Featured performers: Jonah Boaker, David Norsworthy
Lighting: Alex Riviere
Music: Soundwalk Collective

This event is part of the second annual TechArts Festival, an annual showcase of the creative spirit through student and faculty performances, events and exhibitions, from February 14 – March 1, 2014. Music, dance, theatre, digital, literary and visual arts flourish at the technological research university, inspiring and reflecting research and education. Kicking off with the world premiere of "Radical Love" by DramaTech Theater on February 14, the 2014 Festival includes works that showcase the convergence of art and technology, and also works that are solely artistic in nature. The Festival will be held at venues across the Georgia Tech campus.

See the full festival schedule at www.arts.gatech.edu.

Each year, more than 6,000 Georgia Tech undergraduates enroll in courses offered by the Writing and Communication Program (WCP). These multimodal courses are designed and taught by Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows. To showcase students’ artistic work created in these classes, the WCP partners with the Office of the Arts to present Student View, an annual juried exhibition. The artwork in Student View epitomizes the provocative synergy of form and content. Student View is displayed at the Ferst Center for the Arts and the Woodruff Arts Center. Selected pieces from Student View are added to the Writing and Communication Program’s permanent student collection displayed in the Stephen C. Hall Building.

 This event is part of the second annual TechArts Festival, an annual showcase of the creative spirit through student and faculty performances, events and exhibitions, from February 14 – March 1, 2014. Music, dance, theatre, digital, literary and visual arts flourish at the technological research university, inspiring and reflecting research and education. Kicking off with the world premiere of "Radical Love" by DramaTech Theater on February 14, the 2014 Festival includes works that showcase the convergence of art and technology, and also works that are solely artistic in nature. The Festival will be held at venues across the Georgia Tech campus.

See the full festival schedule at www.arts.gatech.edu.

TechArts Creative Expression Showcase:

5:00 p.m. - Interactive Art Installations

• Cortex - Interactive AI installation by GT students Zane Cochran and Harrison Daniels
• Viewpoints AI - Interactive AI installation by GT students Mikhail Jacob and Ivan Sysoev

6:30 p.m. - Showcase Reception T-Shirt Giveaway

7:00 p.m. - Performances:

• Tai Chi Impression- modern and Chinese dance by GT student Shel Han
• Emeralds of the Alhambra, Remembering Convivencia in Muslim Spain- literary presentation by GT professor Dr. John Cressler
  The author will sign copies of his book before and after the showcase.
• Apprentice: An AI Drawing Partner for Collaborative Art Making-research presentation by GT student Nicholas Davis
• Feel the Power of the Dork Side- comedy with GT professor Dr. Pete Ludovice

This event is part of the second annual TechArts Festival, an annual showcase of the creative spirit through student and faculty performances, events and exhibitions, from February 14 – March 1, 2014. Music, dance, theatre, digital, literary and visual arts flourish at the technological research university, inspiring and reflecting research and education. Kicking off with the world premiere of "Radical Love" by DramaTech Theater on February 14, the 2014 Festival includes works that showcase the convergence of art and technology, and also works that are solely artistic in nature. The Festival will be held at venues across the Georgia Tech campus.

See the full festival schedule at www.arts.gatech.edu.

Jazz Connect!  Arrive at 7 p.m. for this free pre-show talk with WCLK host Jay Edwards about Pat Metheny and his music.

Sven Behrens, Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Abstract: It has been known for more than a century that colloidal particles with the “right” wetting properties can stabilize emulsions, much like surfactants or amphiphilic polymers do. Today, particle-stabilized emulsions (so-called Pickering emulsions) play an important role in many industrial applications, but our fundamental understanding of the connection between particle properties and emulsion characteristics is still surprisingly poor. We can, for example, prepare an emulsion by mixing equal amounts of an oil phase and an aqueous particle dispersion; but even with complete knowledge of both liquids and all particle properties, current theory fails to predict reliably the stability and even the type (w/o or o/w) of the emulsion formed.

This presentation will discuss the source of such difficulties and propose several steps toward an improved theoretical description and better practical control of emulsion properties. In particular, I will address the role of electrostatic interactions between a particle and a liquid interface before and after particle adsorption, and show that widely neglected “image forces” can prevent particle adsorption and emulsion stabilization altogether. For the case of successful particle adsorption, the particle’s contact angle with the interface is found to be influenced strongly by the particle charge and surface roughness in ways that are not usually accounted for, but have important consequences for the long term stability of Pickering emulsions.

