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Bioengineering alumna completes a fun(gal) summer internship with NIH

Shayla Brown — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 18:07:12 +0000

Bioengineering alumna completes a fun(gal) summer internship with NIH Shayla Brown Fri, 09/13/2024 - 14:07

��AV bioengineering alumna Alessandra Coogan took advantage of all the opportunities associated with her internship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this summer. That included NIH workshops and seminars where Coogan was able to tap into various institutes and branches of engineering, as well as network with professional engineers.

“I thought interning at NIH meant that you come to the lab, work, then leave, but it's actually a huge institution and offers so many opportunities to socialize, network, and developing yourself as a professional scientist. It was really amazing,” said Coogan.

Alessandra Coogan. Photo provided.

Coogan’s internship through the Biomedical Engineering Summer Internship Program (BESIP) ran 10 weeks from June 3 to August 10.

“It's a little bit more competitive for bioengineering-related lab research. There's only 24 of us [in the BESIP program] in total, and it’s a very close-knit community program,” said Coogan, an Honors College student who graduated in May with her bachelor's in bioengineering with a concentration in biomaterials and nanomedicine from the College of Engineering and Computing.

The lab project pertains to immuno-engineering, which combines immunology and engineering, and explores the origins and potential mitigation of autoimmune responses triggered by implants in the body.

Coogan conducted research and development on drug delivery, tissue engineering, and scaffold development, which is a particular interest of hers.

“I love wet lab and getting my hands dirty while working on projects and experiments, and this experience definitely solidified that for me in terms of what I hope to do professionally,” said Coogan.

Alessandra Coogan in a National Institutes of Health lab. Photo provided.

Coogan was also given the chance to work on a second independent project, which is pretty rare. It focused on the treatment of fungal infections in the upper respiratory tract.

“A lot of treatments for fungal infections in your mouth, your lungs, your nose, especially in the nasal cavity, are aggressive and very systemic,” said Coogan.

For certain treatments, medical professionals might have to inject an antifungal medication through an IV into the bloodstream, she explained.

“It’s kind of overkill,” Coogan said. “The treatments are harmful to patients’ kidneys and liver. My research aims to provide a local application of an antifungal medication using a hydrogel, so my experiments consist of staining cells and processing tissue. It’s been a very fun but very difficult project,” she said.

Coogan credits George Mason’s Bioengineering Department for preparing her to take on a role of this caliber with NIH.

“Our department is small but mighty, and they really focus on creating excellent scientists,” said Coogan. “I've done a lot of research with Professor Rémi Veneziano in the [Laboratory for Bio-Inspired Nanoarchitectures] for two years now, and I've learned a lot from him. His research is on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, which really interested me.”

“I feel that I have been very lucky to have Alessandra as a student in my lab,” Veneziano said. “She is very driven, and has the background, the knowledge, and the technical skills to become an excellent researcher.”

Alessandra Coogan with NIH colleagues. Photo provided.

Coogan is always willing to lend a hand to her peers, training them and sharing her research, said Veneziano.

“She also developed excellent [problem-solving] skills that she was able to leverage to perform complex experiments and help one of my graduate students in a very challenging project,” said Veneziano.

Whenever possible, Veneziano encourages his students to attend conferences and present their work to other researchers in order to build a network and also see what other labs are doing in their fields and other fields. Earlier this year, Coogan presented her work on prosthetic liners at the topping off ceremony for Fuse at Mason Square alongside her peers.

Coogan returns to George Mason this fall to earn her accelerated master’s in bioengineering, and Veneziano will be her committee chair.

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Bioengineering student went from Patriot to Pilgrim for summer internship

Shayla Brown — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 15:51:00 +0000

Bioengineering student went from Patriot to Pilgrim for summer internship  Shayla Brown Fri, 09/06/2024 - 11:51

��AV bioengineering student Berk Kasimcan spent his summer internship working on a proof of concept for what could be described as sunglasses for buildings. 

