Faculty News
Publications:
Dr. Igor Efimov (BME) has published the following paper: S. Fenske, K. Hennis, R. D. Rötzer, V. F. Brox, E. Becirovic, A. Scharr, C. Gruner, T. Ziegler, V. Mehlfeld, J. Brennan, I. R. Efimov… and C. Wahl-Schott, “cAMP-dependent regulation of HCN4 controls the tonic entrainment process in sinoatrial node pacemaker cells,” Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Article number: 5555 (2020).
Dr. Emilia Entcheva (BME) and her PhD students, Weizhen Li and Julie Han, published a new study in the American Journal of Physiology, demonstrating the importance of cell-to-cell connections for mature phenotype in stem-cell-derived heart cells. The first author, Weizhen Li, was stranded in China for eight months due to COVID19 restrictions, and Julie Han stepped in to perform key experiments for the revision of the paper. Dr. Entcheva’s team is happy that both students are back in the lab now. The paper citation is: W. Li, J. L. Han, and E. Entcheva, “Syncytium cell growth increases Kir2.1 contribution in human iPSC-cardiomyocytes,” American Journal of Physiology – Heart & Circulatory Physiology, 319(5): H1112-H1122, 2020.
Dr. Thomas Mazzuchi (EMSE) recently published an article with his doctoral student, Deniz Marti: R. M. Cooke, D. Marti, and T. A. Mazzuchi, “Expert forecasting with and without uncertainty quantification and weighting: What do the data say?” International Journal of Forecasting, Vol. 37, Issue 1, January 2021, pp. 378–387.
Dr. Joost Santos (EMSE) and his PhD student, Sean Baggott, recently published this journal article: S. S. Baggott and J. R. Santos, “A Risk Analysis Framework for Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection of the U.S. Electric Power Grid,” Risk Analysis, 40(9):1744-1761. Risk Analysis is ranked among the top 10 journals in the ISI Journal Citation Reports under the social sciences, mathematical methods category.
Media Mentions:
Vox quoted Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) in the November 9 article “Is social media ready for a Covid-19 vaccine?”
GW submitted, and received funding for, three proposals to the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN). One of the proposals that received funding is GW Coders, a group led by Dr. John Helveston (EMSE). GW Coders aims to create a community for programmers across schools. The New America Foundation recently highlighted the group in a spotlight article, and GW Today included it in the November 13 article, “Three GW Research Initiatives Awarded PIT-UN Funding.”
Conferences & Presentations:
Dr. Miloš Doroslovački (ECE) and his students presented two papers at the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems, and Computers, held virtually November 1-5: 1) A. Ambaw, M. Bari, and M. Doroslovački, “Optimizing Convolutional Neural Networks to Identify Distorted M-ary CPFSK Signals with RRC Pulse Shaped Instantaneous Frequency;” and 2) A. Hanif and M. Doroslovački, “Graph Laplacian-based Tumor Segmentation and Denoising in Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” Dr. Doroslovački also chaired the conference session “Signal Processing for Neural and Medical Imaging.”
Dr. Igor Efimov (BME) gave the lecture “Bioinformatics of Heart Disease” at Moscow Region State University on October 29.
Dr. Michael Keidar (MAE) and his colleague, Dr. Igor Kaganovich (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory), organized a mini-symposium on using plasma against COVID-19 at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics. The sessions, Mini-Conference on Plasma Applications to Ameliorate Covid-19 I and Mini-Conference on Plasma Applications to Ameliorate Covid-19 II were held on November 12.
Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) was invited to a virtual visit of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Minnesota on November 6, where he gave the talk “Geometric Controls for Complex Aerospace Systems” and interacted with faculty members and graduate students.
Other News:
Dr. Joost Santos (EMSE) was included in the recently published PLOS Biology “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators,” a list of the world’s top 2 percent of researchers based on scientific impact across all disciplines. The study was conducted and published by a research team led by Stanford University.
Other News
GW’s Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics (IDDP) has announced a call for fellowship proposals in support of research projects aligned with IDDP’s mission to help the public, journalists, and policymakers understand digital media’s influence on public dialogue and opinion, and to develop sound solutions to disinformation and other ills that arise in these spaces. Applications should be submitted as a single PDF document via email to the IDDP associate director, Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE), by December 15.
The intersection of disaster risk reduction and blockchain is creating new and fertile opportunities for collaboration between scientists and policy makers who heretofore have not been communicating well. Dr. Neil Wasserman (adjunct faculty, CS) and Dr. Costis Toregas (director, Cyber Security & Privacy Research Institute) are co-editing with a colleague from the University of Lyon a special issue of Frontiers Blockchain for Good that will focus on blockchain capabilities for disaster risk reduction management. Information on the open call for papers can be found on the Frontiers site. Please consider participating as an author or reviewer and share with those who may have interest.
SEAS alumnus Samson March, who studied in the ECE department as an undergraduate, is a self-styled inventor. After he built a smartwatch, engadget profiled his project in 2019. This month, engadget featured Samson again, this time in the article “The guy who built his own smartwatch is back with a pair of GPS smart glasses.”
New course: Global & Experiential Education (G&EE) within the GW School of Business (GWSB) has partnered with Dr. Saniya LeBlanc (MAE) and Dr. Anna Helm (GWSB) to offer a new 3-credit course for the Spring 2021 term. The Global Business Project: International Business of Sustainable Energy course will bring together students from multiple disciplines to learn about energy technologies, international business, and global energy perspectives. Students will compare and contrast the energy perspectives of two countries, the United States and Sweden. After learning core energy and business topics, interdisciplinary teams of students will partner with real clients in Sweden to complete energy sector consulting projects. Students will work in teams to research new market opportunities for the firm's technology and propose their recommendations upon conclusion of the course. The course is open to undergraduate and graduate students within SEAS and GWSB. Students with a minor in sustainability are also encouraged to apply.