Bio: Sven Behrens holds a diploma in Physics from Goettingen University (Germany) and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. After two years of postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago and five years of industrial research in the polymer research division of BASF, Germany, he joined the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering faculty at Georgia Tech in 2007. Research in the Behrens group addresses colloidal interactions in aqueous and nonpolar solutions, interfacial assembly processes, and protein stability.

"Dynamic, Reversible and Hybrid Materials: Properties and Applications"

Dynamic systems that can undergo reversible processes are of great interest for the development of new materials, sensors, and biolabels. The talk will illustrate some of the recent results on soft structures based on metal complexes able to aggregate in fibers, gels and soft mechanochromic materials.  The use of platinum complexes as building block for luminescent reversible piezochromic and mechanochromic materials will be illustrated. The emission of the compounds can be tuned by an appropriate choice of the coordinated ligands as well as of their aggregation in different structures. The formation of soft assemblies allows the tuning of the emission color, by pressure and temperature leading to a new class of materials possessing reversible properties. Functional systems can also be created using inert or active nanocontainers such as microporous and mesoporous silica based nanoparticles. In particular examples using the crystalline allumino silicates, zeolite L, and mesoporous organosilicates will be discussed since these materials can act as nanocontainers and due to their biocompatibility used for biomedical applications. The different functionalization of their surface will be discussed, in particular with the aim to show that the particles can be decorated with different functional groups including biocompatible molecules and are able to perfom drug and DNA or RNA delivery inside the cell. The delivery can be probed by a kinetic analyses after the nanoparticles internalization. In particular using confocal fluorescent microscopy it is possible to follow the release of each single component as well as the positioning of the nanocontainers in real time and space. Such achievement allows us to study the fate of the different units and their release time. Also it will be shown how the molecules entrapped in the ordered channels can become active components. The alignment of electroactive molecules inside the narrow channels of a zeolite L, resulted in the formation of molecular wires. The molecular wire length is tunable between 30 and 100 nm and electrical measurements on the 1D assemblies were performed. Finally an ultra-high (> 2000%) room-temperature magnetoresistance was observed applying only a few mT. 

About Luisa De Cola

Since October 2012, De Cola is  professor at the University of Strasbourg (I.S.I.S.) as chair of Supramolecular and Bio-Material Chemistry, and part time scientist at the INT-KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany.

She was born in Messina, Italy, where she studied chemistry. After a post-doc in USA she moved back to Italy and in 1990 she was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna (Prof. V. Balzani group). In 1998 she moved as Full Professor to the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In 2004 she accepted a call from the University of Muenster as full professor in chemistry and physics. She has received several awards, the most recent being the ERC advanced grant (2009), the IUPAC award as one of the Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (2011), the Gutenberg chair award (2012). She was elected as member of the Academia Europeae in 2012.

Her main interests are luminescent and electroluminescent molecules and their assemblies for the creation of novel materials and porous structures for bio-applications. 

The 2014 ceremony will take place Tuesday, April 8 from 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. in Harrison Square. 

For more information and to see a listing of those we will remember this year, please visit the event page at www.specialevents.gatech.edu/whenthewhistleblows 

Keynote speakers: 

• Antoine Kahn (Princeton University), "Chemical Doping in Organic Semiconductors"
• Ching Tang (University of Rochester), "OLED - The Next Generation Display Technology"
• Valy Vardeny (University of Utah), "Organic Spintronics"
• Vivian Wing-Wah Yam (University of Hong Kong), "Versatile Chromophoric Building Blocks - From Design to Supramolecular Assembly and Materials"

Participants at the Symposium have the opportunity to:

• Learn about cutting-edge research from world-renowned faculty members
• Learn about research and products being worked on at partner companies
• Meet top students and graduates who are prepared for the workforce
• Discuss emerging trends with recognized experts in the field
• Find knowledge and ideas to solve challenging problems
• Connect with global researchers and companies

View the Agenda.

The Symposium will take place at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center and lodging is available at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel or other nearby hotels. 

About Georgia Tech-COPE

The Georgia Tech Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) was established in 2003 with the objective to become a premier research and educational resource center. The focus on creating an ecosystem that would advance flexible organic photonic and electronic materials and devices and augment the educational experience for students and postdoctorals has resulted in numerous scientific achievements.

