List of Announcements (details below): * VSE in the News * Photo of the Week * Brown Bag Series: A Day in the Life of a Cyber-warrier (Feb. 5, 1:30 pm) * Pitch IT Competition Sponsored by Pragmatics * SBIR/STTR Training Program * Graduate Student Research Program: Dept. of Energy * Funding Opportunity:Airport Cooperative Research Program (TRB) * Funding Opportunity:Preparation for Extreme Weather Events (TRB) * Funding Opportunity:Increasing College Opportunity Through Improved Mathematics Success (NSF) * Funding Opportunity:Faculty Research Awards (Google) * Funding Opportunity:Transparent Computing (DARPA) [amendment] * Funding Opportunity:Professional Formation of Engineers (NSF) * Ken Hintz Receives Patent * Sushil Jajodia Receives Funding from U.S. Dept. of the Navy -------------------------------------------------------------- *VSE in the News* Here is a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted: Beyond Mason: * Washington Business Journal <http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2015/01/23/paul-singh-the-startup-savant.html>interviewed Volgenau alumnus Paul Singh At the Mason News Desk (http://newsdesk.gmu.edu): * Deborah Goodings to Lead NSF Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation <http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2015/01/deborah-goodings-lead-nsf-division-civil-mechanical-manufacturing-innovation/> * Mason Professors Kick Up Teaching Techniques With NSF Grant <http://newsdesk.gmu.edu/2015/01/mason-professors-kick-teaching-techniques-nsf-grant/>(this article features Jill Nelson of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department) At the Volgenau website (http://volgenau.gmu.edu/): * Faculty in the News - Kathleen Wage <http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/faculty-in-the-news-kathleen-wage?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> * Deborah Goodings to Lead NSF Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation <http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/deborah-goodings-to-lead-nsf-division-of-civil-mechanical-and-manufacturing-innovation?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 version of the Mason News article above) * Mason Professors Kick Up Teaching Techniques With NSF Grant <http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/mason-professors-kick-up-teaching-techniques-with-nsf-grant?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 version of the Mason News article above) If you have suggestions for other stories, please submit them to Martha Bushong, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Photo of the Week* Engineering students traveled to Guatemala over winter break to help repair medical equipment in a rural hospital. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Brown Bag Series: A Day in the Life of a Cyber-warrier (Feb. 5, 1:30 pm)* Location:Research Hall 163 Presented by Cyber Warrior Academy This technical session will showcase the ample career opportunities available for computer science and engineering undergraduates in the US law enforcement, defense and intelligence community. In this session you will learn about the insatiable need for cyber-security talent within the US government and defense contractors and how you can develop the skills to participate in this high growth area that virtually guarantees internships and employment. You will get visibility into the high impact and mission critical work performed by these institutions in the an area of applied computer science called "offensive cyber-security" that involves skills like Binary Analysis, Reverse Engineering, Vulnerability Discovery and Exploit Development. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Pitch IT Competition Sponsored by Pragmatics* URL:http://lite.gmu.edu/pitch-it.html Pragmatics Pitch IT 2015 is the second edition of LITE’s business idea competition. The 2015 edition is named after our generous corporate sponsor, Pragmatics, a Northern Virginia-based company delivering innovative technology solutions to a large number of government clients. The Pragmatics Pitch IT 2015 is open to all teams with at least one Mason student. The presenter _must_ be a Mason student. Participants will compete for grants totaling $2,000. Students will present their business idea to a panel of judges including faculty, entrepreneurs, and other business experts. Participants will have the opportunity to get funding, receive valuable feedback, and enhance their ability to present and market their ideas to early stage investors (i.e., angel investors, family and friends). The second Pitch IT competition will take place on Friday, April 10, 2015, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm in Research Hall 163, on the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University. Registration is required to participate. Please complete a return the registration form no later than 11:59 pm EDT on March 22, 2015. -------------------------------------------------------------- *SBIR/STTR Training Program* CIT's Federal Funding Assistance Program supports Virginia based small technology firms, university researchers, post-docs and graduate students in their efforts to learn about, understand, and apply for federal SBIR and STTR funding.A suite of workshops and webinars (live and recorded) are available to assist with the important steps of learning how to plan for and write proposals.A mentoring support program and other assistance is also available to potential applicants. To learn more about CIT's support for Virginia based SBIR/STTR applicants: http://www.cit.org/service-lines/federal-funding/ or contact Robert Brooke, Director, Federal Funding Programs at the Center for Innovative Technology, 703-689-3080 or [log in to unmask] The next webinar is scheduled for February 27 from 1-2:30pm. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Graduate Student Research Program: Dept. of Energy* The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2015 solicitation.Applications are due 5:00pm ET on Tuesday April 14, 2015. The SCGSR program supports supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE national laboratory in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist for a period of 3 to 12 consecutive months—with the goal of preparing graduate students for scientific and technical careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission. The SCGSR program is open to current Ph.D. students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions, who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas of importance to the DOE Office of Science. The research opportunity is expected to advance the graduate students’ overall doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at the DOE laboratories. The supplemental award provides for additional, incremental costs for living and travel expenses directly associated with conducting the SCGSR research project at the DOE host laboratory during the award period. Detailed information about the program, including eligibility requirements and access to the online application system, can be found at: http://science.energy.gov/wdts/scgsr/. