Keeping
our
Heads In the Cloud: Reposting of an article in the fall
issue of Mason Spirit
magazine. The piece details
the growth of cybersecurity research at the Volgenau School of
Engineering.
If
you have suggestions for other stories, please submit them to
Martha Bushong, [log in to unmask].
Mechanical engineering students and
Assistant
Professor Colin Reagle (center) prepare to tour labs in Bull Run
Hall on the
Science and Technology Campus. (Photo by Martha Bushong.)
Sandia National Laboratories: Computing
Research Summer
Intern Program (Grad & Undergrad)
The
Center for Computing Research (CCR) at Sandia National
Laboratories seeks
multiple students to participate in collaborative research across
a wide range
of areas in computer science, applied mathematics, discrete
mathematics,
mathematical modeling, computational science and engineering,
computational
neuroscience and cognitive science (including cognitive and
experimental
psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics). Possible research
areas include
advanced computer architectures, systems software, programming
languages and
paradigms, networks, informatics and information sciences,
combinatorial
mathematics, discrete event simulation, scalable linear and
nonlinear solvers,
continuous and discrete optimization, uncertainty quantification,
statistics,
multiscale methods and mathematics, multiphysics modeling,
visualization,
visual cognition, meshing, cybersecurity, advanced modeling and
simulation,
human decision modeling, machine learning, brain inspired
computing and
assessing human performance. Students are also sought with
interests in
applying computational methods to scientific and engineering
applications
including shock physics, molecular dynamics, MHD, CFD, electrical
systems,
MEMS, and climate science. These student internships are for
motivated and
enthusiastic individuals with excellent communication skills and
who have the
desire to gain research experience in a highly collaborative
research
environment. Successful applicants will be exposed to a wide range
of
computational and/or cognitive research at Sandia and will have a
strong
project-based research experience working directly with Sandia
staff
scientists.
To
access the posting, go to http://www.sandia.gov,
click on “Careers” then click on “View All Jobs” and search for
the job opening
number - 651287 for graduate students and 651289 for
undergraduates.
Applications should include a CV and a cover letter describing the
area that
they would like to gain research experience.
The National Science Foundation
has released
a new edition of its Grant Proposal Guide (GPG): http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf16001 The guide specifies the
requirements for
proposals to NSF, and proposals that do not meet the requirements
GPG may be
returned without being reviewed.This
has
been occurring more frequently in the last few years.
The following is from the
announcement of the
revision sent by NSF:
“As you start preparing your
proposals for
the February submission window (Deadline of Tuesday Feb 16, 2016),
please, be
aware that the new Grant Proposal Guide will take effect on Jan
25.
Several important changes will take effect with this new change.
I
suggest you look over the overview of all changes listed at the
beginning of
the document. One important change I would like to draw your
attention to
in particular is section VI.D.2.c — the new requirement for Public
Access to
Copyrighted Material. You may want to check with your SRO or
legal office
to understand what the implications are with respect to copyright
agreements.
Depending on the journals you plan to target for your
publications, you may
need to include in your budget the open-access publication fees,
which can be
quite high.” --------------------------------------------------------------
The
MITRE Corporation is offering innovators the chance to solve a
national
problem, gain recognition for their work, and win up to $100,000.Interested?
Every
day, more and more commercial operators, government agencies, and
hobbyists
find new ways to use small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or
drones. As the
cost of these drones has gone down, the interest has gone up. As a
result, we
often see drones in the news and hear about how they are
potentially
threatening the safety of aircraft in the national airspace or
landing in
unauthorized locations—such as the White House lawn.
The
potential for nefarious use of UAS technology has become a major
concern for
multiple federal agencies. To draw new ideas from a wide variety
of innovators
on how to address the issues, MITRE is hosting a Challenge. We’re
looking for
novel ways to detect suspicious small drones (under 5 lbs.) and
interdict those
that present a safety or security threat.
We
are looking for a wide range of ideas, from those that are fully
developed and
ready to deploy to those that are in early development but show
promise. And we
want to hear from a wide range of participants—including
individual
entrepreneurs, students, and teams from small and large companies.
Two-Phase
Challenge
Phase
1: By February 7, participants must submit white papers describing
their
approach to detecting and interdicting unauthorized UAS weighing
less than 5
pounds in an urban environment.
Phase
2: The most promising entries will advance to the second phase, in
which
participants will demonstrate their solutions in a live flight
assessment of
their systems in a realistic operational environment. This will
take place in
early Fall 2016.
Information
Session: We
will be holding a webinar on December 2 to answer questions from
anyone
interested in participating in the Challenge. More details to
come!
