Reappointments to the title of Regents Professor are:
Appointments to the title of Regents Professor are:
Appointments to the title of Regents Researcher are:
And one reappointment to the title of Regents Researcher:
“It was a pleasure to nominate these outstanding faculty members for recognition by the Board of Regents,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “I'd like to congratulate and thank each of them for their exemplary leadership and service, commitment to excellence in research and scholarship, and dedication to the education, growth, and well-being of our students.”
Each year, the college deans may nominate two academic faculty members for the Regents Professor title and one research faculty member for the Regents Researcher title. GTRI may nominate two research faculty members for Regents Researcher. The titles are awarded upon approval of the USG chancellor and its Committee on Academic Affairs only with unanimous recommendation of the Institute Regents Professor and Researcher Selection Committee, the Institute’s president, the executive vice president for Research, and the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.
The BOR approved the nominations on Aug. 10.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>Today, Georgia Tech received two National Science Foundation (NSF) Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes awards, totaling $40 million. A third award for $20 million was granted to the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), with Georgia Tech serving as one of the leading academic institutions.
“It is essential that we bring together our best minds to ensure that AI delivers on its promise to create a more prosperous, sustainable, safe, and fair future for everyone,” said Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech. “These NSF awards recognize Georgia Tech’s vast expertise in machine learning and AI and will help us further develop our resources and amplify our impact in these crucial fields.”
Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech, concurred, citing major efforts under development to help create a more robust and inclusive future of AI, both on campus and beyond.
“We are incredibly grateful to the NSF for their investment and excited for the opportunities made possible because of this research,” he said. “At Tech, our mission is to advance technology and improve the human condition, catalyzing research that matters. We invested in a unified approach to interdisciplinary research aligned with industry relevance and societal impact, and these awards demonstrate a clear return on that strategy.”
Collectively, NSF made a $220 million investment in 11 new NSF-led Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes.
“I am delighted to announce the establishment of new NSF National AI Research Institutes as we look to expand into all 50 states,” said National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “These Institutes are hubs for academia, industry, and government to accelerate discovery and innovation in AI. Inspiring talent and ideas everywhere in this important area will lead to new capabilities that improve our lives, from medicine to entertainment to transportation and cybersecurity, and position us in the vanguard of competitiveness and prosperity.”
Led by NSF, and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Google, Amazon, Intel, and Accenture, the National AI Research Institutes will act as connections in a broader nationwide network to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields — from food system security to next-generation edge networks. In addition to Georgia Tech and GRA, the University of California San Diego, Duke University, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, and University of Washington are the lead universities included in the 11 AI Institutes.
The AI Institutes at Georgia Tech
The three newly established Institutes will address societal challenges, including home care for aging adults; energy, logistics, and supply chains; sustainability; the widening gap in job opportunities; and changing needs in workforce development.
NSF AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING) will seek to create a vibrant discipline focused on personalized, collaborative AI systems that will improve quality of care for the aging. The systems will learn individual models of human behavior and how they change over time and use that knowledge to better collaborate and communicate in caregiving environments. Led by Sonia Chernova, associate professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech, the AI systems will help a growing population of older adults sustain independence, improve quality of life, and increase effectiveness of care coordination across the care network.
“The AI-CARING Institute builds on our existing strengths in AI and in technology for aging. It will create not only novel solutions, but a new generation of researchers focused on the interaction between the two,” said Charles Isbell, dean and John P. Imlay Jr. Chair in the College of Computing. “Our aim is to build cutting-edge technologies that improve the lives of everyone, and I can’t think of a better example than AI-CARING.”
NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization (AI4Opt) will revolutionize decision-making on a large scale – fusing AI and mathematical optimization into intelligent systems that will achieve breakthroughs that neither field can achieve independently. Additionally, it will create pathways from high school to undergraduate and graduate education and workforce development training for AI in engineering that will empower a generation of underrepresented students and teachers to join the AI revolution. Led by Pascal Van Hentenryck, A. Russell Chandler III chair and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, AI4Opt will tackle use cases in energy, resilience and sustainability, supply chains, and circuit design and control.
“AI4Opt, with its focus on AI and optimization, will create new pathways for novel tools that allow better engineering applications to benefit society,” said Raheem Beyah, dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. “This will allow engineers to build higher quality materials, more efficient renewable resources, new computing systems, and more, while also reinforcing the field as a career path for diverse students. The new institute complements the College’s commitment to the integration of AI in engineering disciplines.”
NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (ALOE) will lead the country and the world in the development of novel AI theories and techniques for enhancing the quality of adult online education, making this mode of learning comparable to that of in-person education in STEM disciplines. Together with partners in the technical college systems and educational technology sector, ALOE will advance online learning using virtual assistants to make education more available, affordable, achievable, and ultimately more equitable. This Institute is led by the GRA, with support from Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia (USG). Ashok Goel, professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, will serve as executive director.
“Online education for adults has enormous implications for tomorrow’s workforce,” said Myk Garn, a GRA senior advisor, assistant vice chancellor for New Models of Learning at the USG, and ALOE’s principal investigator. “Yet, serious questions remain about the quality of online learning and how best to teach adults online. Artificial intelligence offers a powerful technology for dramatically improving the quality of online learning and adult education.”
The Future of AI at Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech is poised to strategically reimagine the future of AI. Currently, 66% of Georgia Tech undergraduate computer science students have an academic concentration in Intelligence, focusing on the top-to-bottom computational models of intelligence. The College of Computing’s recently launched Ph.D. program in machine learning pulls from faculty in all six colleges across the Institute, and many new courses are being developed that teach AI as a tool for science and engineering. Georgia Tech is exploring the potential creation of a school or college of AI within the next five years, further building on its expansive AI and machine learning footprint. The NSF AI Institutes awards will enable all AI-related academic programs to scale and further differentiate Georgia Tech as a leader in AI education.
Additionally, the awards will expand and complement ongoing AI research efforts at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). In the last fiscal year, GTRI received millions of dollars in research awards from the Department of Defense and other sponsors for AI-affiliated research, and currently, many GTRI researchers are focused on AI-affiliated projects.
“As part of Georgia Tech, GTRI will greatly benefit from the advances in AI that will be achieved as a result of these NSF-funded Institutes, helping us further excel in our aim to deliver leading-edge AI research that benefits national security,” said Mark Whorton, GTRI’s chief technology officer. “GTRI is one of the nation’s leading institutes of applied research for national security specifically because of our deep engagement and close affiliation with the academic units of Georgia Tech. AI is a tool we use in conducting larger research objectives, and we believe strongly that these AI Institutes will enable GTRI to put more research into practice.”
“Georgia Tech has for decades now been pursuing new AI technologies, and now leads the way in AI that is responsible to the needs of the humans who use it,” Isbell said. “We have also worked hard to expand access to AI, especially for underrepresented groups. These Institutes will build on that history, expanding both our ability to create new technologies and to train the next generation of innovators. I look forward to watching them grow and develop.”
About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
About the National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments, and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2021 budget of $8.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities, and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.
About the Georgia Research Alliance
The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) helps Georgia’s university scientists do more research and start more companies. By expanding research and entrepreneurship capacity at public and private universities, GRA grows the Georgia economy by driving more investment in the state, developing a high-tech workforce, and strengthening Georgia’s reputation for innovation. For 30 years, GRA has worked in partnership with the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to create the companies and jobs of Georgia’s future. Visit GRA.org for more information.
Contact: Georgia Parmelee | georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu | 404.281.7818
]]>Provost Steven W. McLaughlin will serve as interim vice provost for International Initiatives from July 1 to July 31. To help facilitate the transition, Iyonka Strawn-Valcy, director of Global Operations, will serve as interim senior associate vice provost from July 1 to August 31. In this role, Strawn-Valcy will oversee day-to-day operations of the vice provost for International Initiatives division and triage administrative, operational, and strategic issues and activities.
“I’m so pleased that Bernard Kippelen will be our next vice provost for International Initiatives,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “In his long and admirable career at Georgia Tech, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to developing international partnerships that expand Georgia Tech’s global reach and deliver excellence in teaching and research. His leadership will be invaluable as we move forward with international initiatives. I would also like to thank Iyonka Strawn-Valcy for her support as interim senior associate vice provost during the transition period.”
Adam Stulberg, chair of the Nunn School of International Affairs, served as chair of the search committee.
As co-president of the Lafayette Institute, Kippelen oversees a collaborative innovation platform and commercialization initiative for optoelectronics and advanced materials research based at Georgia Tech-Lorraine. He joined the faculty at the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2003 and served as director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics from 2011 to 2019.
“I am honored and excited to begin work as the next vice provost for International Initiatives,” said Kippelen. “Georgia Tech is a globally recognized partner in international cooperation and collaboration in research and education. I am fortunate to join a dedicated and talented team. Working together across geopolitical, cultural, and linguistic boundaries gives us the ability to solve complex research challenges and prepare our students to become globally minded, cross-culturally competent leaders.”
Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Kippelen was a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France and a faculty member at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, where he developed a research and teaching program on polymer optics and plastic electronics.
Kippelen’s research includes investigation of fundamental physical processes such as light harvesting and emission, as well as the design, fabrication, and testing of lightweight optoelectronic devices and circuits including organic solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, printable transistors, and organic photodiodes. He has served as chair and co-chair of numerous international conferences on organic optoelectronic materials and devices. He holds 26 patents, has co-authored over 270 refereed publications and 14 book chapters, and is the founding editor of Energy Express.
Born and raised in Alsace, France, Kippelen studied at the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, where he received a maîtrise in solid-state physics in 1985 and a Ph.D. in nonlinear optics in 1990.
]]>Director – Organizational, Academic, and Research Communications
Institute Communications
Georgia Institute of Technology
]]>The team is made up of three College of Engineering students: Nathan Zavanelli, a Ph.D. student in bioengineering; Sung Hoon Lee, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, and Kimberly Lie, a bachelor’s student in computer engineering. They will share a $5,000 scholarship award. Their faculty advisor was Woo Hong Yeo, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.
“The GaTech CDAIT Student IoT Innovation Challenge provides a great opportunity for students to gain a full, end-to-end perspective of solution development from ideation, creation, technology selection, usability, and even marketability,” said Bob Kamp, a member of the CDAIT board and a senior director in Intel's IoTG (Internet of Things Group) Market & Channels organization.
“These solutions demonstrated the effort and creativity of the students, and makes me wonder how great some of these could be if they were part of a larger R&D effort with greater resources,” Kamp said.
https://youtu.be/U-4Ay8jfX6k
The first-place team project was the “Wearable, long-duration physiological cognitive stress monitoring IoT system.” The stress monitor — designed by Zavanelli, Lee, and Lie — is meant to assist people living with cognitive disabilities, who often have anxiety, fear, and depression. The monitor, a soft chest-worn patch, wirelessly measures chest vibrations caused by heartbeats. An associated smartphone app uses real-time signal processing and machine learning to identify markers of cognitive stress.
“This system is a marked improvement over traditional methods, which either involve obtrusive wired monitoring or imprecise written surveys or subjective caregiver evaluations because it provides continuous monitoring of objective physiological manifestations of cognitive stress,” the team said in their summary report.
Three other entries placed in the Challenge, and these teams will also share scholarship awards.
Cassidy Sugimoto, professor and Tom and Marie Patton School Chair in the School of Public Policy, observed that the entries showcased the tremendous potential of Georgia Tech students working in the IoT space.
“The students in this challenge demonstrated innovative solutions to important policy problems,” she said. “The hope when CDAIT came to the Ivan Allen College was that it would provide synergy between policy and technological advancement, and this Challenge is a great demonstration that the approach works.”
Details on the project are available on the CDAIT website: https://cdait.gatech.edu/projects/Student_IoT_Innovation_Challenge_2021_Results
About CDAIT
CDAIT, a unit of the Center for Advanced Communications Policy in the Ivan Allen College’s School of Public Policy, is an action-oriented, partner-funded think tank that seeks to serve as an incubator for ideas in the IoT field.
Supported by the CDAIT board, made up of leading national and international companies in the IoT space, the organization’s activities include working groups focusing on education and training, startup ecosystems, security, standards and management, research, policy impacts, and thought leadership. Since moving from GTRI in 2020, the Center has increasingly focused its attention on critical social and policy issues facing the IoT field while maintaining the Center’s deep expertise in the technological arena. The inaugural 2021 CDAIT Student IoT Innovation Capacity Building Challenge is one of several new CDAIT initiatives designed to advance leading-edge innovation with increased Georgia Tech student engagement.
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“There is no better way to welcome our newest students than through a wide variety of events that reflect the diversity of our incoming student body,” said Runyi Wang, Student Center Program Council’s Week of Welcome Committee Chair. “We hope that incoming students will be able to find their community at Georgia Tech. By working closely with our campus partners, we are excited to offer events that cater to students’ varying interests and needs to do exactly that.”
The second annual Week of Welcome kicks off with first-year move-in on Saturday, August 14, and Sunday, August 15, with events and programming starting the night of August 15. Second-year, new transfer, and new graduate students are invited to move in on Wednesday, August 18, with remaining upper-class residents moving in August 20 – 21.
From August 16 – 22, students will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, events, and outings to help get acclimated to life at Georgia Tech. New programming will be offered for second-years, new transfers, and new graduate students beginning Thursday, August 19.
Afternoons and evenings will be filled with opportunities for students to engage with one another and get to know their community. RATS Night at the Library, FASET Social, RecFest at the Campus Recreation Center, student organization fairs, Greek Recruitment, Grad Expo and Convocation, are some of the many events planned for the week.
“I loved the experience of presenting workshops in 2020 and can't wait to do it again this year,” said Bryan Gomez, Residence Hall Association President. “As upper-class students, we sometimes forget how much we know about this campus and how much we have to share with the incoming class. Week of Welcome is the perfect time to share the experiences you've gathered over your semesters here, calm a few nerves, and excite the next group of Yellow Jackets about all that there is to offer here at Tech!”
Departments, colleges, campus offices, and student organizations are invited to host engaging and informative workshops to help share information with students. Programming will be featured on the event schedule in Guidebook.
Dr. Chris Reaves, Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Director of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities & Student Innovation Programs held a workshop during Week of Welcome last year that was so well-attended it was offered multiple times throughout the week.
“Week of Welcome was a great way to kick off the fall semester. We had 680 students attend the workshops we offered in the Office of Undergraduate Education. Though mostly virtual, the week was a wonderful way to welcome our students back to campus after being mostly away from Tech for five months.”
To follow along as Week of Welcome planning evolves, visit welcomehome.gatech.edu.
If your office, department, or organization would like to create events and workshops to welcome our incoming first-year, second-year, and transfer students, fill out the Week of Welcome Interest Form by July 6. Programming will be featured on the event schedule in Guidebook.
For organizations that want to plan an event for incoming students during Week of Welcome but are unsure about how to proceed, email weekofwelcome@gatech.edu.
Housing and Residence Life invites campus partners and student organizations to sign up to help students and their families move into their residence hall communities for first-year move in August 14 and 15, second-year, new transfer, new graduate move-in on August 18, and upper-class move-in August 20-21.
Students, faculty, and staff who are interested in volunteering can sign up through the Volunteer Interest Form.
Student organization volunteers for move-in who will live on-campus this fall have an opportunity to move in early on August 13. Interested organizations should complete the Student Org Move-In Volunteer form by June 20.
]]>For questions about move-in, email movein@housing.gatech.edu.
]]>To start, go to usg.mylifeexpert.com and enter the company code: USGCares. From there, establish your unique login and password. The site is accessible at your convenience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
After registering, you’ll want to create your individual profile. This will help customize your experience based on your family, education, health, wellness, legal, financial and everyday living needs.
Then, check out these new and enhanced features at usg.mylifeexpert.com:
If you need assistance with the USG MyLifeExpert site, contact the support team at
support@lifeexpertnow.com.
You can also access a Kepro EAP consultant 24/7/365 for consultation or information by calling 1-844-243-4440. For information about all of the resources USG offers for your mental and emotional well-being, click here.
]]>Friday, October 1, 2021 | 8:00 p.m.
Ferst Center for the Arts
Tickets $10
For tickets and more information visit https://arts.gatech.edu/content/terminus-modern-ballet-theatre-interactions-boundaries-sensory-experience
An insightful look into the creative process as artists, research scientists, and you, the audience, dive into discussions about our sensory experience and AI and its ethical frontiers, accompanied by live performance excerpts by the dancers of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre.
Join New York City-based choreographer, dancer, and director Troy Schumacher, in collaboration with leading scientists from Georgia Tech and Emory University, as he and TMBT explore the fascinating and consequential possibilities in the advancement of neuroscience.
]]>They’re also easy to use at home. The user adds a few drops of a sample – saliva, blood, or urine, for instance – to one end of the dipstick, and within minutes reads the results at the other end.
The technology has been widely used to determine the presence or absence of biomarkers in humans, as well as contaminants in water or food. Most commonly, LFA technology is used for at-home pregnancy tests. And more recently, LFA technology has been used successfully in at-home tests for Covid-19.
“These tests have been extremely popular for years, mainly because they are so simple to use. You don’t send anything to the lab or clinic because these tests don’t require any external equipment to operate. This is an advantage,” said engineering researcher Fatih Sarioglu, who runs the Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “But there also is a disadvantage. There are limitations to what they can do.”
Recognizing the widespread popularity and practicality of dipsticks, particularly in resource-limited settings, Sarioglu and his research team are overcoming those limitations with development of a flow control technology, turning these simple tests into complex biomedical assays.
They explain their research, and its emphasis on flow technology, in two recently published papers in the journals Science Advances and ACS Sensors. One explains the development of their technology and the other applies the technology in a toolkit to diagnose the novel coronavirus, as well as influenza.
LFAs utilize capillary liquid flow to detect analytes – capillary flow is the process of liquid passing through a narrow passageway (like a capillary); analytes are substances or chemicals of interest, such as an antibodies or proteins, in an analytical procedure (like an LFA).
Sarioglu explained that conventional LFAs are not practical for performing multi-step assays – capillary flow prevents them from coordinating a complex process that includes the application of multiple reagents in a specific sequence with specific delays in between.
In the recently published studies, the team describes a technique to control capillary flow by imprinting roadblocks on a laminated paper with water insoluble ink. The blocked liquid flow is thus manipulated into a void formed at the interface of the ink-infused paper and the polymer tape laminate. By modifying the roadblocks, the researchers can essentially set the time it takes for a void to form – creating timers that hold capillary flow for a desired period.
“By strategically imprinting these timers, we can program the assays to coordinate different capillary flows,” said Sarioglu, professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “That enables multiple liquids to be introduced, and multistep chemical reactions, with optimal incubation times – so, we can perform complex, automated assays that otherwise would normally have to be performed in laboratories. This takes us beyond the conventional LFA.”
For the user, the new dipstick test works the same way as the reliable standard – a sample is added at one end and the results present themselves minutes later in living color(s) at the other end. Sarioglu and his colleagues simply enhanced and expanded the process in between.
Basically, they drew patterns on paper – a dipstick – and created immunoassays that rival other diagnostic tests requiring labs and extra equipment, in the effective detection of pathogenic targets like Zika virus, HIV, hepatitis B virus, or malaria, among others.
The paper in ACS Sensors describes a PCR-based point-of-care toolkit based on the lab’s flow technology. The assay is programmed to run a sequence of chemical reactions to detect SARS-CoV-2 (severe respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) and/or influenza A and influenza B. A traditionally labor-intensive genetic assay can now be done on a disposable platform which will enable frequent, on-demand self-testing, filling a critical need to track and contain outbreaks.
The lab is studying the technology’s application for other assays targeting other pathogens, with plans to publish in the coming months. Sarioglu is optimistic that the work will have implications in the current healthcare challenge with Covid-19, and beyond.
“We believe this flow technology research will have widespread impact,” he said. “This kind of dipstick test is so commonly used by the public for biomedical testing, and now it can be translated into other applications that we do not traditionally consider to be cut out for these simple tests.”
CITATION: Dohwan Lee, Chia-Heng Chu, A. Fatih Sarioglu. “Point-Of-Care Toolkit for Multiplex Molecular Diagnosis of SARS-2 CoV‑2 and Influenza A and B Viruses.” ACS Sensors. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acssensors.1c00702
CITATION: Dohwan Lee, Tevhide Ozkaya-Ahmadov, Chia-Heng Chu, Mert Boya, Ruxiu Liu, A. Fatih Sarioglu. “Capillary flow control in lateral flow assays via delaminating timers.” Science Advances. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abf9833
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Graduate student enrollment at Georgia Tech reached 26,398 this semester, a new record for Tech and a 14% increase from last year. Nearly 8,000 of those students are new to the university this year, with 4,344 being domestic students and 3,639 being international students.
“We are thrilled to welcome all of our new and current students,” said Bonnie Ferri, vice provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development. “Know that our office is here to support you in whatever way we can, so don’t hesitate to reach out with your questions.”
Here are a few fast facts about this year’s class of graduate students:
Marla Bruner, director of Graduate Studies, wants to remind students that her office has many resources available as they settle in on campus, from social engagement and student life to crisis counseling and mental health resources.
“Engage where you can, meet new people, and take advantage of self-improvement and professional opportunities,” Bruner said. “We are excited to see everyone back on campus and are committed to serving our graduate community.”
]]>The full schedule and links to register for each session can be found at grip.oie.gatech.edu/gripexpo
]]>With a knack for math and science that was developed throughout middle and high school, Mike secured a scholarship through the Department of Defense (DoD). In 1999, Mike arrived on the Georgia Institute of Technology's (Georgia Tech) campus as a freshman in electrical engineering. Over the next five years, thanks to his scholarship program allowing him to extend his education, Mike worked diligently to receive both his bachelor's and master's in electrical engineering.
Now a principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Mike shares the story of his family motivating his career and the mentorship he offers to students.
Ruiz's family served as his motivator and encourager. Like his father, Mike was born in Puerto Rico, but he lived across the United States throughout his childhood. Mike's father served in the United States Air Force—and his mother in the Air Force Civilian Service, taking the family to places such as New Mexico, Texas, and Florida. Mike identifies as half-Hispanic and half-Black, from his mother's Haitian heritage. In the various school systems Mike attended, he didn't always have the same support as his peers.
"I felt like an outsider because [where I lived there weren’t] huge minority, Hispanic communities," said Mike. "I had to overachieve to get the same respect and interest."
Because of the inequity in his schooling, Mike taught himself never to say "no" when asked to do anything, because he didn't want to lose any chance at future opportunities. Rather than a specific teacher or mentor, it was Mike's mother who pushed him to do better and achieve new heights. The support of his family and Mike's intense work ethic led to several scholarship offers as he approached college.
Mike's family possesses a strong desire and commitment to serve their country. Mike's grandfather and father both served in the United States Air Force. Throughout high school, Mike participated in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), and he planned to continue the tradition of service. By late high school, Mike’s Senior Aerospace Science Instructor (SASI) spoke with him about an opportunity to attend college for free and then serve with the Air Force. Then, an unsolicited offer from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) altered the path of Mike's life.
The DoD scholarship, which would later become the Stokes Educational Scholarship Program, allowed Mike to attend a college of his choice to pursue a STEM degree. While pursuing his degrees at Georgia Tech, Mike worked as a rotational intern at the DoD, focusing on antenna and radio frequency (RF) design and testing. As his time at Georgia Tech was coming to a close, Mike prepared for his commitment period with the DoD, where he would end up staying for 11 more years. Knowing he had a job lined up following graduation alleviated a lot of Mike's stress and allowed him to focus on finishing up his master's, which he did in one year instead of the typical two.
Mike thrived at the DoD, and it allowed him to continue his family's commitment to service. "I was able to serve my country through civil service, next to the world's experts on a daily basis," said Mike.
While working at the DoD, Mike blazed a telecommuting trail, allowing him to work on unclassified research from his home and traveling to the office when necessary. Based in Atlanta, Mike worked with GTRI from the sponsor side. On one visit, GTRI representatives presented interesting and exciting research happening at GTRI, and Mike was highly intrigued.
When it came time to start a family, Mike and his wife wanted to fully lay down roots in Atlanta. Already familiar with GTRI and its research, Mike felt he could bring a useful perspective and skillset to the organization. In 2015, Mike joined GTRI as an embedded systems security researcher.
"My undergraduate focus [was] on antennas, mixed-signal, and integrated circuit design. [While working for the DoD] I looked at the security of software, network security, and media forensics," said Mike. "I was deployed to an active war zone in 2006 – research for the warfighter. All that came to a head when I came to GTRI."
In 2018, Mike became the associate chief of GTRI's Trusted Microelectronics Program Office (TMPO), which operates in the Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research (CIPHER) Laboratory. TMPO researches applications, tools, architectures, and materials to evaluate microelectronic devices' security, trust, and reliability and the critical systems that rely upon them. In this leadership role, Mike can help steer the direction of the new office, mentor younger researchers, and conduct cutting-edge research.
"I want to have more influence and the ability to affect the largest number of individuals who might be early in their career," said Mike. "I plan to bring up as many individuals [as I can], and I'll take up any opportunities to do so."
Mike has taken every opportunity to mentor younger researchers and students. Soon after he started at GTRI, Mike began leading a Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) at Georgia Tech with GTRI Principal Research Engineer Lee Lerner, Ph.D.
Previously, they organized a class project called Tech Cities, which aimed to research and develop a smart city infrastructure for the Atlanta area with a focus on configurable hardware as a computational platform. Soon, they are launching a new effort to design and build a custom, secure mobile voting machine, for the purposes of bringing the voting booth to individuals who might not be able to themselves come out to a polling location.
"VIP is something we didn't have when I was a student," said Ruiz. "The project provides an opportunity to establish multiyear engineering growth, where students can watch a product flourish."
Mike's work with students doesn't stop there. He helps graduate research assistants (GRAs) and co-op students when they come to work at GTRI while finishing their degrees. GTRI partners with the National GEM Consortium— a network of leading corporations, government laboratories, elite universities, and elite research institutions that empowers qualified students from underrepresented communities to pursue a graduate degree in STEM fields. During the summer, GEM fellows participate in paid internships at GTRI, which Mike assists with. Mike has also mentored local high school students through GTRI's High School Summer Internship Program.
"I'm passionate about mentoring students," said Mike. "I want to provide students with a tangible way to work on actual engineering projects."
Mike has worked closely with Georgia Tech Professional Education to contribute to the development of two distinct courses (Digital Forensic Techniques for Weapons Systems and Embedded Security Tools and Techniques) and provided material contributions to at least four additional courses.
While Mike keeps busy with his research and mentorship at GTRI, he holds firmly onto a family-first mentality.
"I want to be a good role model for my children like my parents [are] for me," said Mike. "You can never tell what will happen, and I hope that provides tangible results for my family so that when my kids grow up, they will continue this cycle of striving for excellence."
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Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,700 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performs more than $600 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry. Learn more at https://www.gtri.gatech.edu/ and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Writer: Katrina Heitz
Photographer: Sean McNeil
]]>Michelle Gowdy
Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu
404-407-8060
]]>Since January 2020, he and a team of clinicians and nurses from Children’s have been running a pilot study on a new biomedical safety device they’ve developed. Their device monitors for important safety issues that can occur during intravenous (IV) therapy, the process of delivering liquids or medicines through a needle directly into a patient’s veins.
Their initial results have shown that the device has the potential to significantly improve IV safety. It also stands to reduce the workload on nurses, who must manually monitor for IV safety issues.