Kasimcan is working alongside Harvard University psychology students and second-year PhD engineering and computing student Raphael Kay as they attempt to alleviate the damage that buildings experience throughout the years from radiation, heat, cold, and light. 

“What if we create this glass system that has various liquids inside and is able to adjust the building temperature or the [impact of] the direct UV light?” Kasimcan said. “This research would be especially helpful for newer buildings that are made of mostly glass.” 

Berk Kasimcan. Photo provided.

Kasimcan’s internship took place in two lab locations on Harvard’s campus —the Aizenberg Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab in the Science and Engineer Complex and the Center for Nanoscale Systems. The research being conducted is fairly new and led by Kay, who is also one of Kasimcan’s mentors.

“The environments are super-fast paced and each university has their own culture when doing research, so I get to learn a lot of different ways to conduct important research,” said Kasimcan.   

The Aizenberg lab is similar to the MIX here at George Mason, but with more of a focus on engineering. The Center for Nanoscale Systems is where students work on decomposition and microscopic materials too small to be seen unaided by the human eye and requires researchers to wear full-body clean room suits, Kasimcan explained. 

The team built a total of four setups this summer to measure how much light and heat is getting deflected, and how much heat transfer is present. 

 “Our goal for this summer is to build test benches. Once we perfect our devices and formulas, we will actually be able to use the test benches to get reliable results on light and heat detection,” said Kasimcan, who is enrolled in George Mason’s accelerated master’s bioengineering program.    

Berk Kasimcan at Harvard University Campus. Photo provided.

Kasimcan, who is in the Honors College, credits the mentorship he received at George Mason from associate professor of bioengineering Shani Ross and assistant professor of bioengineering Quentin Sanders, as well as his senior design project experience, for helping to prepare him for this internship. 

Working with Sanders in his Intelligent assistive technology, Neuromuscular control and Physiology, Wearables and Rehabilitation Robotics (ImPoWeR) lab for a year was great experience, Kasimcan said. “I worked on research addressing rehabilitation, robotics, and developed exoskeletons and prosthetic devices for individuals that have experienced a neurological injury or amputation.”

The feeling was mutual, according to Sanders. “It was a pleasure working with Berk. With his work ethic, intellectual curiosity, and general interest in the biomedical sciences, I can see him working at a top tier company within the health care industry,” said Sanders.  

“I’m sure he’ll do great wherever he ends up. I wouldn't be surprised at all if I looked up one day and Berk was the leading scientist in the research and development division of a huge company,” he added.  

Kasimcan, along with his peers, spent a year working on hydrogel research with the goal of creating a water filtration system in the event of an emergency so communities can access clean water.    

“It’s not something we can use 24/7 unfortunately, but when it comes to emergencies, it was a pretty useful device,” said Kasimcan. 

For their efforts, Kasimcan and his teammates won multiple awards including two People’s Choice Awards for engineering from George Mason’s Bioengineering Department and 2nd Place in a Star-Tides Poster Competition.

Kasimcan graduated with a bachelor of science from George Mason in spring 2024 and is currently pursuing his master's in engineering.

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Schar School Welcomes Thema Monroe-White

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:54:33 +0000

Schar School Welcomes Thema Monroe-White Andrew J Schappert Wed, 09/04/2024 - 11:54

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‘We’ve talked about the data harm. I want to get at the solutions.’ – Thema Monroe-White

Thema Monroe-White joins ��AV this fall as an associate professor in both the Schar School and the College of Engineering and Computing. She is an artificial intelligence (AI) and policy justice scholar and the recipient of a prestigious $1 million CAREER grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to early-career faculty who are trailblazers within their field.

Monroe-White focuses on the intersection of science, policy, and racial equity, working to combat bias within data science and AI by building a diverse scientific workforce. Her CAREER grant, entitled “Investigating Undergraduate Student Persistence Intentions for a Diverse Data Science Community,” is a huge step toward her goal of developing social inclusion in the scientific community. Monroe-White will investigate which interventions are most effective in encouraging underrepresented students to choose STEM majors, graduate, and subsequently stay in STEM careers. “I want to develop concrete, practical approaches for broadening participation in data science and related fields,” says Monroe-White. “Why do students persist in STEM, and how can we codify those conditions to encourage even more underrepresented students to pursue STEM careers?”

