Faculty News
Research:
Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE) was recently awarded two grants. The Vaccine Confidence Fund, which is jointly administered by Merck and Facebook, awarded him and Dr. Lorien Abroms (Milken Institute School of Public Health) a five-month, $247,018 grant for the project “Empathic Engagement with the Vaccine Hesitant in Online Spaces.” It is a Multi-Principal Investigator (MPI) grant, with Dr. Broniatowski as the contact PI. The purpose of the grant is to test the efficacy of messages designed to take advantage of Facebook’s social network structure to increase vaccine uptake in counties with low COVID vaccination rates. He also is the co-PI on a one-year National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator award to Dr. Rebekah Tromble (School of Media and Public Affairs). The total award amount is $750,000 and it is the first phase in a two-phase competition. Their project addresses the links between two significant problems impacting trust in contemporary communication systems: 1) the broad and rapid spread of misinformation; and 2) campaigns of abuse and harassment directed at members of expert communities. Misinformation-driven harassment campaigns have particularly large impacts on those at the forefront of efforts to accurately inform the public, including journalists, scientists, and public health officials.
Dr. Tim Wood (CS), in collaboration with Dr. Gedare Bloom (GW CS PhD ‘13) of University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, has received a one-year, $244,969 grant as part of the National Security Agency’s National Centers of Academic Excellence program. The project, titled “SDN/NFV VACUUM: Value-based Access Control Using Untrusted Media,” will explore how to improve network security by enforcing access controls based on network paths. GW’s share of the grant is $49,000.
Publications
Dr. David Broniatowski (EMSE), his PhD student Dian Hu, and their GW collaborators have published the following paper: D. Hu, C. M.-H. Liu, R. Hamdy, M. Cziner, M. Fung, S. Dobbs, L. Rogers, M. M. Turner, and D. A. Broniatowski, “Questioning the Yelp Effect: Mixed Methods Analysis of Web-Based Reviews of Urgent Cares,” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(10), e29406.
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Conferences & Presentations:
Dr. Taeyoung Lee (MAE) and his graduate student recently presented their work at the IFAC Workshop on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Methods for Nonlinear Control. The workshop was held October 11-13, in Berlin, Germany and online. The citation is: Tejaswi K.C. and T. Lee, “Geometric Optimal Controls for Flapping Wing UAV on a Lie Group.”
Other News
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has named SEAS alumna Dr. Jaclyn Brennan (PhD ’20, BME) as a 2021-2022 ASME Congressional Fellow – Bioengineering. She officially began her fellowship in September 2021, serving in the office of the Honorable Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA 18th District). Dr. Brennan will support a range of health policy issues, including: designing the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) statute, reauthorizing the FDA user fee programs, and increasing diversity in clinical trials. As a doctoral student, Dr. Brennan was advised by Dr. Igor Efimov (BME), and she subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher in his lab until the start of her congressional fellowship.
SEAS Events Re-cap
On Sunday, October 3, at the close of GW’s Centuries Celebration weekend, more than 400 SEAS alumni, students, and their families gathered at the Science and Engineering Hall to enjoy a reception hosted by SEAS Dean John Lach and a hooding ceremony for alumni who received their doctoral degrees in 2020 and 2021, when GW was unable to hold Commencement ceremonies due to the pandemic. Attendees had the chance to reconnect with old friends and meet new friends at the event, and 47 of our 2020 and 2021 alumni were able to receive their doctoral hoods in the presence of their family and friends.
Upcoming SEAS Events
BME Day
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Pamela Norris, GW Vice Provost for Research
Monday, November 1
10:00 am – 5:30 pm (Reception to follow)
SEH, Lehman Auditorium (and via WebEx)
All SEAS faculty and students are invited to join the BME Department for its annual BME Day. The day’s events include a keynote from GW Vice Provost for Research Dr. Pamela Norris; guest speaker Dr. Cindy Liu, associate professor and chief medical officer, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health); undergraduate and graduate student presentations; a career panel discussion; and more. Registration is required.
BME Speaker Series: “Image-Based” Systems Biology - A New Paradigm in Cancer Research”
Speaker: Dr. Arvind Pathak, Johns Hopkins University
Wednesday, December 1
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Lehman Auditorium (SEH, B1270)
Entrepreneurship News & Events
Hackathon: “Innovate the Future of Travel Tech - From House to Gate”
Session One (virtual): Friday, November 12 | 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Session Two (in-person): Friday, November 19 | 9:30 am – 5:45 pm (A non-mandatory reception follows, 5:45 – 7:00 pm)
Register and find more information
This two-session hackathon/design sprint is looking for solutions to improve air travelers’ assurance that they will have enough time to make their flights when starting from home, office, or anywhere. People must consider lots of travel time factors when traveling to the airport, including walking, ground transportation (bus, Metro, parking garage and walking), check-in (baggage), security clearance, and transit time to the gate. These unknowns create anxiety for passengers. This event is hosted by the GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship in partnership with CirrusLabs, George Hacks, and the GW Innovation Center.
Pitch George: The annual Pitch George competition is one of GW's premier entrepreneurial initiatives organized by the GW Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence (CFEE). This “elevator pitch” competition takes place each Fall semester and allows young entrepreneurs from any GW school to present their business ideas, get valuable feedback on the viability of their business concepts, and win startup capital. The competition offers networking opportunities with entrepreneurs from the greater DC area, as well as hands-on preparation for the GW New Venture Competition.
This academic year, CFEE presents to GW’s Fall semester students, faculty, and alumni the opportunity to participate in a hybrid version of the annual “Pitch George” elevator-pitching competition. Learn more about the competition, attend a Pitch George information session, or register for the competition. Registration is due by October 23 at 11:59 pm. The competition—which consists of three rounds spread across three weeks—will be held on November 6, November 13, and November 20.
External Events
Leadership in Our Time Webinar: “A Fireside Chat with Fiona Hill and Andras Simonyi”
Tuesday, October 19
1:15 – 2:15 pm
This event is hosted by the SEAS Environmental and Energy Institute, GW Elliott School of International Affairs, and the Security and Sustainability Forum.
RCR and Beyond
Classes meet throughout the Fall semester
Thursdays, 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) @ GW and Beyond is a semester-long weekly seminar course designed to develop and strengthen ethical problem-solving skills along with cultivating sensitivity to ethical issues commonly found while conducting research. The course is open to the entire campus community, including undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, researchers, staff and research administrators. Registration is capped at 20 participants, first come, first served. Classes are held on Thursdays, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. throughout the semester, unless otherwise noted.