“Our stretch goal is that it might be used on every IV site,” said Omer Inan, Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair and associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, who has guided Mabrouk on the project. Children’s lists checking IVs as a priority “quality initiative”, a vital task for ensuring high-quality patient care.
Now, the team is raising funds to move to the next phase of device development. This will consist in a formal clinical trial to support application for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510k clearance. If the trial is successful, the team will be able to commercialize the device and clinicians will be able to use the technology in real clinical practice.
Research began in 2014, when a nurse, Lynn Pogue from Children’s, approached an engineer, Leanne West from Georgia Tech, to discuss the problem of IV monitoring. Sherry Farrugia, the chief executive officer of the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), put Pogue and West in touch with Inan, then a new faculty member. Inspired by Pogue’s input, the Tech team began an investigation.
After an IV needle has been inserted into a vein, there are various factors that can cause it to leak, either just beneath the skin or even deeper, into surrounding tissues. This painful process of unintended leakage is called infiltration. In a related process called extravasation, the leakage of certain medicines like chemotherapeutic drugs directly causes tissue damage. Nurses are trained to catch these events before harm occurs, but mild cases of clinically insignificant infiltration are thought to happen with surprising frequency, at rates ranging from 23 to 87% in children.
To check for issues, the standard nursing procedure is to touch, visually inspect, and compare the IV site to the same location on the other arm. Frequent checks are often needed, posing a substantial burden on nurses. Young children rely completely on checks as they may be unable to indicate when they are experiencing pain. In the absence or failure of such checks, severe infiltration injuries have been recorded, particularly in babies and small children.
As Inan began to think about solutions for IV infiltration monitoring, a few ideas came to mind. For a different, Department of Defense-funded project, he had already been investigating how to monitor knee swelling with bioimpedance sensors, which measure the effects on a weak electric current when it is passed through the body. Both knee swelling and IV infiltration involve a similar issue of fluid accumulation under the skin.
Bioimpedance has long been used for a variety of sensing applications, like measuring body fat percentage, but the underlying technology is complex, Inan said. When an alternating current passes through tissues, the signal changes, reflecting various sorts of physiological characteristics such as fluid content.
Inan and Mabrouk considered a few other potential sensing modalities but, after conducting a preclinical study at T3 Labs (GCMI), determined that measuring changes in bioimpedance would be their primary method. After developing the prototype for the study, the next step was to move to testing on humans.
Human studies would require a great deal of care, particularly given that people who are undergoing IV therapy are already at risk. Moreover, the researchers sought to test the technology on children, specifically, who have the highest risk for IV infiltration due to the small size of their veins.
Mabrouk and Inan worked with Patrick Strane, an engineer at GCMI, to figure out how to prepare the device for human testing. After analyzing the device, they decided to make improvements to its packaging, which made it safer for children and more resilient to stringent hospital cleaning standards.
The current setup of the device is a set of four electrodes connected to an iPod-sized electronics hub. A doctor or nurse places two of these electrodes above the IV site on the arm and two below. The hub contains the computing hardware and sensor circuitry that delivers and processes the bioimpedance signal.
Since the pilot study began, pediatric cardiac intensivist Zahidee (Saidie) Rodriguez has led the patient testing. Initial deployments identified a few unexpected challenges. Although small, the size of the device makes it ungainly for babies. Toddlers often kick and tear the device off their arms, and older children are little easier. They dislike having one more thing attached to them when they are bored, bedbound, and sick.
“That was a good learning experience,” Rodriguez said. “That was very humbling,”
But when patients wear it, the device has proven its capability. In the 60 patients that the researchers have monitored, nurses have manually detected two overt infiltrations, logging them in the patients’ electronic healthcare records. Retrospective analysis of the sensor data taken from these patients shows that infiltrations were indeed happening, according to Mabrouk and Rodriguez, confirming the device’s ability to detect the events.
More notably, data has revealed three other “subclinical” infiltrations that were not formally documented. These were infiltrations that were too minor for nurses to detect by the standard physical and visual inspection methods. However, in each case, the patient, nurse, or doctor had taken action to address minor pain, IV leakage, or IV occlusion, where the IV reports that it is not delivering medicine at the correct rate. Afterwards, data from the devices provided clear evidence that minor infiltrations were in fact occurring in these cases.
“It certainly seems like it's much more sensitive than what the human touch and eye can pick up on,” said Rodriguez.
Mabrouk and Inan are using the data from the current study to help optimize the device’s algorithms so that it will be able to automatically detect infiltration events as they happen. This is a difficult problem, they said, particularly when trying to achieve high accuracy and a low false positive rate.
“When somebody rotates their arm, the bioimpedance of the arm changes by 20 to 30 percent,” said Inan. “How do you know the difference between that and infiltration? Our approach to that was using multiple different sensors.”
In particular, the researchers have coupled a motion sensor as well as a temperature sensor to the bioimpedance sensor. By analyzing the data from all these together, the researchers have found that their algorithms can reliably distinguish IV infiltration.
Mabrouk says that a full clinical trial will be critical for establishing safety and effectiveness. Rodriguez hopes that the trial will also help the team test the device on more patients, more efficiently.
The researchers are currently collaborating with GCMI to move to a clinical trial, with the ultimate goal of FDA clearance. If obtained, it looks possible for the device to become widely adopted. But before they get to that point, the researchers plan to make a variety of improvements, including the addition of wireless connectivity and the achievement of further miniaturization.
As for Mabrouk, although he still has qualms about visiting the hospital, he plans to keep going.
“The first time we saw the data from the infiltrated patient and how it looked, it was clear, yeah, this works,” Mabrouk said. “This is going to work.”
]]>The study found that 90 percent of customers experience 10 percent of a disruptive event’s total downtime during moderate to extreme storms. However, recovery degrades with the severity of the disruptions. Large failures that cannot recover rapidly increase by 30% from the moderate to extreme events, while prolonged small failures dominate entire recovery processes.
The study from Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering looked at 169 weather-induced power failures at two service regions in the states of New York and Massachusetts. The failures were induced by a wide range of disruptive events from hurricanes, nor’easters, and thunder and winter storms from 2011-2019, affecting nearly 12 million people.
A feature article, “Large-scale data analytics for resilient recovery services from power failures,” is published in Joule: Cell Press.
“Our goal was to use large-scale data from the operational energy grid to better understand resiliency,” said lead author Amir Hossein Afsharinejad, a Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “By using such a large dataset that covers nearly a decade, we sought to learn how recoveries respond to the severity of a wide range of weather-induced failure events.”
The Georgia Tech analysis finds that the behavior of restoration services follows a “recovery scaling law.” This law restores service for the majority of affected customers at the cost of a small fraction of the total interruption time. This prioritization policy, however, becomes less efficient, shown by large power failures that can’t be prioritized. This results in customer interruption times that are 47 times longer from moderate to extreme failure events.
The study found that the prioritization recovery doesn’t optimize restoration of small failures, which dominate delayed recovery during an entire evolution of an extreme event.
“These findings tell us that the typical services governed by the prioritized recovery policy is at the cost of the disparity, and the cost is significant when failure events become severe and extreme,” said study co-author Chuanyi Ji, a Georgia Tech ECE associate professor and Afsharinejad’s thesis advisor. “Our analysis shows both the capability and fundamental limitation of recovery under the prioritization policy, where rapid restoration does not sustain to severe and extreme failure events.”
The research team also explored if other approaches would be more beneficial to speed up recovery from failures. One included distributed generation and storage. Their initial study found the approach scales well, as expediting restoration of a small fraction of the large failures in the non-prioritized category can reverse the degraded recovery from the moderate to extreme events.
The data used in the study are commonly available to most distribution grid operators in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The researchers hope their work, which took more than four years to analyze, demonstrates that energy service providers have the ability to adopt data science and turn their own data into new knowledge to improve both recovery and infrastructure enhancement.
“We are moving in a direction where severe storms are becoming more costly,” said Robert Wilcox, a principal engineer from National Grid who co-authored the paper.
The team is enthusiastic about the future direction. “This is also an historic time as more consumers need data and machine learning to help enhance energy services and smart infrastructure,” Wilcox added. “Hopefully our study will motivate the industry to use data to better understand the problems we face today and in the decades to come.”
About Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
]]>At the top of the list of anyone hoping to enjoy the cooler weather is Piedmont Park. This 189-acre park is full of greenspace where you can find others exercising, walking dogs, or relaxing in a field. It is only a little over a mile from Tech’s campus, so you can get there even without a car. The park also connects to the Atlanta Beltline, a 22-mile loop that allows pedestrians to travel through parts of the city with ease. On top of this, if you are willing to spend some money, the breathtaking Atlanta Botanical Garden is connected to Piedmont Park.
If you want to do a little shopping, Olmsted Linear Park has you covered. Although this is a farther journey than Piedmont Park, the Festival on Ponce is one of the best ways to welcome in the fall. There will be over 100 vendors on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a fun way to
support Atlanta’s local businesses, and whether you are looking for art, jewelry, or food, you can find it at the festival. Another event is the ONE Musicfest, where you can catch some of today’s hottest artists. It takes place in Centennial Olympic Park, an easy walk from campus with some friends. The two-day festival will feature acts including H.E.R., Lil Wayne, and Ty Dolla $ign.
No matter how you decide to spend your break, make sure to spend time outside with friends and family. This is a perfect time to relax and destress before the second half of the semester, and there is no better place to do it than the city you are already in.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>Georgia Tech researchers have been meeting with the choreographer, Troy Schumacher, and the ballet company for the last year and a half to shape the concept, which explores ideas at the forefront of mechanical interventions into the human body and mind.
“I think the arts can be a really powerful way to bring people from all backgrounds into a conversation about science and technology,” said Chris Rozell, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who has worked on the project since its genesis. “My goal is to facilitate that conversation by helping to translate between the scientists doing amazing work and the artists who are approaching these ideas from the perspective of making something beautiful.”
Georgia Tech Arts and TMBT have dubbed the project the “Grand Neuroethics Challenge.”
“A lot of the concepts, technologies, research, and ethics we've been discussing in this work are extremely complicated, but what's come through for me is that a lot of their work is going to have profound implications for the future of humanity,” said Schumacher. “So, for this ballet, I've decided to focus on the emotional relationship to brain-machine interfaces, while touching on what I've learned so far. I've spent most of my career collaborating with artists with little to no relationship to dance, but nothing quite as complex and fascinating as this.”
Aaron Shackelford, director of Georgia Tech Arts, said the project is a worthwhile endeavor because it offers a case study as to the importance of collaboration between artists and researchers, while demonstrating the importance of the arts in the mission and strategic plan of Georgia Tech.
“We recognize that the arts are critical to championing innovation and creativity at Georgia Tech,” said Shackelford. “Our mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The arts — and artists — provide a vital avenue for pursuing this work. This project illuminates the impact of artists and researchers coming together to mutually inspire and learn from each other, while inviting audiences to participate in the discussions about their discoveries.”
“As a director coming from an arts/dance background and facilitator to this project, I have become fascinated with the work of the scientists during the conceiving/creation process and how this gets interwoven into the choreography and dancers’ bodies,” said John Welker, TMBT’s artistic director. “In any collaboration, there are surprises that are part of my joy for discovery, but this particular process has made me so much more aware and appreciative of the intimate connection between our minds' intention and how that is carried out through the movement of our bodies.”
This Friday will be more than a dance performance. It will also include talks from the researchers involved in the project and opportunities for audience to ask questions. Rozell will discuss his work on AI and its applications in treating depression. Chethan Pandarinath, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech, will talk about his AI research and how the brain controls movement. They’ll be joined by Karen Rommelfanger, director of Emory’s Neuroethics Program.
Rommelfanger knows the field of neuroscience can introduce complex words and concepts. When mixed with dance, however, she sees the project as a powerful opportunity for audiences to engage with multiple modalities of sensation and comprehension.
“I believe neuroscience brings great hope and promise for humanity. But my fear is that the promise of the field will be undermined by a deterioration of trust related to a real and hyped threats of unconsidered ways neuroscience might interface with individuals and society,” said Rommelfanger.” My hope is that this project will invite audiences, including myself, to challenge and surface our unspoken values and assumptions about the brain and technologies that interface with it.”
Friday’s event starts at 8pm at the Ferst Center for the Arts. Tickets are just $10. The full work, which is made possible in part through a grant from the Charles Loridans Foundation, will premiere on campus next fall.
“I’m excited to see how something as abstract as the concepts in neuroscience, neurotechnology, and neuroethics can be translated into dance,” Rozell said. “As a researcher, we can get really caught up in the technical details. I can’t wait to see how those details turn into an overall impression that is both beautiful and gives us a new way to think about what we do.”
]]>During his annual Institute Address earlier this month, President Ángel Cabrera said, “We are still in the middle of a long and difficult public health crisis that will continue to test us in countless ways. But we are in this together and, like last year, we will navigate through this successfully again.” Cabrera urged the Georgia Tech community to test weekly and encourage other students, colleagues, and friends to do the same.
Bryan Gomez, executive president of the Residence Hall Association and an undergraduate student, has shared that he is vaccinated and continues to test weekly.
“I continue to test every single week and encourage others to do the same, because it’s the best way we can keep each other safe on campus,” he said.
Georgia Tech’s surveillance testing program began in spring of 2020 by visionary faculty who foresaw the problem and, with support from Tech leadership, researchers, and students, started working to address it. The initiative has been a campuswide effort with major contributions from the College of Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
“Our Covid-19 testing program is a story about how the state government, the USG, and Georgia’s biotech industry were mobilized in order to protect us,” said True Merrill, a senior research scientist in GTRI and a member of the campuswide team working on surveillance testing.
“Young people are more mobile and they tend to be more asymptomatic, so they get more people sick without appearing to be sick themselves,” Merrill said. “To control the degree of spread, testing young people is really important.”
Georgia Tech’s testing program has had support from the state’s political leaders since its inception. Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan visited campus in August 2020 and walked through the testing process shortly after it was introduced. All Georgia legislators were tested twice a week at the state capitol during the 2021 legislative session, and they will do it again this fall. And earlier this month Teresa MacCartney, acting chancellor of the USG, visited campus and was tested at the Library before touring the testing lab.
The testing is done by a 30-person team that collects samples and works around the clock in a federally certified lab constructed in the basement of a campus research building. The process begins with registration on a campus website, which generates a barcode that participants bring to one of the testing sites with no appointment necessary. At the site, participants register and are given a test kit in a plastic bag. They spit into a small plastic cup and use a pipette to transfer a saliva sample to a small plastic vial containing a buffer solution that inactivates any virus that may be present. Treats are offered at all sites, usually in the form of stickers and cookies, as a thank you to those who test.
The samples are transferred to the test lab three times a day for evaluation. To reduce the number of PCR tests that must be run each day, the saliva samples are pooled so that a single test can examine samples from five individuals. An innovative double pooling strategy can identify one individual in a set of six pools who is positive, while clearing another dozen individuals. Using standard equipment, the team evaluates 225 samples at a time, and can test thousands of samples a day.
By placing each individual sample into two different pools, when a positive result is obtained, the researchers can focus on the likely infected person for diagnostic confirmation. The surveillance and diagnostic testing is normally completed within 24 to 48 hours, allowing contact tracers to identify other community members who may have been exposed.
Cabrera said it is important for everyone to continue doing what they can to keep Georgia Tech as safe as possible by using all of the tools that are available, including weekly asymptomatic testing.
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Institute Communications
]]>The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion's Office of Hispanic Initiatives (OHI) will sponsor and co-sponsor a host of virtual and in-person events open to faculty, staff, and students in celebration of 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month, which carries the national theme "Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope."
“The overall number of Hispanic/Latinx students at Georgia Tech continues to grow and Hispanics/Latinxs are now the largest ethnic minority in the U.S.,” Jorge Breton, director of OHI said. “Hispanic Heritage Month is a great opportunity to celebrate and recognize the economic, scientific, cultural, and social contributions of these communities, especially as the Institute – and society at large – makes efforts to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”
Diley Hernández, associate vice president for Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion added, “Hispanic Heritage Month is always a special time of reflection for the Hispanic/Latinx community. This is a time for coming together, gathering strength in our values, our cultural practices, and through our common stories. It is especially during difficult times like these that the deep sense of community that is so prevalent in our cultures becomes a centerpiece of our resiliency and fuels our hope. Tenemos esperanza en un mejor futuro pues sabemos que estamos juntos en esta lucha por un mundo más justo para todos.” [“We are hopeful for a better future because we know we are together in this fight toward a most just world for all.”]
Some of the 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month events include:
Latinos/Hispanics in STEM: A Career Path Series Featuring Dr. Nicole Mendoza
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 4-5 p.m.
Nicole Mendoza, senior researcher in Wind Energy Systems at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will share her story as part of the GoSTEM Latinos/Hispanics in STEM: A Career Path Series. The seminar series shares experiences of successful professionals of Latino/Hispanic heritage working in various fields including academia, private industry, and government. (Presented by the Latino Organization of Graduate Students (LOGRAS), the GoSTEM Program, and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.)
The Afro-Latinx Experience Panel
Wednesday, Sept. 29, noon-1 p.m.
Afro-Latinx members of the Georgia Tech community will share personal experiences, through compelling and inspiring conversations during the Afro-Latinx Experience Panel. Viewers will learn about the panelists’ experiences growing up in their communities as Afro-Latinos. The conversation will also focus on the Afro-Latinx perspective on racial injustice, racism and colorism, as well as proactive approaches to identify solutions. (Co-hosted by OHI, the Hispanics Or Latinos and Allies (HOLA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) IDENTIFY@GTRI ERG.)
Keynote Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture
Wednesday, Oct. 6, 3-4:30 p.m.
As part of the Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Intercultural Lecture Series, the 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture will feature Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, world-renown neurosurgeon and neuroscientist. (Co-sponsored by Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the GoSTEM Program.) Register here.
Mini World Cup
Friday, Oct. 1, 1:30-5:30 p.m.
Students will display their commitment to teamwork and love for football (also known as “soccer”) by participating in friendly competition on the West Campus Roe Stamps Fields. (Hosted by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (GT-SHPE, with support from OHI.)
For a full lineup of events, registration, and more information, visit hispanicoffice.gatech.edu/events/hispanic-heritage-month.
“As the Institute’s partner in faculty and staff professional development, the WLPD team is committed to supporting campus learners,” says LaTrese Ferguson, manager for WLPD. “We wanted our new website to emphasize these meaningful professional development experiences while providing interactive, personalized learning closely aligned with the Institute’s mission, beliefs, and values.”
The new website highlights the importance of continual learning and growth throughout one’s career while showcasing the dynamic services and solutions provided by WLPD, including a refreshed employee learning platform and a variety of resources to support faculty and staff throughout their career.
Whether exploring a leadership mindset, seeking professional partnerships, or embracing values congruence, WLPD’s offerings are relevant and engaging, allowing you to facilitate the development of your professional learning goals and add value to your career at Georgia Tech.
To help get you started, here's a preview of how you can use the WLPD website to find your next learning opportunity.
As you navigate through the new site, you’ll see a special emphasis on values. Representing Georgia Tech’s newly articulated strategic plan, these nine values are the cornerstone for learning workshops and serve as a professional roadmap.
“Our values are foundational in everything we do, defining who we are and who we aspire to be as a community,” says Yvette Francis, senior training generalist. “When developing the new site, it was important that we crafted learning and development opportunities that embraced these values while providing a framework for how we can live out these guideposts every day.”
These values are also interwoven throughout signature programs like ASPIRE, the New Employee Experience, MentorTech, and Professional Development Circles, echoing the importance of innovation, collaboration, and learning across campus units.
“Regardless if you’re a new hire, an established employee, or a recently promoted manager, having a connectional community makes your ability to navigate the workplace more seamless,” notes Bryan Harber, training generalist. “Our in-depth development programs cultivate and build upon our diverse communities while creating a long-term path for development.”
Built on the belief that effective individuals and organizations never stop learning, WLPD recognizes that self-directed learning, which can take the form of books, podcasts, or massive online courses, is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. To aid in these learning modes, they have curated a list of learning recommendations, both on and off-campus, designed to help faculty and staff engage in self-development throughout the year.
“Whether you’re looking to develop your people leader skills or taking advantage of online tutorials, we’ve planned a catalog of learning resources to serve your appetite for professional development, and allowing the flexibility to learn at a time convenient to you,” says Monte Hammon, training coordinator.
Additionally, WLPD serves as a learning partner to campus, providing customized training to help teams build upon their talents while navigating specific work-related challenges.
“Professional development isn’t a one-size-fits-all model,” explains Rachel Watts, senior training generalist. “Sometimes, you may need a more tailored approach or an external facilitator to offer an unbiased perspective to complex conversations. Our team has the knowledge and expertise to offer these custom services to the campus community.”
While the partnership between GTPE and WLPD has created a comprehensive center of lifetime learning advocates, it has also amplified professional learning opportunities for Georgia Tech employees and professional learners alike.
“The most effective organizations provide relevant training programs to their employees regularly to meet the current and future demands of the workplace,” notes Nelson Baker, dean of Professional Education. “With the launch of WLPD’s new website, the Institute will now have a one-stop-shop for training, learning, and development, serving even more professionals throughout their lifetime.”
To learn more about WLPD and the learning services they offer, visit pe.gatech.edu/wlpd.
]]>“These two roles and organizations are critical pieces of Georgia Tech’s strategy to become a leading global engine of innovation, entrepreneurship, and opportunity,” Abdallah said. “I’d like to thank our search chairs and committees, as well as the stakeholders across the Institute who have dedicated their time and energy to building strong candidate pools for these positions.”
The two searches will run concurrently and will be supported by search firm Russell Reynolds Associates. The search for the new vice president of EI2 will be chaired by Devesh Ranjan, interim vice president for Interdisciplinary Research and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. The search for the AVP-CE will be co-chaired by Tim Lieuwen, Regents Professor, David S. Lewis Jr. Chair in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute; and Vivek Sarkar, chair of the School of Computer Science and the Stephen Fleming Chair for Telecommunications in the College of Computing.
David Bridges will serve as the interim vice president for EI2 until the search is finalized. The AVP-CE is a new role, created as part of Georgia Tech’s reimagined corporate relations structure. In the role, the AVP-CE will oversee Tech’s new integrated model of corporate relations and industry collaborations designed to help the Institute leverage critical partnerships and develop new relationships with industry.
As part of stakeholder engagement, Russell Reynolds Associates will conduct meetings for members of the EI2 community, as well as corporate relations and industry research staff, to learn about the search processes and timelines and provide feedback on the characteristics of ideal candidates for the respective searches.
Search details, including committee rosters and timelines, and ongoing updates can be found at research.gatech.edu/vp-ei2-search and research.gatech.edu/associate-vp-corporate-engagement-search.
]]>A professor who co-founded multiple technology companies, he currently is director of CREATE-X, a Georgia Tech initiative to instill entrepreneurial confidence in students and empower them to launch successful startups.
Sivakumar, who has been serving as chief commercialization officer in an interim capacity since November 2020, will now focus full-time on the goals ahead, which include bringing together commercialization and technology transfer pursuits across campus to move more intellectual property into the marketplace, expanding Georgia Tech’s global impact.
“Throughout his career and in his current interim role, Siva has already made a positive impact on our commercialization efforts at Tech, and I am so pleased to welcome him as the inaugural chief commercialization officer,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research for Georgia Tech. “Our aim is to attract and nurture the best entrepreneurial minds, enabling Tech to become both a thought leader in redefining commercialization in academia and a leading university in impactful technology transfer. I have full confidence that Siva can get us there.”
For Sivakumar, taking on the leadership of Georgia Tech’s commercialization enterprise is a way of paying his entrepreneurial expertise forward. His own commercial mindset took root when he was a graduate student at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), and watched his advisor start a successful company.
He learned the mechanics of raising money, building product, and going to market after arriving at Georgia Tech and helping to launch a video technology startup, EG Technology, which was eventually acquired. Two more tech startups, Asankya and StarMobile followed, and both were acquired by larger firms.
“As someone who's taken advantage of the Georgia Tech commercialization ecosystem in the past as a faculty entrepreneur, it still surprises me how rich it is, and that gives me great optimism for the road ahead,” said Sivakumar, who holds the Wayne J. Holman Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and will officially begin his new role as CCO on September 1.
For the past 10 months, Sivakumar has been evaluating Georgia Tech’s strengths and weaknesses, laying the groundwork for a more nimble and effective commercialization ecosystem. The goal is to clarify the path to commercialization for Georgia Tech faculty, staff, and students, connecting them with the potential consumers of technology produced by the Institute’s billion-dollar research program.
“There’s plenty of work to do and we have some challenges – we are working on a cultural shift, and that’s not an easy thing to do,” said Sivakumar. “But I’ve learned so much in this role so far, and I’m confident in what we’ve accomplished already, particularly in effecting the student perspective on entrepreneurship.”
With CREATE-X, Sivakumar helped start a program that empowers students with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills: In six years, more than 5,000 students have started 300-plus ventures with a total valuation of more than $750 million.
For the past six months, Sivakumar has been convening the commercialization visioning process, meeting with a commercialization strategy working group comprised of representatives from ATDC, Biolocity, CREATE-X, the Global Center for Medical Innovation, Georgia Research Alliance, and Venture Lab, among others.
The group has drafted a mission statement, a commercialization vision, and identified a set of goals around the broad idea of instilling enough entrepreneurial confidence in faculty, staff, and students, streamlining the process in turning innovative technologies into marketable products that improve the human condition.
“These aren’t my goals, this is coming from the major commercialization entities on campus,” said Sivakumar. “Watching these people interact, watching their willingness to collaborate across departments, gives me great confidence that we’ll reach our goals.”
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IEN is one of Georgia Tech's 10 interdisciplinary research institutes (IRIs) within the Georgia Tech Research enterprise.
What is your field of expertise and why did you choose it?
My research is in the area of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems or MEMS and, in particular, the development of micro-scale physical, chemical and biological sensors, which are fabricated using processes similar to the ones used to make integrated circuits. I was first introduced to this area at the beginning of my Ph.D. in the early 1990s and was initially fascinated by images of these micrometer-sized devices. We quickly learned that these beautiful, tiny structures and devices can have many useful applications.
What makes the way in which your IRI enables campus research unique?
My field of research MEMS and micro/nanotechnology in general rely on expensive equipment to fabricate these tiny devices and systems. To enable research in this area, IEN maintains extensive core facilities for fabrication and characterization at the micro- and nanoscale. These facilities are not only used by Georgia Tech researchers, but by dozens of companies and other academic institutions. Many of these companies are start-ups that couldn’t do the work they do without access to these facilities. In addition, nanotechnology is a highly interdisciplinary field and the IRIs help bring together the interdisciplinary teams to tackle big problems.
What couldn’t have happened without your IRI?
IEN supports an incredibly talented team of research faculty and staff that have the goal of enabling nanotechnology research, development and commercialization done by Georgia Tech faculty, students, and external partners. Many nanotechnology research accomplishments at Georgia Tech and beyond could have simply not happened without the dedication of this team.
What impact is your research having on the world?
Let me pick a timely example, the development of COVID-19 tests. Many of these tests have nanotechnology components in order to detect the virus that has nanometer dimensions by itself. Over the past year, we have been heavily involved in an NIH-funded program called Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics or RADx, where we assist project teams developing novel tests with engineering expertise but also access to the core facilities I mentioned earlier. Some of the tests we have supported now already are commercially available.
