Engineering and... News: January 2025

Greetings GW Engineering Community and Happy New Year!

As we begin the second half of the academic year, the spring 2025 semester is shaping up to be an exciting time for GW Engineering. While the new year presents us with some unexpected challenges, like the devastating fires in Southern California, I draw

inspiration from the work we do and the role each member of our community plays in improving communities everywhere.

In addition to achieving new academic milestones, our faculty members continue to demonstrate their leadership in their areas of expertise as they release new groundbreaking research. At every level, our students lead the way as the next generation of innovators who will shape the future by leveraging what they learn in and out of the classroom at GW.  Our staff continue to be leaders of operational excellence, demonstrating tremendous ingenuity and resilience and a tireless commitment to supporting our academic mission.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, U.S. News & World Report released its 2025 Best Online Programs rankings list, and GW Engineering Online was ranked 8th overall for online engineering graduate programs and 7th for graduate engineering programs for veterans. Under the leadership of Dr. Shahram Sarkani, GW Engineering Online went from number 55 to number 8 in less than 10 years. This rise in rankings is a tremendous accomplishment for Dr. Sarkani, Co-Director Dr. Thomas Mazzuchi, and the entire GW Engineering Online team, reflecting their deep commitment to program quality and the student experience.

I’m pleased to congratulate Dr. Ahmed Louri, the David and Marilyn Karlgaard Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who was honored as an IEEE Life Follow for his outstanding career, lifetime of innovation, and impactful service. For more than four decades, Dr. Louri has dedicated his work to moving the needle and continuously looking for opportunities to transform the world of computing.

There’s no shortage of stories about the excellence and impressiveness of GW Engineering’s students. Computer Science Ph.D. candidate Collins Muyendo was recently awarded a prestigious Google PhD Fellowship in Security, Privacy, and Abuse Prevention. This exclusive fellowship is only awarded to 80 students from all over the world. Even more impressive, Google only awards 6 fellowships in the area of cyber security and policy research, with Collins being 1 of only 2 recipients in the U.S.

As we look ahead into the semester, I ask that we take every opportunity we can to celebrate each other’s successes, support each other through challenges, and continue to strive for excellence in everything we do. Here's to starting the semester strong and making 2025 a year to remember.

Raise High Revolutionaries!

John Lach

Dean

Over four decades ago, Ahmed Louri, the David and Marilyn Karlgaard Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, embarked on a journey to redefine the boundaries of computer architecture and parallel computing. Today, his profound impact on computing and the IEEE community has earned him one of the highest honors in his field: IEEE Life Fellow membership. Reserved for those who have distinguished themselves through significant technological advancements and contributions to IEEE and society, this distinction celebrates Louri’s lifetime of innovation and service. 

February 1: Hack Violet 2025

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February 3 & 4: AI at Work: Building and Evaluating Trust

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February 5 from 12pm-1pm: Effective Job Searching with Chat GPT Webinar

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February 5, 12, 19, & 26 from 12:25pm-1pm: Black History Month Booth

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February 5 from 1pm-2pm: Clearance Preparedness Program 2025

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February 7 from 9am-4pm: 2025 Problematic AI Conference: AI Governance

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February 10 from 3:30pm-4:30pm: GW Engineering Career Chat: Spring 2025

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February 11 from 2pm-3pm: AI Search Hacks: Leveraging AI for High-Quality Research

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February 19 from 2:30pm-3:30pm: Collins Professorship Installation

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In the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, GW Engineering ranked 8th overall for online engineering graduate programs and 7th for graduate engineering programs for veterans. The online programs first appeared on the list in 2016 at #55. Since then, GW Engineering Online Director Shahram Sarkani has led the meteoric rise in the rankings by focusing on program quality and the student experience.

 

Advancing Thermal Ablation Technology for Personalized Cancer Treatment

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Professor Badie Named PCI Fellow for Lasting Influence on Precast Concrete Innovation

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Google PhD Fellowship Honors Collins Munyendo’s Leadership in Computer Security and Privacy Research

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Professor Tian Lan Plays Critical Role in INFOCOM 2025

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Professor Santos Named SRA Fellow for Advancing Risk Analysis Excellence

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Professor Leftwich Leads Collaborative Project with Drexel Engineering on Bio-Inspired Underwater Robots

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In the scientific report “Visible light-activated dye-sensitized TiO2 antibacterial film: A novel strategy for enhancing food safety and quality,” GW Engineering’s Danmeng Shuai, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, contributed to research on developing novel antibacterial packaging that addresses limitations of current solutions and enhances food safety.

Each department within GW Engineering has its own team dedicated to supporting its community. In the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Ellen Bateman leads operations to ensure everything runs smoothly for students and faculty alike. 

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

A: I’ll have been working at GW for two years this May as the Operations Lead in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering.

Q: What led you to this career?

A: Higher education is my career calling. I started as a teaching assistant and adjunct in graduate school and have been working at universities ever since.

Q: Why did you choose GW?

A: I chose GW for the excellent benefits, ideal location in D.C., and GW’s timeless mission.

GW welcomed Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Assistant to President Biden for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, to the Jack Morton Auditorium on January 14. In this enlightening presentation, Prabhakar used her 40 years of experience in research and development to discuss how today’s advances in science and technology can be leveraged to build the equitable, sustainable future we all aspire to.

On December 5th, 2024, the ‘Engineering Across Borders: Grad Bites & Global Flavors’ event brought together a vibrant audience in the Lehman Auditorium to celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in engineering. After beginning with a warm welcome, it featured insightful talks from an esteemed panel and a dynamic Q&A session, allowing the approximately 55 in-person and seven virtual attendees to engage directly with panelists. 

The upcoming transition in presidential administration has left some environmental advocates wondering what the future of environmental protection in the United States will look like. On December 18, 2024, the GW Engineering’s Environmental and Energy Management Institute (EEMI) hosted a webinar to address these concerns, entitled “Navigating the Trump 2 Deregulatory Agenda: Lessons from Environmental Officials in Trump 1.”

The GWU-PREP is a collaboration with GWU in Washington, DC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GWU-PREP provides research opportunities at NIST to students, faculty, research staff, and postdoctoral researchers at GW as well as researchers at SURA-affiliated universities.

We support your ambitions by offering financial support to eligible GW community members, including a monthly stipend, hourly wage, or full tuition reimbursement for qualifying undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff.