A major story this past week
was that Harry Van Trees, founding director of VSE's Center of Excellence in C3I,
was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. For
more information, see the links below.
Photo
of the Week
Computer
Science Seminar (Wed Feb 18, 3pm)
L’Oréal
Women in Science (& Engineering) Fellowship Program
Funding
Opportunity (limited submission): NSF Research Traineeship
Program
Here
is
a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted:
Beyond
Mason:
Philadelphia Business Journal: Mason, Drexel and four other
universities team up with the Army to create a center for
enhanced
cybersecurity training
Forbes:Volgenau School of Engineering professor and car
security researcher
Damon McCoy tells a panel at South by Southwest Interactive
that electronic
carjacking won't be epidemic until there's more profit
On
Feb.
10, the Army Reserve Cyber Private Public Partnership Program
brought together
leaders of industry and academia with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to
address a
critical need for expertise in the cyber domain and to formally
sign the
Memorandum of Understanding that creates this partnership. (U.S.
Army Photo by
Staff Sgt. Shejal Pulivarti.)
Title:
Player Perception of
Responsiveness and Naturalness for Virtual Characters inDigital Games Date:
Wednesday, February 18th, 3 pm, Location: Room 4201
Speaker: Sophie Joerg, Assistant Professor, Computer Science,
Clemson University
Abstract
Real-time animation controllers are fundamental for animating
characters in response to player input. However, the design of such
controllers requires making trade-offs between the naturalness of
the character's motions and the promptness of the character's
response. Furthermore, lag is typically unavoidable, particularly in
networked multiplayer games. In this talk, Dr. Joerg will present
the results of multiple experiments, in which she investigates the
effects of response lag and trade-offs between responsiveness and
naturalness on players' enjoyment, control, satisfaction, and
opinion of the character in a simple platform game.
Biosketch
Sophie Joerg is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at
Clemson University. Her research is in computer graphics, centering
around character animation, motion perception, and digital games.
She holds a Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin and was a visiting
researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research,
Pittsburgh. Her recent work, which is supported by agencies
including the National Science Foundation, focuses on creating new
algorithms in data-driven character animation, investigating how we
perceive virtual characters, and using digital games in education.
L’Oréal Women in Science (&
Engineering) Fellowship Program
[This
is
an edited version of a message that was forwarded to me.The title only mentions
“science” but the
message includes computer science and engineering are relevant
fields.]
Dear
Colleague:
Applications
for
the 2015 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program are
now open.
The
L’Oréal
For Women in Science program recognizes and rewards the
contributions
women make in STEM fields and identifies exceptional women
researchers
committed to serving as role models for younger generations.More than 2,000 women
scientists in over 100
countries have been recognized since the program began in 1998.
The
L’Oréal
USA For Women In Science fellowship program will award five
post-doctoral women
scientists in the United States this year with grants of up to
$60,000 each.
Applicants are welcome from a variety of fields, including the
life and
physical/material sciences, technology (including computer
science),
engineering, and mathematics.
I
invite
you to collaborate with us and spread the word to your community
about this
special fellowship program for exceptional female post‐doctoral
researchers who are also
committed to supporting women and girls in STEM.
The
application
and more information on the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science
program can be found at www.lorealusa.com/forwomeninscience.
Applications are due on Friday,
March 20, 2015.
Should
you
have any questions or require additional information, please e‐mail
me at [log in to unmask].
Funding Opportunity (limited
submission): NSF Research Traineeship Program
(This
is
a limited-submission opportunity.The
internal deadline for applications is 3/6/2015.Max of 3 applications (2 for Trainee track and 1 for IGE
(Innovation
Grad Ed) track).For
instructions on
submitting an internal application to be considered for this
program, see http://research.gmu.edu/ResearchDev/limitedsubmissionreview.html.)
Title:National Science
Foundation Research
Traineeship (NRT) Program Sponsor:Directorate for
Education and Human
Resources/NSF
The
NSF
Research Traineeship (NRT) program is designed to encourage the
development and
implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative, and
scalable models
for STEM graduate education training. The NRT program seeks
proposals that
ensure that graduate students in research-based master?s and
doctoral degree programs
develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a
range of
STEM careers. The NRT program includes two tracks: the Traineeship
Track and
the Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Track. The Traineeship
Track is
dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high
priority
interdisciplinary research areas, through the use of a
comprehensive
traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, aligned with
changing
workforce and research needs, and scalable. For this solicitation
the
Traineeship Track has one priority interdisciplinary research
theme ?
Data-Enabled Science and Engineering (DESE); proposals are
encouraged also on
any non-DESE interdisciplinary research theme that is a national
priority. The
IGE Track is dedicated solely to piloting, testing, and evaluating
novel,
innovative, and potentially transformative approaches to graduate
education,
both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, to generate the knowledge
required for
their customization, implementation, and broader adoption. Whereas
the
Traineeship Track promotes building on the current knowledge base
to more
effectively train STEM graduate students, the IGE Track supports
test-bed
projects with high potential to enrich, improve, and extend the
knowledge base with
attention to transferability and innovation. For both tracks,
strategic
collaborations with the private sector, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs),
government agencies, national laboratories, field stations,
teaching and
learning centers, museums, and academic partners are encouraged.