On May 27, the Veterans Resource Center will host the Memorial Day Recognition from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the new Veterans Resource Center, located in the BioTech Quad. There will be displays and information about Tech’s military history. Contact David Ross at dross25@gatech.edu for information on attending
For more information, visit veterans.gatech.edu/memorial-day.
Jazz Sunday at Ebenezer
May 30, 1 p.m.
Ebenezer Baptist Church will hold a socially distanced outdoor jazz concert featuring Antonio Allen. For more information, visit here.
Blue Star Museum Program
All summer long
Families of active military members can enjoy free admission at more than 2,000 venues nationwide, including 14 venues in the Atlanta metro area. Participating venues include children’s museums, art museums, history and science centers, zoos, and nature centers. For a list of venues in the Atlanta area, visit here.
College Football Hall of Fame
Memorial Day Weekend
Active and retired military members can show an ID at the box office for free admission. Family members receive 20% off at the box office. For more information, visit here.
Movies on the Lawn Along Lindbergh Drive
May 1 to July 31
Free movie screenings will take place weekly outdoors on the greenspace along Lindbergh Drive, around the Lindbergh MARTA station. Saturday, May 29, will feature a showing of Good Morning, Vietnam. For more information, visit here.
Alpharetta Arts Streetfest
Memorial Day Weekend, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Streetfest will feature more than 90 artists from across the U.S. Artists represent a wide variety of mediums including mixed media, photography, pottery, jewelry, textiles, glass, wood, metal, and paper art. Admission is free. For more information, visit here.
Georgia Renaissance Festival
Through June 13, 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The festival will run through June 13, but for the Memorial Day weekend, active duty and retired military get in free, plus up to four family members for just $8 each. For more information, visit here.
Sunday Funday Markets in West End
Through August 29, 1 – 5 p.m.
The markets will feature local artisans and businesses, and people can browse art, crafts, jewelry, handmade items, candles, soaps and lotions, and more. For more information, visit here.
May Fair
Through Memorial Day weekend
Held at the Buford Corn Maze, this year the fair will include a carousel, magic shows, baby animals, and pony rides. For more information, visit here.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>That is why Chris Roberts, a principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Brendan Saltaformaggio, an assistant professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and others have joined forces under GTRI's Graduate Student Fellowship Program to research and develop a new branch of cyber forensics called AI Psychiatry that seeks to keep data more secure in a constantly evolving technological landscape.
Saltaformaggio said his idea for AI Psychiatry stemmed from over a decade of researching and building cutting-edge cyber forensics techniques, including protecting against traditional cyberattacks to recovering digital evidence from devices at a crime scene. As AI and machine learning become more popular, Saltaformaggio said AI Psychiatry will play a key role in protecting the nation from rising security risks.
"You almost can't go anywhere now without some involvement from machine learning and artificial intelligence," Saltaformaggio said. "We knew it was only a matter of time before these things started being targeted in the real world."
Providing the example of a self-driving car, GTRI's Roberts said that if the vehicle takes a wrong turn or speeds up unexpectedly, investigators could use AI Psychiatry to determine whether the accident was due to a cyberattack or errors in training the AI system. If the accident was caused by a cyberattack, the new forensic capability could help experts patch the vulnerability without losing any of the model's existing training.
AI and machine learning models require several rounds of energy- and time-intensive training to become more adept at handling new and existing tasks.
"You save all that knowledge and can just fix the little problem as opposed to, 'OK, now we need to go back to square one and re-look at this model, retrain this model and redeploy it to the field,'" Roberts said.
The need for AI Psychiatry extends well beyond self-driving cars.
In national security, military experts have been rapidly adopting next-generation technologies to speed up training and decision-making processes – from creating more advanced image classification techniques to developing autonomous weapon-enabled drones.
"When there is a failure – let's say a drone crashes – you have to have these forensic techniques to be able to understand why it crashed and what was involved," Saltaformaggio explained. "'Was this an act of war? Was this an attack by another government? Or was this just an accident that no one saw coming?'"
But developing AI Psychiatry does not come without challenges.
Roberts noted that since much of these new forensic capabilities do not exist today, it is up to the team to forge a new path forward in the budding field.
"We’re trying to think about what’s going to be the problem 10 years from now, 20 years from now, when machines are effectively making decisions in the battlefield," Roberts said.
That is why a cross-partnership between GTRI and Georgia Tech is so crucial.
"A relationship with campus and GTRI is just so valuable; we complement each other really well," Roberts added.
Other participating members in the AI Psychiatry research project are Noah Tobin, a GTRI senior research associate, and David Oygenblik, a graduate research assistant in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Tobin said that he expects the research to have a direct impact on protecting national security as advancements in technology give way to newer security threats.
"We are moving into a future where AI is going to become more and more ubiquitous," Tobin said. "We really need a lot of work to understand what the vulnerabilities of that are from a security posture."
Serving national security represents the majority of GTRI's work and remains our primary growth engine. As part of GTRI's new Strategic Plan, we seek to expand GTRI's relationship with the intelligence community through enhancing our knowledge of emerging threats and expanding our national thought leadership impact through presence, participation, and partnership with our sponsors.
The GTRI Graduate Student Fellowship Program is a competitive program for Georgia Tech graduate students working in GTRI strategic research areas. Academic faculty and GTRI researchers worked together to create proposals that are closely aligned with GTRI's strategic initiatives, and graduate students are able to work on these research projects with fully-funded fellowships for five years.
Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,800 employees supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performs more than $700 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry. Learn more at https://www.gtri.gatech.edu/ and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Writer: Anna Akins
Photographer: Sean McNeil
Photo Illustration: Melanie Goux
]]>Michelle Gowdy
Michelle.Gowdy@gtri.gatech.edu
404-407-8060
]]>Since 2013, Heck has served on the ECE advisory board and currently chairs the board. When he arrives at Georgia Tech this summer, he will collaborate with researchers across myriad disciplines, including the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
“Georgia Tech is delighted to have Larry Heck return to campus in a role that will impact various fields in an entirely new way,” said Raheem Beyah, dean of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. “His graduate and doctoral study here became the foundation of a storied career in artificial intelligence, speech and language processing, online algorithms and other areas. He will now advance those fields by expanding his exploration and by preparing the next generation of leaders.”
“I’ve been fortunate to have seen the evolution of Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering over the years and am thrilled to be joining the school in this new capacity,” Heck said. “ECE and the College of Engineering have profound strengths in academics and research. I look forward to building on ECE’s success in a fast-changing field of engineering, as well as participating in the larger innovation and startup ecosystem in Atlanta and Georgia.”
Heck’s influence on shaping speech and language technologies is widely felt, particularly with AI virtual assistants. He founded the Cortana™ virtual assistant at Microsoft, led Samsung’s virtual assistant Bixby™ in North America, served as a technical advisor to Yap Inc. (acquired by Amazon to initiate the Alexa™ virtual assistant), and founded Google’s Deep Dialogue group, a research effort behind the Google Assistant™.
“Recruiting engineers and scientists of Larry’s caliber to Georgia is how we continue to elevate our state’s profile as a leading center of university research and entrepreneurship,” said GRA President Susan Shows. “Larry has been a true trailblazer in deep learning technology for speech processing and in several other areas. He will be an outstanding addition to the Academy of GRA Eminent Scholars, who are major drivers of research funding to Georgia’s universities.”
In 1992, Heck began his career at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in acoustics research and later in speech with the Speech Technology and Research (STAR) Laboratory. He founded the SRI Speaker Recognition Group in the STAR Lab, where he created speaker verification/voice biometric technology that he eventually transferred and developed into the award-winning Nuance Verifier™ product. While at SRI, Heck worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and MIT Lincoln Labs to establish the NIST Speaker Recognition Evaluations (SRE), an international competition to encourage fundamental research and foster collaboration among speaker recognition researchers. The NIST SRE has been held every year over the past 25 years and has had a profound influence on the field.
Heck joined Nuance Communications in 1998, eventually serving as its Vice President for R&D where he led the research, advanced development, and deployment of its engines for speech recognition, voice-biometrics, spoken natural language processing, and text-to-speech. In 1999, he led one of the world’s earliest deployments of a major industrial application of deep learning with the Home Shopping Network. The Nuance speech recognition engine Nuance Recognizer™ was recognized with numerous awards, including being named as the industry’s most accurate speech recognition engine for telephony in 2004. In that same year, he was named among the “Top 10 Leaders in Speech Industry” at SpeechTek ’04.
In 2005, Heck moved to Yahoo!, where he served as its Vice President for Search and Advertising Sciences. His highly multidisciplinary team was responsible for the scientific development, analysis, and deployment of the Yahoo! web search, search monetization, content match advertising, and display advertising products. He was the co-founder of Yahoo! Labs and was the co-creator and program chair for the first Yahoo! Tech Pulse Conference, a company-wide internal technical conference.
Heck joined Microsoft in 2009, eventually becoming its Chief Scientist of Speech Products and Distinguished Engineer where he founded the Cortana™ AI virtual assistant. He joined Google Research in 2014 to continue his work on AI virtual assistant technology. Since 2017, he has been with Samsung Electronics where he created 3 world-class AI research centers (Silicon Valley, Toronto and Montreal), served as the President and CEO of Viv Labs, and led the company’s North America product teams around the AI virtual assistant Bixby.
Currently, Heck remains active on Advisory boards for several conversational AI startups, including Symbl.ai, XdMind and Otter.ai.
Adding to his impressive list of industry leadership positions, Heck has over 125 journal and conference publications and over 50 patents in the areas of AI and speech recognition. Heck is an IEEE Fellow “for leadership in application of machine learning to spoken and text language processing.” In 2017, he received the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering and the Texas Tech University Whitacre College of Engineering Distinguished Engineer Award.
Heck received his master of science degree in electrical engineering and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 1989 and 1991, respectively, and his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.
The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.
As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
]]>School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
]]>President Ángel Cabrera welcomed guests and then held a fireside chat with Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and investment firm Revolution LLC.
"We’ve seen interesting and encouraging signs of more and more places rising and bubbling up as entrepreneurship hubs,” Case said. “Obviously Atlanta has seen a lot of momentum in recent years and does seem poised for a real acceleration in the next decade or so. But if you just look at the data, according to the National Venture Capitalist Association, despite that progress, last year 75% of venture capital went to three states — California, New York, and Massachusetts. Georgia got 1%.”
He said there is still a disconnect between where the ideas are, where the entrepreneurs are, where the creativity is, and where the opportunity is to build a company. As a result, college graduates from the South or Midwest who wanted to do something entrepreneurial often felt like they had to go to Silicon Valley.
Case, although encouraged by the changes he has seen, said there is still a lot of work to do. He said Atlanta’s success depends on three things: talent, capital, and collaboration.
“You have to win the battle for talent,” he said, “and that means being a magnet for getting people to come here. But it also means keeping what you’ve already got — people growing up here and people coming to Georgia Tech. How do you keep them here as opposed to having this brain drain? Or how do you get people who left to come back?”
Case said investors are not worried about getting a company started, but they are concerned about scaling the company if it’s successful. Can the community support 1,000 or 5,000 employees?
Accessing capital is the second key component for success.
“How do you get more capital locally with angel networks? How do you support the development of more regional funds? And how do you get people on the coast to pay attention to what’s happening in places like Atlanta?” he asked.
The third component for success is collaboration within the community.
“Many places we visited are way too siloed. People are doing interesting things here and there, but they’re not doing it in a collaborative way,” Case said. “And usually the universities are too disconnected from the start-up community. In most communities, although it’s getting better, the mayors and governors are focused on economic development in a traditional way by luring a big company as opposed to what I think is the right way, which is nurturing new companies.”
Case said Atlanta is well positioned, is on the rise, and will continue to rise.
“The biggest opportunity for Atlanta is to emerge as the most inclusive startup city,” he said. “It’s not about a particular sector. It’s about creating an environment where everybody has a shot.”
And because of the diversity of Atlanta itself, the city has an advantage in this area. “But you need to be intentional about it. Go out of your way to be inclusive,” Case said. “This is a moment. I urge you to seize on it.”
The rest of the forum included discussions on diversity and inclusion with panels of community leaders, Tech alumni and students, young entrepreneurs, business and financial leaders, and Tech faculty and staff.
A few highlights from the panel discussions are below. A recording of the entire event is available on Georgia Tech’s YouTube channel.
“There’s a transformation in engaging amongst communities of different types of people that needs to take place. That’s what inclusivity is. It’s proactive, not reactive.”
—Mark Buffington, managing partner, Panoramic Ventures; founder, BIP Capital
“For me when I got into elected office was this willingness to want to be inclusive, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. For me, being inclusive is all about perspective. Ultimately the work product is better because of the perspective inclusivity provides into those products.”
—Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan
“Atlanta can build the ecosystem that works for us based on the resources that we have — and is not a copy of Silicon Valley, but is the best Atlanta that we can make.”
—Jewel Burks Solomon, head of Startups, Google
“There’s a notion that inclusion is the right thing to do. It’s also the profitable thing to do. Studies show that diverse teams deliver higher profits, higher market caps, and higher returns because they’re finding problems that others won’t uncover. If you’re not prioritizing and maximizing diversity then you’re choosing to not maximize returns. And if you think of it that way, it changes the world.”
—Paul Judge, managing partner of Panoramic Ventures and co-founder and executive chairman of Pindrop
“What companies should not do is ask their Black employees or female employees to join every single diversity event or activity in the company. You will quickly wear us out and have us not wanting to work there anymore, even though we want to help. Think about a way to scale their feedback across the organization. Also, when a person from an underrepresented group comes to you with a problem, don’t minimize it. And don’t ask the employee to solve the problem. There are teams that can help with those problems.”
—Nashlie Sephus, applied science manager, Amazon Artificial Intelligence, and founder of TheBeanPath.org
“Shame on us if in 10 years we have not created something that history will never forget and cemented Atlanta as the city that got it right. It scares me that, with this consortium of resources and this embarrassment of riches, if we don't get this thing right it will slowly erode and 20 years from now my daughter won’t have the access that I have right now.”
—Jay Bailey, president and CEO, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs
]]>Institute Communications
]]>-Christa M. Ernst
For More Information on the Photonics Program Contact:
Maria Matheson [maria.matheson@ien.gatech.edu]
Program & Operations Manager
Georgia Electronic Design Center
Georgia Institute of Technology
C: 770-833-3029
Stephen Ralph [stephen.ralph@ece.gatech.edu]
Director, Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC)
Professor—School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Backscatter radios ― passive sensors that reflect rather than radiate energy ― are known for their low-cost, low-complexity, and battery-free operation, making them a potential key enabler of this future although they typically feature low data rates and their performance strongly depends on the surrounding environment.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Nokia Bell Labs, and Heriot-Watt University have found a low-cost way for backscatter radios to support high-throughput communication and 5G-speed Gb/sec data transfer using only a single transistor when previously it required expensive and multiple stacked transistors.
Employing a unique modulation approach in the 5G 24/28 Gigahertz (GHz) bandwidth, the researchers have shown that these passive devices can transfer data safely and robustly from virtually any environment. The findings were reported earlier this month in the journal Nature Electronics.
Traditionally, mmWave communications, called the extremely high frequency band, is considered “the last mile” for broadband, with directive point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wireless links. This spectrum band offers many advantages, including wide available GHz bandwidth, which enables very large communication rates, and the ability to implement electrically large antenna arrays, enabling on-demand beamforming capabilities. However, such mmWave systems depend on high-cost components and systems.
The Struggle for Simplicity Versus Cost
“Typically, it was simplicity against cost. You could either do very simple things with one transistor or you need multiple transistors for more complex features, which made these systems very expensive,” said Emmanouil (Manos) Tentzeris, Ken Byers Professor in Flexible Electronics in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). "Now we’ve enhanced the complexity, making it very powerful but very low cost, so we’re getting the best of both worlds.”
“Our breakthrough is being able to communicate over 5G/millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies without actually having a full mmWave radio transmitter – only a single mmWave transistor is needed along much lower frequency electronics, such as the ones found in cell phones or WiFi devices. Lower operating frequency keeps the electronics’ power consumption and silicon cost low,” added first author Ioannis (John) Kimionis, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. graduate now a member of technical staff at Nokia Bell Labs. “Our work is scalable for any type of digital modulation and can be applied to any fixed or mobile device.”
The researchers are the first to use a backscatter radio for gigabit-data rate mmWave communications, while minimizing the front-end complexity to a single high-frequency transistor. Their breakthrough included the modulation as well as adding more intelligence to the signal that is driving the device.
“We kept the same RF front-end for scaling up the data rate without adding more transistors to our modulator, which makes it a scalable communicator,” Kimionis said, adding that their demonstration showed how a single mmWave transistor can support a wide range of modulation formats.
Powering a Host of ‘Smart’ IoT Sensors
The technology opens up a host of IoT 5G applications, including energy harvesting, which Georgia Tech researchers recently demonstrated using a specialized Rotman lens that collects 5G electromagnetic energy from all directions.
Tentzeris said additional applications for the backscatter technology could include “rugged” high-speed personal area networks with zero-power wearable/implantable sensors for monitoring oxygen or glucose levels in the blood or cardiac/EEG functions; smart home sensors that monitor temperature, chemicals, gases, and humidity; and smart agricultural applications for detecting frost on crops, analyzing soil nutrients, or even livestock tracking.
The researchers developed an early proof of concept of this backscatter modulation, which won third prize at the 2016 Nokia Bell Labs Prize. At the time, Kimionis was a Georgia Tech ECE doctoral researcher working with Tentzeris in the ATHENA lab, which advances novel technologies for electromagnetic, wireless, RF, millimeter-wave, and sub-terahertz applications.
Key Enabler of Low Cost: Additive Manufacturing
For Kimionis, the backscatter technology breakthrough reflects his goal to “democratize communications.” “Throughout my career I’ve looked for ways to make all types of communication more cost-efficient and more energy-efficient. Now, because the whole front end of our solution was created at such low complexity, it is compatible with printed electronics. We can literally print a mmWave antenna array that can support a low-power, low-complexity, and low-cost transmitter.”
Tentzeris considers affordable printing crucial to making their backscattering technology market viable. Georgia Tech is a pioneer in inkjet printing on virtually every material (paper, plastics, glass, flexible/organic substrates) and was one of the first research institutes to use 3D printing up to millimeter-frequency ranges back in 2002.
Other researchers who collaborated on this work included Apostolos Georgiadis and Spyridon Nektarios Daskalakis, both former visiting professors at Georgia Tech now on the faculty of Herriot-Watt University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences in Edinburgh.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation-EFRI, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 661621.
CITATION: J. Kimionis, et al., “A printed millimetre-wave modulator and antenna array for backscatter communications at gigabit data rates.” (Nature Electronics, 2021) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-021-00588-8.
***
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.
The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.
As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
Writer: Anne Wainscott-Sargent
]]>The study found lower gray matter volume in this brain region was associated with a higher level of disability among Covid-19 patients, even six months after hospital discharge.
Gray matter is vital for processing information in the brain and gray matter abnormality may affect how well neurons function and communicate. The study, published in the May 2021 issue of Neurobiology of Stress, indicates gray matter in the frontal network could represent a core region for brain involvement in Covid-19, even beyond damage related to clinical manifestations of the disease, such as stroke.
The researchers, who are affiliated with the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), analyzed computed tomography scans in 120 neurological patients, including 58 with acute Covid-19 and 62 without Covid-19, matched for age, gender and disease. The work was done jointly with Enrico Premi and his colleagues at the University of Brescia in Italy, who provided the data for the study. They used source-based morphometry analysis, which boosts the statistical power for studies with a moderate sample size.
“Science has shown that the brain’s structure affects its function, and abnormal brain imaging has emerged as a major feature of Covid?19,” said Kuaikuai Duan, the study’s first author, a graduate research assistant at TReNDS and Ph.D. student in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Previous studies have examined how the brain is affected by Covid-19 using a univariate approach, but ours is the first to use a multivariate, data-driven approach to link these changes to specific Covid-19 characteristics (for example fever and lack of oxygen) and outcome (disability level).”
The analysis showed patients with higher levels of disability had lower gray matter volume in the superior, medial and middle frontal gyri at discharge and six months later, even when controlling for cerebrovascular diseases. Gray matter volume in this region was also significantly reduced in patients receiving oxygen therapy compared to patients not receiving oxygen therapy. Patients with fever had a significant reduction in gray matter volume in the inferior and middle temporal gyri and the fusiform gyrus compared to patients without fever. The results suggest Covid-19 may affect the frontal-temporal network through fever or lack of oxygen.
Reduced gray matter in the superior, medial and middle frontal gyri was also present in patients with agitation compared to patients without agitation. This implies that gray matter changes in the frontal region of the brain may underlie the mood disturbances commonly exhibited by Covid-19 patients.
“Neurological complications are increasingly documented for patients with Covid-19,” said Vince Calhoun, senior author of the study and director of TReNDS. Calhoun is Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Georgia State and holds appointments in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech and in neurology and psychiatry at Emory University. “A reduction of gray matter has also been shown to be present in other mood disorders such as schizophrenia and is likely related to the way that gray matter influences neuron function.”
The study’s findings demonstrate changes to the frontal-temporal network could be used as a biomarker to determine the likely prognosis of Covid-19 or evaluate treatment options for the disease. Next, the researchers hope to replicate the study on a larger sample size that includes many types of brain scans and different populations of Covid-19 patients.
TReNDS is a partnership among Georgia State, Georgia Tech and Emory University and is focused on improving our understanding of the human brain using advanced analytic approaches. The center uses large-scale data sharing and multi-modal data fusion techniques, including deep learning, genomics, brain mapping and artificial intelligence.
CITATION: K. Duan, et. al., “Alterations of frontal-temporal gray matter volume associate with clinical measures of older adults with COVID-19.” (Neurobiology of Stress, May 2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100326
***
Georgia State University is an enterprising urban public research institution in Atlanta, the leading cultural and economic center of the Southeast. Georgia’s largest university and a national leader in graduating students from diverse backgrounds, Georgia State is changing the way more than 54,000 students experience college across six campuses in metro Atlanta. The university’s world-class faculty scientists oversee a wide-ranging research portfolio that is generating new insights and new discoveries in health, sustainability, data science, cybersecurity and more.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.
The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
Associate Director, Communications and PR
Georgia State University
(404-413-4007)
(jmarquez@gsu.edu)
Anne Wainscott-Sargent
Research News, Georgia Tech
(404-435-5784)
]]>By Brad Dixon, Communications Manager, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
As studies show that the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic significantly contributes to rising alcohol consumption, two alumni of the Georgia Institute of Technology now offer an increasingly popular solution to curb or eliminate alcohol abuse: a sobriety app called Reframe.
Since the launch of its app in fall 2020, Reframe has drawn more than 3,000 paid subscribers. The company, which has received key support from Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X program for developing startups, has also attracted the attention of investors, recently completing a $1.4 million round of seed funding.
Reframe’s co-founders are Ziyi Gao, who earned a bachelor’s in industrial engineering in 2017, and Vedant Pradeep, who graduated two years later with bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and computer engineering.
The two first got the idea for the app during an introductory Chemical Process Principles class in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Initially they targeted hypoglycemia detection but switched course when they realized that a similar product already existed.
They then turned their focus to obsessive-compulsive disorder, which Pradeep has struggled with, driving him into repetitive behaviors such as rechecking the locking of doors. “When I’m in the middle of a compulsion, I don’t know when it will stop, but cognitive behavioral research shows that they typically end in 20 minutes,” he said.
Designing an app that would distract users during the negative habit loop of OCD episodes, Gao and Pradeep showed a product prototype to doctors at Emory University and John Hopkins University who believed the technology would better help with alcohol addiction, which is also a much larger market.
“We realized early on that we were out of our depth, but we drew strength from reaching out to experts in this space, talking to at least 500 people,” Gao said.
With a team of advising doctors and mentors from CREATE-X (Michael Polak and Rahul Saxena), Reframe has gone through multiple iterations of its app since mid-2019.
Interrupting Urges
The Reframe app’s 120-day program provides diversions that interrupt users from the urge to consume alcohol during a typical 20-minute craving. The app’s features include games, messages, meditations, breathing exercises, and a journaling component.
“When you’re in the middle of a craving, your judgment is clouded,” Pradeep said. “But it’s easy to click a button and distract yourself. Reframe helps break bad habits by replacing them with good things that bring balance into life. Integrating fitness, nutrition, and self-care, we want to help users create lives where drinking alcohol is not considered helpful or attractive anymore. On their journeys, they can track their progress and how much money they’ve saved from not drinking.”
Gao and Pradeep said that many people who use the app would never go to recovery centers, which are often expensive, or a program like Alcoholics Anonymous, which they might consider stigmatic.
While of many their app’s users might not want to seek out professional help, they still want structured guidance, which is what the app provides, Pradeep said. “People want to be told what to do more than we expected.”
The two entrepreneurs note that their app can put a recovery center in the user’s pocket at “one thousandth of comparable cost” of a physical facility.
Changing Lives
About 50 percent of Reframe’s users initially said they wanted to cut back on alcohol instead of quitting. “There haven’t been many options for that middle ground,” Gao said.
But what Reframe co-founders have noticed is that many people ultimately decide to quit entirely, with about 49 percent ceasing alcohol consumption in the first 30 days.
“As the program progresses, the goal becomes how to rebuild your life, addressing core issues,” Pradeep said. “It’s about the whole journey, not just about drinking. You better understand why you drink, as your triggers become more obvious.”
The app, which currently has a near-perfect rating on the App Store, has generated a lot of positive feedback for its creators. “We’ve received hundreds of emails from people whose lives have been transformed, and that’s what we’re really proud of at this point,” Gao said.
The company was originally called Digital Sponsor, inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous’ use of experienced human sponsors to guide participants. But they decided to change the name after realizing the app isn’t only for those who’ve hit rock bottom.
“We didn’t want to focus only on survival,” Pradeep said. “The goal is not just to survive, but to thrive – to ‘reframe’ from the fear of loss to the potential for gain.”
Growth Factors
Reframe’s co-founders attribute the fast growth of their company to the large increase in alcohol abuse caused by the pandemic, as those struggling with drinking problems felt increasingly isolated with limited remote options for seeking help.
Kimberly French, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology, shared insights into this phenomenon.
“Generally, people are certainly more stressed and lonely during the pandemic. In terms of alcohol use specifically, the story is a bit more complicated in that some people have increased consumption while others have decreased,” French said. “The data suggests that people who are most vulnerable – those with job insecurity, reduced job hours, unemployment, pandemic-related stress, women, and those who were already consuming alcohol – tended to increase their alcohol use during the pandemic.
French goes on to explain that research studies into the motivations of increased alcohol use cite coping with stress, loneliness, boredom, and a lack of structure coupled with more time.
In helping reach this population with their Reframe app, Gao and Pradeep are grateful for Tech’s CREATE-X program, which aims to empower students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences to launch successful startups and pursue future entrepreneurial opportunities during their careers. CREATE-X supported Reframe’s idea in 2018 with $20,000 pre-seed funding.
Until the recent infusion of $1.4 million in seed funding, Gao and Pradeep had operated on $120,000 from family and personal funds, saving money by handling as much of the research and development by themselves as possible.
Gao and Pradeep have plans to modify their app to address other addictions, starting with binge eating and later opioid abuse. “We want to provide tools that anyone can use for any negative behavioral habit,” Gao said.
