Faculty News
Research & Grants:
Dr. Xiuzhen (Susan) Cheng (CS) is the lead PI of a four-year, $1.1 million National Science Foundation SaTC project titled “Privacy Attacks and Defense Mechanisms in Online Social Networks.” The primary objective of the project is to identify the potential privacy disclosure channels in online social networks and study privacy-preserving countermeasures that suppress access to private information from unauthorized entities without impeding the ability for users to initiate social interactions and share user-created content via online social networks. This is a collaborative project with George Mason University and Georgia State University. Dr. Cheng’s share of the grant is $544,168.
Dr. Xiuzhen (Susan) Cheng (CS) also is the PI of a three-year, $1.15 million National Science Foundation BIGDATA project titled “Acquisition, Collection, and Computation of Dynamic Big Sensory Data in Smart Cities.” The main objective of this project is to develop foundations and technologies for the analytical use of big sensory data to benefit smart cities for monitoring and control. This project is a collaborative effort with George Mason University (GMU), Georgia State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University, and the lead institution is GMU. Dr. Cheng’s share of the project is $279,107.
Dr. Michael Keidar (MAE) has received $5.2 million in funding from U.S. Patent Innovations LLC for a five-year project titled “Plasma Medicine Initiative” (PMI). PMI aims to revolutionize cancer therapy by introducing a novel modality in cancer treatment that uses a cool-to-the-touch jet of ionized gases, or cold atmospheric plasma (“CAP”). This multidisciplinary initiative will combine engineering and cancer biology science to further develop this novel technique and provide means to control plasma action and understand the underlying mechanism of CAP selectivity. The Plasma Medicine Initiative will enable the transition of this novel technology into translational and clinical stages.
Media Mentions:
An interview with Dr. Feras Batarseh (CS, adjunct professor) was published in the August 28 Predictive Analytics Time article “Wise Practitioner – Predictive Analytics Interview Series: Feras Batarseh at George Mason University – George Washington University.”
Publications:
Dr. Russell Hemley (CEE) and his colleagues have published the following paper in Physical Review Letters, a leading physics journal: C-S Zha, H. Liu, J. S. Tse, and R. J. Hemley. “Melting and High P-T Transitions of Hydrogen up to 300 GPa.” The paper reports new measurements of the melting and other transitions in hydrogen at multi-megabar pressures, and it is the latest in a series of studies of metallic hydrogen that he has been pursuing for a number of years.
Dr. Michael Keidar (MAE) has published two papers recently. They are: D. Yan, J. H. Sherman, and M. Keidar. “The Application of the Cold Atmospheric Plasma-Activated Solutions in Cancer Treatment,” Anticancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry; and 2) K. Bazaka, O. Bazaka, I. Levchenko, S. Xu, E. Ivanova, M. Keidar, and K. Ostrikov. “Plasma-potentiated small molecules-possible alternative to antibiotics,” Nano Futures.
Dr. James Lee (MAE), Dr. Azim Eskandarian, and their former student, Dr. Tejas Ruparel, have published the following journal paper: T. Ruparel, A. Eskandarian, and J. D. Lee. “Concurrent Multi-Domain Simulations in Structural Dynamics Using Multiple Grid and Multiple Time-Scale (MGMT) Method,” International Journal of Computational Methods, 1850021, August, 2017.
Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) has published a research monograph titled “Global Formulations of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Dynamics on Manifolds” with Dr. Leok (University of California, San Diego) and Dr. McClamroch (University of Michigan). The book presents an intrinsic formulation of analytic mechanics on a nonlinear configuration space, and it provides numerous in-depth examples, culminating in non-trivial applications involving multi-body systems.
Dr. Tim Wood (CS) and his students published papers at the ACM SIGCOMM 2017 conference, held August 21-25 in Los Angeles, CA. Ph.D. student Wei Zhang was an author on the paper “NFVnice: Dynamic Backpressure and Scheduling for NFV Service Chains,” published at the main conference. Ph.D. student Guyue Liu was lead author for the paper “Design Challenges for High Performance, Scalable NFV Interconnects” at the co-located KBNets Workshop. SIGCOMM is the flagship annual conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication (SIGCOMM) on the applications, technologies, architectures, and protocols for computer communication.
Conferences & Presentations:
Drs. Shelly Heller (CS), Lance Hoffman (CS), and Diana Burley (GSHED) were guest speakers at the monthly Roundtable at New America (formerly the New America Foundation), a non-partisan think tank. Their topic was the role of higher education in preparing the cyber security workforce.