The CAREER grant builds on another NSF-funded project Monroe White brings to Mason, which examines how scientists’ background and experience influence the research topics they choose to pursue. Monroe-White's team has illustrated that a homogeneous workforce in STEM fields results in a less comprehensive exploration of scientific topics. Just as medical research focused on white male subjects until more women and researchers of color achieved authority in the field, Monroe-White's research exposes similar patterns in other fields. Preliminary research focused on scientists in the United States, and the team will now refine their algorithm and apply it to an international dataset.

Monroe-White brings her expertise in AI to George Mason at time when the university is investing in AI research and innovation. The Schar School recently secured two other seven-figure AI-related grants, one from the Department of Defense and another to create the nation’s first Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness (CAIIEC).

“Thema Monroe-White’s research understands the computational, social, and policy issues that underline artificial intelligence,” said J.P. Singh, Schar School Distinguished University Professor and principal investigator for CAIIEC. “She will greatly help us bridge disciplinary divides and train the next generation of student scholars to address the cutting-edge issues of our times.”

Monroe-White's research and teaching agenda focus both on revealing algorithmic bias and realizing AI’s capacity for positive social transformation. This will be the center of her contributions to George Mason’s new undergraduate program in technology policy, an innovative split between computer science and policy studies. In her fall course, AI: Ethics, Policy, & Society, Monroe-White asks, “Must AI tools reflect reality?” Algorithms learn from the data they are given and reflect the biases embedded in that data.

“We’ve talked about the data harms. I want to get at the solutions,” she said when asked about her goals at George Mason. “How do we round that corner and, instead of stereotyping subordination and omission, how do we get at empowerment and uplift?” AI is a powerful tool – one that has caused harm but also has enormous potential to reverse previous harms. As part of the Schar School, Monroe-White will train the next generation of computer scientists and policy practitioners to build that future.

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��AV’s Amarda Shehu appointed inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

Melanie Balog — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:37:10 +0000

��AV’s Amarda Shehu appointed inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Melanie Balog Wed, 09/04/2024 - 07:37

FAIRFAX, VA - ��AV has named Associate Vice President for Research for the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA) Amarda Shehu as the university’s inaugural vice president and chief artificial intelligence officer (CAIO). In this role, Shehu will lead the strategy and implementation of AI across research, academics, and partnerships for the university, maximizing opportunity and adoption in addressing the world’s grand challenges while leading on ethical considerations, governance, and risk mitigation.

“As the number one public university in Virginia and a top 10 U.S. university for innovation, as well as the first to offer a School of Computing and degree in cybersecurity engineering, George Mason is driven by inclusive access to research and education that provides insight and inspires solutions. There is an institution-wide recognition of the centrality of AI to the future of knowledge creation, scientific discovery, creative expression, workforce development, and campus operations,” said Andre Marshall, ��AV vice president for research, innovation, and economic development. “By collaborating with other units to build an AI growth roadmap for the university, Dr. Shehu will be a transformative force in taking George Mason to the top of this field and partnering in the region to advance the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As George Mason’s inaugural Vice President and CAIO, and one of the first at a U.S. university, Shehu will spearhead university-wide research and programs, attract AI talent, and ensure compliance with ethical standards and regulatory requirements. Shehu will work with the university’s chief risk officer and chief information officer on tools and platforms, as well as governance to ensure data privacy and security. She will also collaborate with academic divisions on new majors and expanded coursework.