“In five years, we see Reframe as a mainstream solution that combats substance use and behavioral addictions in the same way that Weight Watchers helps with weight loss,” Pradeep said.
]]>H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
]]>For the first time, the final round of Georgia Tech’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition will be held virtually on April 9. But, that doesn’t mean that the 11 students who will be competing in the finals are any less excited.
“I’m very happy the Three Minute Thesis Competition was still able to happen during these unprecedented times,” said Andrew Tricker, one of the finalists and a fifth-year Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Ph.D. student. “Making it to the finals is exciting and validates the effort I’ve put into my communication skills. I know everybody will have competitive presentations and can’t wait to see the work of my fellow graduate students.”
Since 2015, Tech’s version of this international competition, which started at The University of Queensland, Australia, has provided graduate students with an opportunity to hone their professional skills and win prize money to help further their research efforts. The competition challenges students to explain their research in three minutes in a way that anyone can understand.
And on April 9 from 3-4:40 p.m. Tricker and the other finalists will present their research on topics that could one day impact your day-to-day life. The campus community is invited to tune into the event via BlueJeans to cheer on the students and vote for the winner of the People’s Choice Award. (Winners will receive research travel grants ranging from $500-2,000.)
You can join the event here: primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/yagbucjr.
Ten Ph.D. students and one master’s student (who was awarded first place in the master’s category and will be competing for the People’s Choice Award) made the cut to participate in the finals. Congratulations to the following students:
For more information about the 3MT competition, visit grad.gatech.edu/3mt.
]]>While the Institute is planning to restore normal occupancy in residence halls, classrooms, and laboratories, many employees are asking what "normal" means for employee offices, cubicles, and other workspaces. What is the new normal for employees?
To answer those questions and more, the Institute launched the Future of Work @ Georgia Tech working group last month. With a focus on the fall semester, the cross-campus partnership seeks to understand what the optimal return-to-work strategy should be for Georgia Tech. This new project builds on the foundations created by the Workforce of the Future Initiative.
One of the goals in the Institute’s 10-year strategic plan is to lead and inspire by example by creating a culture of deliberate innovation in all our practices.
With input from employees, leadership, and external consultants, the Future of Work working group will create an innovative workforce strategy that defines Georgia Tech’s approaches and priorities for staffing, professional development, employee engagement, and retention.
Kim D. Harrington, chief human resources officer and project team member, said the working group will also examine and build on lessons learned during the pandemic.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to optimize the workplace for an evolving workforce. There is an expectation for work to look different at Georgia Tech.” Harrington said. “As we reflect on and analyze the successes and challenges of the past year, we are examining how the future of work can successfully combine virtual, onsite, and hybrid experiences without compromising the student experience.”
Over the next three months, the project team will:
The plan would also define and address policy changes, new management practices, space requirements, technology requirements, and other essential items to support employees.
“The optimal workforce strategy will achieve excellence through a combination of remote and hybrid working conditions,” said project team member Daren Hubbard, chief information officer and vice president for Information Technology.
“The strategy must remove any cultural, policy, physical, or other barriers to success; cultivate the well-being of staff across the Institute, wherever they are working; and engage, develop, and retain our talent,” he said.
In the coming days, some employees and people leaders may receive invitations to participate in focus groups and surveys.
]]>In January Georgia Tech, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), began administering Covid-19 vaccines. Health experts recommend that, even though the vaccine is being administered, weekly surveillance testing should continue.
“Studies show that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness from Covid-19. What we don’t know yet is how effective they are at preventing asymptomatic infection and whether they prevent people from carrying the virus and spreading it to other people,” said Dr. Ben Holton, senior director of Stamps Health Services. “That’s why the current recommendations from the CDC are, even if you’ve had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, you still need to wear a mask and practice social distancing, because we don’t know yet if you can spread the virus after being vaccinated. We are encouraging people to continue getting tested after they have had the vaccine.”
Testing is done on a walk-up basis, is free of charge, and takes just a few minutes. Participants should login to mytest.gatech.edu with their Georgia Tech account, complete the survey, and generate a tracking barcode for the test before visiting one of the testing sites on campus,
The samples are transferred to the test lab three times a day for evaluation. To reduce the number of polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests that must be run each day, the saliva samples are pooled so that a single test can examine samples from five individuals. An innovative dual pooling strategy can identify one individual in a set of samples who is presumed positive.
The surveillance and diagnostic testing is normally completed within 36 to 48 hours, allowing contact tracers to identify other community members who may have been exposed.
Surveillance testing participants may notice they are asked to reconsent before their next test when they visit mytest.gatech.edu. The lab will now perform additional tests to identify the strain of virus, for the purpose of informing policy to help keep campus safe. The reconsent acknowledges this fact. Individuals will not be provided the strain information, since it does not change any follow-up procedures for a positive result.
Continued surveillance testing is important in identifying asymptomatic Covid-19 members of the Tech community and keeping the daily case counts low.
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]]>“Through her activism spanning over 50 years, Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice and social reform around the world,” said Archie Ervin, vice president for Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “As a leader of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s, she contributed to the advancement of the term 'antiracist,' which was later etched in the American lexicon by Ibram X. Kendi’s best-seller, “How to Be an Antiracist.""
She has written 10 books and has lectured throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. Her recent work has focused on the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She draws upon her own experiences in the early 1970s as a person who spent 18 months in jail and on trial after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.”
Davis has conducted extensive research on issues related to race, gender and imprisonment. Her recent books include “Abolition Democracy” and “Are Prisons Obsolete?” about the abolition of the prison industrial complex, a new edition of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” and a collection of essays, “The Meaning of Freedom.” Her most recent book of essays, “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement,” was published in February 2016.
After her keynote, Davis will answer questions from viewers. Questions may also be submitted in advance to institutediversity@gatech.edu.
The lecture is sponsored by Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Georgia Tech African American Student Union.
]]>Thrive@GT is a tailored solution designed to support students and healthcare professionals by expanding and complementing established campus behavioral health services through USG’s CONNECT program. The components of this resource tool are managed by a highly experienced service team that is partnering with the Georgia Tech Counseling Center, the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE), Health Initiatives, and Stamps Health Services to maintain a seamless experience for students that ensures consistent communication, education, and tracking. The overall goal is to ensure that support is available to them 24/7, every day of the year – no matter where they are. Students can access the portal through the website or by downloading the CampusWell app through the Apple App Store or the Google App Store.
“We are grateful for this partnership with the USG Mental Health initiative which allows Georgia Tech to have access to the CONNECT program's many benefits” said vice president and dean of students John M. Stein. “This additional resource is a great compliment to our campus resources and provides an additional opportunity for student support, success and well-being.”
Students can access the Thrive@GT wellness hub now at gtwellnesshub.com. For more information on Christie Campus Health and the CONNECT program, visit Christie Campus Health.
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The overall admit rate for Early Action 2, which included both international and out-of-state students, was 14% (38% for Georgia students). Admitted students hail from all 50 states, 74 nations, and 1,889 high schools from around the globe. These students join 2,330 Early Action 1 applicants from Georgia who were admitted in early December.
“A primary focus area in Tech’s new strategic plan is to ‘expand access,’ and our Early Action decisions put us on a solid path toward achieving that goal,” said Rick Clark, director of Undergraduate Admission. “We admitted nearly 800 more students in the Early Action rounds this year versus last year, with increases of over 40% in key demographics, including first-generation, Black, and Hispanic admits.”
This year also saw a record number of applicants; all six of Georgia Tech’s colleges saw an increase in applications.
“Through the Georgia Tech Scholars Program and other statewide initiatives, Tech’s popularity has grown dramatically in recent years. This year applications from Georgia residents increased by 22%, and we set a record for the number of Georgia counties represented in both our applicant and admitted pools,” Clark added.
Regular Decision admission announcements will go out in late March.
“At this point, our team is not only focused on reading the more than 17,000 Regular Decision applications we received, as well as re-reading deferred applicant files, but also convincing our newly admitted students to choose Tech from among their other amazing college options,” Clark said.
While the 2021 first-year class continues to take shape, the Spring 2021 transfer class has arrived on campus. This year, Tech saw a 20% increase in spring enrollment. Sixty-three percent of spring transfers are Georgia residents, and 13% of the total class are first-generation college students.
Learn more about potential first-year admissions decisions and transfer pathways.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>“I am very pleased to congratulate Abdallah Ougazzaden as he assumes the role of president of Georgia Tech-Lorraine,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, Georgia Tech’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “In his exemplary career at Georgia Tech, he has proven himself an outstanding educator, researcher, and leader committed to building international partnerships that increase Georgia Tech’s global presence, strengthen our global initiatives, and prepare our students to be cross-culturally competent, globally minded leaders.”
Ougazzaden will officially assume the role on July 1, following the retirement of Yves Berthelot, vice provost for International Initiatives, Steven A. Denning Chair in Global Engagement, professor of mechanical engineering, and current president of GTL, on June 30.
"Over the last decade, I have worked very closely with Abdallah,” Berthelot said. “I have witnessed firsthand his incredible drive and commitment to make GTL a truly outstanding campus of Georgia Tech."
Ougazzaden led in the creation and served three terms as director of the International Research Laboratories, a unique international joint laboratory between Georgia Tech and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. This international partnership fueled significant growth at GTL over the past several years. He also co-founded and serves as co-president of the Lafayette Institute, which facilitates the commercialization of innovations in optoelectronics.
“I am very honored and proud to be nominated as president of Georgia Tech-Lorraine,” Ougazzaden said. “GTL is a unique international campus in Europe and gives our students and faculty the opportunity to have a global experience — and contributes to Georgia Tech’s worldwide recognition. I would like to thank Yves Berthelot for his leadership and accomplishments that are the cornerstones of what GTL has become today.”
Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 2005, Ougazzaden worked in research and development (R&D) as a senior researcher and group leader at CNET/France Telecom (France) for more than eight years. He then joined Bell Labs at Lucent Technologies (USA) as manager of epitaxy and materials characterization for Optical Fiber Communication, a role he also served at Agere Systems. He then worked as R&D and fab manager at TriQuint Semiconductor (USA).
He has authored more than 450 international scientific papers and communications and holds 26 patents. In 2019, Ougazzaden was awarded La Légion d’Honneur, the highest decoration in France on behalf of the French president. In 2015, he received the first international Stellab Award from PSA Peugeot Citroen. He was awarded the Medal of the City of Metz in 2014 for his contributions to R&D and economic development. In 2013, he received Georgia Tech’s Steven A. Denning Award for Global Engagement. He received France Telecom’s Best Research Award in 1990 for his main contributions to the development of the first laser semiconductor at 1.3-micron for fiber telecommunication in France and its transfer to Alcatel.
]]>The Science Advisor and Initiative Leads will meet regularly with the IMat Executive Director and Innovation Director. By focusing on Georgia Tech’s strengths and gaps in a particular materials research domain and recognizing overlaps between individual initiative and group activities, IMat will identify emerging research directions and prepare teams to compete for mid- and large-scale, multi-investigator research centers with academic, national laboratory, and industry partners. To increase the campus’ collaborative spirit, Initiative Leaders will work with other Interdisciplinary Research Institutes, campus units, and GTRI in designing and standing up research programs. The Science Advisor and Initiative Leads are the “faculty face” of IMat, and will communicate IMat’s vision and activities to audiences both within and outside of GT.
The roles of IMat Initiative Leads will be announced annually, with existing Initiative Leaders considered for renewal based on their progress in achieving community building goals and their impact on IMat and the materials innovation ecosystem at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Science Advisor | Martin Mourigal
Dr. Martin Mourigal is Associate professor in the School of Physics. Mourigal's laboratory focuses on the magnetic properties of quantum materials. His research primarily relies on neutron spectroscopy to probe the exotic states of matter such as spin-liquids, frustrated magnets, and spin-multipolar phases. In addition to his own lab research, Dr. Mourigal is the Co-Director of the Georgia Tech Quantum Alliance, a university wide program on quantum sciences and engineering.
Mourigal plans to deepen his knowledge of the College of Sciences’ materials ecosystem through lab visits, research discussions with faculty and students to identify existing and emerging topical areas such as quantum and topological materials, soft and active matter, and organic photonics/electronics, identify their research needs, and explore stronger connections with the College of Engineering. Mourigal is also interested in continuing to develop the Quantum Alliance along GT’s strengths and as an Institute-level research theme.
Characterization: Remote and Real-time Measurements | Faisal Alamgir
Dr. Faisal Alamgir joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2007. He received his BA in physics and mathematics at Coe College and his Ph.D. in materials science and technology at Lehigh University.
Alamgir will lead a team effort to transform campus materials characterization facilities on two fronts: 1) turning passive experiments into in-situ/operando ones by designing alternate sample environments that change samples in real time, and 2) increasing safety and efficiency in characterization spaces via remote operations where feasible to do so, and in cases where remote operation compromises results, finding solutions to alleviate the compromises.
Polymers: Depolymerizable Polymers and Upcycling | Blair Brettmann
Blair Brettmann received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at MIT. Following her Ph.D., Dr. Brettmann was a Senior Research Engineer at Saint-Gobain and a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. She was the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award in 2020, the ACS PMSE Young Investigator award in 2020, and the Ralph E. Powe Award in 2018 and an IUPAC Young Observer in 2019. Her research focuses on linking molecular to micron scale phenomena to processing and multicomponent complex mixtures to enable rapid and science-driven formulation and product development.
Brettmann is dedicated to further raising the quality and profile of polymer research at Georgia Tech by pairing a wide-ranging network with targeted initiatives based on growing research topics. As the Polymers Initiative Leader, she will support the Georgia Tech Polymer network within IMat, while building a stronger network for IMat with polymer faculty. In building the initiatives within IMat, she plans to focus on specific needs and develop programming that will provide immediate value as well as lay the groundwork for long-term strengths. She is well placed to immediately advertise IMat initiatives to a strong network of polymer interested faculty that already exists at Georgia Tech.
Nanomaterials: Devices as Materials | Michael Filler
Dr. Filler is an Associate Professor and the Traylor Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. His research program focuses on the synthesis, understanding, and large-scale deployment of nanoscale materials and devices to enable new electronic, photonic, and energy technologies. He has been recognized for his research and teaching with the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, and CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.
Filler will bring together IMat faculty to consider the applications, secure external funding for, and advance the research required to create materials comprised of nanoscale functional devices. A key goal of Prof. Filler’s initiative will be to interface faculty with expertise in synthesis and processing with those targeting specific applications to identify opportunities where nanoscale devices can both solve existing technical challenges as well as open new directions. The intersection of science and engineering required for this work will offer natural opportunities for members of other IRIs and multiple Colleges to interact.
Materials Upcycling: Circularity of Biopolymers | Kyriaki Kalaitzidou
Dr. Kalaitzidou joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in the G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering in 2007. She also holds an adjunct appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. She obtained her Ph.D. in manufacturing and characterization of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) from Michigan State University. She also serves as the Strategic Coordinator on circular materials in the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) which provides a natural conduit for increased collaboration between RBI and IMat.
Kalaitzidou believes that the circularity of materials is an area where Georgia Tech faculty from across Units can have a tremendous impact both in terms of fundamentals, such as the design of new polymers for recyclability, and applied research, such as scalable processes for sorting and re(up)cycling of end-of-life plastics, composites and other materials. Additionally, this strategic theme allows great opportunities for technological innovations that provide positive societal, economic and environmental impacts.
Functional Inorganic Materials: C.H.I.P.S. Initiative - Electronic and Ferroic Materials | Asif Khan
Dr. Asif Khan is Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Khan’s group conceptualizes and fabricates solid state electronic devices that leverage interesting physics and novel phenomena in emerging materials (such as ferroelectrics, antiferroelectrics and strongly correlated/quantum materials) to overcome the “fundamental” limits in computation and to address the most pressing challenges in the semiconductor industry and the computing paradigms. His work led to the first experimental proof-of-concept demonstration of the negative capacitance–a novel physical phenomenon that can lead to ultra-low power computing and memory platforms by overcoming the fundamental "Boltzmann Limit" of 60 mV/decade subthreshold swing in field-effect transistors.
The CHIPS Act for America has designated microelectronics as a national R&D priority. As an Initiative lead, Khan’s primary goal will be to leverage the unique strengths of Georgia Tech in the broad area of electronic materials and create strategic initiatives in terms of team building and connecting to other players and the government agencies. In doing so, the Institute will be primed for taking up a leadership role in the upcoming large funding opportunities in electronic materials.
Energy Materials: Materials for Energy Storage | Matt McDowell
Dr. Matthew McDowell is Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. McDowell’s research group focuses on materials for energy storage and electronics applications. His group uses in situ experimental techniques to probe how materials inside batteries transform and degrade, and this knowledge is then used to guide the engineering of materials for breakthrough new devices.
Investment in battery research and technology is rapidly growing, and Georgia Tech’s strong energy storage research community is well positioned to make an impact in the development of next-generation energy storage devices. McDowell foresees that IMat and the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) could both play important roles in enabling the formation of an energy storage initiative that will bring the community together and provide improved external advertisement of Georgia Tech’s capabilities for energy storage research.
Condensed Matter: Materials for Quantum Science and Technology | Chandra Raman
Dr. Chandra Raman is Professor in the School of Physics. His research has two thrusts. The team utilizes sophisticated tools to cool atoms to temperatures less than one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. Using these tools, they explore topics ranging from superfluidity in Bose-Einstein condensates to quantum antiferromagnetism in a spinor condensate. The secondary lab effort involves partnering with engineers to build cutting edge atomic quantum sensors on-chip with potential for scale-up.
Raman envisions the development of “World-Ready” quantum systems, including room temperature quantum information processing and hybrid platforms combining quantum systems with MEMS and integrated photonics. Raman will seek to connect the vast photonics and MEMS expertise at Georgia Tech with other researchers in the materials domain, both at GT and GTRI, to explore novel science and engineering approaches to address the challenges of growing quantum information systems to industrial scale.
Structural Materials: Materials Laboratories for the Future | Aaron Stebner
Dr. Aaron Stebner works at the intersection of manufacturing, machine learning, materials, and mechanics. Prof. Stebner joined the Georgia Tech faculty as an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering in 2020.
In order to create a more cohesive “materials voice” and more effectively pursue resources and funding, Stebner proposes the development of plans for facilities that are based upon future-focused, GT-specific identity assessments. To drive successful outcomes, each plan will be built upon 2-pronged, identity-driven mission statements that clearly define: 1) how the facility enables future research that is not possible with today’s facilities and 2) why/how GT is uniquely positioned to host and operate the facility.
Functional Organic Materials: Polymer Electronics and Photonics | Natalie Stingelin
Previously a Professor of Functional Organic Materials at the Department of Materials, Imperial College of London, Dr. Natalie Stingelin joined Georgia Tech in 2016 as Full Professor. Her research focuses on the broad field of functional plastics, including organic electronics; multifunctional inorganic/organic hybrids; smart, advanced optical systems based on organic matter; and bioelectronics.
Soft Matter research could considerably profit by being interweaved with hard materials activities — with many synergies and massive untapped possibilities for IMaT. Stingelin proposes teaming with MSE’s SoftBio Topical Working Group, Georgia Tech’s Polymer Network, the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics and the Renewable Bioproducts Institute to create a unique materials research environment that is capable to work across traditional material classes and raise the recognition of the Materials innovations at Georgia Tech to the international stage.
- Christa M. Ernst
]]>If you’ve made weekly testing a habit, the process is the same, with minor changes to improve the experience for participants. If you’re new to campus, learn more about testing and plan to participate weekly. Register at mytest.gatech.edu.
Sites at the Price Gilbert Library, 760 Spring Street, GT Connector, and Couch Building will be open five days a week. Additional sites will be operated by mobile teams and set up one to two days a week. Hours will continue to be updated here each week.
Those who are experiencing symptoms consistent with Covid-19 should seek diagnostic testing, not surveillance testing. Students can be tested at Stamps Health Services; employees should seek testing from their primary care doctor or a public health testing location.
Georgia Tech is also in the process of planning for vaccinations on campus, and staff at Stamps Health Services and other first responders will be the first to receive vaccinations. More information will be shared as it becomes available.
All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to continue to test, wear face coverings, keep physical distance, and wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. For additional information and preventive measures, visit health.gatech.edu/tech-moving-forward.
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]]>As a result of this cooperative plan the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN, 2004-2015) was established by the NSF to provide access to specialized nanotechnology resources to all researchers, including smaller academic institutions, as well as to small and medium size commercial entities, who could not afford the expense of in-house nanotechnology infrastructure. Additionally, nanotechnology education and outreach activities, as well as components for the social and policy implications of nanoscience advancements, were added to the program’s goals.
The Georgia Institute of Technology was a foundational member of the 14-site NNIN user facility network. Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor James Meindl served as director of the Georgia Tech site from 2004 until his retirement in 2013. This decade included the opening of Georgia Tech’s Marcus Nanotechnology Building in 2009, which still houses one of the largest academic cleanrooms in the country as well as a state-of-the-art materials characterization facility. During this same period, the NNIN Education and Outreach Office was located at the Georgia Institute of Technology and led by Dr. Nancy Healy.
The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), established in 2015, is the latest version of this NSF nanotechnology resource and builds on the legacy of the NNIN, which enabled major discoveries, innovations, and contributions to education and commerce for more than 10 years. With initial funding of $81 million over five years to support 16 sites and a coordinating office, NNCI affords cross-disciplinary research support in electronics, materials, biomedicine, energy, geosciences, environmental sciences, consumer products, and more. The geographical positions of the sites and partner institutions are strategically located in 15 states and involve 27 universities, giving access to as many users as possible across the U.S. The toolsets of sites were designed to accommodate explorations that span the continuum from materials and processes through devices and systems. Micro/nano fabrication, conducted in cleanroom environments, as well as extensive characterization capabilities, provide resources for both top-down and bottom-up approaches to nanoscale science and engineering.
To enhance the impact of NNCI sites as a national network of user facilities and aid access to these assets via a unified entry point to the user community \, the NSF selected Georgia Tech to be the NNCI Coordinating Office in 2016. The NNCI Coordinating Office also uses the expertise of the network to develop and disseminate best practices for national-level education and outreach programs and activities in societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology.
On August 24, 2020, NSF announced that it will invest a further $84 million over five years in a renewal of the NNCI Program. In March 2021, the NSF again selected Georgia Tech to lead the Coordinating Office with participation from Arizona State University and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech will receive $3.5 million over five years for this coordinating role.
Plans for this next phase of the NNCI include establishing Research Communities focused on specific research topics which are designed to connect researchers with the NNCI resources available, as well as determine what challenges and opportunities exist in these areas for adding capabilities to NNCI facilities. These Research Community topics are: Transform Quantum, Understanding the Rules of Life, Nano-Enabled Internet-of-Things, Nanotechnology Convergence, and Nano Earth Systems.
Additionally, the successful integration of nanotechnology into consumer technologies rests on the ability for industry to adopt novel processes into existing manufacturing platforms or easily scale-up a new technique. To help technologies bridge the “valley of death” to commercialization, a new Associate Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship position has been established to implement programs across the network that will assist users in this area and thus improve the economic impact of NNCI and connect users to the existing translational ecosystem.
With continued support from the Coordinating Office at Georgia Tech, the NNCI will train a globally competitive nanotechnology workforce and provide efficient access to resources for research, innovation, and commercialization of nanotechnology. The network will also help to inform and educate future scientists and the public on fundamentals and advances in nanoscience and engineering and their societal and ethical implications.
For a perspective from IEN Leadership on the importance of the Shared Infrastructure Model for innovation in academia see the article co-written by IEN Executive Director Prof. Oliver Brand & IEN Senior Assistant Director for Nanotechnology Dr. David Gottfried here: The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI): A Model for Shared Resources
]]>Two researchers in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering work with the components that make up the vaccine and say they’re safe and effective.
These vaccines are made of two primary ingredients: a piece of mRNA and a lipid nanoparticle, which is made from different fats.
The mRNA is essentially a set of instructions — the “m” stands for “messenger.” In this case, the instructions tell our own cells how to make a piece of protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus called the spike protein.
“If you ever see pictures of the coronavirus, this protein is the big spike that is sticking out of the virus particle,” said Philip Santangelo, professor in the Coulter Department.
First, the mRNA has to enter your cells, which is where the lipid nanoparticle, or LNP, comes in: It’s like an envelope that delivers the instructions. The LNP is a combination of four different fats to create a shell around the mRNA that allows it to penetrate into our cells.
“If you just inject mRNA on its own, your body does not like that, and the mRNA will not enter your cells,” said James Dahlman, assistant professor in the Department. “You can imagine the lipid nanoparticle as a Trojan horse for the mRNA: The mRNA has to enter a cell to work as a drug, but it cannot enter the cell on its own. So, you put the mRNA inside the LNP, which can enter the cell, and as a result the mRNA enters the cell.”
Once the mRNA is inside, the cells start to produce the spike protein. Your body recognizes an invader and starts to mount an immune response.
No. The Covid-19 vaccines contain no virus.
“The mRNA is only making the spike protein. It’s not the whole virus; it’s only a part of it,” Santangelo said. “You can’t get the virus from the mRNA vaccine.”
Santangelo said some people have had reactions at the injection site, but that’s common with many vaccines and, while annoying, it usually means the vaccine is doing exactly what it’s intended to do: prompting your body to react.
“The needle and the lipids do cause a little inflammation,” he said. “That’s what tells the immune system, ‘Hey, we need to send some cells to the muscle to pick up that spike protein,’ and then initiate the immunological responses. Then, when your body sees that protein [again] if you’re exposed to Covid-19, your body will respond rapidly and help clear the infection.”
No. The two parts of the vaccine are made in labs using readily available, purified ingredients —and no human or animal tissue, Santangelo said.
The mRNA particles are just like the RNA made in our bodies, he said, but they are assembled chemically in a lab using natural proteins.
Dahlman said the four parts of the lipid nanoparticle are either naturally occurring — like cholesterol — or designed by scientists in the lab.
Two reasons, according to Dahlman and Santangelo.
First: The pharmaceutical companies had a head start.
“Both companies had lipid formulations they knew would be useful for delivering mRNA via an intramuscular injection,” Santangelo said. At that point, they just needed to know what kind of mRNA to use.
“One of the reasons why this platform is so exciting is that it is somewhat plug-and-play,” he said. “As soon as they had information about the sequence for that spike protein, the companies were easily able to put that into their pipelines and generate an mRNA for that spike. Then all they had to do was make that mRNA and combine it with the same lipids that they had been using before.”
The government and the pharmaceutical industry also had been planning for some kind of pandemic to happen eventually — most likely a flu — and conducting research on mRNA vaccines, Dahlman said.
“Did we know it was going to be Covid-19? No, we didn’t. But scientists had an idea that something could come along,” he said. “There’s been a lot of research ahead of time to study whether mRNA-based vaccines would work against emerging diseases.”
The second reason the vaccine came together quickly was a result of the design of the clinical trials, according to Dahlman. The companies designed the phase 2 and phase 3 trials at the same time as the initial trials were underway. That’s usually a prohibitively expensive proposition.
“In this case, there was a global emergency, so companies and governments took on the financial risk to design the phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials earlier,” Dahlman said. “It was worth the risk to have the vaccine move along more quickly, given the dire human and economic consequences of this pandemic.”
Dahlman and Santangelo pointed to the tens of thousands of people involved in those clinical trials.