Dr. Russell Hemley (CEE) was an invited panel lead in a workshop sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory on the development of a large free-electron laser facility to be built at the laboratory over the next decade. The facility is called MaRIE, which stands for “Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes.” Dr. Hemley’s panel focused on potential applications to metal alloys in extreme environments. The workshop was held August 28 and 29 in Santa Fe, NM.
Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) gave invited talks at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on August 21 and August 25, respectively. His talks were titled “Intrinsic formulation of Bayesian estimation on a Lie group” (presented at the Department of Electrical Engineering); and “Geometric control of complex aerospace systems” (presented at the Department of Aerospace Engineering).
Student News
Ph.D. student Mahdis Bisheban, who is advised by Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE), presented the paper “Computational Geometric System Identification for the Quadrotor Dynamics in Wind Fields” at the 2017 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, held August 27–30 in Kohala Coast, HI. The paper identifies the wind-related parameters of the quadrotor dynamics while its attitude is represented on the Special Orthogonal Group (SO3). Then having an accurate model, the magnitude and direction of the wind are estimated.
Ph.D. student Shankar Kulumani, also advised by Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE), presented the paper “Geometric Control for Autonomous Landing on Asteroid Itokawa using Visual Localization” at the 27th AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference meeting, held August 20-24 in Columbia River Gorge, Stevenson, WA. The paper, which was developed with Dr. Lee, creates a new method for landing on an asteroid, which explicitly considers the coupling between the translational and rotational motion of the spacecraft.
SEAS Computing Facility
MATLAB Workshops:
Wednesday, September 13
Session 1: 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Session 2: 3:30 - 4:30 pm
SEH, B1220
Register
Session 1: Machine Learning with MATLAB Seminar
Engineers and data scientists work with large amounts of data in a variety of formats such as sensor, image, video, telemetry, databases, and more. They use machine learning to find patterns in data and to build models that predict future outcomes based on historical data.
In this session, we explore the fundamentals of machine learning using MATLAB. We introduce machine learning techniques available in MATLAB to quickly explore your data, evaluate machine learning algorithms, compare the results, and apply the best technique to your problem.
Highlights include:
- Training, evaluating, and comparing a range of machine learning models
- Using refinement and reduction techniques to create models that best capture the predictive power of your data
- Running predictive models in parallel using multiple processors to expedite your results
- Deploying your models in a variety of formats
Session 2: Parallel and Distributed Computing with MATLAB
Large-scale simulations and data processing tasks that support engineering and scientific activities such as mathematical modeling, algorithm development, and testing can take an unreasonably long time to complete or require a lot of computer memory. You can speed up these tasks by taking advantage of high-performance computing resources, such as multicore computers, GPUs, computer clusters, and cloud computing services.
Using the parallel computing capabilities in MATLAB allows you to take advantage of additional hardware resources that may be available either locally on your desktop or on clusters and clouds. By using more hardware, you can reduce the cycle time for your workflow and solve computationally and data-intensive problems faster.
In this session, we will discuss and demonstrate how to perform parallel and distributed computing in MATLAB. We will introduce you to parallel processing constructs such as parallel for-loops, distributed arrays, and message-passing functions. We will also show you how to take advantage of common trends in computer hardware, from multiprocessor machines to computer clusters.
Highlights Include:
- Built-in support for parallel computing
- Creating parallel applications to speed up independent tasks
- Scaling up to computer clusters, grid environments, or clouds
- Employing GPUs to speed up your computations
- Programming with tall and distributed arrays to work with large data sets
SEAS Events
CEE Colloquium: "Compatibility, hysteresis and the direct conversion of heat to electricity"
Speaker: Prof. Richard James, University of Minnesota
Monday, September 11
2:30 - 3:30 pm
SEH, B1220
CEE Colloquium: "Gas Hydrates as a Problem or Solution to Energy Production and Storage"
Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Koh, Center for Hydrate Research, Colorado School of Mines
Monday, September 25
3:00 - 4:00 pm
SEH, B1220
Career News & Events
Cisco Meraki: Information Session
Tuesday, September 12
5:30 - 7:30 pm
SEH, 2000
Register
Come learn about Cisco Meraki and the future of cloud networking! Our team will discuss the company’s mission, what it’s like to work in our San Francisco office, and the magic of Meraki dashboard. Our network engineers will introduce our different products through the dashboard live. This event is open to all those interested in learning more about Cisco Meraki. Food and beverages will be provided.