“I knew when I started my research in this field over 20 years ago that AI would unleash enormous speed and power in innovation, which is at the heart of what drives George Mason,” Shehu said. “Power lies in our ability to harness this technology in sustainable and democratic deployment that improves society and the human condition. I am thrilled to work alongside brilliant faculty, students, staff, and industry partners to position George Mason at the forefront of AI in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Shehu is a professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering and Computing, where she also serves as an associate dean for AI Innovation. She is the inaugural founding co-director of ��AV’s transdisciplinary Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships. Shehu is lead PI on the George Mason-National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) cooperative research and development agreement within the Department of Commerce in response to the 2023 White House Executive Order on AI. As part of the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact division’s leadership team, Shehu will continue to provide leadership for IDIA. A full biography is available here.

Shehu’s position comes at a time of rapid AI advancements at the university. In April 2024, George Mason launched the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC), which will serve as the focal point for research in autonomy, robotics, and AI. In fall 2024, the university will launch a graduate certificate that focuses on responsible AI. Earlier this summer, George Mason was awarded a $1 million grant to establish the nation’s first Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness, which will bolster the economic competitiveness of small and medium enterprises across Virginia. Much of the work in AI will take place at the Fuse at Mason Square, the university’s new state-of-the-art research and entrepreneurship hub for students, digital innovators, researchers, and regional businesses opening this fall.

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George Mason researchers collaborate on $1.5M NSF study to electrify bus fleets

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 19:02:13 +0000

George Mason researchers collaborate on $1.5M NSF study to electrify bus fleets Andrew J Schappert Wed, 08/21/2024 - 15:02

A new $1.5 million study funded by the National Science Foundation will draw on the expertise of a transdisciplinary research team from ��AV, the University of Virginia, and Syracuse University, in an effort to address the challenges involved in transitioning public bus fleets, including transit and school buses, to electric power.

Principal Investigator Jie Xu will lead the NSF study. Photo provided.

The study, “SCC-IRG Track 1: Community-Responsive Electrified and Adaptive Transit Ecosystem (CREATE): Planning, Operations, and Management,” is headed by the principal investigator (PI) Jie Xu, a professor at George Mason’s Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC).

The project team’s co-PIs from George Mason include Fengxiu Zhang from the Schar School of Policy and Government, Ran Ji from the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research in CEC; and Wenying Ji from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering in CEC. Also on the team is Jundong Li from the University of Virginia’s department of electrical and computer engineering.

Electrifying the nation’s bus fleets could significantly improve air quality and public health, especially in communities that have suffered from diesel exhaust pollution, says the Schar School’s Zhang. However, the shift to electric buses is complicated by several issues, such as limited driving range, long charging times, high upfront costs, downtime, a lack of skilled workforce, and varying priorities among stakeholders.

“Electrifying public fleets is crucial for reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and enhancing public health, particularly in traditionally disadvantaged communities,” she said. “Our project seeks to address the complex challenges of planning, operating, and managing fleet electrification by developing comprehensive sociotechnical solutions to facilitate achievement of those outcomes.”

A key focus, she added, “is the integration of environmental and transportation justice principles, ensuring that the electrification process prioritizes communities burdened by environmental injustices while not compromising the accessibility and reliability of bus services.

Fengxiu Zhang: ‘Electrifying public fleets is crucial for reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and enhancing public health, particularly in traditionally disadvantaged communities.’ Photo provided

“We will adopt a user-informed approach by extensively engaging with our partners to co-develop tailored solutions that meet their specific needs and priorities to ensure the relevance, applicability, and effectiveness of our solutions.”

The goal is to create a scalable, sustainable path for public transit systems to transition to electric buses. Researchers say this will involve developing intelligent decision-support tools that help in planning and managing the fleet, while considering the unique challenges of electric buses compared to traditional ones. For instance, factors like charging capacity and locations are more crucial for electric buses due to their limited range and longer refueling times than conventional buses.

The project will bring together various partners, including local transit agencies, schools, utility companies, bus service providers, and national labs, to develop innovative technologies that meet both analytical and practical needs. These technologies will include advanced machine-learning and optimization tools to handle the complexities and uncertainties of electrifying bus fleets.