“Just because the clinical trials were run more quickly than normal does not mean the data are unreliable,” Dahlman said. “The data have been peer-reviewed. The data are clear: The vaccine is safe.”
He and Santangelo also pointed to the short amount of time the vaccine’s components remain in the human body.
“mRNA does not last forever,” Santangelo said. “The mRNA may express for a few days, and it will degrade through normal processes inherent to every cell in your body. The lipids also are metabolized through normal metabolization pathways.”
He added: “We want the vaccine to go in, to express the viral protein — the spike protein — you want your body to react to that, you want your immune system to mobilize in response to that spike being there. But we don’t want the vaccine there forever. You’re relying on your immune system to do the heavy lifting; the vaccine just gets things started.”
Santangelo said it’s not uncommon for vaccines to require multiple doses. Think of the booster shots kids receive for some vaccines.
In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, he said: “The data suggests that after one shot, there is an immune response, but it’s not as strong as they would like, and that’s why they give you the second one. The second one is a booster. And what you see in the data is your antibody responses increase significantly.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius. Moderna’s is frozen at -25 degrees Celsius. That’s all about preserving the stability and effectiveness of the vaccine, Santangelo said, and the difference is attributable to the different kinds of lipids the two companies used around the mRNA.
It may not be ideal, but Santangelo said the requirements keep the vaccine from degrading in any way.
“They had to move so fast creating the vaccines, so they went with what they knew would work,” he said.
We don’t have as much information about the durability of protection as we would like, Santangelo said. He pointed to data that shows persistence of antibodies for at least three to six months after the second dose.
Even with that question still unanswered, he said getting the vaccine will benefit everyone.
“It’s going to help protect you from the virus,” he said. “Even if you get Covid — not from the vaccine, but post-vaccination — you’re not going to get as sick if you have the vaccine than if you didn’t have the vaccine. If the vaccine keeps us out of the hospital, if it keeps us from getting very, very sick, that is a very good thing.”
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]]>The fourth-year industrial design student’s unique garment took home top honors at Georgia Tech’s 13th annual InVenture Prize competition, which pits student innovations head-to-head.
Ayoubi says she had to learn how to sew to execute her vision — an inflatable, reversible, and waterproof jacket that transforms, through a series of zips, into an air mattress or a sheltering garment to protect from the elements. She says the garment is geared to provide safety and dignity to homeless populations.
Not only did Ayoubi’s Delta Jacket win the $20,000 first place prize awarded by the judges, Ayoubi also took home the People’s Choice Award and an additional $5,000 after a public vote during Wednesday night’s airing on Georgia Public Broadcasting. Along with the cash prizes, the winner receives a free U.S. patent filing from Georgia Tech valued at $20,000.
Delta Jacket will also be accepted into the CREATE-X Startup Launch program, which will provide additional seed funding and access to legal assistance and expert mentors to build a successful startup company.
“Winning the InVenture Prize means I could help, potentially, hundreds of thousands of people, so thank you,” said Ayoubi.
During her winning pitch, Ayoubi explained the strategy of selling the Delta Jacket to outdoor enthusiasts as a means of creating access to the product for the homeless — with the donation of a jacket to a person in need, for every jacket purchased. Ayoubi has also been in contact with several nonprofit organizations, including the Red Cross, who have expressed interest in her garment.
Ayoubi is already filling online orders and plans to keep developing her wearable innovation as she completes her degree at Georgia Tech.
“I’ve already received 512 preorders and my website has only launched a few days ago,” she said. “The Red Cross has already committed to distributing 1,000 units of the Delta Jackets as soon as it’s manufactured.”
Two team members from StartProto took the second place prize of $10,000.
Engineering students Zach Cloud and Tim Felbinger developed a digital safety and analytics system that can be used to organize access and safety protocols in makerspaces at schools across the country. The software and app are already being tested by Georgia Tech’s makerspaces on campus.
“We’ve been approached by other colleges and universities who want to use StartProto,” says Felbinger.
Two-time InVenture Prize winner Dev Mandavia returned as one of three judges who adjudicated during this year’s live broadcast.
“The teams just get better and better each year,” Mandavia said. “All of these companies have elements that can be successful.”
“This year we’ve seen how important innovation is for changing how we work and live,” said Blake Patton, a judge and founder of Tech Square Ventures in Atlanta. “If these students are any indication, our future’s bright.”
Learn about the four remaining 2021 InVenture Prize finalists and their innovations here .
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The Georgia Tech inventors have developed a flexible Rotman lens-based rectifying antenna (rectenna) system capable, for the first time, of millimeter-wave harvesting in the 28-GHz band. (The Rotman lens is key for beamforming networks and is frequently used in radar surveillance systems to see targets in multiple directions without physically moving the antenna system.)
But to harvest enough power to supply low-power devices at long ranges, large aperture antennas are required. The problem with large antennas is they have a narrowing field of view. This limitation prevents their operation if the antenna is widely dispersed from a 5G base station.
“We’ve solved the problem of only being able to look from one direction with a system that has a wide angle of coverage,” said senior researcher Aline Eid in the ATHENA lab, established in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to advance and develop novel technologies for electromagnetic, wireless, RF, millimeter-wave, and sub-terahertz applications.
The findings were reported in the Jan.12 issue of the journal Scientific Reports.
The FCC has authorized 5G to focalize power much more densely compared with previous generations of cellular networks. While today’s 5G was built for high-bandwidth communication, the high-frequency network holds rich opportunity to “harvest” unused power that would otherwise be wasted.
Tapping Into 5G High-frequency Power
“With this innovation, we can have a large antenna, which works at higher frequencies and can receive power from any direction. It's direction-agnostic, which makes it a lot more practical,” noted Jimmy Hester, senior lab advisor and the CTO and co-founder of Atheraxon, a Georgia Tech spinoff developing 5G radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
With the Georgia Tech solution, all the electromagnetic energy collected by the antenna arrays from one direction is combined and fed into a single rectifier, which maximizes its efficiency.
“People have attempted to do energy harvesting at high frequencies like 24 or 35 Gigahertz before,” Eid said, but such antennas only worked if they had line of sight to the 5G base station; there was no way to increase their angle of coverage until now.
Operating just like an optical lens, the Rotman lens provides six fields of view simultaneously in a pattern shaped like a spider. Tuning the shape of the lens results in a structure with one angle of curvature on the beam-port side and another on the antenna side. This enables the structure to map a set of selected radiation directions to an associated set of beam-ports. The lens is then used as an intermediate component between the receiving antennas and the rectifiers for 5G energy harvesting.
This novel approach addresses the tradeoff between rectenna angular coverage and turn-on sensitivity with a structure that merges unique radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) combination techniques, thereby enabling a system with both high gain and large beamwidth.
In demonstrations, Georgia Tech’s technology achieved a 21-fold increase in harvested power compared with a referenced counterpart, while maintaining identical angular coverage.
This robust system may open the door for new passive, long-range, mm-wave 5G-powered RFID for wearable and ubiquitous IoT applications. The researchers used inhouse additive manufacturing to print the palm-sized mm-wave harvesters on a multitude of everyday flexible and rigid substrates. Providing 3D and inkjet printing options will make the system more affordable and accessible to a broad range of users, platforms, frequencies, and applications.
Replacing Batteries With Over-the-air Charging
“The fact is 5G is going to be everywhere, especially in urban areas. You can replace millions, or tens of millions, of batteries of wireless sensors, especially for smart city and smart agricultural applications,” said Emmanouil (Manos)Tentzeris, Ken Byers Professor in Flexible Electronics in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Tentzeris predicts that power as a service will be the next big application for the telecom industry, just as data overtook voice services as a major revenue producer.
The research team is most excited by the prospect of service providers embracing this technology to offer power on demand “over the air,” eliminating the need for batteries.
“I've been working on energy harvesting conventionally for at least six years, and for most of this time it didn't seem like there was a key to make energy harvesting work in the real world, because of FCC limits on power emission and focalization,” Hester said. “With the advent of 5G networks, this could actually work and we’ve demonstrated it. That’s extremely exciting — we could get rid of batteries.”
This work was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Science Foundation (NSF) - Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program. The work was performed in part at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the NSF (Grant ECCS-1542174).
CITATION: A. Eid, et al., “5G as a wireless power grid.” (Scientific Reports, 2021) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79500-x.
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Media Relations Contact: Anne Wainscott-Sargent (404-435-5784)
]]>The one-hour sessions, hosted by the Academic Restart Task Force, will help inform continuous improvement efforts for spring and will be shared with campus administrators and the Institute Restart Task Forces.
The goal of the series is to provide insight into perceptions of instructional effectiveness, student engagement, the usefulness of technology, and consistency/clarity of communication and expectations. Sessions for faculty will focus on a specific course mode (i.e., hybrid, remote, residential). In all other sessions, participants will discuss topics more broadly, with the format tailored to address questions across all mode types.
Listening sessions will be limited to 15 participants per session to allow everyone's voice to be heard. The schedule of the listening sessions is listed below:
Faculty sessions:
GTA sessions:
Undergraduate Student Sessions:
Graduate Student Sessions:
Please click on the survey link to sign up for a session today. Once you have signed up for a time, session details will be sent to you as a calendar invite in Microsoft Teams. ”Thank you in advance for your consideration and support as we work together to gather feedback to inform our planning and continuous improvement efforts,” said Kyla Ross, assistant vice provost for Advocacy and Conflict Resolution.
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The deadline for entry is 11:59 pm on February 14, 2021.
Design Criteria:
How to Apply:
More information on the contest, previous designs, and the rules for entering can be found at http://www.earthday.gatech.edu/design-contest
- Christa M. Ernst
]]>Christa Ernst | christa.ernst@research.gatech.edu
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Virtual tutoring sessions are also available. Students can schedule tutoring at tutoring.gatech.edu and choose between in-person or virtual sessions. The Center (CULC 273) will be open Monday - Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.
]]>Ranjan officially assumed the role on Feb. 1. Raheem Beyah, the former vice president for Interdisciplinary Research, began serving in his new role as the dean of the College of Engineering on Jan. 15.
In January, Ranjan was named the inaugural Ring Family Chair, and he has served as associate chair for Research in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering since 2019. He is currently part of a 10-member technical screening committee for the National Academy of Engineering’s Covid-19 Call for Engineering Action task force, an initiative to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. His research includes the mixing of materials at extreme conditions, the physics of hydrodynamic instabilities, and advanced power conversion cycles.
His scientific contributions have earned numerous awards, with research efforts that can potentially lead to advances in a number of fields, including energy, environment, and inertial confinement fusion devices. He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, and was the first recipient of Department of Energy-Early Career Award at Georgia Tech and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
“We appreciate Devesh’s continued service to Georgia Tech,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research. “His leadership as both a researcher and an administrator will support the Institute and the research enterprise well during this transition.”
Ranjan joined the faculty here in 2014. Before coming to Georgia Tech, Ranjan was a director’s research fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Morris E. Foster Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at Texas A&M University. He earned his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007.
A search for the next VPIR will commence in the coming weeks. Ranjan will serve until the position is filled.
]]>Below is a non-comprehensive list of available opportunities, along with advice for how to find out about other opportunities.
SLS seeks to provide its partners with support and resources, while providing its students with practical experience in supporting solutions for sustainable communities. The SLS internship program is offered every summer and is an opportunity for students looking to gain real-world experience related to sustainability and community engagement. Summer interns will earn internship course audit credit, and can choose between a part-time (15-20 hours per week) or full-time (30-40 hours per week) internship. The SLS Summer Internship Program is a 12-week program (mid-May to mid-August). Students interested in a part-time internship for the fall or spring semesters can contact SLS and SLS will work with them to identify partners who may be interested in hosting an intern during the school year.
This semester, internships include partnerships with the City of Savannah working on the Sea Level Sensor Project, Make Homeless Meals More Nutritious with Food4Lives, and Tracking and Reporting Georgia Tech's Scope 3 Emissions with the Georgia Tech Office of Campus Sustainability. Read about all the internship opportunities here, and apply for an internship here.
The Global Change Program provides an avenue for Georgia Tech faculty, staff, and students to design and implement solutions to climate and global change challenges. Georgia Tech has extensive research expertise in climate science, energy policy, energy technology, and sustainable business, which support a host of activities in the classroom, across the state, and beyond. We aim to build new partnerships across Georgia Tech and with outside partners, both private and public, through innovation and the translation of research into practice.
Research partnerships include Smart Sea Level Sensors, Drawdown Georgia and GT Air Travel Emissions. Learn more about research opportunities here.
To stay connected with the Global Change Program and learn about upcoming opportunities, join their mailing list.
In VIP, teams of undergraduate students – from various years, disciplines and backgrounds – work with faculty and graduate students in their areas of scholarship and exploration. Undergraduate students earn academic credit for their work and have direct experience with the innovation process, while faculty and graduate students benefit from the extended efforts of their teams.
Teams are open to students of all undergraduate majors, with the opportunity to work on projects related to the mechanical and physical properties of soils, rocks and ceramics; studying and developing solutions for care regimens for diabetics; and addressing health outcomes, nutrition, and general living conditions in developing nations.
View a list of all teams here.
To learn more, contact vip@gatech.edu or visit vip.gatech.edu.
Last month, the Undergraduate Research Ambassadors hosted an open house to answer any research-related questions. URA can help with anything from finding a position in a lab to printing a poster to communicating with your research mentor.
To get connected with the Undergraduate Research Ambassadors and learn more about 2021 opportunities, visit their website here.
Through the 10-week Summer GTRI Research Internship Program (GRIP), students put effective, practical solutions into action. You'll have the opportunity to work with mentors and other students on tough problems facing government and industry across our nation and around the globe. Projects for College of Sciences students include “Secure key distribution in free space optics,” “Celestial PNT from Wide Field Imaging,” and “Fabrication and test of graphene batteries."
The deadline to apply for summer 2021 GRIP internships was February 1, but you can learn more about the projects and the application process for future rounds here.
Chemistry and biochemistry majors are invited to apply for an 8.5-week summer research experience hosted by Georgia Tech and Ecole Superieure de Chimie Physique Electronique (CPE) in Lyon, France. Tentative dates for the program are Monday, May 17-Thursday, July 15, 2021.
Project areas include design and synthesis of functional molecular architectures for optimized molecular regulation, metal free selective oxidation of sulfides, and preparation of double emulsions.
Read about the project areas and apply here.
The Center for the Study of Women, Science and Technology (WST) continues its program to support and to fund partnerships of undergraduates with faculty in research on women, science, and technology.
Contact Dr. Mary Frank Fox for more information or visit the Women, Science, and Technology website.
CSURP is a program for undergraduate students who are majoring in chemistry or chemical engineering and are interested in conducting supervised summer research. The program is supported by the NSF Center for Selective C-H Functionalization (CCHF).
Are you ready for a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) research experience with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s prestigious scientists and engineers? Are you looking for an internship opportunity with a research or technical focus? If you are an undergraduate student at a college or university, with an interest in STEM, ORNL may be the place for you!
Founded in 1992 by Gary May, a former Dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering, the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Sciences (S.U.R.E.) program is committed to increasing the number of qualified students who are traditionally under-represented in STEM fields. These include but are not limited to students from racial/ethnic minority groups, women, or first generation college students.
SURE Robotics is a ten-week summer research program designed to attract qualified, underrepresented, and minority students into graduate school in the fields of engineering, computer science, or physics.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs are an excellent way for undergraduates to become acquainted with scientific research and graduate student life. REU programs typically consist of an intensive 10-week summer research experience at a university different than your own. Most research centers sponsor REU-like programs as part of their education and outreach efforts.
Clean Energy Bridge to Research (CEBR) is a summer program run by the University of Washington (UW) Clean Energy Institute (CEI) and Undergraduate Research Program, and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF 1559787). The CEBR Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program supports a select group of undergraduates, community college students, and tribal college students to participate in authentic research in solar, energy storage, and grid technologies under the mentorship of UW’s world-class faculty and grad students. Participants embark on a nine-week immersive research project in a single UW clean energy research lab, and produce an abstract and poster summarizing their work. All students that are accepted into the program are supported financially with competitive stipends. Housing, food allowance, and up to $500 in travel allowances are provided.
The NSF REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program is designed to provide meaningful research experiences to undergraduates who may not otherwise have the opportunity, with an ultimate goal of increasing matriculation in STEM careers and graduate school.
Most NSF REU programs are designed to pair students attending smaller and undergraduate-only schools with faculty and lab groups at larger host institutions for mentorship and a meaningful research experience.
Importantly, as NSF notes, the inclusion of historically under-represented groups in STEM (minorities, low socio-economic status, first generation students, veterans and women) will serve to broaden the STEM talent pool.
As such, most REU programs in the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech host a diverse cohort of approximately ten non-Georgia Tech undergraduates, who have limited research opportunities at their current institution. Each unique program's focus and requirements vary, so check individual program links for application guidelines and deadlines.
Open to non-Georgia Tech undergraduate students only.
Aquatic Chemical Ecology (ACE) at Georgia Tech is a summer research program supported by the National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program. ACE at Georgia Tech gives you the opportunity to perform exciting research with our faculty in the schools of Biological Sciences, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. You'll participate in research with one or more of our faculty, learn about careers in science and engineering, and see how scientists blend knowledge and skills from physics, chemistry and biology to investigate some of the most challenging problems in environmental sciences.
Open to non-Georgia Tech undergraduate students only.
Chemistry and Biochemistry undergraduate majors who are US citizens or Permanent Residents (from Colleges and Universities outside of Georgia Tech) are invited to apply for a ten-week (Sunday, May 17- Friday, July 24, 2020) research program. Program participants will receive a stipend of $5,000, a travel allowance, and housing. Participants supported must be US citizens or permanent residents of the US. Funding is pending support provided by the National Science Found and 3M Corporation.
REU students carry out a research project under the direction of a faculty member in School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. Projects are available in analytical, biological, inorganic, organic, physical, and polymer chemistry with a number of projects involving interdisciplinary research perspectives. Contributions by undergraduate participants often result in publication of papers in the peer-reviewed literature with the student listed as an author. In addition to full time research, students participate in a number of professional development seminars, site visits to scientific companies/government labs, and social activities with fellow students and other REU groups on the Georgia Tech campus.
Strong priority for non-Georgia Tech undergraduate students.
Undergraduates are invited to apply for a ten-week research program hosted by Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) during Summer 2021.
Working under the supervision of an EAS faculty member, participants will focus on a single research project but also gain a broad perspective on research in earth and atmospheric sciences by participating in the dynamic research environment. This interdisciplinary REU program has projects ranging from planetary science to meteorology to oceanography. In addition to full time research, undergraduate researchers will participate in a number of professional development seminars, research horizon lunches, and social activities with other summer REU students.
Open to all undergraduate students.
The School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech has a rich tradition for undergraduate research. The projects have been mentored by many different faculty, on topics ranging from fad formation, to random walks, tropical geometry, one bit sensing, extremal graph theory, and convex polyhedra. Our students have published many papers, have won a number of awards, and have been very successful in their graduate school applications.
Find more details on the FAQ page, and apply here.
See program webpage for eligibility requirements.
Physics majors are invited to apply for a ten-week (Sunday, May 16 - Friday, July 23, 2021) research program hosted by Georgia Tech School of Physics.
Working under the supervision of a physics faculty member, participants will focus on a single research project but also gain a broad perspective on research in physics by participating in the dynamic research environment. Available projects span the field of physics ranging from condensed matter and atomic physics to astrophysics and biophysics. In addition to full time research, undergraduate researchers will participate in a number of professional development seminars, research horizon lunches, and social activities with other summer REU students.
The REU program at CBBG allows students from across the nation to visit, learn, and experience world-class bio-geotechnical engineering. Each student is given the opportunity to work closely with the Center faculty and other Center researchers. Students are granted stipends and assistance with housing and travel.
During Queer Love Week, students can participate in the following events:
Monday, Feb. 8, 6 – 7 p.m.: Dating ACE
In this virtual session, we will provide space for asexual and/or aromantic folks to talk about dating and relationships. The conversation will include dating, consent, communication, and other topics brought up by participants.
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2 – 4 p.m.:HIV Testing With Health Initiatives
Health Initiatives is providing Free HIV testing for students, faculty, and staff in partnership with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 5 – 6 p.m.:Safe and Sexy With Health Initiatives
This session will explore fun, healthy, and pleasurable safe sex methods for queer and trans folks.
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 6 – 7 p.m.:Friend Finding With Pride Alliance
In partnership with the LGBTQIA Resource Center, join Georgia Tech's Pride Alliance for a Queer Love Week event where you get the chance to virtually meet, chat, and connect with amazing students within our community! We'd love to see you there!
Thursday, Feb. 11, 9 – 10:30 a.m.:Level Up: Non-Monosexual Identities
In this session, we will learn about non-monosexual orientations that are often erased from discussions of queerness – asexuality, bisexuality, and pansexuality. We will learn about what these different terms mean, how our understanding of them has changed over time, and how and why erasure occurs in queer communities.
Thursday, Feb. 11, 1 – 2 p.m.:Queer Black Lives Matter: The Power of Self-Compassion and Self-Love
Explore what it means to love yourself and show yourself compassion as a Black, queer, and/or trans person.
Friday, Feb. 12, 10 – 11:30 a.m.:Ethical Non-Monogamy: Polyamory and Beyond
Learn how to navigate polyamory and different types of non-monogamy. Hosted by Amber DeSadier from GTRI.
If you would like to learn more about Queer Love Week, please visit lgbtqia.gatech.edu/spring-2021-events.
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In January, Georgia Tech’s Serve-Learn-Sustain kicked off their newest program — Public Interest Technology (PIT) Student Fellows — with a cohort of ten multifaceted engineering students excited to put their technological chops — and their other talents, skills, and energy — to work to make a difference in their own backyard.
The SLS PIT Student Fellows program supports undergraduates, particularly underrepresented minority students, to partner with communities to scope and implement engineering capstone and senior design projects that use technology to advance the public interest. The program is funded by a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) and the New America Foundation, which defines public interest technology as “the study and application of technology expertise to advance the public interest/generate public benefits/promote the public good."
The SLS program, run in collaboration with the Career Center and Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, also aims to build the field of public interest technology by enticing students to consider public interest careers that use technology to create sustainable communities.
"Becoming a Public Interest Technology Fellow is a unique opportunity at Tech," explained program lead Ruthie Yow, a service learning and partnerships specialist in SLS. "Students have an extraordinary opportunity to learn how to scope a project with a partner, work in an interdisciplinary setting with other students, and understand how their skills can contribute to public interest technology and social impact when they graduate."
“The Public Interest Technology University Network programs get right to the heart of Georgia Tech’s mission of developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “By training a new generation of innovators to combine their technological skills with knowledge of communities to improve structural inequalities, tackle environmental and social injustices, build sustainable transportation, and more, we are helping to realize the transformative potential of technology as a force for public good.”
During this initial stage, the program is focusing on four majors: civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and electrical and computer engineering. Projects are intended to draw on students’ disciplinary skills to support and amplify partner vision and impact. The challenge is to develop long-term projects, to be implemented in stages over multiple semesters and years, that are both technologically sophisticated enough to satisfy the requirements of capstone and senior design and advance important sustainability work happening in communities. Students and partners will scope the projects this semester and then pilot initial stages of implementation as part of SLS’s Summer Internship Program.
“Our students are not only technically talented, but also passionate about having a positive impact on the world around them. This program allows them to pursue this passion, and I am personally really excited about seeing where this will lead,” said Magnus Egerstedt, chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "This is a wonderful opportunity for like-minded students and faculty to explore the reality of working in and with a community,” added faculty mentor Jonathan Colton, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “This will lead to greater engagement and impact."
SLS community partners participating in the PIT program include PlantLanta, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, the Grove Park Foundation, TransFormation Alliance, and the Center for Sustainable Communities. With faculty guidance, students and partners will jointly scope projects that support partners’ ongoing efforts in Atlanta neighborhoods and in Hampton Roads, Virginia to mobilize youth for climate action, build racially equitable transit, install green infrastructure that benefits legacy residents, and, in partnership with Georgia Tech’s Global Change Program, mitigate urban heat islands.
Students see the PIT program as a way to shape their trajectories while at Georgia Tech as well as after graduating. “I wanted to participate in this program so that I could discover ways I could use my skills as an engineer to address the very important issue of sustainability and equity in our communities,” ISyE major Stella Carrasco said. “This program will help me use my career to improve the quality of life in communities," said CEE major Jesus Gomez.
Both the students and the partners are enthusiastic about learning from and with each other. “Being able to work alongside wonderful community partners and student fellows is an inspiring and motivating environment to be in,” said Sivalika Bagrodia, a second-year ISyE student from India.
Learn more about the SLS PIT Student Fellows
PIT Program Structure
SLS's Summer Internship Program
Serve-Learn-Sustain is a unit of the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE). Learn more about OUE by visiting oue.gatech.edu and by following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
]]>Recently, though, Georgia Tech researchers have developed even more ways for members of the Georgia Tech community to help slow the spread.
One project in the works is in coordination with the National Institutes of Health RADx initiative. This program is designed to evaluate novel high-throughput, cost-effective tests, and positive samples are needed for validation. Surveillance testing participants will be able to opt in to provide an additional sample at the campus testing site in the Couch Building. Identities are not tied to samples. To participate, visit the Couch Building testing site during regular operating hours and let the testing staff know you’d like to participate.
In the fall, Georgia Tech started using NOVID, an exposure notification app. The app has been enhanced since the fall and now runs in the background on both Androids and iPhones, so users need only open it once and not fully turn it off for it to work. Without collecting any personally identifiable information from its users, the app uses ultrasound and Bluetooth technology to keep track of who each person has been in contact with. Users are alerted if someone they’ve been in contact with tests positive, enabling them to judge their risk of exposure and whether to self-isolate. Learn more about NOVID here.
In addition, the COVIDvoice project lets people anonymously submit voice recordings and know immediately if they may have Covid-19 or not. Bruce Walker, professor in the School of Psychology and School of Interactive Computing, is leading the project. COVIDvoice’s algorithms are designed to detect subtle changes in the body’s speech systems sometimes caused by the virus.
Users are encouraged to submit to COVIDvoice regularly to help improve the program’s algorithms, which are already approximately 80% accurate.
Meanwhile, David Ku, Regents Professor and Lawrence P. Huang Chair in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, helped create Count Covid, an anonymous survey that allows people to track any potential Covid-19 symptoms they may have. Respondents also provide their zip code to contribute to time-based displays that show the spread of Covid-19 in individual communities.
Finally, the American Red Cross is always looking for blood donations, especially now. Blood drives will be on campus approximately once a month; you can see the next one on the GT American Red Cross Club’s calendar or find another one here. Donations are now being screened for Covid-19 antibodies. Donors will be able to learn the results of their antibody test and whether they may have had an asymptomatic case without knowing it.
While students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate in these new opportunities to help slow the spread as much as possible, they are no substitute for regular testing, masking, and social distancing. Those who test positive off campus should report their results to Stamps Health Services. Learn more about those initiatives here.
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On Jan. 14, the 10th Annual MLK Lecture was delivered by keynote speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones, acclaimed investigative journalist. Hannah-Jones spearheaded The New York Times 1619 Project, for which her introductory essay won her a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. The 1619 Project shares work from Black creatives and acts as a portal to the past, present, and future with Black history at the forefront. During the lecture, Hannah-Jones highlighted the ways American history has erased Black history and the importance of reclaiming that past. She also highlighted how Black history has shaped the current American landscape, arguing that through writing and storytelling it will not be erased for future generations.
