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List of Announcements (details below): * This Week at the Volgenau School * VSE in the News * Photo of the Week * Upcoming Events at the Volgenau School * Judges Needed for Mason's 3-Minute Thesis Contest * Andy Loerch Receives Funding from ONR * Guoqing Diao Receives Funding from Otsuka * KC Chang Receives Funding from Dept. of the Navy -------------------------------------------------------------- This Week at the Volgenau School There is an announcement below seeking judges for Mason's 3-Minute Thesis competition. Although this competition is new to Mason, it is not new. It was started at the University of Queensland in 2008 and has spread to many other universities since (http://threeminutethesis.org/). The competition asks PhD students to present their dissertation research to a general audience in 3 minutes, using a single Powerpoint slide. Think of it as an elevator speech with judges and timers. Mason has limited this first competition to 40 participants. Most of the entrants are from the Volgenau School. I see this as a great opportunity for us. First, for the students involved, preparing for the competition encourages them to think about their research from an outsider's perspective and to hone their presentation skills. This will be of value at their dissertation defense, in job interviews, at conferences, and when applying for research funding. Second, it is an opportunity to showcase the research of the Volgenau School. The winner of the finals will be determined by a panel of external judges who may not be familiar with the range and depth of our activities. Also, the preliminary rounds and the finals will be seen by people from across campus. Third, it will provide the Volgenau School with stories to tell about our students. There will be a professional videographer at the finals to record the presentations. We plan to use these videos on our website, in social media, and in our communications with prospective students. They will help us talk about our doctoral programs through examples of individual accomplishments. I will be organizing coaching sessions for the participants from the Volgenau School. I encourage you to get involved as well. As the announcement below indicates, judges are needed for the preliminary rounds on Friday, March 3, and it would be great if we could get strong participation from our School. The finals are on Saturday, March 25 at the Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference in Arlington. Come out and cheer our team. -------------------------------------------------------------- VSE in the News Here is a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted: Beyond Mason * IT Briefcase: Mason inventors Viet Tran and Seth Robertson's sound wave fire suppressor is highlighted as a 'fire protection technologies to watch.'<http://www.itbriefcase.net/emerging-fire-protection-technologies-to-watch> On the News at Mason page (https://www2.gmu.edu/news) * Mason-NOVA CC dual admissions program takes first step<https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/315756>. The program is part of a much larger initiative in the works between Mason and NOVA that will further define the framework for students to earn four-year degrees with coursework at both institutions. * U.S. News gives Mason online programs high marks<https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/315386>. Online master's program in Applied Information Technology ranked 36th on U.S. News list. On the Volgenau site (https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/latest-news) * Mason-NOVA CC dual admissions program takes first step<https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/315756>. The program is part of a much larger initiative in the works between Mason and NOVA that will further define the framework for students to earn four-year degrees with coursework at both institutions. * U.S. News gives Mason online programs high marks<https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/315386>. Online master's program in Applied Information Technology ranked 36th on U.S. News list. 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 [cid:[log in to unmask]] Members of the student organization Engineers for International Development wait at a Nicaraguan hotel before returning from their 2017 trip to the Verbo Mission in Puerto Cabezas. -------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Events at the Volgenau School Whether you're looking for a specific event or browsing, our calendar lets you know what's happening at Volgenau. Here is a sample of what's coming in the next several weeks. For more information visit our calendar<https://volgenau.gmu.edu/events#/?i=1> on the web. From this page you can share the event on social media, get updates, forward to friends, or save it to your own calendar. Jan. 24 - 8:00 a.m. Mason NVTC Social Media Conference Feb. 10 - 2:00 p.m. ECE Distinguished Speaker Feb. 19 - 8:00 a.m. Engineering Youth Conference Feb. 23 - 1:00 p.m. Digital Forensics Symposium For information on getting your event posted via 25Live, please visit scheduling.gmu.edu<http://scheduling.gmu.edu/>. -------------------------------------------------------------- Judges Needed for Mason's 3-Minute Thesis Contest [This was sent to me by Cody Edwards in the Provost's Office. This competition has many entrants from the Volgenau School, so it would be valuable to the School to have participation by our faculty in the preliminary rounds of the competition.] As you may know, the Office of the Provost has announced the inaugural Mason Three Minute Thesis (3MT(tm)) competition. Students participating in this event will have a three-minute window to effectively explain their research in terms appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Registration for this event has filled to capacity, with 40 Mason students scheduled to participate, and a robust waitlist. Many of the entrants are from the Volgenau School. Judges are Needed for the Preliminary Rounds We are in need of 25 faculty members from varying disciplines to serve as judges for the five preliminary rounds held Friday, March 3, 9 am-4 pm in The Hub, Rooms 4 and 5 on the Fairfax Campus. These presentations are geared to a general audience, so no specific background is necessary to serve on any given round, and faculty are invited to judge more than one round. We ask that you share this request widely with your faculty. Without faculty involvement this event will not be possible. For detailed information about our 3MT(tm) competition, including guidelines and judging criteria, see http://provost.gmu.edu/3mtinfo/. Thanks for your continued support of graduate education at Mason. I look forward to this exciting opportunity to showcase our students' research. Cody W. Edwards -------------------------------------------------------------- Andy Loerch Receives Funding from ONR Andy Loerch of the Systems Engineering & Operations Research Department received $5K from the Office of Naval Research for his project, "Combinatorial Optimization." -------------------------------------------------------------- Guoqing Diao Receives Funding from Otsuka Guoqing Diao of the Statistics Department received $32K from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization Inc. for his project, "Academic Research Collaboration between Otsuka and GMU." -------------------------------------------------------------- KC Chang Receives Funding from Dept. of the Navy KC Chang of the Systems Engineering & Operations Research Department received $118K from the Department of the Navy (NAVSUP) for his project, "Developing An Analytic Model of Success for Acquisition Decision Making." -- =============================================================== 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]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Phone: (703) 993-1505 Fax: (703) 993-1633 https://volgenau.gmu.edu/profile/view/10248