Admission is free to all graduates and their families. More information can be found at www.gatech.edu/commencement/celebration.

Admission is free to all graduates and their families. More information can be found at www.commencement.gatech.edu/celebration.

For more information, visit www.specialevents.gatech.edu/student-honors-luncheon. An RSVP is required to attend this event.

This will be a ticketed event. Students are required to RSVP to attend the ceremony and receive guest tickets. Visit www.commencement.gatech.edu/tickets for ticketing information.

Jennifer Cochran, PhD
Associate Professor of Bioengineering
Stanford University

The Cochran lab uses rational and combinatorial methods to engineer protein and peptide ligands with improved biophysical and biological properties. Applications of these engineered proteins in biomedical applications will be discussed. As examples, recent results will be presented on engineered peptides that have been used to target and image brain tumors, and an engineered protein with femtomolar target binding affinity that exhibits a remarkable ability to treat tumor metastasis in several aggressive cancer models.

Jennifer Cochran is an associate professor of bioengineering, and has a secondary appointment in chemical engineering. Her research group uses interdisciplinary approaches in chemistry, engineering, and biophysics to study complex biological systems and develop new technologies for basic science and biomedical applications. Professor Cochran's research is driven by the philosophy that in order to effectively control physiological processes it is necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive these processes. Her group is interested in elucidating molecular details of receptor-mediated cell signaling events; at the same time developing protein and peptide-based tools that will allow manipulation of cellular processes on a molecular level. For biomedical applications, rational design and combinatorial methods are used to create designer protein therapeutics and diagnostic agents for applications such as regenerative medicine and cancer imaging and therapy.

Faculty host: Julie Champion

Adam J. Engler, PhD, is an assistant professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and is affiliated with the Material Science and Biomedical Sciences Programs. He also is a resident scientist at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. His research focuses on how physical properties of the niche influence stem cell function and misregulate muscle function and heart performance during disease and aging. Engler earned his B.S.E. degree in bioengineering and a PhD in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania in the lab of Dennis Discher, PhD. Engler then moved to Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Jean Schwarzbauer, PhD, where his work was funded by the National Cancer Institute. Engler is the 2008 recipient of the Rupert Timpl and Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Awards from the International Society for Matrix Biology and the Biomedical Engineering Society, respectively. He is also a 2009 NIH Innovator Award recipient, a 2010 Young Investigator Awardee from the Human Frontier Science Program, and 2013 DoD IDEA awardee for his work on the extracellular matrix and cancer stem cells.

Suggestions for potential speakers are always welcome, please contact Marissa Cooke

Andrew Miller

Title:

 "Theory Meets Reality: Motivating Physical Activity in Adolescents Using Social Media"

Abstract:

Can social media help reduce adolescent obesity? Theories of social behavior change suggest social media could play a key role in fostering a 'new normal' around everyday fitness behaviors. Over the last several years, I've been studying how social computing technologies can affect everyday health behaviors. In this talk, I'll present the design, development and deployment of StepStream, a social pervasive health system for middle school students to share and encourage everyday fitness activity. StepStream is a multi-week pervasive health deployment consisting of an after school program, wireless pedometers and a social network site. I've used it to better understand how online social activity can motivate offline health behaviors in youth. In this talk, I'll show I designed the system in collaboration with students from a local participating school, and the lessons I've learned from this project.

Bio:

Andrew Miller (http://www.andrewmiller.net) is a PhD Candidate in Human-Centered Computing at Georgia Tech. With his advisor, Professor Elizabeth Mynatt, Andrew studies how social computing technologies can affect everyday health behaviors. He was recognized by the GVU as a 2012 Foley Scholar, and his most recent publication "Design Strategies for Youth-Focused Pervasive Social Health Games" won Best Student Paper at Pervasive Health 2013. Andrew holds a BA in Cognitive Science from Occidental College, and an MS-HCI from Georgia Tech.

This event is organized by the Student Government Association, with support from the office of Government and Community Relations. It is an opportunity for students to get a first-hand look at state government during the legislative session. Students volunteer to attend through the Student Government Association and will ride a bus to the Capitol for our fifth Georgia Tech Student Day. It is attended by students and legislators with an affiliation with Georgia Tech together with Georgia Tech alumni and friends who work in and around the Capitol. 