Read a full recap of the event
On Jan. 16, the Engage Symposium showcased a variety of speakers whose work aims to enhance the communities they live in. The first speaker was Frank Brown, CEO of Communities in Schools of Atlanta, which works to provide community support for students. Through his leadership in establishing youth programming, civic engagement, and assistance to children and families, Brown has become a key leader in Atlanta. The purpose of his interview with Taylor Gray was to answer the question, “How is a community of support built?” Brown highlighted the importance of relationships and urged students to join student government and other campus and social groups.
The second session of the Engage Symposium brought Cheneé Joseph, the executive director of the Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC), back to Tech. The Tech alumna is currently working to provide affordable housing in Atlanta through the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board and revitalize Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic district. The question of the session was, “What if I was in charge?” Throughout the lecture, Joseph talked about the revitalization efforts of the HDDC and explained the steps taken to increase community engagement with the project.
The third speaker of the Engage Symposium was Doug Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, which aids local government and community members to improve the region’s quality of life through the arts, community development, transportation, and homeland security. His session aimed to answer the question, “Do people know you care?” Throughout the interview, the Tech alumna wove in his experiences in various community boards over the years.
In a conversation between Dean of Students John Stein and Tech alumna Jennifer Abrams, the last Engage Symposium session focused on the lessons learned throughout their careers. Abrams is part of the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation and helped lead the response to the coronavirus pandemic through her support of infectious disease physicians. During the conversation, she talked about how her experience at Tech was shaped by her involvement in student orientation and leadership roles in several student groups. The motivation behind her leadership is thinking of the people who don’t have the opportunity to be in that space.
On Jan. 18, the MLK Day of Service 2021 closing speaker, John Onwuchekwa, co-founder of Portrait Coffee, shared the story behind his business and his take on hope as a vessel for defiance and perseverance. This personal mantra has taken him on a journey of waking up at 4 a.m. and even starting a coffee shop during a pandemic. The key takeaway was why problems can feel more bearable with the mindset, in Onwuchekwa’s words, that “the state of my soul is not going to be affected by the circumstances I find myself in.”
The Georgia Tech: A Call to Action lecture series emerged from the Black Lives Matter protests last summer and hosts discussions with faculty members about the Black experience at Tech. This year, on Jan. 21, the keynote speaker was Al Vivian, CEO of Basic Diversity Inc. and son of Martin Luther King Jr.’s confidant, C.T. Vivian. Basic Diversity, an inclusion and diversity consultancy, works with businesses not only to encourage more diversity in their workforce but also to deal with the challenges that come with it.
Read a full recap of the event
The Inaugural Petit Institute Antiracism Distinguished Lecture was delivered by Kamau Bobb on Feb. 4. A widely respected scholar involved in STEM inclusivity and outreach programs, Bobb’s experience ranges from Google to President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper STEM + Entrepreneurship Taskforce. As a founding director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech, he stressed the importance of researchers recognizing the pivotal point the country is in right now regarding race relations and not getting lost in complacency.
For Georgia Tech’s 2021 Black History Month Lecture on Feb. 10, the highly anticipated keynote speaker was the legendary political activist and writer, Angela Davis. Over the course of an hour, students and faculty got to hear Davis’ perspective on the true meaning of political activism, what hope really means, and even going back to teaching at UCLA this spring. Undergraduate members of Tech’s African American Student Union moderated a question-and-answer session as well.
Read a full recap of the event
]]>Last November, more than 50 Institute faculty, staff, and students gathered for the initial meeting of the Georgia Tech Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (GTDEIC). The campus representatives were appointed by President Ángel Cabrera, and the group was tasked with monitoring and assessing the Institute’s progress toward becoming a model campus community for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In the months ahead, it will also submit recommendations to Cabrera and the Institute’s executive leadership team for consideration in developing strategic actions.
Enhancing diversity has been one of Cabrera’s top priorities. “Our Diversity and Inclusion Council is one of several action steps announced this past summer to deliver on our promise of inclusion,” Cabrera said in 2020. “As outlined in our new strategic plan, we are striving to remove barriers to access and success, and to build an inclusive community where people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to learn and contribute to our mission.”
Since that initial November meeting, the GTDEIC has launched three working groups comprised of Council members and issue-area experts from across the campus: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan; Campus Climate Assessment; and Covid-19 Impacts on Faculty.
“A diverse and inclusive campus is an empowered and engaged campus,” said Archie Ervin, vice president for Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and GTDEIC chair. “A focus on diversity helps improve productivity, recruitment, and retention. Through these working groups, we will address immediate areas for DEI improvement.”
Pearl Alexander, executive director of Staff Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement and GTDEIC vice chair, added, “One of our groups is crafting a comprehensive DEI plan that will be a blueprint with actionable strategies for implementation within the next five years. Another is redesigning our climate assessment to align with Institute goals for culture transformation, while the third is addressing the impacts of Covid-19 on women faculty and faculty of color. Each working group’s co-leads are working methodically and inclusively to identify strategies that will close gaps and deliver the greatest DEI impact possible. There will be many opportunities for leading, modeling, and living our values to make significant and lasting change.”
The Working Groups
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan Working Group is developing a blueprint that mobilizes the DEI-related objectives of the new strategic plan, which include: amplify our impact, champion innovation, connect globally, expand access, cultivate well-being, and lead by example. The group will work across three focus areas: creating an inclusive and equitable community; recruiting, retaining, and developing a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff; and supporting innovative and inclusive scholarship and teaching. The final draft of the blueprint will be submitted to Cabrera for review by the beginning of June. The group’s efforts will be supported by Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting (GTSC).
“Diversity today unlocks innovation tomorrow and creates unlimited opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff,” said Rashaad Owens Sr., GTSC consultant. “I believe Georgia Tech is poised for a brighter future with its renewed commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the new strategic plan.”
The Campus Climate Assessment Working Group will be led by Keona Lewis, associate director of Institute Diversity Research, and Joseph Ludlum, assistant director for Academic Effectiveness.
“One of the most enlightening tools we have for identifying racial and gender disparities is our campus climate survey,” Lewis said. Originally developed between 2011 and 2013, the survey has provided valuable information on individual and community experiences and their impact on people’s sense of belonging at Tech. “Over the past eight years, we have used what we have learned to address issues such as racial discrimination and bias and the lack of opportunities for the professional development of women staff — and launching Leading Women@Tech, the Inclusive Leader's Academy, and workshops to address bias in hiring promotion retention.”
The group’s goal is to create new research questions to capture data needed to measure the strategic plan’s DEI goals as well as the impact of current initiatives and programming. The Campus Climate Assessment group has formed three sub-teams for survey revisions: faculty, staff, and students. “This will allow us to measure our progress on achieving many of the new DEI objectives in the strategic plan through an exploration of the lived experiences of the Georgia Tech community,” Lewis said.
There are many reasons to be concerned about the short-and long-term impacts of Covid-19 on the well-being and advancement of faculty. “Data strongly suggest that the pandemic might exacerbate existing structural inequities in academia, as the burden of caregiving, differential access to resources, and mental health challenges exact a higher toll on women and underrepresented minority groups,” said Dana Randall, ADVANCE Professor for the College of Computing. “For this reason, the ADVANCE Professors formed this working group to develop a systemic approach to mitigating the impacts of the pandemic on the well-being and career progression of women faculty at Tech.”
“The overarching themes and outcomes we expect from a working group are twofold,” Kim Cobb, ADVANCE Professor for the College of Sciences, added. “First, our effort will aim to prevent the impending loss of women and underrepresented minority faculty from Georgia Tech, either through recruitment elsewhere, negative tenure or promotion outcomes, or by choice due to dissatisfaction with current working conditions and opportunities for advancement. Second, we will aim to improve the well-being and support for those faculty most negatively affected.”
The Covid-19 Impacts on Faculty Working Group will be co-chaired by an ADVANCE Professor and another member of the GTDEIC, with approximately 10 additional tenure-track faculty members. Specific areas the group plans to tackle include: campus climate and workplace satisfaction, promotion and tenure, retention, and the coordination of research and activities around Covid-19 and its impact on faculty.
“Establishing the GTDEIC represents the Institute’s commitment to engage all sectors of the Tech community,” Ervin said. “By identifying opportunities to achieve our aspirations for an inclusive community, and by demonstrating our value to be a community that thrives on diversity as a critical element of campus culture and climate, we are doing just that.”
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It can already be difficult to make friends in college, and that can be worsened by students feeling isolated during the pandemic.
“Feeling shy or experiencing some level of social awkwardness is nothing to feel ashamed about, and for many students, the pandemic has amplified those feelings,” said Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, director of the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE). “Start by seeking out environments that suit you.”
Some suggestions for how to do this include attending residence hall events for students who live on campus, as well as developing social media networks. Volunteering can also help students make friends while giving back to their local communities, and pen pal networks are regaining popularity in light of the pandemic.
If you know someone is new to campus, or could use a connection, ask them to join you to do something outdoors. This, too, can be uncomfortable — but everyone needs a friend, especially these days.
You can also find student organizations across a wide variety of topics on Engage. Many organizations are operating fully online, while others have occasional in-person events as well. View a list of upcoming events from student organizations here. Once you’ve found someone to hang out with, whether they’re a new friend or an old one, there are plenty of ways to have socially distanced “friend dates.”
Several Georgia Tech sports are in the middle of their spring seasons, and many of them are competing outdoors. Students can attend baseball, softball, track and field, and tennis events for free. The 8-3 baseball team is currently climbing after taking down the ACC’s top-seeded Louisville; their next home series runs March 12 – 14 against Pittsburgh.
Volleyball also just started its 10-match spring season. The Yellow Jackets finished the fall semester ranked 17th in the country and look to continue their streak and lock in their first NCAA tournament berth since 2009. Both men’s and women’s basketball are also looking to continue their postseason runs, with the men playing in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday. View the full schedule of sports at ramblinwreck.com.
Atlanta also boasts several outdoor areas for people to enjoy the weather away from others. On campus, Tech Green, Burger Bowl Field, and the new EcoCommons are some of the many places to hang out. Off campus, places such as the BeltLine and Piedmont Park are easily within driving or biking distance. If you’re looking for a little more adventure, visit one of the Atlanta area’s many hiking trails.
For those missing live performances, Georgia Tech Arts is here to help. From March 26 to May 18, there are 25 performances scheduled for the outdoor stage being built on the W21 parking lot at the intersection of Ferst Drive and State Street, ranging from the Atlanta Ballet to student musicians. Tickets are on sale now; click here to learn more and view the full event schedule.
“There are so many ways to socialize safely. Strong social connections and friendships support mental well-being, improve sleep, and strengthen our immune systems,” Hughes-Troutman said. Learn more about how to stay safe while socializing here.
View more events taking place on or around Georgia Tech's upcoming well-being days.
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]]>Most events are open to all students, faculty, and staff, who are encouraged to get tested through the campus Covid-19 testing program before and after they participate in events.
Instructors have been asked to not schedule assignments during or immediately following these wellness days to give students a chance to recharge. And, staff are also being encouraged to prioritize wellness on these days, whether that’s by incorporating exercise into their day or clearing nonessential meetings to allow for more focused mental activity. Human Resources offers more suggestions for prioritizing well-being.
Women's Tennis vs. Duke
Friday, March 12, 4 p.m.
Baseball vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
Friday, March 12, 7 p.m.
Baseball vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
Saturday, March 13, 6 p.m.
Women's Tennis vs. UNC
Sunday, March 14, noon
Baseball vs. Pittsburgh Panthers
Sunday, March 14, 1 p.m.
Baseball vs. Georgia Southern Eagles
Wednesday, March 17, 6 p.m.
Men’s and Women’s Track – Yellow Jacket Invitational Outdoor Meet
Friday, March 19, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 20, noon
Men's Tennis vs. N.C. State
Friday, March 26, 5 p.m.
]]>Calling all graduate students — Georgia Tech wants to celebrate you! April 5-9, Tech will host Grad Student Appreciation Week (GSAW), which includes a variety of events that recognize graduate students and all they do for the campus community.
"Without your contributions to research and teaching, Tech couldn't function,” said Bonnie Ferri, vice provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development. "Grad Student Appreciation Week is an opportunity for the Institute to recognize your impact and to thank you for all that you do. I hope that you'll enjoy the events we have planned!”
GSAW is sponsored by Tech’s Graduate Resource and Information Network and aligns with the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students' Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week. The week of events will be celebrated by units across campus, and include the following opportunities (visit grad.gatech.edu/gsaw to register for select events):
And as you attend these and other GSAW events, don’t forget to post about your experience to social media, and use the hashtag #gtGRADitude, or tag the Office of Graduate Studies on Facebook!
]]>The CRN – led by Tim Lieuwen, Regents Professor, David S. Lewis Jr. Chair in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute; and Wen Masters, deputy director, Information and Cyber Sciences in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) – tapped the knowledge and expertise of Georgia Tech faculty, staff, and students to analyze what the research landscape will look like ahead, for Georgia Tech and for other research-intensive universities.
The report’s authors will provide an overview of their findings at a town hall meeting on Wednesday, March 17, at 1 p.m. at primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/czadczdq. The Phase 1 report will be available online after the presentation at researchnext.gatech.edu.
The report includes six chapters:
A second team of faculty, staff, and students is now working on Phase 2 of the effort, which will be to develop a strategy for how Georgia Tech’s research enterprise will – in alignment with the Institute’s new strategic plan – move forward into the decades ahead. There are 82 members of committees working on the six goal teams for Phase 2.
To join the town hall, go to: primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/czadczdq.
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]]>This year's final round for the InVenture Prize includes five teams that have participated in CREATE-X programming. This year’s InVenture Prize competition included a record-setting 58 teams and 140 participants. For five of the six finalist teams to have gone through CREATE-X speaks to the program's efficacy in preparing students to be entrepreneurially confident and create innovative, award-deserving startups.
InVenture Prize finalists with CREATE-X:
Block Transfer
Team Block Transfer has developed a new type of decentralized stock transfer agent protocol for global financial markets. They were admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year.
Medsur
Medsur’s product, BCase, is a first-of-its-kind accessible, discreet, and secure birth control storage that attaches directly to the back of a mobile phone. Founder Sammie Hasen was a part of Startup Launch 2019 as founder of a different company, but has since pivoted to Medsur.
CADe
CADe is developing a mobile application that makes Computer Aided Design (CAD) software more accessible and easier to navigate. The CADe team was admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year and were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.
SPOT Harness
Team SPOT Harness has prototyped a wearable device that uses sensors and vibrations to help blind dogs navigate their environment safely. They were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.
Start Proto
Team StartProto assists a schools’ makerspaces through their unique safety and analytics system that can be used to track and control access to tools in shared environments. They were admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year and were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.
The winner of the 2021 InVenture Prize will receive $20,000. The second-place team will take home $10,000. The top two teams will also receive free U.S. patent filings by Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing. A $5,000 People’s Choice Award will go to the fans’ favorite invention. Details on the public vote will be released prior to the March 17 broadcast.
This year, due to Covid-19 protocols, the event will be televised live without a live audience. All participants will be tested for Covid-19 before the event.
Check in here for more details leading up to the event: https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/previous-competitions/2021
]]>Students, faculty, and staff are invited to donate new and gently used clothing at any of the campus area housing offices through Friday, April 9. These include the East and West Campus Housing Offices, Graduate Living Center, and North Avenue Housing Office. During the week of Earth Day, people can choose from the donated clothes during the Clothing Swap, which will take place April 19 to 22. The Earth Day event will also include a collection for hard to recycle materials.
The Student Government Association’s (SGA) sustainability committee is also hosting its annual Get Wasteless challenge, which will run from April 19 to 23. Members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to participate in a week of radically reducing their waste, or anything that can’t be recycled, composted, upcycled, or reused. Participants will collect their waste from the week in a gallon-sized plastic bag.
Participants can sign up for Get Wasteless either as individuals or as part of a team. Points can be earned by checking in virtually once a day, as well as participating in other sustainability-related activities. The top individuals and teams will win prizes. Learn more about the rules and how to register here. Registration is open through Tuesday, April 13.
View the full schedule of Earth Day events here.
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]]>The deadline to enter the Ideas to Serve competition is April 6, 2021. More information and the application can be found at ilsi.gatech.edu/i2s.
]]>The mostly virtual week of events consists of several ceremonies that will be open to all Tech community members and their families from March 31 to April 8. There will be an opportunity to enjoy the following ceremonies:
Up With the White & Gold Awards
From creating and building community to winning local and international competitions, our students lead the Tech community in identifying ways to create the next entrepreneur, innovator, social change agent, big dreamer, and much more. The annual Up with the White & Gold celebration (co-hosted by the Division of Student Life and SGA) honors the achievements, hard work, and dedication of student leaders and student organizations. The event highlights the significant role that student leadership and involvement play on campus.
This year, Up With the White & Gold will be conducted in a hybrid format. We will be offering departments and organizations the opportunity to join us in-person for a socially distant awards reception on Wednesday, March 31.
At the reception, we will be passing out awards and recording the ceremony for a community livestream event that will take place on Monday, April 5, at 6 p.m. on the Center for Student Engagement Facebook page.
Student Honors Celebration
The 2021 Student Honors Celebration recognizes students who have achieved academic excellence in their programs of study at Georgia Tech. This virtual celebration will culminate on Tuesday, April 6, with our digital program announcing award winners and ways to celebrate your student.
Fraternal Excellence Awards
In celebration of Georgia Tech’s 132-year-old fraternity and sorority community, the Fraternal Excellence Awards is a celebration of Georgia Tech’s fraternity and sorority life. The ceremony will provide the community the opportunity to be recognized by their peers and acknowledged for their hard work. Awards will be presented by the department, all four governing councils, and leadership organizations within Fraternity and Sorority Life.
This year the Fraternal Excellence Awards will be conducted in a hybrid format. Students and award recipients will have the opportunity to engage in a socially distant event on Saturday, April 3.
Additionally, there will be a Virtual Celebration for the Georgia Tech community on Tuesday, April 6.
Lavender Awards
Since 2013, each April, all members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to Lavender Celebration, which is the LGBTQIA Resource Center's event to celebrate our Lavender Graduates and Lavender Award Recipients.
At Lavender Graduation, we honor our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual graduates. Families of our graduating students are also welcome to attend.
First presented in 2015, the Lavender Awards recognize individuals, departments, and organizations that have made Georgia Tech a safer and more inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and asexual students, faculty, staff, and alumni. An awards committee reviews all nominations and selects winners. The virtual celebration will take place on Thursday, April 8.
To view the full list of events and find more information about the week, click here.
]]>“Continued engagement with industry is a critical part of realizing Georgia’s Tech mission to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition,” said President Ángel Cabrera. “A renewed, streamlined organizational approach is essential to welcoming and meeting the demands of these growing opportunities.”
The refinements follow a recently completed holistic review of Georgia Tech’s existing corporate, business, and industry engagement structure and activities. At the request of President Cabrera, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR) and the Office of Development completed a strategic examination of previous reports and studies, and a comprehensive assessment of engagement points for internal and external stakeholders.
Their analysis looked closely at how and where faculty and students in academic and research units interact with Tech’s industry contacts and sponsors across various service areas: recruitment, research, intellectual property, philanthropy, economic development, and education and training. Common issues centered around coordination, fragmentation of services, and communication.
“The analysis spotlighted many of our strengths but also discovered pain points, as these industry engagements have grown in number and complexity,” said Executive Vice President for Research Chaouki T. Abdallah. “With our phased approach, I believe we can better clarify these points of engagement, boost the organizational structure, and create an even stronger customer-focused approach.”
Starting in April, Phase 1 will establish the new Office of Corporate Engagement and a new position: Associate Vice President for Corporate Engagement. Dually sponsored by the EVPR and the Office of Development, the new office will serve as the central clearinghouse and hub for all partner relationships and transactional activities, such as recruitment, research, intellectual property, philanthropy, economic development, and education and training. The office will coordinate and collaborate with relevant campus units including, but not limited to: Technology Licensing, Venture Lab, Industry Contracting, Economic Development, Career Services, Georgia Tech Professional Education, and the Enterprise Innovation Institute.
“Our new strategy is grounded in the development of a cohesive, collaborative culture that will allow us to best manage existing relationships and set the standard as we develop new relationships,” said Barrett Carson, vice president for Development. “Effective coordination and transparent exchange of information will provide maximum efficiency and support to our valuable partners and Georgia Tech.”
Anticipated in July, as part of Phase 2, the Office of Corporate Relations and the Office of Industry Research — both of which have significant business engagement and relationship management responsibilities — will become part of the Office of Corporate Engagement. Over the next few months, additional stakeholder meetings will be held across affected units to further inform the organizational model and design of the new office.
]]>This schedule will also be posted at each location.
Crosland Tower seventh floor rooftop terraces will be open:
Friday, April 30: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Monday, May 3: 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 4: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Clough rooftop gardens will be open:
Wednesday, May 5: 3:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 6: 3:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Friday, May 7: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 8: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
]]>Launched in 2017 with support from Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the ADVANCE Program, the Diversity and Inclusion Fellows Program brings together campus community members who individually and collectively advance their action, research, or teaching objectives while improving inclusivity on campus.
"Culture change requires not only leadership, but also the engagement of individuals in the community who see a particular need and are passionate about being part of the solution," said Martha Grover, ADVANCE Professor for the College of Engineering and program co-director.
Terry Blum, ADVANCE Professor for Scheller College of Business and program co-director added, "Being a Diversity and Inclusion fellow is a great opportunity to work within a community of others who are working toward increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion at Georgia Tech. Fellows help shine a light on diversity gaps and commit to working toward closing them through their projects."
Projects from the 2020 cohort included expansion of ABLE Alliance, a campus group that "promotes the diversity and inclusion of the disabled population at Georgia Tech,” and the expansion of the Black Media Studies program housed in Ivan Allen College’s School of Literature, Media, and Communication.
The 2021 program will run from September through April 2022. During this time, fellows are expected to complete an individual or group action, teaching, or research objective to share with the campus community.
Interested applicants should submit an issue area or project idea to focus on as a potential Diversity and Inclusion fellow. The program is seeking participants who have been immersed in the topics of diversity and inclusion, as well as those interested in connecting these topics to different fields and perspectives.
All Georgia Tech faculty, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students are welcome to apply.
To apply, visit https://gatech.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eWYsWdFZCaOhEW2. The application deadline is Friday, May 21, 2021.
To learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion Fellows Program, visit diversity.gatech.edu/DIFellowsProgram.
]]>With Covid-19 vaccines available to all Georgia residents 16 years of age and older, Georgia Tech’s vaccine clinics are now able to meet the demand of students, faculty, and staff who have been eager for appointments for weeks. Thus far, around 15,000 members of the campus community have received at least one dose at Tech’s Exhibition Hall, and almost 6,000 have received two doses. (Read why some of them got the vaccine.) Georgia Tech is distributing the Pfizer vaccine, which is a two-dose vaccine.
For those who may have been waiting for others to go first, on the fence about vaccination, or not wanting to hunt for an appointment, now is the time to sign up. Appointments are open nearly every day in April and can be booked at mytest.gatech.edu. Vaccination is free and the process takes about 20 to 30 minutes, including a 15-minute monitoring period after vaccination. (Watch a video of the vaccination process at Georgia Tech.)
Chen Zhou, associate chair for Undergraduate Studies and associate professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was one person who thought “waiting his turn,” even though he was eligible, was the right thing to do. After talking with a colleague, though, he realized his hesitation could be problematic.
“I heard many people were eligible for the vaccine but did not get it. I teach remotely and can avoid encounters with others,” Zhou said. “So, I thought I could help if I let others get it first. However, Pinar Keskinocak and others told me that it is people like me who slow down the process. Therefore, I went to get my shots and recorded the process to urge others to do the same.”
Vaccination opens up the possibility to resume some activities that many people have put on hold for over a year. As of April 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that fully vaccinated people can resume domestic travel and do not need to get tested before or after travel, or self-quarantine after travel. The CDC also advises that they can visit with other fully vaccinated people without masks or physical distancing, and visit indoors with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe Covid-19 disease without wearing masks or physical distancing.
Still, those who are vaccinated are encouraged to take precautions in public places, such as wearing a mask and physical distancing, and to wear masks, maintain distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households. (View further guidance from the CDC.)
The University System of Georgia (USG) has temporarily reinstated the use of Non-Closure Emergency Leave for eligible employees receiving a Covid-19 vaccination. The policy is effective as of March 31, 2021, andwill expire at the conclusion of the Public Health State of Emergency declared in the Governor’s Executive Order. Learn more about how to use leave when you get your vaccine.
On campus, all members of the community are encouraged to continue to test, mask, and distance, both during and after vaccination.
Those who received a first dose of Pfizer elsewhere can receive a second dose from Georgia Tech, as long as it is scheduled for at least 21 days after the first dose was administered. In addition, a first dose can be received at Georgia Tech and a second elsewhere, as long as the doses are at least 21 days apart and are both Pfizer vaccines. (Nine things to know about the Covid-19 vaccines.)
Georgia Tech has been working toward the 1,000-person daily capacity since vaccine planning began in earnest in December, when the first vaccines received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.
“Georgia Tech has led throughout this pandemic, whether it be from our amazing surveillance testing efforts to our campaign, Jackets Protect Jackets. I expect our community to lead once again with vaccinations,” said William Smith, director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, who took the vaccine as soon as it was available. “The vaccine is safe, proven, and effective against Covid-19. I certainly encourage anyone who is hesitant to ask others about their experience and ask experts about the vaccine.” (Read more about Smith, who has helped lead the campus vaccination effort.)
Learn more about Covid-19 vaccination on campus at health.gatech.edu/coronavirus/vaccine/. Book your vaccine appointment at mytest.gatech.edu.
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]]>Known as the EcoCommons, the space is a far cry from the dated Beringause Building and surface parking lots that once occupied the area. It is an extension of 80 acres of greenspace throughout Georgia Tech’s campus that follow the original naturally occurring stream paths of this region before urbanization. These revitalized greenspaces are designed and engineered to reduce stormwater runoff while also supporting increased biodiversity and living-learning laboratories on campus. Within the most recently completed 8 acres of the EcoCommons are three distinct programmed areas — an area to engage, an area to learn, and an area to reflect.
Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera is already a frequent visitor. “In the Institute’s new strategic plan, we pledge to lead and inspire by example — to become a model of efficiency, sustainability, ethics, equity, and inclusion through deliberate innovation in all our practices,” he said. “The EcoCommons beautifully showcases each of these values.”
Read the full story and explore the EcoCommons.
]]>Faciliities Management
]]>The objective of the campaign is to help the entire community bring our values to life in tangible ways that allow us to fulfill the objectives we set forth in the strategic plan. Regardless of a person’s role — student, faculty, staff, alumni, or affiliate — all of us can contribute by serving as examples of our values in our interactions with one another and with the communities we serve.
To accomplish the ambitious goals of the 10-year strategic plan, having a campus culture that supports Institute values will be critical. The Institute is integrating the values into performance planning through goal setting and through insights gained from a campus survey.
