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
·
GOP Tentative Deal Scraps Tax on Grad Students’ Tuition
·
ITS December Newsletter
·
Proposed New English Language Test for Admissions
·
Funding Opportunity: Configuration Security (DARPA)
·
Funding Opportunity: … Bioengineering Methods & Approaches … (NIH)
·
Funding Opportunity: Clare Boothe Luce Program
·
Funding Opportunity: Capabilities for Cyber Resiliency (Air Force)
·
Funding Opportunity: Using IT to Support Systematic Screening … (NIH)
·
Daniel Lofaro Receives Funding from Amazon Robotics
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This Week at the Volgenau School
Even as the semester is about to end and the campus is quieting down, a major project in graduate admissions is being launched. The University is switching
to a new system for graduate admissions. I am a member of the “vision/strategy” group for the project, and I attended the 2.5-hour kick-off meeting on Friday. I will attend another meeting on Wednesday, along with many more meetings in 2018.
The current system, called App Review, launched in Fall 2015. The company behind the system appears to be going through a transition and is less interested
in continuing to support this product, so a change is necessary. The University has selected TargetX as the new system, a product from Salesforce. It has already been implemented at Mason for undergraduate admissions, and the first decisions went out last
week. The evidence on social media suggests that it worked.
I’m not looking forward to this project. The launch of App Review was a challenge, and the experience is fresh in our memories. Graduate admissions is a complicated
process, since decisions are handled by individual departments and programs, and there are many details that differ from one program to another. Many people will have to participate if this is going to be successful. On the plus side, the effort to launch
App Review dealt with some of the issues already, and that will reduce the challenge of launching TargetX. In addition, several additional months are being dedicated to the TargetX launch than we had for App Review.
We don’t have much of a choice. There is the expectation that App Review will soon cease to be a viable product. We need a replacement. TargetX seems to
be the best choice for the university.
At the meeting on Friday there was a presentation by the team from Salesforce. All of them are veterans of installations like ours. The goal is to launch
TargetX in September 2018 for the Fall 2019 graduate admissions cycle. The university has assembled a good team for the project.
So we go forward.
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VSE in the News
Here is a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted:
On the Mason Engineering news page (https://volgenau.gmu.edu/news/latest-news):
·
Melissa L. Rossi wins Women’s Transportation Seminar DC Undergraduate Scholarship.
Melissa L. Rossi—a civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering undergraduate student has been awarded the 2017 Women’s Transportation Seminar DC (WTS-DC) Undergraduate Scholarship.
·
Computer science major tweets for #MasonNation @GeorgeMasonU. Molly Thompson took time during finals week
to be the guest tweeter for the university.
·
Two new department staffers help guide students. Navigating a university the size of Mason can be challenging,
and Justina Jordan and Verronica Mitchell say they’re glad to be on board to help steer students in the right direction.
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Photo of the Week
Photo courtesy of the GMU Squirrels. Just about sums up that end of semester feeling.
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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 the school. Here is a sample of what’s coming in the
next several weeks. For more information visit our calendar
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.
Thursday, December 21, 2017, Eagle Bank Arena
Whether you're looking for a specific event or browsing, our calendar lets you know what’s happening at the school. Here is a sample of what’s coming in the
next several weeks. For more information visit our calendar
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.
For information about getting your event posted visit this
page.
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GOP Tentative Deal Scraps Tax on Grad Students’ Tuition
Story
here.
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ITS December Newsletter
To foster awareness of current IT security issues, ITS publishes a monthly newsletter on topics of interest to a general audience. The December newsletter
is at:
http://itsecurity.gmu.edu/SecurityLiaisons/upload/Decnew17.pdf
This month’s newsletter discusses two-factor authentication, which will be required sometime next year for PatriotWeb in addition to VPN connections.
Please contact Jonathan Goldman ([log in to unmask]),
the VSE Security Liaison, if you have any questions.
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Proposed New English-Language Test for Admissions
The Mason Graduate Council is considering the use of a new English-language test for purposes of admissions. A description of the proposed test can be found
here.