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Airport Cooperative Research Program (TRB)* URL: http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3842 Sponsor:Transportation Research Board Deadline(s):03/17/2015 The objectives of this research are to develop guidance and resources for using GIS for land use compatibility planning in the vicinity of airports, including, but not be limited to: 1. A guidebook of evidence-based best practices featuring, at a minimum: … 2. Training materials (e.g., webcast, brochures) summarizing the best practices provided in the guidebook. 3. Sample outreach materials to foster ongoing stakeholder collaboration through the use of GIS to enhance land use compatibility around airports. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Preparation for Extreme Weather Events (TRB)* Title: Guidelines to Incorporate the Costs and Benefits of Adaptation Measures in Preparation for Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change Sponsor:Transportation Research Board The Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to provide guidance that enables transportation decision-makers to integrate analysis of the costs and benefits of adaptation measures in preparation for extreme weather events and climate change. Deadline(s):03/17/2015 Program URL: http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3881 -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Increasing College Opportunity Through Improved Mathematics Success (NSF)* Title:Dear Colleague Letter: Increasing College Opportunity Through Improved Mathematics Success in the First Two Years of College Sponsor:Directorate for Education and Human Resources/NSF Students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and STEM-related careers have challenges moving ahead unless they have successful experiences in mathematics in their first one or two years of college. The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) is pursuing a multi-faceted approach to funding efforts to help us understand and improve learning in mathematics to support college success. This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) highlights funding opportunities for innovative, early-stage work to improve success in mathematics in the first two years of college. This includes studies on ways to improve the learning of the content of developmental mathematics, independent of setting, and design and development work on interventions and tools, including technology-enhanced learning approaches. Deadline(s):05/01/2015 Program URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15026/nsf15026.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_80 Proposers may request supplemental funding to existing awards, Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) funding, or funding for conferences. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Faculty Research Awards (Google)* Title:Faculty Research Awards Sponsor:Google Research Google Research Awards are one-year awards structured as unrestricted gifts to universities to support the work of world-class full-time faculty members at top universities around the world. Deadline(s):04/15/2015, 10/15/2015 Program URL: http://research.google.com/university/relations/research_awards.html The intent of the Google Research Awards is to support cutting-edge research in Computer Science, Engineering, and related fields. Applicants are asked to categorize their proposals into one of the following broad research areas of interest to Google: Economics and market algorithms; Education innovation; Geo/maps; Human-computer interaction; Information retrieval, extraction, and organization; Machine learning and data mining; Machine perception; Machine translation; Mobile; Natural language processing; Networking; Policy and standards; Privacy; Security; Social networks; Software Engineering; Speech; Structured data and database management; and Systems (hardware and software). Research Awards generally support basic expenses for one student for one year, so budgets are frequently reduced to this level of support. If two universities are involved, the awards may support one student at each school. Most awards are in the $40,000-$70,000 range. The maximum amount a PI can request is $150,000. -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Transparent Computing (DARPA) [amendment]* Title:DARPA-BAA-15-15: Transparent Computing (TC)[amendment] Sponsor:Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of understanding complex distributed computing environments towards exposing and stopping advanced cyber adversaries (also referred to as Advanced Persistent Threats, or APTs).The Transparent Computing (TC) program aims to make currently opaque computing systems transparent by providing high-fidelity visibility into component interactions during system operation across all layers of software abstraction, while imposing minimal performance overhead. Deadline(s):02/10/2015 Program URL: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=b76f6c503ce1654a05917f02302e2b57&tab=core&_cview=1 -------------------------------------------------------------- *Funding Opportunity:Professional Formation of Engineers (NSF)* URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15539/nsf15539.htm Deadline:April 30, 2015 The NSF Engineering (ENG) Directorate has launched a multi-year initiative, the Professional Formation of Engineers, to create and support an innovative and inclusive engineering profession for the 21st Century. Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) refers to the formal and informal processes and value systems by which people become engineers. It also includes the ethical responsibility of practicing engineers to sustain and grow the profession. The engineering profession must be responsive to national priorities, grand challenges, and dynamic workforce needs; it must be equally open and accessible to all. Engineering faculty possess both deep technical expertise in their engineering discipline and the primary responsibility for the process of professional formation of future engineers. As such, engineering faculty are in a unique position to help address critical challenges in engineering formation. The Professional Formation of Engineers: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF) program enables engineering faculty who are renowned for teaching, mentoring, or leading educational reform efforts on their campus to initiate collaborations with colleagues in the social and/or learning sciences to address difficult, boundary-spanning problems in the professional formation of engineers. Estimated Number of Awards: 20 Anticipated Funding Amount: $150,000 -------------------------------------------------------------- *Ken Hintz Receives Patent* Ken Hintz of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department has been awarded a patent: Patent No.:US 8,939,367 B2 Date of Patent:January 27, 2015 Title:Cavity Axis Orientation Measurement Device -------------------------------------------------------------- *Sushil Jajodia Receives Funding from U.S. Dept. of the Navy* Sushil Jajodia of the Center for Secure Information Systems received $1.2M from the U.S. Department of the Navy for his project, “ASSERT: Automated Security System Event Response Techniques.” -- =============================================================== 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