These tools will help optimize daily operations, such as maintaining the right charge levels in buses, managing charging schedules, responding to incidents, and performing maintenance—all while ensuring the buses are used efficiently and the overall costs remain competitive.

The project will also assess collaborative governance in public bus fleet electrification planning and policy-making. In addition, it aims to build a skilled workforce that can support the transition to electric buses, ensuring that the shift is sustainable in the long term.

At the end of the project, the researchers will deploy the CREATE Suite, a set of intelligent decision-support tools developed during the study in a pilot program in collaboration with public transit systems and school districts that are partnering in the project. The project will also establish an electric bus clearinghouse as a centralized platform to disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and other information to help other transit agencies and schools electrify their bus fleets.

Other experts in the project team include David Wong from the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science and Vivian Genaro Motti from the Department of Information Sciences and Technology, both from George Mason, and Professor Saba Siddiki from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

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SeaGlide Summer Camp ends swimmingly

Martha Bushong — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 13:58:56 +0000

SeaGlide Summer Camp ends swimmingly Martha Bushong Tue, 08/06/2024 - 09:58

Lap swimmers at the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center on ��AV's Science and Technology Campus shared the pool with some unusual visitors on Friday, July 25, as more than a dozen high school students tested their underwater gliders on the final day of the SeaGlide Summer Camp.

Splashdown! High school campers launch their maritime robots at the pool inside the Freedom Aquatics and Fitness Center. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of University Branding

The camp is supported by the National Science Foundation grant (NSF), BRITE Relaunch: Persistent and Accessible Maritime Monitoring (PAMM), which promotes STEM outreach activities in maritime robotics. College of Engineering and Computing Professor Leigh McCue started the camp a few years ago to help get high schoolers excited about STEM.

According to Kim Campbell, a parent of one of the high schoolers, the camp exceeded its goal. “This camp engages your child mentally and physically,” said Campbell. “I felt it resembled an abbreviated summer college course. The instructors were hands-on and made the course exciting. My child talked about the camp every day for a minimum of an hour after she departed.”

At the camp, students built an untethered underwater glider from a kit designed by RoboNation. The kit provides supplies and directions, but students can innovate and experiment with different designs. The kit includes a sports water bottle that forms the hull of the glider with material for wings that extend from the sides. The glider moves by changing its buoyancy, taking in or expelling water. making it sink and rise. As the glider travels up and down, its “wings” generate lift, which propels the glider forward. Different colored lights indicate the glider’s status as it rises, falls, and moves forward.

The high school students built their gliders from a kit and tested them in the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center pool. Photo by Ayman/Rashid/Office of University Branding

Graduate research assistant Vanessa Barth who works in McCue’s lab at the Potomac Science Center on fundamental research in maritime robotics supported by the NSF grant helped McCue coordinate and manage the camp activities. She said the students experimented through trial and error using pieces of a pool noodle or adding weights to achieve neutral buoyance with their gliders.

In the past, campers tested the devices in a four-foot-deep tank at George Mason’s Innovation Drive facilities, but this year McCue wanted to try something different, so she contacted the team at the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center, and they agreed. “I want to be sure to give a shout-out to them. They couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating,” said McCue.

In the pool, the gliders could move more freely, even if they didn’t always stay within the lane lines. Sometimes they drifted into the lanes of recreational swimmers, but McCue said everybody was understanding. Some even stopped to watch and ask questions. Though the grant ends soon, McCue hopes to keep the camp going and wants to continue the partnership with the aquatic center.

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Space experiment could teach us how aerosols move in the atmosphere

Teresa Donnellan — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 19:45:22 +0000

Space experiment could teach us how aerosols move in the atmosphere Teresa Donnellan Mon, 08/05/2024 - 15:45

As a child, Jeffrey Moran was fascinated by outer space. Now, he is designing an experiment to be carried out on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025.

"I was obsessed with space as a kid,” said the mechanical engineering assistant professor. “The house I grew up in is still filled with drawings of Space Shuttles. Airplanes and spacecraft were a major reason I chose engineering when I got to college."