Opportunities to learn more about Georgia Tech’s strategic values include meetings of the Alumni Association staff on Wednesday, April 28; the Staff Council leadership team on Thursday, April 29; the Employee Engagement Leadership Council general meeting on Thursday, May 6; and upcoming meetings of Georgia Tech’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
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]]>Paul and Daisy Soros, Hungarian immigrants and American philanthropists, established their Fellowship program for New Americans—immigrants and children of immigrants—in December of 1997 with a charitable trust of fifty million dollars. They created the program as a way to give back to the country that had afforded their family such great opportunities.
Mr. and Mrs. Soros decided on a fellowship program because it allowed them to assist young New Americans at critical points in their educations, which they felt was an unmet need. They also wished to call attention to the extensive and diverse contributions of New Americans to the quality of life in the United States.
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans is a $90,000 merit-based fellowship exclusively for immigrants and children of immigrants who are pursuing graduate school in the United States. The program draws more than 2,400 applications annually for just 30 fellowships. The rigorous selection process is focused on identifying the most promising New Americans who are poised to make significant contributions to the nation through their work. In addition, the selection team looks for a commitment to the United States’ fundamental principles and ideals.
This year Georgia Tech will host four Commencement ceremonies, beginning with Ph.D. graduates in the morning and master’s graduates in the afternoon on Friday, May 7. Founder of SIXPITCH, an urban design consultancy, and Atlanta Beltline visionary and Georgia Tech alumnus, Ryan Gravel will serve as the guest speaker at the Friday Ph.D. ceremony. Later that afternoon, Stacey A. Dixon, Georgia Tech alumna and deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, will address master’s graduates.
At the Saturday morning bachelor’s ceremony, graduates will hear words of encouragement and about navigating future challenges from Delta CEO Ed Bastian. Bastian has been a leader at Delta for more than 20 years and was named CEO in 2016. During his tenure as CEO, Delta has become the world’s most awarded airline.
On Saturday afternoon, Paul Judge, managing partner of Panoramic Ventures and co-founder and executive chairman of Pindrop, will offer bachelor’s graduates advice for post-graduation success. Judge has invented approximately 30 patented and patent-pending computer security technologies. With deep ties to Atlanta, he is both a Morehouse and Georgia Tech alumnus.
The weekend’s ceremonies will honor graduates from Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. All ceremonies will take place in Bobby Dodd Stadium, with health and safety protocols in place. The ceremonies will also be streamed online. More information about these events is available at commencement.gatech.edu.
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As part of the final selection process, each candidate will present at an hour-long open seminar on the theme “Connecting Globally: Achieving Georgia Tech’s International Vision.” Candidate seminars are open to all students, faculty, and staff. Those wishing to attend any of the seminars can do so virtually here, safely attend in person, or watch a post-event video.
The finalists are listed below in order of their campus seminar presentations, which will all be held from 11 a.m. to noon in Clough 152:
Additional details, including each candidate’s curriculum vitae and links to the seminar videos and surveys, can be found on the Vice Provost for International Initiatives search website. Survey forms will be accessible through midnight on Monday, May 24.
]]>Office of the Provost
]]>The researchers are aware of the sensitive nature of Wifi log data so they have closely worked with the GT Institutional Review Board (IRB) to assure that 1) the data is only used for research purposes; 2) the data is anonymized and 3) the research team will be able to identify individuals only if they consent to participate in this research. Please reach out to the Principal Investigator of this study, Prof. Munmun De Choudhury (mchoudhu@cc.gatech.edu), or the student researcher of this study, Wenrui Zhang (zhangwenrui@gatech.edu) if you have any questions or concerns regarding this study.
They are seeking student volunteers who can act as mock COVID-19 positive cases so GT contact tracers can evaluate our prototype. The volunteer students will be asked to join a phone call lasting no more than 30 minutes with a GT contact tracer and another 30-minute follow-up remote interview with a research team member. To thank you for your time and effort, they will provide a $15 gift card.
In order to participate:
Please fill out this screening survey if you’re interested in participating in our research. Based on the screening survey results, we will reach out to you via the email address that you will leave at the end of the survey.
]]>Arts Plaza and Landscaping Connecting to Tech Green:
*Sidewalk and stairs from the Ferst Center Arts Plaza to Einstein Statue is complete. Fencing will be modified to provide a full pedestrian accessible pathway from Ferst Center to Tech Green - anticipated by June 4.
Phase II Building Construction:
*Construction fencing is installed around perimeter of the site. Wayfinding signage is installed. Please see attached logistics plan.
* Exterior and interior construction activities are underway at both the Wenn building and new Stamps Commons
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Capital Project Manager
Georgia Institute of Technology | Facilities Design & Construction
]]>Members will be most excited to hear that effective Monday, May 24, reservations are no longer required to enter the CRC. Some locations in the CRC will remain on a reservation system, such as racquetball and squash courts, recreational swimming, sport simulator and the climbing wall. All other areas will not require a reservation.
Several updates to operations mean opening up to the wider community again. Also effective May 24, members can purchase and use guest passes again. Dependents (children) of those on an active membership will be welcomed into the facility again, although a few limitations on recreational swim hours will still be in place. Details on bringing guests are available on the CRC website.
The CRC has rolled out a few other cool features recently. In spring members began using the MyCRC app, which put reservations, virtual fitness information and more at their fingertips. At the same time, the new Sports Simulator was introduced. Built into one of the old racquetball spaces, the TruGolf Sport Simulator includes virtual golf, hockey, baseball, soccer, and foot golf. A reservation is required for the simulator, but they include equipment like golf clubs and hockey sticks. The MyCRC app is available in both the Apple and GooglePlay stores for download, and can be used to make reservations for the Sports Simulator.
Many will be glad to enjoy a return to 5-on-5 basketball, 6-on-6 volleyball and 2-on-2 badminton on the 4th floor gym courts, which will now be allowed again along with the rental of equipment from the desks like basketballs and racquets (to name a few).
“We’re glad to be able to provide more opportunities and ways to fulfill our community’s active well-being as the weather turns hot,” says the CRC’s interim senior director, Caroline Dotts. She jokes, “Admittedly there is one thing going on in our facility that’s hotter than the outdoors – we anticipate reopening the sauna sometime this summer.”
The community should note that Individuals who are not vaccinated are strongly encouraged to wear a face covering while inside the CRC. Georgia Tech’s vaccine distribution clinic will continue to operate on campus throughout the summer. Additionally, the tower for self-temperature checks will still be available and encouraged at the entrance to the facility.
More information on the CRC’s summer operations, including hours, reservation process details, app store links and more are listed on the CRC operations webpage. Students with questions about the status of their summer membership should contact the Member Services team at info@crc.gatech.edu.
]]>The student teams were tasked with integrating solar energy technologies and energy storage to best serve their assigned district. The multi-disciplinary approach to this competition meant students had to integrate urban planning, finance, and other related disciplines into their final proposals. Teams were judged based on the highest offset of energy and greatest financial savings on an annual basis over the district’s conventional energy suppliers. Judges evaluated a techno-economic analysis conducted by the students as well as from a team design presentation.
The Georgia Tech team was led by Austin Fan, a Junior in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), Ph.D. student Matthew Warner (ChBE), Freshman Katie Kang (ChBE), and Sophomore Jake Churchill of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. The students were advised for this project by Dan Molzahn, Ph.D., from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sam Talkington, Graduate Research Assistant in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Tyler Pilet, Doctoral candidate with the Georgia Tech High Performance Building Group in the School of Architecture. Molzahn also serves as the faculty advisor to the Georgia Tech Energy Club.
The students’ assigned district was the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC), a mixed-use, mixed-institution campus operated by the City of Denver, which came with some unique constraints as well as some advantages. Feedback from the judges revealed that the Georgia Tech team scored well in large part because they kept the needs of the client at the center of their proposed solution. Their design went beyond the utilization of renewable energy by emphasizing how their design conformed with the AHEC’s sustainability goals, such as greenhouse gas reductions, energy efficiency benefits, and community outreach and education about the benefits of their design.
“These students are part of the clean energy future this nation is counting on,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Kelly Speakes-Backman. “When these talented, diverse students enter the workforce, their ingenuity and skill will contribute to lower electricity costs, expanding solar energy deployment for more Americans, and the decarbonization of our energy infrastructure and economy.”
Georgia Tech team lead Austin Fan said he learned many valuable lessons from this experience that he will carry into his professional life. One of his biggest take-aways was understanding the role of a leader. “You can’t be an expert in everything like you are expected to be for a class project. So, it’s much better to delegate different aspects of the project to others to be experts in those topics. As a project manager, it is most important to be aware of everyone’s work and be able to talk about it at a high-level, and to be a champion for your team-mates.”
]]>This annual school supply drive benefits Georgia Tech employees who need support equipping their children in grades K-12 with school supplies. Over the last nine years, thanks to your generosity, we have given out more than 4,000 backpacks!
This year, GTHR has partnered with SchoolKitz.com to offer pre-packaged supply kits. This will streamline the donation process and make sure all backpacks are filled uniformly. The deadline to order supplies from SchoolKitz is Tuesday, June 29.
Although we strongly encourage the use of the kits, we will still accept individual supplies dropped off at Georgia Tech Human Resources until Friday, July 23.
Need a backpack?
The deadline to request a backpack is Friday, July 16. Backpacks will be distributed on Thursday, July 29 and Friday, July 30.
For more detailed information, visit https://hr.gatech.edu/buzzin-back-school.
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Microgrids are self-contained power systems, co-located with the facilities they serve, that include generation resources, storage systems, and energy management systems. The Tech Square Microgrid, which was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission, is being used to evaluate how a microgrid can effectively integrate into and operate as part of the overall electrical grid. The facility will not only provide clean power to Midtown, but it will also serve as a living laboratory in which Georgia Tech, industry, and government researchers will work collaboratively to create the next generation of clean energy solutions.
“Georgia Tech is committed to addressing the most consequential challenges of our time,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “That involves advancing science and technology, developing leaders who can create and deploy new solutions, and leading by example with our own practices. This microgrid is a great illustration of the latter. In our partnership with Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission, we will be developing and adopting some of the most advanced, efficient, and responsible energy solutions available, in the hope we can serve as an example for others.”
The microgrid will provide Georgia Power with insight into how smart energy management systems, such as the one installed at the Coda data center, can interact with the grid to achieve optimal energy use. In addition, it will provide teaching and learning opportunities for Georgia Tech professors and students.
“The Tech Square Microgrid is a proven innovative project that will help us better understand microgrids to help service our customers. It brings energy storage and data front and center for research. The microgrid’s distributed energy resources are vital to enhancing grid resiliency and bringing sustainable energy solutions to Georgia’s communities,” said Chris Womack, chairman, president, and CEO of Georgia Power. “Georgia Tech is one of the nation’s leading research institutions and has been an integral partner in allowing their students and teachers to learn how these systems will interact not only with our grid but also with the Coda building on the Georgia Tech campus. It’s by collectively working together through projects like this that we will build a brighter energy future for our state.”
The installation includes fuel cells, battery storage, diesel generators, and a natural gas generator, and it is adaptive to new and additional distributed energy resources. It is designed to also accommodate microturbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle chargers in the future. All components will be placed on a platform and obscured from view with 7-foot-high fencing and gate access along Williams Street. The co-branded (Georgia Tech and Georgia Power) fencing will have a mural designed and commissioned by Atlanta-based artist George F. Baker III, to be finished later this year.
]]>“Building deep, substantive partnerships to impact society's most urgent challenges is a major priority for Georgia Tech's research enterprise,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. “We are excited about the possibilities for collaborative, innovative energy-related research with NREL, which has the potential to improve human lives and the world at large."
The five-year agreement was formally acknowledged during a virtual Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing event on June 17, jointly organized by Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) and NREL.
It is anticipated that the collaborative projects between the two institutions will:
“We are excited about this MOU, which will facilitate expanded collaboration between NREL and Georgia Tech’s esteemed faculty and first-rate students,” said Peter Green, deputy laboratory director and science and technology officer at NREL. “Together we will leverage the significant intellectual, research, and infrastructure capabilities of both institutions to address some of the critical large-scale, complex research challenges facing industry during the energy transition.”
This agreement also acknowledges that the research landscape is evolving. Energy related research problems are becoming more complex. The pipeline of research talent is changing due to shifts in academic programs related to energy and to students’ level of interest in energy related research as a career. The potential long-term benefits of creating and disseminating new energy technologies for the public good is regarded by the academic community as an increasingly important consideration for the nation’s economy and prospects for energy security. Leaders from Georgia Tech and NREL agree that the outcomes that arise from this memorandum of understanding will advance our ability to deal with these evolving issues.
“Near term focus areas of this agreement include circular economy, efficient buildings, cybersecurity, and carbon capture,” said Tim Lieuwen, director of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute. To that end, a series of webinars are planned for the near future on each of these topics to foster ideas and muster resources as this agreement is put into action.
To learn more about this partnership, please contact Tim Lieuwen (Director, SEI – Georgia Tech) or David Glickson (Communications and Public Affairs – NREL). You can also visit NREL's research organization partners page, or Georgia Tech’s research engagement page.
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.
The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.
As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.
]]>“Given the instability of the past year, this is not your typical scenario in higher education and we are cautiously optimistic moving forward,” said Kelly Fox, executive vice president for Administration and Finance. “We are also extraordinarily grateful to the state of Georgia and the University System of Georgia for their commitment to higher education and our students as well as their thoughtfulness and willingness to work with us during these uncertain times.”
Comparing Spring 2020 with Spring 2021 enrollment, among all 26 schools in the University System of Georgia (USG), Tech had the largest growth in terms of number of students, with an increase of 4,223 students (mostly at the graduate level), and in terms of percentage, at 11.9%. Overall, the system averaged an increase of 1.3% in spring 2021.
Thanks to strong enrollment numbers and healthier than expected state tax revenue collections, Georgia Tech is receiving $33 million in new state formula funding for fiscal year 2022. In total, state appropriations account for 16% of Georgia Tech’s FY22 budget of $2.3 billion.
In looking at Georgia Tech’s overall budget, it is important to understand the vulnerability of state appropriations, which has been increasing in dollars along with Tech's enrollment but declining as a percentage of the total budget for nearly a decade. This year, tuition revenue exceeds state appropriations for the 12th consecutive year.
In addition, the Board of Regents (BOR) also voted to keep tuition and mandatory fees – another source of revenue for USG institutions – steady across the system for the upcoming academic year.
“While we are very fortunate to end this year better than expected, there are sensitivities, and we need to be mindful of all the variables that contribute to the health of our budget,” Fox said.
The rollout of the Institute’s strategic plan earlier this year is helping to guide how Tech will invest this new funding to advance many of the Institute’s goals and values. Here are a few highlights from the approved FY22 budget:
Retention and support of our talented faculty and staff:
Students are our top priority:
Support of the Institute’s growth:
As Georgia Tech moves into fiscal year beginning July 1, more information related to the budget will be made available.
]]>The search will be chaired by Raheem Beyah, dean and Southern Company Chair in the College of Engineering, with the new vice president anticipated to start in the early fall semester. The vice president will lead Georgia Tech’s newly established Office of Commercialization, which includes Technology Licensing and VentureLab. The vice president will develop and implement the strategic direction for the office to serve as the engine for a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus, to include licensing and commercialization strategies. Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, professor and Wayne J. Holman Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has served in the role in an interim capacity since November.
“The Office of Commercialization, under the leadership of the new vice president, will bring together commercialization and technology transfer activities from across the Institute and facilitate critical connections between Tech and the organizations excited about the innovations being created by our faculty, staff, and students,” Abdallah said. “Many thanks to Siva for his leadership and his service as the interim over these several months, and many thanks to our search chair, Dean Beyah, and the search committee for their dedication to the process.”
Search details, including a committee roster and timeline, as well as ongoing updates can be found on the search site.
Inquiries and nominations are invited and should be sent confidentially to monique@gatech.edu.
]]>Blake will succeed Mark Becker, who served for 12 years. As president, Becker led Georgia State to become the largest institution of higher education in the state and one of the top 10 in the nation by student enrollment. Founded in 1913, Georgia State touts a diverse majority-minority student population.
As George Washington University provost, Blake oversaw the academic mission of the institution, including its 14 schools and colleges. Prior to joining George Washington in 2019, Blake was executive vice president for Academics and provost at Drexel University in Philadelphia for four years. He was also vice provost for Academic Affairs and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
He was an associate dean for Research and professor at the University of Notre Dame College of Engineering, where he provided oversight for research programs and graduate studies. Prior to Notre Dame, Blake was on faculty at Georgetown University, where he was chair of the Department of Computer Science.
A Georgia native, Blake holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Mercer University, and a Ph.D. in information and software engineering from George Mason University.
Blake begins his tenure as Georgia State University president on August 9.
]]>Developed by School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Associate Professor Polo Chau and Prairie View A&M University Assistant Professor Xishuang Dong, a teaching kit focused on data science education as part of the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) is now available for free to qualified educators.
Released as a multipart series, four kits are offered through NVIDIA’s DLI program in collaboration with leading researchers and professors in four research areas:
Specifically, each of these four DLI Teaching Kits lowers the barrier to entry for educators seeking to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and graphic processing unit (GPU) computing in coursework by providing downloadable teaching materials and online courses.
The kit teaches students fundamental and advanced topics on accelerated data science with the NVIDIA RAPIDS framework, GPU-accelerated machine learning, data visualization, graph analytics, and more.
“Traditional data science software libraries are mainly written for CPUs and don’t take advantage of GPUs. The RAPIDS library is NVIDIA’s effort to simplify and more easily use their GPU Python focused library,” said Chau.
The Data Science Teaching Kit contains tens of modules and labs, with content adapted from the popular course, CSE 6242: Data and Visual Analytics, taught by Chau. Georgia Tech contributors on the project include Polo Club for Data Science researchers Scott Freitas, Haekyu Park, Jay Want, Jon Saad-Falcon, Kevin Li, Aiswarya Bhagavatula, and Frank Zhou.
“The new development on our side is creating the modules and figuring out how to provide interactive labs for the students to work on and new coding questions,” said Freitas, a lead researcher on the project. “We also released three papers and each one of those papers will inform a lab in the teaching kit.”
Part of these papers include two new large-scale datasets for cybersecurity which are incorporated into the toolkit to teach participants how to detect malware using new graph techniques.
According to Freitas, the two datasets being integrated are also two of the largest cybersecurity and graph datasets ever released in the world.
“The end goal is to help people learn how to use new state-of-the-art GPU accelerated techniques. NVIDIA has many advanced technologies that they are developing but it may not necessarily be accessible to people just getting into the field. So, this teaching kit aims to take all of these components and simplify them in a way that is successful and easy to use for educators,” he said.
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Communications Officer
]]>Georgia Tech Human Resources
Attn: Buzzin’ Back to School
500 Tech Parkway, NW
Atlanta, GA 30332
Important Dates
This annual school supply drive benefits Georgia Tech employees who may need support with school supplies for their children in grades K-12. Thanks to your generosity, we have given out more than 4,000 backpacks over the past 9 years!
For more detailed information, including supply list, visit https://hr.gatech.edu/buzzin-back-school.
]]>GTRI Director Jim Hudgens kicked off the visit with an overview of GTRI and laid out of some of its state- focused initiatives including agricultural advancements, product development with industry partners, cybersecurity advancements, and job creation. Warnock was also able to get a firsthand look at GTRI’s research during a tour of the labs, and Hudgens also highlighted Tech’s work with the military and the intelligence communities.
“I was so glad to help secure support in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act to make sure we're investing in our nation's research institutions like Georgia Tech, so we can continue innovating the solutions that our military needs to keep our national defense strong and protect our service members,” said Warnock.
Sen. Warnock was also able to see the direct impact of GTRI research in a video highlighting a chicken-deboning robot, which has been designed to vastly improve efficiency at Georgia poultry factories. The innovation has the potential to save the poultry industry millions of dollars by reducing costs and waste.
In addition to the focus on GTRI, Sen. Warnock heard from the deans of Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Computing and Engineering, Charles Isbell and Raheem Beyah. Both Isbell and Beyah gave insight into Tech’s rankings and pathway programs, as well as the Institute’s partnerships and academic offerings. Dean Beyah spotlighted the entrepreneurial efforts at Tech by touting CREATE-X. He also shared the ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand Georgia Tech’s dual degree program with the Atlanta University Center Consortium. Dean Isbell shared enrollment superlatives for the nation’s first accredited Master of Science in Computer Science earned exclusively online: Georgia Tech’s OMSCS program. Sen. Warnock was also intrigued by Dean Isbell’s overview of the mission of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing to expand computer science education in Atlanta.
]]>“Many people have concerns about returning to more in-person interactions and the life they had before the pandemic,” said Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, director of the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE). “Keep in mind that we have all become more accustomed to interacting with fewer people. Therefore, some in-person meetings and events could feel extremely overwhelming and anxiety-provoking.”
On the other hand, many have experienced video fatigue and will be excited about re-engaging socially and reconnecting with others.
“Many students experienced loneliness and isolation during the pandemic,” Hughes-Troutman said. “We are social creatures and need human interaction to survive. Health researchers point out that people who are chronically lacking in social contact are more likely to experience elevated levels of stress.”
Some employees, like Savannah Torrance, reservations and event coordinator with the Student Center, have been working on campus during most of the pandemic. In the spring of 2020 she worked online for two months before coming back.
“I was nervous because at the time we were going through the second surge of cases in the country, but more specifically Atlanta,” said Torrance, who works on campus three to four days a week. “I overcame my fear by coming in and following the preventive measures recommended by our campus experts. Even while our department shifted operations from the Student Center to the Exhibition Hall, we upheld and enforced all of Georgia Tech’s Covid-19 health and safety policies.”
Hughes-Troutman believes it is important to recognize the range of post-pandemic responses and understand that every individual will have their own approach.
“Leaders and managers should carve out time to execute a plan that acknowledges the unique response that employees will have, and not expect things to be exactly as they were before,” she said, noting that living and working through a pandemic have provided an opportunity to closely examine health and well-being in new ways.
“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, many have benefited from the opportunity to connect with family and friends, to focus on holistic health, and to adopt new routines and rituals,” Hughes-Troutman said. “The ability to work in comfortable clothes, being at home more with family, and having more time to get some sun or fit in some physical activity between meetings has been an upside for many. As we adjust our schedules for more time on campus, make note of the healthy lifestyle habits and practices that you wish to retain.”
For Torrance, whose job includes processing and corresponding with more than 15,000 annual client reservation requests, working remotely forced her to change the way she carries out daily tasks and procedures.
“We previously did a lot of our work with tangible items and have now been able to shift a lot of our work to a digital format,” she said. “But being in person allows me to better explain and convey our spaces and their capabilities. With a brand new space, the Exhibition Hall, it can often be difficult to conceptualize how to host in the space. Being in person can only make event planning go better.”
Hughes-Troutman; Chris Wiese, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology; and Joi Alexander, director of Health Initiatives, give these tips on managing anxiety and adjusting to the return:
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For more information about current campus health and safety protocols visit Tech Moving Forward.
]]>Institute Communications
]]>Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize is an interdisciplinary innovation competition open to entries from all undergraduate students and recent Tech graduates. In the first two rounds, inventions are evaluated by a panel of expert judges before six finalists are selected to advance to the final round, which is shown live by Georgia Public Broadcasting. In this round, finalists have the opportunity to win cash prizes, a free U.S. patent filing by Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing, and admission into CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program.
In 2017, the InVenture Prize received an award for Outstanding Director, and from 2014 to 2016, the program garnered Emmys for both Outstanding Director and Special Event Coverage.
The 2022 InVenture Prize Kickoff will take place on September 15 at 6:30 p.m. Attendees can network and hear from past participants in the groundbreaking innovation competition. Register for this in-person event by going to bit.ly/2022inventureprizekickoff.
The InVenture Prize is a program within the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE). Learn more about OUE by following @gtoue on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
]]>The research effort provides a new cyber forensics method for incident responders who have discovered their network is under attack, one that can provide an edge in speed and resource allocation to combat the cyber threat.
“Currently, when there is a cyberattack, investigators have to painstakingly switch between multiple tools and piece together the puzzle by themselves,” said Brendan Saltaformaggio, faculty advisor on the work and assistant professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “Incident responders must quickly get ahead of the attacker and understand what threats they will soon face in order to combat the cyberattack in real-time.”
Forecast essentially creates a criminal profile of the malware using a novel technique invented by researchers in the Georgia Tech CyFI Lab, directed by Saltaformaggio, that combines forensic and predictive modeling methods. That profile lets security responders know whether they should be looking for, say, an impending ransomware attack or another type of threat, like trying to steal private data or the deployment of new malicious code on the network.
In more than 6,700 tests, researchers demonstrated that Forecast can:
“Our technique gives incident responders the ability to predict or forecast what the malware is going to do next when it is detected,” said Omar Alrawi, lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “It is basically catching the crime in action and inferring the intent of the criminal by using a scientific approach.”
The research team’s broad approach takes a memory image of the malware’s last known state and then uses predictive modeling to “animate” that forensic evidence into a possible branching path of attacks.
If it were a bank robbery, Forecast would take a photo of a bad guy collecting the tools he would use to crack a vault. Then it would create a series of possible paths the robber might take into the bank, to the vault, and to the escape car using a highly empirical process. Forecast can give authorities a list of which attacks to defend against and in what order to defend against or outright stop the attack.
The final output of Forecast is a report with evidence of the forecasted ways the malware might attack and in what order, making it easier for incident responders to weigh decisions in real-time.
“Incident responders are overwhelmed during an ongoing attack trying to find other infected systems to contain the malware from spreading. Forecast lessens the cognitive burden on responders by automating the process of cyber forensics by providing a simplified actionable report to the analyst and freeing up resources for other pressing tasks,” said Alrawi.
The research will be presented at the 30th Usenix Security Symposium taking place Aug. 11-13. The paper Forecasting Malware Capabilities From Cyber Attack Memory Images is co-authored by Alrawi, Moses Ike, Matthew Pruett, Ranjita Pai Kasturi, Srimanta Barua, Taleb Hirani, Brennan Hill, and Saltaformaggio. The open-source software is available for free at https://github.com/CyFI-Lab-Public/Forecast.
]]>The best way to prevent Covid-19 is to get vaccinated — and Georgia Tech is continuing to offer free, convenient Covid-19 vaccines this semester. Clinics will take place at McCamish Pavilion Aug. 16-20, Aug. 23-25, and Aug. 27, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Clinics will also take place Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Stamps Health Services, as well as Sept. 7-10 and Sept. 13-17, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Stamps Health Services. Book a vaccination appointment at mytest.gatech.edu.
Vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe illness from Covid-19. If you are unvaccinated and are exposed to someone with Covid-19, you will be subject to quarantine per current Georgia Department of Public Health guidelines.
To date, Georgia Tech has administered more than 32,000 doses to more than 17,000 individuals.
Asymptomatic surveillance testing will also continue to be offered during the fall semester for all students, faculty, and staff. For those new to campus or who did not participate previously, this saliva-based testing program takes just a few minutes per test and is available at multiple sites on campus. Georgia Tech faculty who are top researchers in their field created this simple, effective testing program to reduce transmission of Covid-19 in the campus community. The program has been an essential tool in keeping cases down throughout the past year. Everyone on campus, regardless of vaccination status, is invited and encouraged to test weekly. Learn more about how it works and find a testing site today.