Online registration has closed. Please contact Olivia Watkins if you are interested in attending.

Atlanta was founded in 1837 as the end of the Western & Atlantic railroad line. Today it remains a transportation hub, home of the world's busiest airport. The city is a banking center and home to 13 Fortune 500 companies.

In the past decade, the population of metro Atlanta has jumped by nearly 40 percent to 4.1 million people. While such rapid growth has posed challenges, it also has presented opportunities: the transformation of the BeltLine, the inauguration of Atlanta's new streetcar, the revitalization of Olympic venues, and the cultivation of sustainable communities.

Twice so far in this decade, APA has honored Atlanta with Great Neighborhoods awards. In 2011 suburban Ansley Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, was recognized for its walkable neighborhoods and lush green spaces. Two years later, transit-oriented Downtown Decatur won for its mix of preservation and revitalization.

In 2014, join APA in celebrating a historic city where planning's on the rise.

______________

Engineering Motif-Specific Antibodies: A New Era for Cell Signaling

Highly complex signaling networks control biological processes ranging from development and homeostasis to cell death. Abnormal regulation of signaling networks can result in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. Consequently, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie both normal and abnormal cellular responses will identify new disease-related markers and therapeutic targets. Cells employ a combination of biophysical and biochemical events to elicit a cellular response. In particular, chemical or post-translational modification (PTM) of key proteins provides cells with a highly dynamic way to both transmit and store information. However, accurate detection and quantification of PTMs often requires the generation of PTM-specific antibodies. Traditional antibody generation platforms that rely upon the immunization of animals or in vitro display methods exhibit poor success rates for the development of PTM-specific antibodies.

I will discuss a renewable synthetic antibody strategy to develop PTM-specific antibodies via the engineering of a novel motif-specific binding pocket into an antibody scaffold. Inspired by a natural phosphate-binding motif, I designed and structurally characterized antibody scaffolds with binding pockets specific for three common modifications: phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, and phosphotyrosine. The combination of these novel scaffolds with in vitro antibody generation methods then enabled the rapid generation of fifty phospho- and target-specific antibodies against 70% of the targets. Ultimately, this engineered scaffold strategy may provide a general solution for the rapid, robust development of renewable anti-PTM or anti-peptide antibodies for signaling, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.

Platinum compounds are a mainstay of cancer therapy, with more than half of all patients receiving an infusion of one of three FDA approved drugs (cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin). The biological action of cisplatin was discovered by serendipity in the late 1960s. Our laboratory has subsequently established the chemical nature of events leading up to the binding of platinum anticancer drugs to DNA, their principal target in the nucleus of cancer cells. The major adducts are cross-links between two adjacent nucleotides on one strand of the double helix, which bend and distort the duplex, interrupting cellular processing by RNA and DNA polymerases. We discovered more recently that related platinum compounds, capable of forming only a single link to DNA, are also extremely active against cancer cells, leading to exciting new strategies and candidates for drug development. Details of how these 'monofunctional' compounds work will be described. From the chemical principles learned in the process have emerged a much larger family of anticancer drug candidates, including those based on osmium and rhenium in addition to platinum.

Stephen J. Lippard, whose research spans the fields of biological and inorganic chemistry, is the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Lippard studies biological interactions involving metal ions, focusing on reactions and physical and structural properties of metal complexes. Such complexes can be useful as cancer drugs and as models for the active sites of metalloproteins. Metal ions also promote key biological reactions in enzymes and metal complexes can be employed to sense biological signaling agents.

This is event is jointly sponsored by the Integrated Cancer Research Center and Georgia Tech's School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

• animal handling
• development of contrast agents
• tumor models
• fMRI in humans and animals
• flow MRI
• image processing
• q-space imaging
• single-sided NMR

For more information about the event, contact Johannes Leisen

The workshop is sponsored by the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory and the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech.

Taby Ahsan, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tulane University and a member of the FDA Cell, Tissues, and Gene Therapies Advisory Council (CTGTAC). She got her B.S.E. degree at the University of Pennsylvania, PhD in Bioengineering with Robert Sah, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, and completed her postdoctoral training with Robert Nerem, PhD, at Georgia Tech. In addition, Ahsan worked in industry for a few years at the tissue engineering company Advanced Tissue Sciences. The Ahsan research laboratory focuses on using the physical microenvironment to control stem cell fate in the context of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Suggestions for potential speakers are always welcome, please contact Marissa Cooke

Suggestions for potential speakers are always welcome, please contact Marissa Cooke

During the Expo, students from ME, ISyE, BME, ECE, and ID will showcase their senior desing projects, some of which have real commercialization potential!  You will not want to miss this spectacular event during this milestone year.