Jeffrey Moran. Photo by Office of University Branding

When the National Science Foundation issued a call for proposals to conduct research projects on the ISS to benefit life on earth, Moran jumped at the chance and wrote a proposal that was successfully funded. His grant-winning experiment will examine the extent to which aerosols (small particles suspended in air) move through air in response to a temperature difference (meaning the air on one side is hotter than on the other). This phenomenon—migration of particles in response to temperature gradients—is known as thermophoresis.

“It all started with a brainstorming session I had with a collaborator,” said Moran, describing the conversation he had with Purdue University colleague David Warsinger, who is a co-investigator on the NSF-funded project. “In contrast to most of my projects, which consider particles that move through liquids, we considered a simple question: what mechanisms could we use propel small particles through air?”

“My lab focuses on developing self-propelled particles for applications like water treatment or drug delivery," said Moran. "It’s a new and exciting field, but it’s so far been restricted entirely to water environments. No one has tried to develop a swimmer that moves in air. That ties into climate change, because aerosols are everywhere in the atmosphere—both because of human activity, like burning fossil fuels, and because of natural events like volcanic eruptions—and we don’t have a solid understanding of the net effect aerosols will have on the climate.”

Thermophoresis occurs in both liquids and gases, but it’s difficult to study in gases on earth because of the influence of gravity. Another challenge with studying particle migration in temperature gradients on earth is that the heated air tends to rise (for the same reason that hot air balloons rise), making it difficult to know exactly why the particles are moving. Doing the experiment in space allows scientists to run their tests with a minimal influence of gravity, to purely examine the effect of temperature on aerosols without creating air currents, which inevitably form when one tries to create a temperature difference in air because hot air tends to rise (which is the reason hot air balloons rise).

“We’re going to send various aerosol samples into space, each in a specially designed cuvette, for the astronauts to test,” Moran explained. “There’s a microscope on the ISS, and the astronauts will place our cuvettes into an apparatus we’ve designed that applies heat and cold to opposite walls of the cuvette. The astronauts will then use the microscope to determine how fast the particles move towards hot or towards cold. We expect that aerosols made from different materials will respond differently to the temperature gradient, but nobody knows how. That’s what’s exciting about this experiment – no one has made these types of measurements before.”

“For the last part of the project, we’re going to see whether some particles with asymmetric properties might generate the propulsive temperature difference on their own,” Moran continued. “These particles will have half of their surface coated in a metal. The other side is an insulating material,” Moran explained. “When we shine a light on them, the metal side efficiently absorbs the light and heats up relative to the insulating side. The hot hemisphere heats the air near it, and that creates a temperature difference in the surrounding air. This could help us understand whether odd-shaped aerosols in the atmosphere move on their own, without the need for a temperature difference.”

Before the experiment can be carried out, Moran and his team need to determine the experiment’s parameters as well as the materials required.

“This is very much a work in progress,” said Moran. “We're figuring out exactly which particles we want to send to the space station [based on] which materials matter the most to climate scientists [and] what the biggest question marks are.”

He mentioned, among other examples, the possibility of experimenting with carbon soot.

“Carbon soot is produced by burning fossil fuels, and it’s known to be harmful to the environment because it absorbs sunlight efficiently,” he said. “Another source of carbon soot, increasingly common in this era, is from rocket launches.”
“It’s pretty well established that carbon soot overall intensifies warming,” he said. “It's black, so it tends to absorb sunlight efficiently. This leads to a net warming effect on the atmosphere, but it's not clear how much it moves in thermophoresis (how much it moves in temperature differences).”

Moran looks forward to working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to refine the plan. An early step in this project will be for Moran and his team to travel to Texas to examine a replica of the equipment available to scientists on the International Space Station.

The College of Engineering and Computing will cover Moran’s progress as the project moves forward.