No reservations are necessary — simply visit mytest.gatech.edu on your smartphone when you arrive at the test site. Results are delivered via email. Make weekly testing part of your routine — pick a day and time, and even go with a friend. (If you experience Covid-19 symptoms, seek symptomatic testing instead.) Regular testing can help identify potential clusters before they become outbreaks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued new interim guidance recommending the use of masks inside public buildings, even by fully vaccinated individual, as a precaution given the broad circulation of the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.
At Georgia Tech, everyone is encouraged to wear a mask or face covering while inside campus facilities. Vaccines and masks are highly effective at stopping the spread of Covid-19.
Similar to recent semesters, Infrastructure and Sustainability has supplied Housing with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to distribute to students living on campus this fall. Each student will get a box of tissues and a kit containing a cloth face covering, hand sanitizer, and stickers. Additional PPE requests for students, faculty, or staff can be made through this online form.
Teams in Infrastructure and Sustainability have been hard at work since the beginning of the pandemic to help ensure a safe and healthy environment for the campus community. We know that good ventilation and air circulation can significantly reduce the risk of transmission in indoor settings. Facilities Management has upgraded air filters across campus to MERV-13 filters and is ensuring that all systems are operating optimally. As an added precaution, outside air ventilation rates have been increased where possible, and ultraviolet lights have been incorporated in air handling units across campus. An expert team of Georgia Tech faculty and students continue to monitor data captured from air quality sensors, which have been installed in various classrooms across campus.
Hand sanitizer stands are stationed at every building entrance as well as in restrooms and classrooms. Disinfectant and wipes will continue to be made available in classrooms and for workspaces. Custodial Services also continues to clean and disinfect classrooms, common areas, and restrooms daily. However, heavily used restrooms located in buildings that operate 24 hours a day (such as Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons) will continue to be cleaned and disinfected four times a day.
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]]>For three days, GTHR staff and other volunteers will help first-time student employees complete requirements to officially begin working at Georgia Tech.
With the shift to OneUSG Connect last year and the implementation of electronic hiring packets, student hiring has become more simplified with one exception – validating identification which has to be done in-person.
Once a job offer is extended, students receive their new hire documents by email from Equifax. That email is triggered only after the hiring department has completed all the necessary steps in OneUSG Connect.
After completing their new hire packet online, students can come to Clough with their original identity documents to complete Section 2 of the I-9 form and have their Security Questionnaire notarized.
Participating in this event replaces the need for a new hire student appointment at GTHR. Students can register for the event in advance to guarantee a time slot.
However, if a student is unable to attend because they have not completed their online packet or they are not on campus, they can make an appointment to complete onboarding at GTHR.
To help new hires complete the online hiring packet and register for the Student Employee Onboarding, GTHR has created a Student Employee Onboarding Tutorial in Canvas. All students can access the tutorial and other helpful resources via the Student Employment website.
Important Note to Hiring Departments:
Please submit Direct Hire form transactions as early as possible to ensure that transactions are approved and students can receive access to their hiring packets before August 18 in time for them to attend Student Employee Onboarding.
Onboarding is only for new hires, or first-time student employees. Students who have worked at Tech in the past do not receive hiring document emails and do not require in-person onboarding.
New hire students should make appointments for the Student Employee Onboarding event, but ‘drop-ins’ will be seen if space allows.
For questions related to the Student Employee Onboarding event, email student-employment@gatech.edu.
]]>Due to an electrical fire on August 12 at the Mail Processing Center, campus mail service will continue to be limited through August 20. This affects mail service for students with mail folders at the Post Office and campus mail delivery to departments.
Students should not come to the Post Office to pick up their mail unless they have received an email notification from the Postal Services team. Delivery delays are expected while mail processing capacity resumes. Students are encouraged to redirect important items currently in route, if possible. If you are able to, consider purchasing items locally as this disruption will delay package delivery. To help our team return to normal operations, students should not send large packages to their campus address at this time.
Campus mail delivery to departments will be delayed through Friday, August 20. Critical campus deliveries will resume today. USPS deliveries to campus will resume on August 17 and delays are expected as the Post Office processes the incoming mail that was delayed due to the disruption.
Outgoing mail metering services for more than 200 pieces remain suspended. Please contact the Post Office for mail metering services and specific postal needs while we resume service.
The Postal Services team will continue to provide updates as delivery services resume at postoffice.gatech.edu.
]]>Here’s a preview of some of the events happening during the week. For the full event list, download the Georgia Tech Guidebook App in the Apple or Google Play Store, or explore the 2021 Week of Welcome Guidebook on your desktop.
Green Good(buys) is a no-cost market at the Kendeda Building from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. All items, which will be free to any student, were collected during last spring’s move-out, cleaned, and brought to Kendeda specifically for this event. Find something useful and reduce the overall materials purchased and thrown away in our residence halls each year.
First-years can kick off Week of Welcome and the fall 2021 semester at Rock, Ramble, and Roll! Come to the Student Center's Exhibition Hall from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner before heading over to Tech Green for inflatables, games, and so much more. Hosted by the Student Center, Tech Dining, and Housing and Residence Life, Rock, Ramble, and Roll is the perfect opportunity to jump-start your first college semester, have some fun, and make new friends. This event is open to first-year students only.
Playfair brings new students together for the first time for the ultimate icebreaker. Get to know your fellow classmates and make connections for first-years on August 16 and for second-year and transfer students on August 19 from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. on the CRC Stamps Field.
We now have a powerful new tool in the fight against the coronavirus. COVID-19 vaccines will be available at McCamish Pavilion from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for those who are eligible. Visit mytest.gatech.edu to schedule an appointment. Review these instructions to prepare for your vaccination.
Catch a ride on one of Georgia Tech’s Stinger buses to different parts of Atlanta for grocery, room furnishings, events, and attractions. Use the PassioGo app to find the “Charter” bus on the map.
Atlantic Station – August 16, 17, 19, and 22 from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Piedmont Park and Ponce City Market – August 17 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Centennial Olympic Park – August 19 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
For the full schedule, check the Week of Welcome Guidebook.
The Campus Resource Fair will allow students to interact with a variety of different offices and departments at Georgia Tech to support the student experience. Come get your questions answered, meet our staff members, and pick up some free swag on Tech Walkway from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Traveling While Black is a 20-minute virtual reality documentary that immerses the viewer in the long history of restriction of movement for Black Americans and the creation of safe spaces in our communities. Take a seat in Ben’s Chili Bowl, the famed DC restaurant, and experience the stories of African American visitors as they sit and share a moment of honest discussion, reflecting on their experiences of restricted movement and race relations in the U.S. Travelling While Black will be installed in the Richards Gallery at the Ferst Center for the Arts from August 13 through November 12, 2021. Students can present their BuzzCard for free admission from August 14 - 22.
Tech Square is where the campus meets Midtown Atlanta’s bustling retail and technology district. With dozens of restaurants, Tech Square offers a variety of options, from pizza to sandwiches, Asian fusion to Mexican, waffles, and sweet treats. Head to Tech Square to meet up with other first-year students to redeem a complimentary meal using your BuzzCard from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Full steps and directions are available here.
This semester the Community Market will run every Wednesday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. outside of the Exhibition Hall. In addition to food, the Market will include student entrepreneurs, campus organizations, and other community members. Come hungry and bring a friend!
Take over the Georgia Tech Library from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. for a late night of fun-filled snacks, video games, trivia, arts and crafts, and free giveaways. In addition to the fan favorites, this year features samples from Blue Donkey and Kaldis Coffee, the newest addition to Clough. There will be team trivia, board and video games, personalized posters, and custom videos in the Multimedia Scholarship Commons, and the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking in AIRspace. This is one party you will not want to miss before classes start.
Dining Halls Open – Meal Plans Begin
Dining on campus this year is all-new with Tech’s new in-house dining program, Tech Dining. Dining Halls open for normal operating hours for the school year starting August 19. Come try a reengineered dining experience and start using your meal plan. For more about the new dining program, visit dining.gatech.edu.
GradExpo is Georgia Tech's resource fair for new graduate students. On Clough Commons from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., join campus departments and student organizations for information about programs, services, and activities they have to offer. Information sessions will also be offered. Join us for this lively, annual event! Learn more here.
RecFest is a signature event of the Campus Recreation Center (CRC) that takes place at the start of every academic year. For three hours, students have an opportunity to learn about all the CRC has to offer. Campus Recreation champions health and wellbeing through dynamic and transformative experiences, and RecFest is where it starts. Join the CRC team for food, giveaways, and fun in Couch Park from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Sophomore and Transfer Welcome Event
Join us at a welcome celebration specifically for second-years and transfer students. Come meet some new folks from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Peters Parking Deck and then catch the movie at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
SCPC Presents: Avengers Endgame at Bobby Dodd Stadium
Get ready for an epic night of superheroes and memes! Join the Student Center Programs Council (SCPC) at 8 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium for a FREE outdoor screening of the grand finale of the Avengers series: Avengers Endgame. Stick around after the movie to enjoy Marvel-related memes made by your fellow students! You can create and submit your own meme anytime during the Week of Welcome including during the movie here. The funniest memes will be displayed on the big screen at the end of the movie! Reserve your FREE tickets to bring your own blanket and watch the movie through Campus Tickets!
Welcome, International Yellow Jackets
Come connect with fellow Yellow Jackets and learn about the student organizations that serve international students on Tech Green from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. There will be games, tables with information about the organizations, a gift card giveaway, Buzz, the Ramblin’ Reck, and snacks. Students will get a chance to meet other international students, as well as church and community volunteers.
Boogie the night away at SCPC’s Silent Disco! Join us on Tech Green from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. with your dancing shoes, play some lawn games, and reconnect with campus once again. Get tickets here and look for the purple tent to check in.
New Student Convocation is a welcome ceremony for Georgia Tech incoming students on August 22 at 5:30 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion. Held on the day before the first day of classes, all incoming students will receive their RAT cap, T-Book, and Georgia Tech pin. Doors open at 4 p.m. The event will be live-streamed at specialevents.gatech.edu/convocation.
To get a head start on Week of Welcome events, complete the Week of Welcome Waiver, which is mandatory for events like Rock, Ramble, and Roll, Yellow Jacket MegaMixer, RecFest, and more.
Step 1:Download the CORQ app.
Step 2:Select “Engage @ Georgia Tech” and log in using your GT credentials.
Step 3:RSVP for the “Week of Welcome Mandatory Waiver” event and complete the RSVP.
SMILE has once again organized Hearts for Campus, where all members of the GT community are encouraged to submit messages that represent something meaningful to them about Georgia Tech. These messages are then printed onto white and gold hearts and hung from campus trees for all to read. Last Fall, more than 800 messages were displayed to welcome people back after Spring and Summer 2020 classes took place remotely.
“There was such a positive response to the project last year that we wanted to see if this could become an annual event to bring the community together for the start of each fall semester,” said Heather Fleming, president of SMILE. “Hearts for Campus has been a great way to get people to positively reflect on their Tech experiences heading into the new school year.”
The campus community is invited to submit messages through a Google form at tinyurl.com/heartsforcampus. Messages are on display now and will continue to be added as they are received. Submissions close Aug. 28, and the hearts will be on display through early September.
“Seeing everyone read each other's messages creates a super welcoming environment. There is something really cool about walking through campus and realizing each heart represents a different member of the community,” said Fleming.
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]]>Last August, teams from Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) and I&S collaborated with Professors Nga Lee (Sally) Ng, Thomas Orlando, and Loren Williams from the College of Sciences and College of Engineering to test several types of air purifying equipment to gauge their effectiveness in removing small air particles. Using a research-grade particle measuring instrument, data was collected over the course of two semesters to determine which air purifier was the most effective in removing particulate from the air.
Data captured from these aerosol studies guided the decision to purchase the BreathSmart 75i HEPA Air Purifier. The BreathSmart unit uses an ozone-safe ionizer to attract air particulate. This particulate is then captured in the high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, thereby significantly reducing the levels of bacteria, allergens, and viruses in the air.
Evaluation of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in every building on campus is routine at Georgia Tech. I&S ensures indoor ventilation systems on campus meet the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers standards by performing the following preventative maintenance measures:
Since the pandemic began, I&S has become accustomed to quickly adapting new mitigation measures. Facility directors and building managers were notified of the addition to the classrooms, and rollout began this week. Purifiers will be placed near the lectern or instructional area and turned on at the beginning of the instructional day and turned off at the end of the day. All packaging and waste from delivery and setup will be collected by the Office of Solid Waste and Recycling and sorted accordingly. Individual area shops will maintain the new units.
The collaboration with researchers and the organized team effort across multiple departments within I&S underscores the Institute’s commitment to the safety and well-being of the campus community.
“Sally Ng’s research students are continuing to monitor aerosol sensors placed in 19 classrooms across campus that provide real-time data on aerosol levels,” said Nazia Zakir, interim vice president of Infrastructure and Sustainability. “Fifteen additional sensors have been procured and will be installed this week to expand our sampling areas and provide additional data. I&S continues to partner with our valued researchers to implement Covid-19 mitigation measures on campus based on proven data and testing.”
For more information on building ventilation and filtration, visit facilities.gatech.edu/corona-vent.
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]]>Effective August 30, 2021, the USG well-being credit maximum will be increased to $200 from $100 and employees/spouses that receive the vaccine will be eligible for the full $200. Employees/spouses must be registered on the USG well-being platform to receive the credit. USG will waive the current requirement for employees to complete a health assessment to become eligible for well-being credits for 2021.
“We know the best way to protect system employees is through vaccination, and we urge all employees to take advantage of this extra incentive to get a vaccine,” said Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra. “We’re offering employees the opportunity to do what’s best in combating the pandemic while earning credits that will help with their benefits expenditures.” Further details will be posted as quickly as possible on the well-being website at usg.edu/well-being.
“After discussions about the best way to incentivize vaccination, we decided putting money back into your pockets through the well-being credit,” said Regent Neil L. Pruitt Jr., chair of the Board’s Personnel and Benefits Committee.
“I hope every USG employee will seize this opportunity to get the vaccine as soon as possible.”
Since the summer, USG institutions have been offering vaccinations to all USG students, faculty and staff regardless of location, and to discover a location closest to you, use the USG Vaccination Locator at usg.edu/vaccination.
In addition to vaccination sites at these USG institutions, students, faculty and staff can locate vaccination sites through the Georgia Department of Public Health’s vaccination locator as well.
]]>Additionally, all students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate each week in our free asymptomatic surveillance testing program, even if you have been fully vaccinated. We especially urge those who have not yet been vaccinated to get tested weekly. Find campus testing sites and locations.
Beginning today, Georgia Tech is introducing new rewards to encourage individuals to get vaccinated and test weekly:
If you are unvaccinated, you are at risk of contracting Covid-19 and infecting others, with potentially severe consequences for you or someone else. Please seek medical advice from your healthcare provider or a member of our Stamps Health Services team, led by Dr. Ben Holton, if you have doubts or concerns about getting vaccinated.
Like you, we want this academic year to be as safe as possible. The best way to achieve that outcome is for every member of the campus community to get vaccinated and continue to test weekly.
]]>Jess Hunt-Ralston
College of Sciences
The Georgia Tech IEN is an Interdisciplinary Research Institute (IRI) comprised of faculty and students interested in using the most advanced facilities for fabrication, characterization, and cleanroom processes, to facilitate research in micro- and nano-scale materials, devices, and systems. Applications of this research span all disciplines in science and engineering with particular emphasis on biomedicine, electronics, optoelectronics and photonics, and energy applications. As there can be a learning curve associated with initial proof-of-concept development and testing using cleanroom tools, this seed grant program was developed to expedite the initiation of new graduate students and new research projects into productive activity. Successful proposals to this program will identify a new, currently-unfunded research idea that requires core facility access to generate preliminary data necessary to pursue other funding avenues.
Program Eligibility
This program is open to any current Georgia Tech or GTRI faculty member as project PI. The graduate student performing the research should be in the first 2 years of their graduate studies, and preference will be given to students who are new users of the IEN facilities. The student’s research advisor (project PI) does not need to be a current user of the IEN cleanroom/lab facilities. Current PI awardees cannot apply in consecutive funding periods. Please make sure that the student will be available to use the facility during the majority of the grant period.
Award Information
Each seed grant award will consist of free core facility access to the student identified in the proposal over a 12-month period (4 consecutive billing quarters) up to a maximum of $6600 in charges. This award amount is based on the current access rates and the academic cap on quarterly charges and equates to two free billing quarters spread over one year in order to provide maximum flexibility in access. This maximum award amount is still in effect even if IEN non-cleanroom (lab) equipment, electron beam lithography (EBL), or tools in the Materials Characterization Facility (MCF) are required. Access to facilities other than IEN/MCF are not covered by the seed grant.
In addition, each student will be offered up to $500 in travel support to attend a scientific conference where they will present (oral or poster) the work resulting from this seed grant. This travel can be used during the award period or up to a period of 6 months following.
The number of awards for each proposal submission cycle will depend on the number and quality of the proposals.
Expectations
The seed grant will begin with a group kickoff meeting (mandatory for students) with IEN technical staff and will also include periodic check-in meetings as required. Members of the IEN processing staff will also be available to consult as needed during the project period. The designated student user is expected to only utilize the seed grant for core facility access while working with the PI on the proposed project. A short progress report is submitted at the mid-point of the project, and a longer report describing the research activities and outcomes is required at the completion of the award period. Students may also be requested to present a poster at the annual IEN User Day event.
Submission Schedule
This Seed Grant program is offered in two competitions each year with due dates on October 1, 2021 and April 1, 2022 for research activity that will begin on December 1, 2021 and June 1, 2022, respectively.
Proposal Requirements (2 pages max)
The proposal (submitted as a PDF file of no more than 2 pages) should do the following:
1. Provide a project title. List name of faculty PI and student at the top of the proposal.
2. Identify the research problem and specify the proposed methods.
3. Indicate the IEN research tools necessary to conduct the research. It is recommended that you obtain assistance with this component from members of the IEN or MCF technical staff.
4. Describe the relationship of this research to the PI’s other research activity and how it is distinct from and not an extension of ongoing work.
5. Identify the PI and the graduate student involved (including year of graduate work), and if there will be a mentoring relationship with the PI’s other students. Note if there are collaborative relationships with Georgia Tech faculty that bear on this research project.
6. Specify the potential for follow-on funding based on the results of this initial work.
Some helpful hints: Proposals should not excessively discuss the motivation and impact of the research. While this is helpful for understanding the importance of the work, please be brief. More important is a detailed description of what you propose to actually do (fabrication and/or characterization) in the core facilities so that this can be assessed for how feasible and realistic it is within the scope of IEN’s capabilities. We understand that this research is being undertaken by a beginning graduate student with limited experience who will likely require staff assistance. In addition, there may be multiple approaches to the research problem. However, you should clearly describe at least the most promising approach in detail within the page limitations.
Submit the PDF file by the specified due date to Ms. Amy Duke (amy.duke@ien.gatech.edu).
Review Criteria
Proposals will initially be reviewed by IEN staff for technical feasibility within the time frame. Rating of proposals will be done by a review committee of Georgia Tech faculty, with final selection of awardees by IEN staff. Review criteria include novelty of the research, clarity of the proposed work, work that is technically achievable within the time constraints, and likelihood of positive outcomes (future funding).
For more information, please contact Dr. David Gottfried, dsgottfried@gatech.edu, (404) 955-9733.
]]>“Before I highlight the incredibly impressive work we did this past year,” he said, “I first want to address what is on all of our minds these days — how to keep our community safe while we deliver on our crucially important education and research work.”
Cabrera said that after fighting the pandemic for a year a half, he had hoped the worst would be behind us. He said he has received messages of concern from many in the campus community who are dealing with a host of pandemic-related issues at home and at work.
“I know it’s hard,” he said, delivering his second Institute Address during the coronavirus pandemic. “There is no way to sugarcoat this. We are still in the middle of a long and difficult public health crisis that will continue to test us in countless ways. But we are in this together and, like last year, we will navigate through this successfully again.”
Cabrera emphasized the importance of everyone doing what they can to keep Georgia Tech safe, including using the tools that are available: getting vaccinated, wearing masks indoors, surveillance testing, and reporting symptoms and isolating.
Institute Accomplishments
Cabrera described what the Tech community accomplished together over the last year as nothing short of remarkable.
“We recruited our largest, most diverse class ever. We graduated our largest class. We won more research awards and had more economic impact than ever before,” he said. “Our donors, alumni, and friends stepped up, too. We had one of our best fund-raising years ever, and our endowment, held and managed by our foundation, reached a new record level.”
A recent report published by the University of Georgia listed Georgia Tech as the biggest contributor to the state economy among all public universities, accounting for more than $4 billion dollars, or 22% of the overall impact.
“Our growth will increase those numbers further and will help us continue to attract leading companies like Microsoft and Google to our neighborhood and serve the growth needs of the many who are here already,” he said.
Cabrera praised Tech’s research enterprise for its historic growth in the last year, reaching nearly $1.2 billion in research and other sponsored awards, and nearly $1.1 billion in research expenditures. More than $781 million dollars of Tech’s research awards were received by the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
He noted that all of these accomplishments reflect the goals agreed upon by the Tech community in the strategic plan launched last year.
“One of the main elements of this plan is the core values that will serve as the framework for all of us,” he said. “With a focus on students as our top priority and a drive toward excellence, diversity, collaboration and innovation, freedom of inquiry and expression, well-being, and acting as ethical and responsible stewards, our values are our guiding star.”
The Institute Address concluded with videos introducing Georgia Tech’s new visual identity, a refresh that better and more consistently reflects the Institute’s new mission and values, and the Institute’s 2021 public service announcement.
The address was followed by a question and answer session. The event was recorded and is available here.
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Institute Communications
]]>“One of the best things we've done to give back to Georgia is the way Stord has accelerated the overall technology ecosystem, mostly as it pertains to venture, and beyond that, just bringing more capital to the market,” said Sean Henry, CEO and co-founder of Stord.
It’s not just Stord that’s giving back to the state. Georgia Tech’s economic impact on the state of Georgia was $4 billion in fiscal year 2020, according to data recently released by the University System of Georgia.
Companies like SalesLoft, Greenlight, and Pindrop all graduated from Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) — the state’s oldest technology incubator — and have stayed headquartered in Atlanta, infusing millions in capital and thousands of jobs into the state economy. Other startup programs on campus include VentureLab, ENGAGE, and the Global Center for Medical Innovation, to name a few, helping students and faculty set up companies based on creative ideas and technological innovation.
Georgia Tech’s reputation as a leader in producing successful startups is further solidified by faculty research commercialization. Carbice and Sila Nanotechnologies were developed directly from the research of faculty members Baratunde Cola and Gleb Yushin, respectively, and both companies focus on providing energy alternatives to businesses and consumers. Mark Prausnitz’s microneedle technology developed at Georgia Tech has led to four different companies in the Atlanta area, employing 40 people.
“Georgia Tech provides fertile ground for inventing and developing technologies. The research provides excellent training for students, and the technologies have the promise of serving patients and growing the economy,” said Prausnitz, Regents’ Professor and J. Erskine Love Chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “As the biotech industry in Georgia continues to grow, there is an accelerating feedback loop that stimulates more research, more investments, and more successful companies.”
Technology transfer and research commercialization are a strategic focus for Georgia Tech, with Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar newly serving as the Institute’s chief commercialization officer.
“As someone who's taken advantage of the Georgia Tech commercialization ecosystem in the past as a faculty entrepreneur, it still surprises me how rich it is, and that gives me great optimism for the road ahead,” said Sivakumar, who is also the co-founder and director of CREATE-X.
Georgia Tech is committed to putting research into action. In fiscal year 2021, the Institute brought in $1.2 billion in new grants and contracts for research and other sponsored activities. Of this amount, $781 million was granted to the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the applied research division of the Institute. The awards enable its eight labs to solve complex challenges for the U.S. federal government, the state, and industry. Some of that money goes toward innovations in agriculture across Georgia, including robots that assist with peach picking, poultry deboning, and crop monitoring, to name a few.
While many rural areas of Georgia are benefiting from Georgia Tech’s technologies, Atlanta itself has emerged as one of the nation’s capital cities for technology and startup innovation. Part of the region’s success with its technology ecosystem is Midtown’s Technology Square, with the highest density of startups, corporate innovators, and academic researchers in the southeastern U.S.
Stord’s headquarters sit right next to Tech Square, and Henry’s office window looks across the street to the Scheller College of Business, where he took his first classes at Georgia Tech. Just this year, Stord opened a 386,000-square-foot warehouse 20 miles outside of Atlanta, where it employs about 75 people who gain the benefits of a startup, including equity and paid time off programs, as well as the corporate culture and engagement that doesn’t typically come in an industrial environment.
“There’s a lot more employee loyalty in Georgia versus a place like Silicon Valley. They want to buy into a long-term mission and be part of something greater,” said Henry.
Last week, Stord reached a major milestone — a $1.1 billion valuation. For Henry, it’s a surreal moment, but mostly one colored by feelings of gratitude.
“I think the main feeling is gratitude, and at the same time, the feeling that you have to do more in the sense of looking for ways to continue to give back,” he said. “The amount of trust, focus, and support the Georgia Tech ecosystem will give you is incredible, and can propel you far if you utilize it correctly. But ultimately, then you have a large responsibility and goal to try to give back as much as you can.”
To discover more about the vast research enterprise and technology ecosystem of Georgia Tech, visit report.research.gatech.edu.
]]>The GASCCP is a benefit for State of Georgia and University System employees that allows contributions to the charity of choice through payroll deductions or a one-time donation.
Faculty and staff have several options for contributing. Giving online through OneUSG Connect is the preferred method because it is confidential, secure, and simple to use.
To contribute:
Over the past four years of the campaign, an average of 717 Georgia Tech employees have participated in the campaign. As a testament to the generosity of its faculty and staff, Georgia Tech has earned the Governor’s Cup 13 years in a row for having the highest contribution per employee among state institutions of its size.
“I am proud to work at an institution with such a strong giving history,” said Serena Wallace, last year’s Charitable Campaign chair. “The generosity of staff and faculty in the midst of their own hardships shows what a caring campus community we have.”
There are more than 700 local, state, and national nonprofit organizations to which employees can contribute. Additional details about the campaign can be found at charitable.gatech.edu.
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]]>The high schoolers from across Georgia and the Southeast participated in a series of half-hour sessions with representatives from each academic program. The conference format was highly interactive, allowing high schoolers to view demonstrations, ask questions of undergraduate panelists, meet engineering graduate students, and participate in interactive design challenges.
Sessions were led by chairs, associate chairs, outreach directors, graduate students, undergraduates, and others. By the end of the conference, CoE schools presented a total of 64 well-crafted information sessions about their units. Because of the overwhelming support WIE received from each school, the number of students accepted to ECC more than tripled to 260 participants in 2023.
Parents also provided overwhelmingly positive feedback:
“The difference I notice at Tech 30 years after I started, is a much more supportive and inclusive environment for female engineers,” said parent Elizabeth Smith. “Thank you for helping to foster and grow that environment.”
Another parent, Steven Hattier, brought his daughter to Georgia Tech from New Orleans to explore the College’s programs.
“As a father of a daughter very passionate about aerospace engineering, … it is amazing to have the support and encouragement provided to her by the event. Keep up the great work.”
WIE Director Joy Harris said her team was grateful for the support from staff and faculty members across the College and for the care they showed to the students who attended the conference.
“The Women in Engineering Office looks forward to introducing even more high school students to engineering in the years to come,” she said.
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