November 5-11, 2012

Newsletter

November 5, 2012

Faculty News

Conferences and Presentations:

Prof. Kausik Sarkar (MAE) and his Ph.D. students, Amit Katiyar and Shirshendu Paul, attended the 164th Annual Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, held October 22-25, in Kansas City. Amit presented a talk titled "Effects of damping on frequency dependent subharmonic threshold for contrast microbubbles," which showed that because of the enhanced damping of contrast microbubbles, the subharmonic threshold minimum for ultrasound contrast agents occurs at a frequency different from what was classically predicted in the bubble dynamics literature. Shirshendu's talk, "Echogenicity and release characteristics of folate-conjugated ELIPs for cytosolic delivery of cancer drugs," showed specialized sound-reflecting liposomes delivering cancer drug doxorubicin inside a breast cancer cell and showed that the delivery can be enhanced by ultrasound pulses.

At a separate event, Prof. Sarkar gave an invited talk on the research being pursued in his lab on ultrasound contrast agents and liposomes. He delivered the talk, titled "Encapsulated Microbubbles: From echocardiohgraphy to noninvasive blood pressure monitoring and targeted drug delivery," on October 26 at Drexel University's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Prof. Michael Keidar (MAE) presented the following invited talk at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics: M. Keidar, Cold Atmosphere Plasma in Cancer Therapy, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Vol. 57, No. 12, Talk PI2-00005, October 29-November 2, 2012; Providence, RI. He and his students also presented following posters at this meeting:

A. Shashurin, M. Kundrapu, J. Loverich, I.I. Beilis and M. Keidar, Laboratory modeling of hypersonic flight conditions, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Vol. 57, No. 12, TP8.00087, October 29-November 2, 2012; Providence, RI

O. Volotskova, T. Hawley, M.A. Stepp, and M. Keidar, Cold Atmospheric Plasma as an alternative therapy for cancer therapies, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Vol. 57, No. 12, TP8.00091, October 29-November 2, 2012; Providence, RI

T. Zhuang, A. Shashurin, D. Chiu, G. Teel, I.I. Beilis and M. Keidar, Experimental study of micro-cathode arc thruster, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Vol. 57, No. 12, TP8.00101, October 29-November 2, 2012; Providence, RI

J. Li, X. Cheng, A. Shashurin and M. Keidar, Synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene composite in arc for ultracapacitors, 54th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Vol. 57, No. 12, TP8.00117, October 29-November 2, 2012; Providence, RI

Prof. Lijie Grace Zhang (MAE) and her students, Nathan Castro, Mian Wang, Ben Holmes, Christopher O'Brien, and Allie Childs, gave the following presentations at the 2012 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, held October 24-27, in Atlanta, GA. Prof. Zhang also chaired a symposium "Musculoskeletal and Orthopedic Tissue Engineering" at the conference.

(1) M. Wang, S. Fu, and L. Zhang. "A Biomimetic 3D Nanostructured Bone Model for Tumor Metastasis Study"

(2) B. Holmes, N. Castro, and L. Zhang. "Electrospun Porous Polymer Fibers with Incorporated Nanomaterial for Cartilage Regeneration"

(3) C. O'Brien, N. Castro, and L. Zhang. "The Effect of BMP-2 Loaded PDO Spheres and Nano Hydroxyapatite in PCL Scaffolds for Bone Regeneration"

(4) M. Wang, O. Volotskova, M. Keidar, and L. Zhang. "Cold Non-thermal Atmospheric Plasma for Selectively Treating Metastatic Breast Cancer"

(5) A. Childs; N. J. Castro; R. L. Beingessner, H. Fenniri, and L. Zhang. "Biologically inspired rosette nanotube treated PLLA scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering"

(6) M. Wang, N. Castro, J. Li, M. Keidar and L. Zhang. "Design of Biomimetic Nanoparticle/Nanotube Coating for Improved Osseointegration"

(7) N. Castro and L. Zhang. "Electrospun Polydioxanone Fibers for Directed Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation"

Other News:

Prof. Michael Plesniak (MAE) was a member of the Technical Review Committee of the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Division of Solid and Fluid Mechanics in October 2012. The review was conducted as part of the Science Prioritization Process FY 2012-2014, which "seeks input from stakeholders in the Center, Agency, and experts outside the Agency so that the Office can begin to explore appropriate directions so as to undertake relevant and still value-added research."

