “Science needs to improve the transparency of research results, says report.”
Dr. Payman Dehghanian (ECE) attended the IEEE/IAS 55th Industrial and Commercial Power Systems (I&CPS) Technical Conference, held May 6-9 in Calgary, Canada, and he presented the following two papers from the GW Smart Grid Lab's research: M. Alhazmi, P. Dehghanian, S. Wang, and B. Shinde. “Power Grid Optimal Topology Control Considering Correlations of System Uncertainties,” and 2) R. Araneo, P. Dehghanian, and M. Mitolo. “Electrical Safety of Academic Laboratories.” He also served as the chair of the technical session of the Power Engineering Systems Committee.
On May 2, Dr. Samer Hamdar (CEE) gave the presentation “Analyzing Collision Formation Using Behavioral and Data-Driven Models: An Exploratory Case Study” at The French National School of Public Works of the State (ENTPE), Lyon, France. ENTPE is an engineering school that is part of the French Grandes Écoles under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea, and part of the University of Lyon.
On May 9, Dr. Guru Venkataramani (ECE) gave a keynote talk at the Trusted and Assured MicroElectronics Forum, held in Tyson’s Corner, VA, as part of the IEEE Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST), a premium conference in hardware security. The topic of Dr. Venkataramani’s talk was “Rethinking Hardware Security in the AI Era.”
Other News:
Dr. Samer Hamdar (CEE) has been named an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems for a two-year term.
Student News
SEAS congratulates our 2019-2020 cohort of Clare Booth Luce Scholars. Five sophomore SEAS women were awarded the scholarships:
Alyssa Andrade, a biomedical engineering major, is mentored by Dr. Gina Adam (ECE). Alyssa will work with Dr. Adam to design, fabricate, and test memristors that have low power consumption for future integration in memristive hardware for local and real time classification of biosignals.
Christianne Chua studies biomedical engineering and is mentored by Dr. Emilia Entcheva (BME). Christianne will work with Dr. Entcheva on self-assembly or 3D printing techniques to design three-dimensional cellular assemblies with light-responsive “spark cells” to be used for optical pacing of cardiac tissue.
Mytro Kampouris, a civil engineering major, is mentored by Dr. Pedro Silva (CEE). Mytro’s research project proposes to address a grand challenge in structural engineering, which is the development of structural systems for use in resisting extreme hazards with minimum or no damage. The initial motivation for this project was in response to massive earthquakes causing widespread damage.
Alana Miniovich, a biomedical engineering major, is mentored by Dr. Igor Efimov (BME). Her project seeks to investigate the role of CASQ2 in the genesis of CPVT in ventricular cardiomyocytes and Purkinje cells. CVPT is a life-threatening stress and exercise-induced genetic condition that causes abnormally increased heart rates and ventricular arrhythmias.
Sarah Morin studies computer science and is mentored by Dr. Poorvi Vora (CS). She will work on election verification research. The title of her project is “Development and Implementation of Audits that are Both Bayesian and Risk-Limiting.”
Other News
On May 9, GW Today published its article on Dr. Jane Goodall’s visit to GW, “Bringing Dr. Jane Goodall’s Mission into the Digital Age.” In April, Dr. Goodall visited Dr. James Hahn’s (CS) Motion Capture and Analysis Laboratory, where researchers captured her likeness and movements as part of the “Virtual Jane” project. The project uses virtual reality to spread Dr. Goodall’s message of environmental conservation to future generations. The project is a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute and is housed in the GW Innovation Center. Dr. Hahn’s team of researchers included Wei Li, Xiao Xiao, and Shang Zhao.
GW’s Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) invites faculty and staff to visit the CFR website and review more than 200 current corporate and foundation requests for proposals. The website hosts a variety of grant seeking and proposal development tools to assist faculty and staff in finding funding to advance their programs. Corporate and foundation relations staff are available to answer questions and provide assistance at [email protected].
SEAS Events Re-cap
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2019 SEAS Faculty Teaching and Research Awards:
- SEAS Distinguished Researcher: Dr. James Hahn (CS)
- SEAS Distinguished Teacher: Dr. Thomas Mazzuchi (EMSE)
- SEAS Outstanding Junior Researcher: Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE)
- SEAS Outstanding Junior Researcher: Dr. Chung Hyuk Park (BME)
The ceremony was held May 8 in the Lehman Auditorium. Dr. Mazzuchi was unable to attend the ceremony, so Dr. Rene van Dorp (EMSE) accepted the award on his behalf.
Upcoming SEAS Events
SEAS Graduate Student Send Off
Monday, May 13
6:00 – 8:00 pm
SEH, B1 Greenwall
Student RSVP required
The SEAS Career Services Center invites graduating Masters and PhD SEAS students to meet and mingle with local GW alumni. Connect with SEAS alumni who have graduated within the past few years to hear advice for beginning the next stage of your career. Whether you are entering the work force or continuing on with your education, come out and celebrate joining the GW alumni community. Students will receive a special gift. Attire is business casual. Light refreshments will be served. All SEAS alumni, faculty, staff, and graduating masters and PhD students are welcome to attend.
Order of the Engineer Induction Ceremony
Tuesday, May 14
4:00 pm
SEH, Lehman Auditorium
CSPRI Talk: “Opportunities to Get Involved in the Blockchain and Ethereum Community”
Speaker: Thomas Hay, Product Manager, Consensys Academy
Thursday, May 16
12:00 noon (An informal lunch will be served)
Marvin Center, Room 301
Please RSVP for lunch
The intent of this and future Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) lunches is to give GW faculty and students glimpses of the vibrant security and privacy private sector in the Washington 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.
SEAS Doctoral Hooding Ceremony
Thursday, May 16
1:30 pm (Doors open at 1:00 pm)
Lisner Auditorium
All SEAS doctoral candidates, their guests, and SEAS faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
Pelton Award for Outstanding Senior Project and SEAS Undergraduate Awards Ceremony
Thursday, May 16
4:00 pm
Lisner Auditorium
All SEAS seniors, their families, and SEAS faculty and staff are welcome.
SEAS Reception and Graduation Celebration
Friday, May 17
Reception: 4:00 pm in the SEH, 1st Floor
Graduation Celebration: 7:00 pm in the Charles E. Smith Center
All SEAS graduates, their guests, and SEAS faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
Software Carpentry Workshop
Thursday and Friday, May 16 and 17
9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Gelman Library, Room 101
RSVP is required
Join us for two days of hands-on instruction in automating tasks with the Unix shell, data analysis and visualization with Python, and version control with Git. Participants must register ahead of time and attend for both days. The course is designed for GW graduate students, faculty, and other researchers; however, advanced undergraduate students are also welcome. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop. The workshop is free to any GW-affiliated participant. Visit the GW Libraries’ Github website for more details and the workshop schedule.
Entrepreneurship News & Events
Spring Faculty Grant opportunity: VentureWell is pleased to announce a Spring Faculty Grant opportunity, offering awards of up to $30,000 to support faculty and staff who are committed to integrating environmentally responsible practices and methodology into their I&E curriculum. This sustainability faculty grant provides funding, a hands-on workshop, and peer networking. Read the detailed guidelines and apply today! Deadline: Wednesday, May 29.