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Study abroad combines tourism and tech

Martha Bushong — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 15:18:13 +0000

Study abroad combines tourism and tech Martha Bushong Tue, 07/23/2024 - 11:18

When most people think of Vienna, Austria they imagine elegant baroque palaces and a world-class opera and symphony, not a European Tech hub. The tension between old and new inspired Professor Rob Pettit, associate chair of the Computer Science Department at ��AV, to lead a pioneering study-abroad program there in the summer of 2024.

Designed for undergraduate computer science students, this initiative is among the nation’s first faculty-led, study-abroad opportunities specific to computer science. "Studying abroad is not just about combining academics with travel," said Pettit. "It's a transformative experience that expands horizons, fosters cultural understanding and builds a global perspective. Given today's interconnected world, studying abroad equips students with unique skills and insights, preparing them to navigate and contribute to a diverse and dynamic global community."

Pettit and the students lived as locals in Vienna's dynamic 6th district for this six-week immersive program. Students attended classes at the renowned Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), consistently ranked in the world's top 100 computer science universities. There, Pettit held lectures for CS 321 Software Engineering in which students gained hands-on experience with team-based agile software development practices in preparation for their transition to industry.

“CS 321 is a project-based course and part of the required curriculum for the BS CS and BS ACS degrees at George Mason,” said Petit. “For their projects, students were required to incorporate elements of their study-abroad experience into a deliverable software application.”

In addition to CS 321, students earned credit for CS 399 Exploration of the Global Software Engineering Industry. Together, this combination provided six credits of coursework directly applicable to the computer science major.

Computer Science students in front of Melk Abbey. Photo provided.

Organized excursions and industry interactions enhanced the students' cultural and historical understanding. Highlights from the program's first half included visits to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, Vienna's Technical Museum, and the Belvedere Palace's art galleries and gardens. The undergraduates also traveled to nearby Melk Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For the industry experience, TTTech corporation hosted students at its Vienna location and included presentations on high-reliability software. Beyond site visits, the group also shared community meals where they experienced traditional Austrian, Hungarian, and Turkish cuisine while building stronger bonds within the group.

For their first long weekend, students and Pettit traveled to Prague, staying in a hotel with views of the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. A guided tour of Prague's historic city center provided deep insights into the city's rich history. "Our guide, a lifelong resident, enriched our experience with his extensive historical knowledge, concluding the tour in Wenceslas Square with a firsthand account of the Soviet suppression of the Prague Spring uprising, which he witnessed as a teenager," said Pettit.

Additional excursions included visits to Schönbrunn Palace—the stunning Baroque summer palace of the Hapsburgs—and day trips to Bratislava, Slovakia, and Sopron, Hungary. The students explored and traveled to locations in Croatia, Germany, and Italy during their free weekends.

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Through NSF funding, graduate students and community partners find novel solutions to public health problems

Sarah Holland — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:18:40 +0000

Through NSF funding, graduate students and community partners find novel solutions to public health problems Sarah Holland Fri, 06/21/2024 - 12:18

One of the ways ��AV is All Together Different is its approach to research. Students in the Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions (CASBBI) NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program learn how to apply interdisciplinary, community-focused research to find solutions to the world’s grand challenges.

2023-24 NRT cohort members. Photo by Sarah Holland

Since the program began in 2019 with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the NRT Program has bought together graduate students from engineering, data science, and social science for one-year fellowships. Students work in multidisciplinary teams of other fellows and community partners to define a problem within the community and co-develop creative solutions. Thus far, 82 graduate students have participated in the five cohorts.

“No one is doing this level of interdisciplinary convergence,” explained Samuel Acuña, research professor in the Department of Bioengineering and assistant director of CASBBI. “You'll see other programs with, say, mechanical engineers working with electrical engineers, but we have groups with computer scientists, social workers, and linguists working together. Psychologists, engineers, and neuroscientists. It’s novel.”

In the program, students are assigned to groups and matched with community partners working to solve public health problems. The groups work with these partners to establish a project that will best meet their needs: This could be anything from data collection to mobile application development to further developing the work of the previous cohort.

Some groups have even continued their work long after their time in the program concludes; iConnect, an app to connect those suffering from substance abuse to local resources and support, continues beyond the program with their community partner The Chris Atwood Foundation.

