SHARE:  

March | 2023

Engineering and... News

Dean's Corner

Greetings GW Engineering Community!


During the month of March, we celebrated the impact of women around the world. Women’s History Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the many contributions women have made to further humanity and the strides we’ve made as a society toward gender equity.


Even with the progress that has been made over the last century, there is still more that can and must be done, and there are many disciplines and industries where women remain underrepresented, including engineering and computer science.


At GW Engineering, we are working to address that. Over the last few decades, our school has worked to create an inclusive community where women can thrive and become global leaders in engineering and computer science. This community now includes an undergraduate student body that is 45% female, which is almost double the national average and top-10 nationwide. While we have much work to do to improve the gender diversity of our graduate students and faculty, we are well above national averages in both, and 55% of our faculty hires over the last three years are women. In addition, two of our three Associate Deans are female, and with the recent election of Dr. Vesna Zderic as BME Chair and the summer arrival of Dr. Rebecca Hwa as CS Chair, half of our Department Chairs will be women. Much work remains, but we are proud of this great progress and are deeply grateful to the many people who have made it possible.


One of those people is Computer Science Professor Emerita Dr. Rachelle Heller, who is the Founding Director of our Center for Women in Engineering (WiE). The Center provides events, mentoring, training, and thought leadership that not only make GW Engineering a top school for female engineers but also promote gender equity in the field of engineering more broadly.


As we close out Women’s History Month, we acknowledge that there is still much work to be done and issues of equity to address. I encourage all of us to consider how we can help create gender-equity in our school, our discipline, our community, and our world.


Raise High!

John Lach

Faculty News

Advancing AI Through Hippocampus-inspired Dynamic Network Investigations

Dr. Gina Adam, Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor, has received the 2023 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award! AFOSR received over 175 proposals and Dr. Adam's submission on Neurogenesis in Neuromorphic Computing: Hippocampus-inspired Dynamic Networks was among the winning proposals.

Read More

Zara and Wortham Led Workshop at KEEN National Conference

Dr. Jason Zara and Dr. Erica Wortham led a workshop for engineering faculty and administrators at the Keen National Conference 2023. The workshop followed the conference’s topic "Connections” as it focused on the entrepreneurial mindset in co-curricular contexts and “putting our whole selves into it.”

Read More

In NYT Article Dr. Broniatowski Adds to Conversation About Bad Digital Ads

David Broniatowski, Associate EMSE Professor and Associate Director of the Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics (IDDP), was recently featured in an article by the New York Times, “Why Are You Seeing So Many Bad Digital Ads Now?” Broniatowski stated social media is a far easier target for the small but motivated group of anti-vaccine advertisers he studied because of their “very brittle” moderation algorithms. 

Read More

Upcoming Events

March 23 - April 22: Shape of Water

Learn More


March 28, 12:25-1pm: Women's History Celebration Booth

Learn More


March 29, 10-11am: GW Engineering Online Information Session: Tips for Applying to GW Engineering

Register Here


March 29, 6:30-8:30pm: Networking Dinner Hosted by GWU BMES

Register Here


March 30, 6-9pm: Dare to be ALIVE

Register Here


March 31, 12-1pm: Climate and Health Connection Series

Register Here


March 31, 2-3pm: Chemistry Seminar

Register Here


March 31, 3:30-5:30pm: Physics Majors & Minors Open House

Learn More


April 1, 8-11pm: The Engineers' Ball

Learn More


April 3, 3:30-6:30pm: High Profile/High Impact Public Services Careers: Networking, Panel & Roundtable

Register Here


April 4, 10:30-11:30am: Donut Hour

Learn More


April 4 & 5: GW Giving Day

Learn More


April 5, 10-11am: Admitted Graduate Student Live Chat

Learn More


April 5, 5:30-6:30pm: Fielding Q & A (Startup Edition)

Register Here


April 5, 12-1pm: Navigating the Workplace Lunch & Learn

Learn More


April 6, 11am-12pm: ECE Distinguished Lecture Series

Learn More


April 13, 1-2pm: Research Spotlight Webinar featuring Jeffrey Lees

Learn More


April 25, 8am-6:30pm: Business & Policy Forum: Attacking Cybersecurity Risks

Register Here

View All Events

GW Professors Abroad: Dr. Ken Chong Visits KAUST in Saudia Arabia

Dr. Ken Chong, Research Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, visited King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia for five days in early December 2022. During his visit, Chong gave a seminar on the role of basic and applied research in a modern university and toured the labs, centers, and libraries across campus.

