The academic year is off and running, along with my Computer Networks class. Although this is the 15th or 16th year that I am teaching this course, there are still moments of anxiety. I have had some insight into the anxiety students may be experiencing, based on their responses to my welcome email – lots of “can’t wait"s and "really looking forward to this Fall," along with “I heard this course has loads of work."

GW is doing its best to welcome the new freshmen, returning sophomores who are coming to campus for the first time, as well as all students who have spent the last three terms in a virtual world. Lots of programming and events – masked and vaccinated – are planned. The rules for getting on campus and into various buildings demonstrate caution – submit evidence of vaccination, get tested at GW Health, after which your GW ID swiper will be edited to permit entry to various buildings, according to your need. As faculty, we are instructed to have our students masked and to wear our masks as we teach. Happily, microphones are available to help students hear us. I am happy I recorded all my lectures and will make them available to students each week, to be sure they do not miss a pearly world!

Whether you heard Megan Leftwich’s lecture on the Biomechanics of Human Birth (and the use of 3D printers), or the skies and beyond are calling you, check out NASA’s preparation to send astronauts to MARS. NASA is accepting applications for four people to live for a year in a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat created by a 3D-printer, in a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The paid volunteers will work on a simulated Martian exploration mission — complete with spacewalks, limited communications back home, restricted food, and equipment failures. NASA plans three of these experiments. The first starts in the Fall of 2022. If you are selected – promise to write a few columns for our newsletter.

Stay safe, and enjoy the new normal!

Shelly Heller
WiE Director

WiE is excited to welcome Dr. Pamela Norris, who has been named Vice Provost for Research at GW. Dr. Norris, formerly Executive Dean of the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, is a globally recognized leading expert in nanoscale heat transfer. She will also hold a GW SEAS faculty position. 

Dr. Norris is known as a dedicated mentor for undergraduate and graduate students and fellow faculty members. She is a champion of women in the STEM disciplines and is committed to increasing their representation and retention. Dr. Norris has written and presented widely about how to encourage and increase diversity in STEM fields. 

Dr. Norris earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering and mechanics from Old Dominion University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She then served as a postdoctoral associate at University of California, Berkeley.