Faculty News
Research:
On June 1, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent No. 11020933 to Dr. Stephen Hsu (MAE) for “Compositions and Methods for Internal Combustion Engine Component Protection.” Dr. Jerry Comanescu at GW's Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) facilitated the prosecution of the patent application. SEAS faculty who have an idea for which they would like to discuss trying to get a patent should contact the GW TCO.
The Office of Naval Research has awarded a three-year, $900,000 grant to Dr. Guru Venkataramani (ECE) for the project “Hardware-assisted Self Tuning Cyber Deception.” Dr. Venkataramain is the sole principal investigator on the grant. The project objective is to design a secure microarchitecture ecosystem that effectively deceives adversaries in an automated fashion and drains their resources ultimately in order to prevent bad actors from gaining access to sensitive information. The investigation will span memory, computer, and other performance enhancing hardware (including the various predictors). This project will add a unique dimension to computer system security by complementing the trusted execution environments with active defense via hardware. Innovations from this research can offer a rich landscape for defense against several ongoing security issues, primarily ransomware, code reuse attacks, and other adversarial attacks on inference models.
Media Mentions:
Salon quoted Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) in the May 26 article, “Anti-vaccine movements shift their target to the vaccinated.’’
Dr. John Helveston (EMSE) was quoted in the May 30 article, “The Competition Conundrum,” published in The Wire China. Within the context of the US economic rivalry with China, the article addresses the Biden administration’s goal of rebuilding America’s infrastructure and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 as well as creating millions of jobs. In the article, Dr. Helveston discusses the requirements necessary for building a climate-friendly energy system and the political realities of trying to do so.
Sinclair Broadcast Group quoted Dr. Arkady Yerukhimovich (CS) in the June 4 article “Ransomware attacks happening at both local and national level.’’
Other News
CNBC featured SEAS alumna and XPrize CEO Anousheh Ansari in the May 25 article, “XPrize CEO on being the first self-funded woman to go to space: People ‘underestimated my persistence.’’’
The Tennessean featured incoming SEAS student Gillian Fuhrmeister in the May 25 article, “Meet Mt. Juliet High School's valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2021.’’
SEAS Events Re-cap
On May 25, the SEAS Center for Women in Engineering (WiE) and the GW Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute (CSPRI) hosted the virtual conference “Closing the Gap: A DoD Conference on Re-entry for Women Veterans into Cybersecurity Careers.” The conference addressed two crucial needs: to fill the exponentially growing cybersecurity talent gap in the US, and to harness the potential of female US veterans to fill the gap. The conference was specifically targeted to researchers, educators, and decision-makers from academia, government, and industry, focusing on issues and practices for smoothing the reentry of women veterans into the workforce, specifically in cybersecurity careers. Women veterans were also encouraged to participate. WiE and CSPRI brought together a diversity of knowledgeable advisors on these issues, highlighting the critical topics and challenges that must be addressed and providing a compilation of resources. More information about the conference is available on the conference website, including a wealth of resources, a video of interviews with six women veterans, the conference agenda, and more. The conference was funded by a Department of Defense grant. Dr. Rachelle Heller (CS) was the principal investigator on the grant, and Dr. Costis Toregas (CSPRI) was the co-principal investigator.
Upcoming SEAS Events
CSPRI Webinar: “Fireside Chat with Drs. Toregas and Yerukhimovich on Colonial and DC MPD Hacks”
Speakers: Dr. Costis Toregas (CS) and Dr. Arkady Yerukhimovich (CS)
Moderator: Dr. Hurriyet Ok (CS, adjunct professor)
Tuesday, June 8
12:00 noon (ET)
Panelists will discuss why ransom hacks are on the rise and stress the disruptive business impact of cyber breaches, particularly based on recent Colonial and DC MPD hacks. The aim of the talk is to create awareness about cybercrime prevention strategies, research and policies, and suggest practical directions for improving defenses and mitigating ransomware attacks.
EMSE Seminar: “Assessing Human-Autonomy Interaction in Driving-Assist Settings”
Speaker: Dr. Mary (Missy) Cummings, Duke University
Friday, June 11
12:00 – 1:00 pm (ET)
SEAS Environmental and Energy Management Institute Virtual Seminar: “Clean Technologies for Lithium and Copper Mining”
Speaker: Dr. Adam Cohen, President, Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI)
Thursday, July 8
11:00 – 11:30 am (ET)
Dr. Cohen will discuss clean technologies for lithium and copper mining and related energy and environmental implications. AUI is a $100 million+ non-profit established in 1946 to manage Brookhaven National Laboratory, one of the first federally funded research and development centers. Through seven decades of discovery, AUI research has earned six Nobel prizes in a variety of energy and technology fields and convened scientists from across the globe to collaborate for the enlightenment of humanity. Until May 2017, Dr. Cohen served as the deputy undersecretary for science and energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, overseeing basic science, applied energy research, technology development, and deployment efforts, including stewardship of 13 of the 17 DOE national laboratories.
External Events
Walsh Group 2021 Faculty Summit Series
Thursday, June 10: Water Division
Thursday, September 30: Transportation Division
12:00 – 1:30 pm
The June 10 summit will include the topics “Preserving History: Bringing old buildings back to life (panel discussion),” and “Reality Capture: How we utilize drones for our Water & Heavy Civil projects.” The September 30 summit will cover the topics “Federal Projects: Come hear the federal division explain the challenges to build back military installations in the wake of natural disasters (panel discussion),” and “Reality Capture: How we utilize 360 photos and laser scanning for our projects.”
Human Resources News
Find updates on benefits, employee resources, and more at the HR Corner. Please visit the HR Corner to get the latest news and information.