Student News:

ECE doctoral student Marjan Nabili gave an oral presentation titled "Ultrasound-enhanced Delivery of Antibiotics and Anti-inflammatory Drugs into the Eye" at the Biomedical Engineering Society 2012 Annual Meeting, held October 24-17, in Atlanta, GA. Marjan’s advisor is Prof. Vesna Zderic.

Other News:

The GW Institute for Nanotechnology (GWIN) is pleased to announce the call for proposals from University faculty interested in nanotechnology research. This competition is primarily for junior faculty to help them establish an active research program. Funds may be requested for faculty summer support, equipment, supplies, and salary for postdoctoral researchers and research assistants. Funds must be used by June 30, 2013. Award can be up to $10,000. GWIN expects to fund one proposal. Proposals are due to Prof. Michael Keidar, GWIN director, by 5:00 pm, Thursday, November 8, 2012. Electronic submissions are required.

Guest Vignette:

This fall, GW’s Engineers without Borders chapter (EWB) teamed up with the D.C. professional chapter of EWB to volunteer for the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS competition. Broadcom MASTERS is a national STEM competition created by the Society for Science and the Public for middle school students around the country. From thousands of contestants who participated in science fairs around the United States, 30 finalists were selected to travel to Baltimore, MD, to showcase their projects and compete in STEM-related activities for a grand prize of $25,000.

A group of 16 GW students from EWB worked with the EWB’s D.C. professional chapter to design and facilitate an engineering challenge that relates to the water purification work EWB does in El Salvador. The group created a competition in which the middle school students worked in teams to determine the relationship between height and water pressure in order to find the elevations needed to successfully distribute filtered water from a communal tank to each house in a small village. The weekend in Baltimore allowed EWB members to encourage the top middle school students from around the country to stay involved in science and engineering and to use their knowledge and successes to help benefit others both locally and globally. If you are interested in learning more about Engineers without Borders at GW, please contact us at [email protected]. Professor Riffat serves as the faculty advisor for EWB. (Provided courtesy of Elizabeth Hubler, president of EWB-GW)
 

SEAS Events:

ECE Symposium: “ECE Research Blitz”
Multiple ECE faculty will provide fast, five-minute descriptions of ongoing research projects. Topics include biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer engineering. Refreshments will be served. Come join us for this fast overview of research in the ECE Department!
Monday, Nov 5
3:00 - 4:30 pm
301 Marvin Center

MAE 6262 Debate: “The Energy Policies of Obama and Romney”
Monday, November 5
6:10 - 8:40 pm
362 Duques Hall
 

MAE Seminar: “Molecular Understanding, Design and Development of Ultra Low Fouling Zwitterionic-based Functional Materials”
Prof. Shaoyi Jiang, University of Washington, Seattle
Thursday, November 8
10:30 am
640 Phillips Hall


Guest Lecture: “The Role of the National Science Foundation in Developing Innovative Technology through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grants”
Dr. Errol Arkilic, Program Manager for Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation
Thursday, November 15
6:00 - 7:00 pm
Room B-07, Media and Public Affairs (MPA) Bldg.
Sponsored by the SEAS Clark Engineering Scholars Program

MAE Seminar: "Materials by Design"
Dr. Markus J. Buehler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Monday, November 19
11:00 am
736 Phillips Hall
 

Institute for Nanotechonology and Institute for Biomedical Engineering Seminar: "Biocompatible Nanoparticle Materials In For Cancer Imaging and Therapy"
Dr. Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen, Chief and Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Friday, November 30
10:30 am
771 Rome Hall
 

Entrepreneurship and Other External Events

Insights and Innovations Dean's Speakers Series:
"National Laboratories and Their Role in National Security"
Dr. Penrose (Parney) Albright, director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Wednesday, November 7
6:00 - 8:00 pm (Reception at 6:00 pm, followed by the speaker at 6:30)
GW Virginia Science & Technology Campus (Exploration Hall, 20101 Academic Way)

Elliott School Science and Technology Policy Seminar Series
Dr. Ray Johnson, senior vice president and CTO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Wednesday, November 7
The State Room, 1957 E Street Building
11:30 am - 2:00 pm
RSVP. Seating is limited to 70 so an early reply is recommended. A light lunch will be served. Dr. Johnson will discuss the role of innovation in meeting the needs of U.S. security, economic growth and education. In particular, he will focus on the role of partnerships between research universities and industry in light of the recommendations of the National Academies report on Research Universities and the Future of America. (Submitted by Dean Dolling)

Pitch George: Key Dates

Semi-Finals and Finals
Saturday, November 10
Duques Hall