• More than 600 GT graduating seniors will participate in over 125 design teams from multiple disciplines
• Teams will showcase prototypes that analyze and solve real-world problems
• Teams will be competing for up to $8,000 in prize money
• Expected attendance is over 1,500

For more information and judges' registration, visit the Capstone website.

"Recent Progress in Organic Solar Cells: From a Lab Curiosity to a Serious Photovoltaic Technology"

Carbon-based organic semiconductors have many potential advantages like easy large-area preparation on flexible substrates, large variety of materials, and low cost. Although known for a century, organics have achieved little impact until OLED displays entered the market about a decade ago, demonstrating that organic semiconductors are ready for significant commercial markets.

In contrast to light-emitting devices, organic solar cells have so far achieved little commercial impact due to low efficiency and lifetime. However, organic solar cells have recently achieved significant progress and have crossed the 10% efficiency mark. For a broad application, further significant improvements are needed.

This talk overviews the key features of solid-state organic solar cells and recent developments in the field. One central research area is the design of the bulk heterojunction active layer, requiring a nanoscale phase separation and optimized morphology to achieve efficient operation. A key challenge of the field is to find design rules which relate the molecular structure of absorber materials to layer morphology and cell properties. The difficulty is that small changes of the molecular structure, leaving the electronic properties of the individual molecule nearly unchanged, can lead to large changes in the crystal packing and molecular orientation, causing significant differences in the electronic properties in the active layer. Furthermore, I will discuss highly efficient tandem structures with optimized electrical and optical properties. Very efficient recombination contacts can be realized by n- and p-type doped transport layers. Structures based on these approaches have reached efficiencies of 12% and have the potential to reach approximately 20%. Furthermore, these high-efficiency cells also show encouraging lifetimes.

About Karl Leo

Karl Leo obtained the Diplomphysiker degree from the University of Freiburg in 1985, working with Adolf Goetzberger at the Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme. In 1988, he obtained the PhD degree from the University of Stuttgart for a PhD thesis performed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung in Stuttgart under supervision of Hans Queisser. From 1989 to 1991, he was postdoc at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, U.S.A. From 1991 to 1993, he was with the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen, Germany. Since 1993, he is full professor of optoelectronics at the Technische Universität Dresden, until 2013, he has been also working at the Fraunhofer-Institution for Organics, Materials and Electronic Devices COMEDD. His main interests are novel semiconductor systems like semiconducting organic thin films; with special emphasis to understand basics device principles and the optical response. His work was recognized by the following awards: Otto-Hahn-Medaille (1989), Bennigsen-Förder-Preis (1991), Leibniz-Award (2002), award of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy (2002), Manfred-von-Ardenne-Preis (2006), and Zukunftspreis of the German president (2011). He is cofounder of several companies, including Novaled AG and Heliatek GmbH.

Each participating company will be invited to access all the student résumés submitted. To
sign up and submit your resumé prior to the ECE Career Fair and Ph.D. Forum, click here.

The following will be in attendance on January 14:

Agilent Technologies  
AT&T
Capital One
Cardlytics 
Cisco Systems 
Corning Incorporated
Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) 
IvySys Technologies 
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 
KLA-Tencor 
Knowles Electronics
Lockheed Martin
National Renewable Energy Laboratory 
Newcomb & Boyd
Nou Systems Inc.
Oracle 
Qualcomm 
Raytheon
Southwire 
Square
ViaSat, Inc. 

What are the key drivers affecting EV and PHEV deployment? Incentives? Infrastructure? Technology? Do EVs and PHEVs fill distinctive segments in this competitive marketplace? What is motivating the consumer to purchase either of these vehicles?

Mark your calendar for the Wednesday, February 26th program. The discussion will be both visionary and pragmatic.