Read More

Department Highlights

Biomedical Engineering

Novel Designs for Targeting and Eliminating Cancer Cells

Read More

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Liquefaction Experiments and Analysis Projects (LEAP)

Read More

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Next-Generation Electronic and Photonic Chips

Read More

Engineering Management and

Systems Engineering

Modeling for Medical Purposes: Improving Throughput in COVID Testing

Read More

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

The Science of Swimming

Read More

Computer Science

iPhone Passcodes Become an Opening to Steal One's Digital Life

Read More

Research Spotlight

The use of peroxide-based disinfectants has grown with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, the extensive use of chemical disinfectants to kill viruses and other pathogens can also threaten human health and ecosystems. Now, a research team led by the George Washington University has engineered a new nanomaterial that can boost the potency of common disinfectants. The team showed that when the nanomaterial–a double-atom catalyst–is mixed with a peroxide-based disinfectant, the disinfectant is two-to-four times more effective in disabling a coronavirus strain compared to when the disinfectant is used alone. The ability to enhance disinfectants with nanomaterials engineered from earth-abundant elements like iron and carbon is more sustainable and cost-effective, say the researchers. 

Read More

Student News

Computer Science Students Excel at RTSS 2022 for Transforming the Edge

Read More

GW Gala 2023 Highlights

Read More

System Engineers Attend Competition on the Nexus of Engineering and Ethics

Read More

Alumni News

Be an Alumni Mentor for the Center for Women in Engineering

Read More

Alumni Share Their GW Love Stories

Read More

'That Fueled Me'

Read More

University News

New Facilities Will Bring Turbulence down to Earth

Read More

Global Equity Institute Chartered at GW

Read More

Christopher Cahill Co-Leads $25 Million Consortium Research Project

Read More

March's Local Hero

Brittany Wright is the Executive Director of Graduate Enrollment Management & Advising, but she is also so much more! Read the Q&A on the right to learn more about March's Local Hero, Brittany Wright!

Brittany Wright

Q: How long have you been working at GW and what is your position?

A: I am the Executive Director of Graduate Enrollment Management & Advising at SEAS. I began working at the Office of Graduate Admissions & Student Services (OGA) at SEAS as a coordinator back in December 2010 and became a director in 2015.

Q: What led you to this career?

A: Prior to starting my position at SEAS, I graduated with my M.A. in International Education from GSEHD. Due to my own transformative international experience as a college student, I knew I wanted to work either in study abroad or with international students, ideally facilitating international experiences and opportunities for students. With the growing number of international graduate students joining SEAS at that time, my first job with OGA was a perfect fit!

Read More

Monthly Rewind

Leading Women and Girls to Careers in Science

In advance of the U.N.'s 8th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science, GW hosted a celebration of women in science. The event brought together GW's vibrant community of women in science student groups across campus and kicked off a week-long celebration. Students from local high schools also attended.

Read More

Frank Howard Distinguished Lecture

Consultant, CEO and "equity warrior" Tenisha "Ava" Williams, B.S. '13, discussed her multidisciplinary approach to building a better world at GW Engineering's Frank Howard Lecture. Williams' interactive approach to the lecture emphasized attendees' agency in potential changemaking.

Read More

Women's History Celebration Booths

Every Tuesday in March, GW Engineering Marketing & Communications team hosted a Women's History Celebration booth on the first floor of the Science & Engineering Hall. Students could grab free popcorn with a women's history fact attached to learn about the achievements of women in engineering throughout history.

Read More
Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  LinkedIn