The test was developed in collaboration with Cambridge English, and has been studied by a committee at Mason and found to be reliable. The test would only
be used in connection with applicants recruited through INTO, and thus would only be relevant to a small subset of our applicant pool. If adopted, there would be a trial period to determine if Mason is satisfied with the new test. If you have any concerns,
please let me know by January 17, 2018. If you have questions about the new test, please let me know and I will try to get answers for you.
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Funding Opportunity: Configuration Security (DARPA)
Opportunity Title: Configuration Security (ConSec)
Sponsor: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Sponsor Number: HR001118S0010
Deadline Date: 08-Feb-2018
Program URL:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=eeac56762e8f7596ca009ffdc52d5dab&tab=core&_cview=0
Synopsis: DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals to develop technologies for automatically utilizing the configuration of complex composed systems
to reduce the attack surface while assuring expected behavior.
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Funding Opportunity: … Bioengineering Methods & Approaches … (NIH)
Opportunity Title: RFA-HL-17-015--Bold New Bioengineering Methods and Approaches for Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Disorders and Diseases (R21)
Sponsor: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH/DHHS
Sponsor Number: RFA-HL-17-015
Deadline Date: 07-Jan-2018 [plus other deadline dates]
Program URL:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HL-17-015.html
Synopsis : National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) invites applications for basic, translational, and clinical proof-of-concept research projects
that are needed for the advancement of bioengineering approaches for heart, lung, blood and sleep diseases. This program will use the NIH Exploratory/Developmental (R21) grant mechanism.
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Funding Opportunity: Clare Boothe Luce Program
Sponsor: Luce (Henry) Foundation, Inc.
Deadline Dates: 01-Mar-2018 [LOI/Pre-App], 01-Aug-2018
Program URL:
http://www.hluce.org/cblprogram.aspx
Synopsis: This program strives to increase the participation of women in the sciences, mathematics and engineering at every level of higher education by providing
undergraduate research awards, undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, postdoctoral fellowships or professorships through selected colleges and universities.
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Funding Opportunity: Capabilities for Cyber Resiliency (Air Force)
Sponsor: Department of the Air Force
Sponsor Number: FA8750-18-S-7002
Deadline Dates: 26-Jan-2018, 30-Sep-2022, 15-Jun-2019, 15-Jun-2020, 15-Jun-2021, 14-Jun-2018
Program URL:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7feb1ad9addcb9a4af70bb1673af3114&tab=core&_cview=1
Synopsis: This announcement is for an Open, 2 Step BAA which is open and effective until 30 Sep 2022. Only white papers will be accepted as initial submissions;
formal proposals will be accepted by invitation only. … Seeking innovative, next-generation technologies to achieve cyber superiority to integrate and transition into warfighting capabilities. This BAA is a follow-on to BAA AFRL-RIK-2015-0015 and BAA AFRL-RIK-2015-0016.
…
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Funding Opportunity: Using IT to Support Systematic Screening … (NIH)
Opportunity Title: Using Information Technology to Support Systematic Screening and Treatment of Depression in Oncology Practices (R01 Clinical Trial Optional,
and R21Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor: National Cancer Institute/NIH/DHHS
Sponsor Number: PA-18-493 and PA-18-492
Deadline Date: 05-Jun-2018 / 16-Jun-2018 [plus other dates]
Program URLs:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-493.html
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-492.html
Synopsis: National Cancer Institute (NCI) invites applications to: identify new, information technology (IT)-enabled delivery models that support systematic
screening and treatment of depression in cancer patients; test the feasibility of implementing these new delivery models in a variety of oncology practice settings, especially those serving under-served populations; test the effectiveness of these new delivery
models, and their components, in a variety of oncology practice settings, especially those serving under-served populations; and evaluate the sustainability and scalability of these new delivery models.
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Daniel Lofaro Receives Funding from Amazon Robotics
Daniel Lofaro of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department received $20K from Amazon Robotics LLC for his project, “Autonomous Robotic Manipulation
and Stowing System for Warhorse Settings.”
===============================================================
Stephen G. Nash
Senior Associate Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 2500
Mailstop 5C8
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: (703) 993-1505
Fax: (703) 993-1633
https://volgenau.gmu.edu/profile/view/10248