Andrew Lennon, eMobility After Sales Program Manager, Porsche Cars North America (PCNA)

Andrew leads and manages all aspects of the PHEV program as it relates to vehicle and electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) service and support activities for dealers and customers. Andrew and his team are the main dealer contact point within PCNA AfterSales for all issues related to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Before joining Porsche’s PHEV program, Andrew has held various positions within PCNA that include regulatory affairs and technical support as relates to the Porsche product line.

Jules Toraya, Zero Waste Manager, City of Atlanta

Currently, Jules focuses on reducing the environmental impact of waste in downtown Atlanta’s convention district. Previously, he served as a Project Manager for the Center for Transportation (CTE) and the Environment for Clean Cities Atlanta and the City of Atlanta.  This effort led to the development of the City of Atlanta’s plug-in electric vehicle readiness strategy, which also developed a plug-in electric vehicle readiness workbook for municipalities throughout the Atlanta metropolitan region.  His efforts resulted in CTE securing $545,000 from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Vehicle Development Program. In addition, Jules coordinates a local public-private partnership, Plug-in Georgia, for plug-in electric vehicle outreach and advocacy.

Jules’s next project is to re-purpose veterans to gain employment developing sustainable transportation systems in conjunction with the renewable energy market VFAI (Veterans Fuel American Innovation).

Greg Crittenden, Founder and CEO, Metro Plug-In

After a 30 year career as a commercial and military pilot, Greg started Metro Plug-In in early 2010 with the idea of contributing, in a small way, to the energy security and independence of the U.S.

Since that time, Metro Plug-In has grown to become a nationally recognized leader in EV charging station sales and installation expertise.  The company has customers throughout the U.S., including Hawaii, and the Caribbean.  In addition, Metro Plug-In is an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) Industry Specialist as approved and designated by the Eaton Corporation.

On March 26, plan to join an interactive discussion with the author of the insightful Edison Electric Institute report on the implications of disruptive technologies on utility business models.

Each participating company will be invited to access all the student résumés submitted. To
sign up and submit your resumé prior to the ECE Career Fair and Ph.D. Forum, click here.

The following will be in attendance on January 13:

AirWatch   
ALPLA Inc.   
Altera Corporation   
American Transmission Co.   
Bosch   
Bosch Recsolu   
Capitol College 
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  
Cirrus Logic  
Continental Automotive Systems  
Duke Energy  
ENERCON Services, Inc.   
Epic 
Ericsson  
FoxConn Electronics, Inc 
Georgia Power  
Harris Corporation   
IgnitionOne  
Leidos Engineering, LLC  
LSI Corporation   
MathWorks  
Microsoft   
Mobiquity, Inc.   
Mustang Technology Group 
NextEra Energy, Inc.   
Norfolk Southern  
Northrop Grumman   
Novelis   
NVIDIA  
Polytron Inc.  
Schlumberger
Schneider Electric  
Southwest Research Institute   
Texas Instruments  
We Energies   

Underneath these emerging applications basic questions exist about value and impact of the data and information. Does actionable information change corporate decision-making or individual behavior? How? What ROI’s are achievable?

Plan to join this timely discussion on the increasingly important role of information and energy. Speakers include:

• Peter C. Evans, Vice President, Center for Global Enterprise
• Sameer Vittal, Manager – Advanced Analytics, Power Generation Services, GE Power & Water
• John Bracey, President, Skye Energy

Full speaker bios and information.

Register for free online.

On January 29, plan to join an interactive discussion with the author of the insightful Edison Electric Institute report and a technology analyst with the Electric Power Research Institute on the implications of disruptive technologies on utility business models.

Speakers include:

• Peter Kind, Executive Director, Energy Infrastructure Advocates and Senior Advisor, Macquarie Capital — author of the Edison Electric Institute report “Disruptive Challenges: Financial Implications and Strategic Responses to a Changing Retail Electric Business,” Peter has over 30 years of investment banking experience, with a specialization in utility and power sector corporate finance. He holds a MBA in Finance from New York University and a BBA in Accounting from Iona College. 
• Ronald Schoff, Program Manager, Technology Innovation, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) —  Ron’s responsibilities include managing and conducting evaluations of advanced power generation technologies, including Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) with carbon capture and storage (CCS), ultrasupercritical pulverized coal (USCPC), natural gas-fired combined cycles (NGCC), and power cycles incorporating carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS). Ron has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a MS in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University. He is a senior member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
• John Higley, Managing Partner, Energy and Environment Enterprises, former Managing Partner and Global Energy & Utilities Partner, Deloitte Consulting — Energy and Environmental Enterprises provides advisory services to corporations and utilities for energy supply management, renewable resource evaluation and integration, and resource optimization. Prior to his current firm, John was the Managing Partner for Deloitte’s Global Energy and Utilities Practice, which engaged in strategic analysis, mergers and acquisitions and systems integration and deployment. John is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Industrial Engineering.