“To have, say, a computer science student work with the community and think about people and problems in a way they wouldn’t otherwise, that’s the type of experience that they can draw on for years and years to come,” Acuña said. “The fellowship helps them think more deliberately about how they approach their research through a toolbox of techniques. So, when they’re done, they can approach any issue or problem they might be assigned from this perspective.”

Community-centered and human-centered research is a big draw for some NRT fellows. Morgan Lamarre, BA Dance ’22, BS Bioengineering ’24, master’s student in bioengineering and a member of the 2024-25 cohort, said, “Many of us hope that our careers are in community-facing work, so to have these skills and experience in engaging with the community will be really helpful. And these methods are different from what we see in our classrooms and labs.”

“As engineers, we’re often given a problem to solve how we want and how we think is best without input from the community, and there’s a bit of mistrust between the overall community and the scientific community as a result,” said Kirubel Tadesse, BS Bioengineering ’24, current master’s student in data analytics engineering and incoming cohort member. “But through this method, we’re actively engaging with the community and stakeholders to ensure that our designs are meeting their specific needs. We’re bridging that gap.”

2023-24 Team FIRE (First-responers, Innovation, Research, and Exploration) presents their research at NRT orientation. Photo by Sarah Holland

“It’s a completely new way for us to approach our work,” said Brady Stinson-Smith, master’s student in bioengineering, and fellow member of the incoming cohort. “We can be so siloed in our fields, but this program helps us make the connections between not only the community, but also with researchers in other fields like sociology, psychology, and social work who can help us think better and differently about our approaches and solutions.”

This is the philosophy upon which the NRT program is built. “No one field is enough to solve these problems,” said Acuña. “The leaders of tomorrow need to know how to navigate across multiple disciplines and groups of stakeholders in order to create impactful change.”

“We all come from different approaches,” said Yosef Shaul, PhD student in kinesiology and 2023-24 cohort member. Shaul was a member of team VIRTUE (Violence Intervention and Resolution through Unifying Efforts), focused on addressing barriers to domestic violence prevention and management in Northern Virginia. “Everyone brings their own advantages and attributes. It makes the whole greater.”

Now that he has completed the fellowship, Shaul plans to adjust his research process for his PhD to incorporate more community-centered practices. “My outcomes,” he said, “will now better meet community needs.”

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Statistics professor aims to use fMRI data to identify, predict Alzheimer’s

Teresa Donnellan — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:58:51 +0000

Statistics professor aims to use fMRI data to identify, predict Alzheimer’s Teresa Donnellan Fri, 06/21/2024 - 10:58

In the quest to combat Alzheimer's disease, ��AV professor Abolfazl Safikhani is working with neuroscientists and imaging experts at the University of Washington's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) to pioneer groundbreaking advancements in biomarker identification.

Abolfazl Safikhani. Photo by Creative Services

"We're trying to understand and come up with the biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease using imaging data,” said Safikhani, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics. “[We will] try to distinguish and classify between people who have Alzheimer’s disease or will be developing it in the near future compared to healthy individuals."

At the core of the ADRC project lies functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, which researchers are using to identify biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. Unlike conventional imaging techniques, fMRI provides researchers with a comprehensive view of brain activity, enabling them to discern subtle connectome-based changes associated with the disease.

Collecting and analyzing fMRI data comes with challenges, as imaging available for research is limited. Nevertheless, the researchers remain undeterred in their quest to unlock the secrets of Alzheimer's disease. They have already made early progress.

"We were able to get some really good preliminary results, from which a [National Institutes of Health] proposal has been submitted and is currently under review," said Safikhani. He added, "If we could come up with a combination of statistical and machine learning techniques to detect Alzheimer’s progression, it would be one of the most interesting projects I have ever worked on.”

By combining expertise from diverse disciplines and leveraging the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, this project promises to make an important step toward early detection and intervention strategies for Alzheimer's disease.

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