List of Announcements (details below):

  * VSE in the News
  * NSF Workshop: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education
  * Funding Opportunity: Gates Foundation (global health & development)
  * Funding Opportunity: Pathways to Innovation Program
    (entrepreneurship in undergraduate education)
  * Graduate Student Travel Fund: International Travel Grant
  * AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships
  * Yotam Gingold Receives Funding from NSF
  * Nathalia Peixoto Receives Funding from NSF
  * Brian Mark Receives Funding from NSF


--------------------------------------------------------------

*VSE in the News*

Here is a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted at 
http://volgenau.gmu.edu/, or that have appeared in other venues in the 
last week.

Beyond Mason:

  * U.S. Intelligence Community Explores More Rigorous Ways to Forecast
    Events
    <http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-intelligence-community-explores-more-rigorous-ways-to-forecast-events-1409937859?tesla=y>[in
    /The Wall Street Journal/] (the article features SciCast, a project
    from VSE's C4I Center, funded by IARPA)
  * EasyFBO founder a finalist in 'Entrepreneur' contest
    <http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/August/13/EasyFBO-founder-named-a-finalist-in-College-Entrepreneur-of-2014-contest>[at
    the website for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association] (another
    article aboutJohn Hill, a Mason undergraduate advised through
    Volgenau's Laboratory for IT Entrepreneurship
    (http://lite.gmu.edu/); he is also the subject of the /Mason News/
    article below, as well as articles I mentioned on August 11 and
    September 2)


At Mason News (http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/):

  * Undergraduate Fuels Passion with Aviation Invention
    <http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2014/09/undergraduate-fuels-passion-aviation-invention/>


At the Volgenau website (http://volgenau.gmu.edu/):

  * Mason SciCast Featured in Wall Street Journal
    <http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/mason-scicast-featured-in-wall-street-journal?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fvolgenau.gmu.edu%2Fhome%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_HNSOWRmBcc5U%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-3%26p_p_col_count%3D1>(this
    is a pointer to the /Wall Street Journal/ article mentioned above)
  * Undergraduate Fuels Passion with Aviation Invention
    <http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/undergraduate-fuels-passion-with-aviation-invention?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fvolgenau.gmu.edu%2Fhome%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_HNSOWRmBcc5U%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-3%26p_p_col_count%3D1>(this
    is an adaptation of the /Mason News/ article mentioned above)


If you have suggestions for other stories, please submit them to Martha 
Bushong, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

--------------------------------------------------------------

*NSF Workshop: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education*

Aditya Johri, chair of the Applied Information Technology Department, 
will be facilitating a workshop on "Proposal Strategies" for the NSF 
IUSE Solicitation on
Tuesday, Sept. 16 (tomorrow)
12:30-2:30 PM
Room 4801, Nguyen Engineering Building

More information is available here:
http://ehrweb01.aaas.org/stem-iwbw/workshops/

Solicitation: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14588/nsf14588.htm

Interested faculty should contact Aditya Johri at [log in to unmask] 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>if they wish to attend.

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Funding Opportunity: Gates Foundation (global health & development)*

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now inviting applications to 
Grand Challenges Explorations, which has awarded over 1070 grants in 
over 58 countries to date.

Grand Challenges Explorations seeks innovative global health and 
development solutions. Applicants can be at any experience level; in any 
discipline; and from any organization, including universities, 
government laboratories, research institutions, non-profit organizations 
as well as for-profit companies.

Two-page proposals are being accepted online from September 4, 2014 
until November 12, 2014 on the following topics:

  * Surveillance Tools, Diagnostics and an Artificial Diet to Support
    New Approaches to Vector Control.
  * New Approaches for Addressing Outdoor/Residual Malaria Transmission
  * New Ways to Reduce Pneumonia Fatalities through Timely, Effective
    Treatment of Children
  * Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments to Create an
    Economic Ecosystem that Will Help Lift the Poorest Out of Poverty
  * Explore New Ways to Measure Brain Development and Gestational Age
  * New Ways of Working Together: Integrating Community-Based Interventions


Initial grants will be US $100,000 each, and projects showing promise 
will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of up to US $1 
million. Full descriptions of the new topics and application 
instructions are available at: www.grandchallenges.org/explorations 
<http://www.grandchallenges.org/explorations>.