Title:RFP--Robotics
Outreach Competition
II Sponsor:National Aeronautics
& Space
Administration
NASA
Ames
Research Center (ARC) Robotics Alliance Project (RAP) intends to
issue a Cooperative
Agreement Notice (CAN) soliciting proposals to design and
administer two
distinct robotics competition programs, referred to collectively
as the NASA
Ames Robotics Outreach Competition (ROC-II). Eligible
organizations may submit
proposals that provide evidence of the capability and proven
experience
necessary to provide both the technical and administrative
framework required
to implement a national, high caliber outreach program, including
a
high-quality national level robotics competition experience that
leverages
hands-on experiences in a technical environment. The ROC II
addresses the critical
shortage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) fields that
the Nation is facing by providing hands-on robotics competition
events while
working with engineers and talented faculty from universities and
high schools
in the U.S.It is the
strategic intent
of this program that students will be inspired and motivated to
pursue degrees
that meet NASA's robotics competency requirements. The final CAN
is expected to
be released on or around February 13, 2015, and will be available
electronically through http://nspires.nasaprs.com.
Electronically submitted
Notices of Intent to propose are
requested by March 18, 2014. The proposal due date is expected to
be April 22, 2015.
The electronic submission of each proposal in its entirety is
required by the
due date. Please note that these dates are estimates only and
subject to
change.
Funding Opportunity:Science & Engineering
Research (Keck
Foundation)
The
Science
and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by
supporting projects that are distinctive and novel in their
approach, question
the prevailing paradigm, or have potential to break open new
territory in their
field. Past grants have been awarded to major universities and
independent
research institutions to support pioneering science and
engineering research
and the development of promising new technologies, and to
facilitate the purchase
of advanced instruments where such instruments would further
specific research
ventures.
Applicants
are
strongly urged to contact Foundation staff during the
pre-application
counseling period, which takes place between January 1 and
February 15 leading
up to a May 1 submittal, or between July 1 and August 15 leading
up to a
November 1 submittal. Potential applicants are encouraged to
submit their ideas
for grants in the form of single-page concept papers during the
pre-application
counseling period.
OBJECTIVES:
The
Foundation
strives to fund endeavors that are distinctive and novel in their
approach. It encourages projects that are high-risk with the
potential for
transformative impact. "High-risk" comprises a number of factors,
including questions that push the edge of the field, present
unconventional
approaches to intractable problems, or challenge the prevailing
paradigm. In
all our programs, "transformative" may mean creation of a new
field
of research, development of new instrumentation enabling
observations not previously
possible, or discovery of knowledge that challenges prevailing
perspectives.
FUNDING
Historically,
grants
range from $500,000 to $5 million and are typically $2 million or
less. --------------------------------------------------------------
Funding Opportunity: National
Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NIST)
Title:National Strategy for Trusted
Identities in
Cyberspace (NSTIC) Pilots Cooperative Agreement Program Sponsor:
National Institute of
Standards &
Technology/Technology Administration/DOC
NIST
invites
applications from eligible applicants to pilot online identity
solutions that embrace and advance the NSTIC vision: that
individuals and
organizations utilize secure, efficient, easy-to-use, and
interoperable
identity credentials to access online services in a manner that
promotes
confidence, privacy, choice, and innovation. Specifically, the
Federal
government seeks to initiate and support pilots that address the
needs of
individuals, private sector organizations, and all levels of
government in
accordance with the NSTIC Guiding Principles that identity
solutions will be
(1) privacy-enhancing and voluntary, (2) secure and resilient, (3)
interoperable,
and (4) cost-effective and easy-to-use. NIST will fund projects
that are intended
to test or demonstrate new solutions, models, and frameworks that
either do not
exist or are not widely adopted in the marketplace today.
Abbreviated
Applications
must be received electronically through Grants.gov no later than
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Abbreviated
Applications
received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered.
Review of
Abbreviated Applications and selection of finalists is expected to
be completed
by Friday, April 17, 2015. The selected finalists will then be
invited to
submit a Full Application including a Technical Proposal shortly
following
their selection as a finalist. Full Applications must be received
electronically
through Grants.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday,
May 21,
2015.
FUNDING
NIST
anticipates
that awards will be in the range of approximately $1,250,000 to
$2,000,000 per year per project for up to two (2) years,
consistent with the
multi-year funding policy described in Section II.2 of this FFO.
Proposed
funding levels must be consistent with project scope. NIST will
consider
applications with lower funding amounts.
Yotam
Gingold
of the Computer Science Department received $550K from the
National
Science Foundation for his project, “CAREER: Direct Manipulation
of Numerical
Optimization for Structured Geometry Creation.”
--
===============================================================
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