- Learn more and start your application: Global Business Project: International Business of Sustainable Energy.
- Application deadline: Sunday, November 29 at 11:59 pm (ET). Contact the G&EE team with any questions you may have.
Engage: Engineering for Social Good: We are seeking second-year engineering undergraduate students to participate in an experimental one-credit social innovation course focusing on community engagement and creative problem-solving. The course will be offered Spring 2021, and financial assistance is available. Submit this Google form by Friday, November 20. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Ekundayo Shittu or Dr. Erica Wortham. This course is part of a research project, “Service Learning Projects to Improve Engineering Students’ Civic Engagement and Capacity for Innovation,” which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Upcoming SEAS Events
SEAS Community Workshop: Money Matters
Monday, November 16
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET
Join the webinar
This workshop will be presented by the SEAS Undergraduate Advising and Student Services Office.
SEAS Community Workshop: The Best of Growth Worlds
Tuesday, November 17
12:30 – 1:30 pm ET
Join the webinar
This workshop will be presented by the SEAS Undergraduate Advising and Student Services Office.
Webinar: “A Day in the Life: Career 2.0”
Tuesday, November 17
5:30 pm ET
Register on Handshake
Join alumni panelists from the US Patent and Trademark Office, Capital Construction, Whiting Turner, Salesforce, and Thorton Tomasetti for a career discussion. Topics include networking within an industry and relevant career resources. This event is hosted by the GW SEAS Career Services and the Office of Alumni Relations.
SEAS Center for Women in Engineering Webinar: “What to Do After Graduation”
Thursday, November 19
12:00 noon ET
Register
The SEAS Center for Women in Engineering is pleased to present to SEAS students an opportunity to hear from recent graduates in various engineering disciplines. As these women discuss their career routes post-graduating, students (especially juniors and seniors) will be able to gather new insights that may help their own process and choices for the future. A Zoom link will be sent to all registrants.
CSPRI Webinar: “Adversarial Machine Learning and Wireless Security for 5G and Beyond”
Speakers: Dr. Yalin Sagduyu, Director of Networks and Security, Intelligent Automation, Inc., and Dr. Tugba Erpek, Lead Scientist, Intelligent Automation, Inc.
Thursday, November 19
12:00 noon ET
This Cyber Security & Privacy Research (CSPRI) event will be held as a webinar through Webex. Please RSVP to Dr. Hurriyet Ok to register for the talk. Registrants will receive the Webex video conference details from Dr. Ok.
Affinity Weekend: Please join SEAS Together, SEAS Ambassadors, and SEASSPAN on November 21-22 for Affinity Weekend. Their students will host a variety of affinity-specific events ranging from stimulating discussions to sharing family recipes, music, and more! All SEAS students, faculty, and staff are welcome. For a detailed list of all affinity events and their respective WebEx links, please check out the SEAS Together Instagram page @gwseastogether this coming week and keep an eye out in your Inbox for their flyer. Please email Camille Daszynski with any questions!
BME Seminar: “Flexible, Hybrid Opto-Electro-Chemo Implants for Neural Interfaces”
Speaker: Dr. Wen Li, Michigan State University
Wednesday, December 2
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Join via WebEx
Entrepreneurship News & Events
GW Innovation Center
Fall Fridays at the GW Innovation Center:
Check out the GWIC Innovation Center’s line-up of fall Friday events. All events will take place from 3:00 to 5:00 pm ET. Please visit the GWIC Events page for links and details.
Discussion: Plastic Recycling: Fact or Fiction?
Friday, November 20
Join us for a discussion with industry experts on innovations in plastic recycling.
GWIC Cookie Contest: Winning Cookie Baked Live
Friday, December 4
Watch live as Chief Evangelist and GWIC founder Annamaria Konya Tannon bakes the winning cookie recipe. Keep an eye out for the cookie recipe contenders and make sure to cast your vote for your favorite recipe on Instagram (@gwinnovationcenter) on 11/30 and 12/1.
External Events
OVPR Workshop: Pivot and InfoReady
Tuesday, November 17
9:00 – 10:30 am ET
WebEx link will be provided to registrants
Register
Learn how Pivot can help your search for new research funding opportunities and how InfoReady is used to support GW's intramural funding programs and limited submission competitions. This workshop is offered by the Research Enhancement Unit within the Office of the Vice President for Research.
GW Coders
Weekly, on Fridays
11:00 am
Complete this short form to learn more
GW Coders is a new community that brings together students and faculty to apply computational and data analytics skills in research. We will share coding experiences, learn some new skills, and build our professional networks. GW Coders is for everyone, from those just getting interested in coding to those who have years of experience; for undergraduate and graduate students; for faculty in any discipline; for others in the DC community who want to join us.
Office of Research Integrity Seminar: “Responsible Conduct of Research”
Weekly, on Thursday
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Online
Register
This fall 2020 seminar course is designed to develop and strengthen ethical problem-solving skills and foster sensitivity to ethical issues in the conduct of research. Registration is open to the entire campus community but will be capped at twenty participants. Please register early to secure your space. If you have questions about the seminar, please email the Office of Research Integrity.
Dissertation Defenses
Student’s Name: Vikram Rao (EMSE)
Dissertation Title: “Investigation of Decision Processes in Chemical Substitution Decision Making”
Advisor: Dr. Royce Francis (EMSE); Presiding: Dr. Ekundayo Shittu (EMSE)
Monday, November 23
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET
WebEx Link
Human Resources News
This week's HR Corner includes information related to the temporary suspension of employer base and matching contributions to retirement plans, changes to campus access, updates to GW's FY21 holiday schedule, and more. Please visit the HR Corner to read these updates.