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Funding Opportunity: Pathways to Innovation Program (entrepreneurship 
in undergraduate education)*

**Give engineering students the technical skills, tools and attitudes 
they need to turn ideas into practical solutions that solve real problems.

The submission deadline for our Pathways to Innovation Program is 
October 10, 2014.

This program is designed to help institutional teams of faculty and 
leaders fully incorporate innovation and entrepreneurship into 
undergraduate engineering education. Read more and download the call for 
proposals at:
http://epicenter.stanford.edu/page/pathways-to-innovation

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Graduate Student Travel Fund: International Travel Grant*

In addition to providing up to $450 in travel support for students 
presenting at professional conferences, the Associate Provost for 
Graduate Education is pleased to announce the availability of a limited 
number of International Travel Grants (ITG). Awarded on a competitive 
basis, the ITG offers up to $3000 in travel support for students 
presenting the results of original research at international conferences.

Requirements for consideration include submission of a complete 
presentation abstract as well as the names and institutional 
affiliations of all co-authors (student must be primary author). In 
addition, requests for the ITG must be accompanied by a letter (no more 
than 250 words) from the student's faculty/research advisor describing 
how conference participation will advance the student's pursuit of 
his/her educational and professional goals. We also ask for endorsement 
by the department chair. Students who are not selected for an ITG may 
still apply for funding through our general GSTF fund.

General GSTF deadlines still apply. Please visit website for more 
information regarding our policies and procedures http://gstf.gmu.edu/.

For more information and submission details regarding the ITG, please 
contact Akitta Robertson, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

--------------------------------------------------------------

*AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships*

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is 
pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 
AAAS Science & Technology Policy fellowships. Policy fellowships provide 
mathematicians the unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and 
skills to national and international issues in the federal policy realm. 
Fellows share an interest and commitment to public service, a desire to 
learn about science and technology policy, and a willingness to apply 
their scientific and engineering backgrounds in new arenas.

Fellows serve in yearlong assignments in the executive, judicial, and 
legislative branches of the federal government in Washington. Candidates 
who demonstrate strong scientific and technical credentials, a 
commitment to public service, strong communication skills, 
problem-solving ability, good judgment, flexibility, and leadership 
qualities, are encouraged to apply.

For more than 40 years, scientists, social scientists, engineers, and 
health professionals have applied their knowledge and technical 
expertise to policymaking while developing valuable career-enhancing 
skills in the process. Join a network of more than 2,800 current and 
alumni fellows impacting policy, contributing to public service, and 
forging new careers.

APPLY: http://www.aaas.org/program/science-technology-policy-fellowships

ONLINE APPLICATIONS DUE: November 1, 2014
FELLOWSHIP YEAR: September 1, 2015 -- August 31, 2016

To be considered for a fellowship via AAAS, applicants must:

  * Hold a doctoral level degree (PhD, ScD, MD, DVM, etc.*), in any of
    the following:
      o Medical and Health sciences
      o Biological, Physical or Earth sciences
      o Social and Behavioral Sciences
      o Computational sciences and Mathematics
      o Engineering disciplines (applicants with a MS in engineering and
        three years of professional experience also qualify).
  * Hold U.S. citizenship (dual citizenship from the United States and
    another country is acceptable).


STIPEND & BENEFITS:

  * $75,000--$100,000.
  * Health insurance, travel/training and relocation allowances.


QUESTIONS:Email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>or 
call 202-326-6700

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*Yotam Gingold Receives Funding from NSF*

Yotam Gingold of the Computer Science Department received $70K from the 
National Science Foundation for his project, "Improving the Quality and 
Editability of 2D and 3D Shapes via Crowdsourcing and Self-Crowdsourcing."

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Nathalia Peixoto Receives Funding from NSF*

Nathalia Peixoto of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department 
received $100K from the National Science Foundation for her project, 
"Bioimpedance of stimulating electrodes for the safe placement of 
retinal implants."

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Brian Mark Receives Funding from NSF*

Brian Mark of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department received 
$472K from the National Science Foundation for his project, "NeTS: 
Small: Spectrum Sensing and Resource Allocation for Cognitive Radio 
Networks."

-- 
===============================================================

Stephen G. Nash
Senior Associate Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 2500
Mailstop 5C8
Fairfax, VA 22030

[log in to unmask]
Phone: (703) 993-1505
Fax: (703) 993-1633
http://volgenau.gmu.edu/web/volgenau/senior-associate-dean