Cisco Meraki will be hiring for network support engineers at this event. If you are interested in this position, please send resumes to [email protected]. Learn more about the position’s roles and responsibilities.
General Dynamics Electric Boat: Resume Review, Info Share (Walk-In)
Wednesday, September 13
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
SEH, 2990
Drop by and have your resume reviewed and participate in informal career discussions with Electric Boat. Connect with a senior engineer recruiter and an employee who is a SEAS alumna. Please note: All SEAS students are invited to this event; however, to meet clearance requirements, U.S. citizenship is required for employment.
Deloitte: Information Session
Tuesday, September 19
6:00 - 9:00 pm
SEH, 1270
SEAS undergraduates are invited to attend and learn about career opportunities at Deloitte. Refreshments will be served.
M.C. Dean: Information Session and Meet & Greet
Wednesday, September 20
5:00 - 6:30 pm
SEH, B1167 (The Commons/Green Wall space, SEH Level B1)
Meet a SEAS alumnus and the M.C. Dean recruiting team, enjoy refreshments, and learn about full-time and internship opportunities at M.C. Dean. The target audience for this event is sophomores through seniors who are mechanical, electrical, computer, or systems engineering majors or computer science majors.
IBM: Women in Technology Panel Discussion
Thursday, September 28
8:00 - 9:00 pm
SEH, B1220
Join women leaders from IBM's Public Service Sector Consulting Practice (Global Business Services) as they host a panel conversation to discuss their careers to-date, and what it is like working at IBM. Topics will also include women in technology and at IBM, work-life balance, corporate responsibility, and diversity. All who are interested in a career at IBM are welcome to attend. This event is sponsored by the GW chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
If you have questions about any of the SEAS employer events listed above, please contact Emmy Rashid at [email protected] or (202) 994-7892.
Entrepreneurship News & Events
VentureWell Programs:
E-Team Training Program: VentureWell's E-Team program is a competitive national program that provides up to $25,000 in funding, hands-on workshops, peer networking opportunities, national recognition, and expert coaching for students working to commercialize their high-impact science and technology inventions. Applications are due October 4. Attend the next informational webinar on September 6.
Faculty Grants: VentureWell is seeking proposals for areas that will support the emerging generation of inventors and innovators and the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems critical to their success. VentureWell provides grants of up to $30,000 to help fund and support faculty with innovative ideas to create new (or transform existing) courses and programs to help students develop novel, STEM-based inventions and gain the necessary entrepreneurial skills needed to bring these ideas to market. Applications are due November 8.
Entrepreneurship Orientation at Gelman Library
Thursday, August 31 (12:30 - 1:30 pm) Register
Wednesday, September 6 (5:30 - 7:00 pm) Register
Gelman Library, Room 219
It's a brand new school year! Don't miss out on getting involved with all the many programs and resources that the GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship has to offer. Learn more about entrepreneurial classes, events, mentors, student organizations, and competitions at this great event.
Webinar: “Orientation to the 2018 GW New Venture Competition”
Thursday, September 14
12:00 – 1:00 pm
WebEx: https://gwu.webex.com/meet/jbautista
Register
Were you unable to come to our earlier orientation workshops? No biggie! Learn about the 2018 GW New Venture Competition through this webinar. Join us at this online session to learn about how you can apply and compete next semester for over $300,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
Workshop: “Where Do I Start?”
Tuesday, September 19
5:30 – 7:00 pm
GW Innovation Center, Tompkins Hall M06
Register
Do you have a great business idea but are feeling unsure of how to execute that idea? Or, are you unsure of where to start as an entrepreneur without an actual business idea? Don't worry! Join us for a great workshop on how you can begin in the startup community with or without a business idea!
SEED SPOT
Tuesdays, from September 19 through December 12
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Apply
Applications are open for the SEED SPOT evening program. The program is perfect for entrepreneurs who have just begun their journey in starting a company or are thinking about starting a company. Join an evening cohort of passionate entrepreneurs looking to hone their business skills and maximize their impact.
NIH SBIR/STTR Proposal Prep Workshop
Tuesday and Wednesday, October 17 and 18
INOVA Center for Personalized Health, Falls Church, VA
Register
This 1.5-day course is ideal for those serious about writing a compelling SBIR/STTR for the National Institutes of Health, particularly those who are considering the January 2018 NIH SBIR/STTR deadline. The session includes an in-depth discussion on SBIR/STTR, with a section-by-section overview on how to plan and write a compelling proposal.