When:
Thursday
– February 12th, 2015, 1:30 -2:30 PM Location:
ENGR 3507 Speaker:
Joonil Seog, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park
Title:
Dynamic
self-assembly of biomacromolecules at the single molecule and
nanoscale
level
Abstract
One-dimensional
nanostructures
are ideal building blocks for functional nanoscale assembly.
Peptide based nanofibers have a high potential in building smart
hierarchical
structures due to their tunable structures at the single residue
level and
their ability to reconfigure themselves dynamically in response to
environmental stimuli. We observed that silk-elastin-like peptide
polymer
(SELP) self-assembles into amyloid nanofibers on a mica substrate
when
nanomechanical force was applied as an external stimuli. Time
lapse lateral
force microscopy revealed that mechanical stretching of a single
or multiple
SELP molecules is a key molecular event for amyloid nucleation.
The
mechanically induced nucleation allows for positional and
directional control
of amyloid assembly in vitro, which we demonstrate by creating a
single
nanofiber at a predetermined site. At the single molecule level,
DNA
condensation by cationic peptides was investigated using optical
tweezers.
Force-extension curves showed characteristic force plateaus and
hysteresis
during stretching and relaxation cycles. Upon environmental
changes such as
concentrations, pH, and divalent cations, force profiles changed
very
dynamically indicating that mechanical properties of DNA:cationic
peptide
complex are regulated at multiple force levels. The fundamental
knowledge from
this study can be applied to design a mechanically tailored DNA
complex which
may enhance transfection efficiency by controlling the stability
of the complex
temporally and spatially.
Biosketch Joonil
Seog is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering at the
University of Maryland in College Park. His research interests
include single
molecule mechanics and nanomechanics of biological materials using
high
resolution force spectroscopy. He received a B.S. and M.S. degree
in Chemical
Technology from Seoul National University. He came to the United
States in
1997, and received a Sc.D. degree in polymer science and
technology from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (with Professor Alan J.
Grodzinsky and
Christine Ortiz) in 2003. He continued his work at Immune Disease
Institute in
Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow with Timothy A.
Springer. Dr.
Seog joined the UMD faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007. His
current
research focuses on understanding gene delivery mechanisms by
cationic
carriers, surface facilitated self-assembly of biopolymers, and
dynamic folding
behaviors of peptide based biomaterials.
Graduate Networking &
Etiquette Dinner (Fri Feb 27, 6pm)
URL:
bit.ly/1yARWbD
[registration required] More
info:703-993-8984 Location:Founders Hall Multipurpose
Room, Mason’s
Arlington Campus Date
& time:February 27,
6-9pm
Mason
graduate
and professional students are invited to attend a fun and
instructional networking and etiquette event taking place at the
Arlington
Campus. You will have the opportunity to connect with other
students as well as
with Mason alumni and employers. A professional networking and
etiquette expert
will lead the evening, which will conclude with an entertaining
presentation by
Mason's own Robert L. Deitz, author of “Congratulations -- You
Just Got Hired:
Don't Screw It Up.”
The
event
will feature hors d’oeuvres, a plated dinner, and dessert bar. A
cash bar
will be available. Cost is $15.
Free
professional
head shots will be available during check in on a first come first
serve basis.
By
attending
this event you will learn how to:
Read
a room for social cues
Create
and exchange business cards
Politely
join or excuse yourself from conversations
Use
email and social media as effective networking tools
Leverage
your professional contacts to aid in your job search
Project
an image of professionalism and credibility so others will
take you seriously
in the workplace
Title:Academic Publishing for
Graduate Students Who:Presenters will include a journal publisher,
and two journal editors Format:The publisher is the main
speaker, and the
editors are invited to share their own experiences as well as
offer insights
about publishing, the peer review process, etc. during the Q&A
session. When:Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 4 – 6 PM Where:Instruction room in the
Gateway Library (in
the Johnson Center)—Must be entered through the library entrance. Sponsors:Elsevier Publishing and the
Mason Libraries
Snapshot
of
topics to be covered:
Finding
the right publication for your article
Expectations
for the peer review process (speed, feedback, etc.)
Why
you were rejected and how to deal with it
What
you need to know about open access publishing
The
National
Defense Industrial Association 16th Annual Science and Engineering
Technology Conference will be held March 24 to March 26 in
Springfield,
Virginia. This year’s conference focus will be the Department of
Defense (DoD)
Communities of Interest vision for science and engineering
technologies within
the DoD.
[This
message
was sent to me by Theresa Calcagno of the Mason Library.]
I
am
writing to let you know about a new tool from the Mason Libraries
that will
help you, and your graduate students, stay up-to-date.The JournalTOCs service
allows users to
select the journals that interest them most and then have the
table of contents
(TOC) delivered directly to their email when a new issue is
published
online.If the Mason
Libraries subscribe
to a journal, the TOC will be linked and researchers can then move
from the
email to the article.JournalTOCs
covers
more than 25,000 journals from over 2400 publishers in a wide
range of subjects
including over 2000 engineering journals and 1900 computer science
journals.In addition,
JournalTOCs includes Open Access
and Hybrid (partially open access) journals.
