Faculty News
Research:
Profs. Gabriel Parmer (CS) and Rahul Simha (CS), and research scientist Gedare Bloom have been awarded a three-year, $603,967 grant from the Office of Naval Research for their project “LockdownOS: A Component-Based Foundation for System Monitoring, Quarantine, and Recovery.” The project will explore research issues around designing and building a prototype operating system with the capacity to recover from attacks while the system is executing. Prof. Parmer is the principal investigator on this grant.
Media Mentions:
Prof. Gabe Sibley (CS), Dean David Dolling, and doctoral student Jack Morrison (CS) were quoted in the May 6 Washington Post article, “How George Washington University is shaping a piece of Google's smartphone future.” The article mentions not only GW's role in Google's Project Tango, but also the recent growth in SEAS faculty and the school's research aspirations.
Publications:
Prof. Kausik Sarkar (MAE), his graduate student Amit Katiyar, and collaborator Prof. Randall Duncan of University of Delaware recently published the following article on the bioeffects of ultrasound on bone cells: A. Katiyar, R.L. Duncan, and K. Sarkar. “Ultrasound stimulation increases proliferation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast-like cells,” Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound, 2, 1, 1-10.
Prof. Joost Santos (EMSE) has co-authored the following publications with his students: 1) T. Dirienzo, N. Krishnan, S. Srija, and J.R. Santos. “Effects of Smart Appliances on Residential Consumption Patterns,” IEEE Proceedings of Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium, pp. 188-192; and 2) M. Brannon, P. Graeter, D. Schwartz, and J.R. Santos. “Reducing Electronic Waste Through the Development of an Adaptable Mobile Device,” IEEE Proceedings of Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium, pp. 57-62.
Other News:
Prof. Lorena Barba (MAE) has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the 2014 Scientific Python conference, SciPy2014, to be held in Austin, TX, July 6-12. SciPy is a community dedicated to the advancement of scientific computing through open-source Python software for mathematics, science, and engineering. This is the 13th year running of the conference, and Prof. Barba was invited to keynote for the specialized track of this year on scientific computing education.
On April 24, Prof. Pinhas Ben-Tzvi (MAE) hosted a robotics workshop for 29 Loudon County high school students as part of GW's Science, Technology and Engineering Day at the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. In the workshop, titled “Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Integrating a Robotic System,” students learned about the mechanical, electrical, control and computer subsystems that compose a robotic system. After a presentation, including demonstrations of robots built in Prof. Ben-Tzvi’s Robotics and Mechatronics Lab, the students were given the chance to create and test robots to follow a path and avoid obstacles in a maze. The workshop was designed by Prof. Ben-Tzvi and his doctoral student William Rone. Students were assisted during the workshop by Prof. Ben-Tzvi’s doctoral students, Zhou Ma, Anil Kumar, Wael Saab, Dana Aronovici and Zhiyuan Zuo. Prof. Ben-Tzvi would like to thank Prof. Shahrokh Ahmadi (ECE) for the use of the ECE 1001 HandyBoard microcontrollers to control the students’ robots.
Prof. Charles Garris (MAE) was recently elected by the Faculty Senate to chair the Executive Committee. This is the first time a SEAS professor has been elected to this role. As a result, Prof. Garris has been asked to serve as University Marshall for this year’s commencement ceremonies.
Prof. Rachael Jonassen (visiting scholar and part-time faculty, EMSE) is now a member of the “Climate Voices” speakers’ network sponsored by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the United Nations Foundation. The purpose of the network is to share scientists’ expertise and engage citizens in meaningful, ongoing dialogue about climate change effects on local communities, regions, and the country.
Student News
John Dougherty (MAE master’s student) won second prize in the Master’s category at the AIAA Region I Student Conference, held April 25-26 at Cornell University, for his paper and presentation titled “Laser-based Onboard Sensing and Estimation for Precise Landing of a Quadrotor UAV on an Inclined Surface.” The annual conference is an opportunity for AIAA student members from Region I schools to present their research to their colleagues and judges for a chance to win cash prizes. John’s research presents a novel method for a quadrotor UAV to measure the distance to and orientation of an inclined ground plane during flight using onboard sensing and to execute a safe landing trajectory based on the measurement. John researches in the Flight Dynamics and Control Lab and is advised by Prof. Taeyoung Lee (MAE). You can see his work on YouTube.
Anna Gabriela Porras (CEE, sophomore) has been named GW's female Athlete of the Year. In addition to excelling in the classroom, as a student on the Dean's Honor list, and as a recipient of a SEAS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Ms. Porras repeated as an All-American for the women's squash team and is the only squash player, male or female, in GW history to be named All-American.
SEAS Events
Order of the Engineer Induction Ceremony
Tuesday, May 13
4:00 pm
Marvin Center Continental Ballroom
Nano@GW 2014 Workshop on Nanophotonics
Wednesday, May 14
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
310 Marvin Center
Lunch, breakfast and light refreshments will be served. For more information, please visit our workshop website: https://sites.google.com/site/nanogw2014/
SEAS Seminar: “Relating Retinal Anatomy, Pathology, Function, and Therapy Guidance via 3D-OCT Image Analysis”
Speaker: Dr. Milan Sonka, Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Research of the College of Engineering; Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Professor, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, and Radiation Oncology; Director, The Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging, The University of Iowa
Wednesday, May 14
1:30 pm
309 Media and Public Affairs Building
Pelton Senior Design Competition & Senior-Alumni BBQ
Wednesday, May 14
5:00 – 9:00 pm
Marvin Center Grand Ballroom
Registration required
MAE Seminar: “Basic Research in Spacecraft Actuator Control Allocation & Parameter Identification”
Speaker: Dr. Frederick Aaron Leve, Research Aerospace Engineer Guidance, Navigation, & Controls Group, The Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate
Thursday, May 15
11:00 am
736 Phillips Hall
MAE Seminar: “Microfluidics Assisted Bio- and Nano-materials Synthesis”
Speaker: Prof. Amy Shen, University of Washington
Monday, May 19
1:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall
MAE Seminar: “Geometry of Collectives: Control, Dynamics, and Reconstruction”
Speaker: Dr. P. S. Krishnaprasad, University of Maryland College Park, Institute of Systems Research
Thursday, May 22
2:00 pm
736 Phillips Hall
External Events
Steam at Harper’s Ferry Gallery Exhibit: The Art of Electrodynamic Illumination
Through Sunday, May 25
Harper’s Ferry, WV
More information
Submitted by Cynthia Gayton (EMSE)
Dissertation Defenses:
Name of Student Defending: Adam Jachimowicz
Title of Dissertation:“Post-Disaster Interim Housing: Forecasting Requirements and Determining Key
Planning Factors”
Advisor: Prof. Gregory Shaw (EMSE)
Tuesday, May 20
1:00 pm
1776 G Street, Conference Room 120