The
ideas, tools, and language of mathematics and statistics play
important roles
in every area of science and engineering research supported by the
National
Science Foundation, and it is widely recognized that interactions
between the
mathematical sciences and other fields catalyze developments in
both.The NSF Division of
Mathematical Sciences
wishes to foster the participation of more mathematical
scientists, from every
area of mathematics and statistics, in such important
interdisciplinary
work.In support of this
goal, the
Mathematical Sciences Innovation Incubator (MSII) activity
provides funding to
support the involvement of mathematical scientists in research
areas where the
mathematical sciences are not yet playing large roles. …
Areas
of national high-priority scientific research in fiscal year 2016
identified by
the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy include:
Advanced
Manufacturing and Industries of the Future
Clean
Energy
Earth
Observations
Global
Climate Change
Information
Technology Research and Development
Innovation
in Life Sciences, Biology, and Neuroscience
Research
and Development for Informed Policy-Making and Management
The
MSII activity will support research projects in these and other
areas of
national priority that are managed by NSF programs outside of DMS
and that
involve new collaborations among mathematical scientists and other
scientists
or engineers in the research.
Synopsis:
The Air Force Research Laboratory - Information Directorate
(AFRL/RI) is
soliciting white papers under this BAA for research, design,
development, test,
evaluation and experimentation of innovative technologies and
techniques for
Next Generation Intelligence Collection and Analyses. The
objective of the BAA
is to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate new sources and methods
for collecting
and analyzing intelligence data. This effort is expected to
provide research
and development activities to enhance warfighter mission
capabilities and
advance baseline performance beyond what is currently considered
satisfactory.
Under the proposed announcement, it is anticipated that
intelligence collection
and analysis technologies will be used in support of Strategic,
Operational,
and Tactical missions. These should include, but are not limited
to, Signals Intelligence,
Measurement & Signals Intelligence, and Electronic
Intelligence techniques.
…
Synopsis:The Air Force Research
Laboratory -
Information Directorate (AFRL/RI) is soliciting white papers under
this BAA for
research, design, development, test, evaluation and
experimentation of
innovative technologies and techniques for Improved Networking
through Embedded
Processing and Sensing.The
objective of
the BAA is to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate new sources and
methods for
improving network connectivity and stability through embedded
processing and sensing.
This effort is expected to provide research and development
activities to
enhance warfighter mission capabilities and advance baseline
performance beyond
what is currently considered satisfactory. Under the proposed
effort, it is
anticipated that improved network connectivity research and
development will be
conducted in support of Command & Control (C2) operations.Efforts under this program
are expected to
provide the DoD and mission partners with system network
enhancements that
provide the flexibility required to adapt to and operate in
contested,
congested, or intermittent environments. …
The
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in conjunction
with the
Department of Defense (DoD) is currently recruiting qualified
candidates to
serve on the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate
(NDSEG)
Fellowship's digital evaluation panel in early 2016.
Interested
parties should have a background in at least one of NDSEG's 15
supported STEM
disciplines (please see below for a list of disciplines). If
interested,
potential panelists may register at http://panelists.asee.org.Please visit https://ndseg.asee.org/
for more information regarding the NDSEG Fellowship Program.
Panelists
conduct a thorough evaluation of each assigned application by
completing a
rating rubric online for each section of the form. All
applications must be
read and rated during the online application evaluation by the
program office's
imposed deadline. Each year, the NDSEG evaluation panelists review
and rank an
average of 3,000 applications for the graduate fellowship. After
the panel, the
ranking results are submitted to the program's sponsor, the DoD,
who then
selects the fellowship recipients. 180 awards are anticipated for
the class of
2016.
Panelists
are chosen from one of the following supported disciplines:
Aeronautical
and Astronautical Engineering
Biosciences
Chemical
Engineering
Chemistry
Civil
Engineering
Cognitive,
Neural, and Behavioral Sciences
Computer
and Computational Sciences
Electrical
Engineering
Geosciences
Materials
Science and Engineering
Mathematics
Mechanical
Engineering
Naval
Architecture and Ocean Engineering
Oceanography
Physics
All
non-DoD (and non-government) reviewers will receive an honorarium,
provided
they fulfill their application evaluation duties. Based on the
number of
reviewers who accept invitations, each reviewer will be required
to read, on
average, 20-30 applications.
If
you have any questions regarding panelist registration or NDSEG's
promotional
materials, please contact the NDSEG Program Office at [log in to unmask] or (202)
649-3831.
--
===============================================================
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