To
use
JournalTOCs, you will need to register (free) at: http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk/ Once
your account is set-up, browse journal lists by subject or search
specific
journal names to find the ones you want to monitor.Check off the journals you
want and indicate
how frequently you would like to receive updates, and you are good
to go!I have been using
JournalTOCs since the fall
semester and I really like it.The
content
is pushed to me and it is very easy to accessarticles when it is
convenient for me!
JournalTOCs
joins
Browzine, another tool you can use with your smart phone or tablet
to do
your scholarly reading.For
more
information about both of these tools, please visit http://library.gmu.edu/journaltools If you
have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Theresa
Calcagno Asst.
Head, Fenwick Research Dept. Engineering
Librarian George
Mason University 703-993-3712 [log in to unmask]
Funding Opportunity:Daniel H. Wagner Prize in
Operations Research
Daniel
H.
Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice Sponsor:
INFORMS Online
This
prize
emphasizes the quality and coherence of the analysis used in
practice.
Dr. Wagner strove for strong mathematics applied to practical
problems,
supported by clear and intelligible writing. This prize recognizes
those
principles by emphasizing good writing, strong analytical content,
and
verifiable practice successes.
Funding Opportunity:Methodologies for
Evaluation (NSF) [STEM
education]
Promoting
Research
and Innovation in Methodologies for Evaluation Sponsor:Directorate for
Education and Human
Resources/NSF
The
Promoting
Research and Innovation in Methodologies for Evaluation (PRIME)
program seeks to support research on evaluation with special
emphasis on:
exploring innovative approaches for determining the impacts and
usefulness of
STEM education projects and programs; building on and expanding
the theoretical
foundations for evaluating STEM education and workforce
development
initiatives, including translating and adapting approaches from
other fields;
and growing the capacity and infrastructure of the evaluation
field. Three
types of proposals will be supported by the program: Exploratory
Projects that
include proof-of-concept and feasibility studies; more extensive
Full-Scale
Projects; and conferences.
Sponsor:U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers/Department of Defense
The
U.S.
Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) seeks
proposals under
authority of the National Defense Education Act (1959) and under
the
Pre-Engineering Program (PEP) to stimulate young pupils in the
sciences,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The
target
students attend primary, middle, and high schools in the following
locations; … Arlington County, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia;
and Prince
William County, Virginia, Alexandria City Public Schools, and
Loudon County,
Virginia. The target students may attend public or private
schools.
ELIGIBILITY
ERDC
solicits
basic research proposals in the general DoD STEM Education and
Outreach Program from colleges, universities, and non-profit
organizations.
Student Competition:Doing Good with Good OR
(INFORMS)
Sponsor:INFORMS Online
The
Doing
Good with Good OR-Student Competition is held each year to
identify and
honor outstanding projects in the field of operations research and
the
management sciences conducted by a student or student group that
have a
significant societal impact.
Funding Opportunity:Serious STEM Games for
Pre-College …
Audiences (NIH)
Serious
STEM
Games for Pre-College and Informal Science Education Audiences
(SBIR,
STTR)
Sponsor:Office of Research
Infrastructure
Programs/NIH/DHHS
Office
of
Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) invites applications for
Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) from small business concerns
(SBCs) to
develop serious Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) games
with a focus on biology that addresses health and medicine
questions for: (1) pre-kindergarten
to grade 12 (P-12) students and pre- and in-service teachers
("Teachers") or (2) Informal Science Education (ISE) audiences.Serious games are defined as
the use of
gaming technology to train, educate, and encourage behavioral
changes in a
virtual world format where progressive learning, feedback on
success and user control
are combined into an interactive and engaging experience. It is
anticipated
that this SBIR FOA will facilitate the translation of new or
existing health
and medicine-based, P-12 STEM curricula and museum exhibits into
educational
games that will provide a hands-on, inquiry-based and
learning-by-doing
experience for students, Teachers and the community.
Sponsor:Directorate for
Computer and
Information Sciences and Engineering/NSF
The
goal
of the CPS program is to develop the core system science needed to
engineer
complex cyber-physical systems which people can use or interact
with and depend
upon. Some of these may require high-confidence or provable
behaviors. The
program aims to foster a research community committed to advancing
research and
education in CPS and to transitioning CPS science and technology
into engineering
practice. By abstracting from the particulars of specific systems
and
application domains, the CPS program seeks to reveal cross-cutting
fundamental
scientific and engineering principles that underpin the
integration of cyber
and physical elements across all application sectors. To expedite
and
accelerate the realization of cyber-physical systems in a wide
range of
applications, the CPS program also supports the development of
methods, tools,
and hardware and software components based upon these
cross-cutting principles,
along with validation of the principles via prototypes and
testbeds.
Robert Elder & Alex Levis
Receive Funding from Exelis and Naval Research Lab.
Robert
Elder
& Alex Levis of the Electrical & Computer Engineering
Department
received $30K from Exelis Inc. and the Naval Research Laboratory
for their
project, “Kinetic/Non-Kinetic Integrated Force Effects (KNIFE)
JCTD Transition
Activities.”
--
===============================================================
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