The MODEX Supply Chain Conference will include nearly 200 complimentary educational sessions outlining leading trends, best practices and state-of-the-art equipment and technology solutions. MODEX keynotes will feature Edward H. Bastian, President of Delta Air Lines; former Walmart CEO Lee Scott; and Scott Sopher, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Supply Chain practice. MODEX 2014 will also be collocated with the 2014 Georgia Logistics Summit and Supply Chain & Transportation USA (SC&T USA).

MATERIAL HANDLING 101 COURSE OFFERING

In conjunction with Modex 2014 and the 2014 Georgia Logistics Summit, the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute offers its Material Handling 101: Fundamentals, Analysis and Selection professional education course. The workshop provides an introduction to the field of material handling including systems analysis, equipment selection, and the relationship of material handling to other activities and operations of the industrial plant or warehouse. Presented around the world in various forms for more than 30 years, it is the definitive introduction to the field and an excellent refresher course for those who want an update on the latest trends. The two-day course, held March 17th & 18th at the Georgia World Congress Center, will include case examples and a guided exercise to ensure mastery of the techniques presented. Please visit http://www.scl.gatech.edu/mh101 for more information.

Title:
Design and Analysis of Communication Systems Using Diffusion-Based Molecular Communication Among Synthetic Bacteria

Abstract:
The design of biological networks using bacteria as the basic elements is initially motivated by a phenomenon called quorum sensing. In this phenomenon, the bacteria estimate the bacterial density in the environment by producing and sensing specific types of signaling molecules. Due to the randomness in the individual behavior of each bacterium, reliable communication between two bacteria is almost impossible. Therefore, we have proposed that a population of bacteria in a cluster is considered as a node in the network capable of molecular transmission and reception. This proposition enables us to form a reliable node out of many unreliable bacteria.

In order to study such networks, one fundamental step is to study the functionality of bacteria-population transmitter and receiver nodes as well as the diffusion channel that is used between the two nodes. The maximum achievable rate of communication between two nodes in the network, signaling schemes and reliability are among the problems of interest.

Bio:
Arash Einolghozati received his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2010 and his master's degree from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in 2013. 

He is currently a graduate research assistant in the Center for Signal and Information Processing (CSIP) and pursuing his Ph.D. degree at the School of ECE, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. His current research interests include information theory, molecular communications, and statistical learning.

Please note that this workshop is intended only for current clients of the Counseling Center.

Click here for more information including how to register.

Space is first come, first served, but priority is given to those who have registered.

Please contact William Baer (Phone: 404-385-2211) if you need additional information.

Part of the G.L.U.E. ('Graduate Library User Education') Workshop Series

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: December 5
Topic: “Using Structure to Solve Underdetermined Systems of linear Equations and Over-determined Systems of Quadratic Equations”
Presenters(s): Justin Romberg

Abstract

We will start by giving a high-level overview of the fundamental results in the field that has come to be known as compressive sensing. The central theme of this body of work is that underdetermined systems of linear equations can be meaningfully “inverted” if they have structured solutions. Two examples of structure would be if the unknown entity is a vector, which is sparse (has only a few “active” entries), or if it is a matrix, which is low rank. We discuss some of the applications of this theory in signal processing and machine learning.

In the second part of the talk, we will show how some of these structured recovery results give us new insights into solving systems of quadratic and bilinear equations. In particular, we will show how recasting classical problems like channel separation and blind deconvolution as a structured matrix factorization gives us new insight into how to solve them.

Bio

Justin Romberg is an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received B.S.E.E. (1997), M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2004) degrees from Rice University in Houston, Texas. From Fall 2003 until Fall 2006, he was a postdoctoral scholar in Applied and Computational Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology. In the fall of 2006, Romberg joined the ECE faculty at Georgia Tech. In 2009, he received a PECASE award and a Packard Fellowship, and in 2010, he was named a Rice University Outstanding Young Engineering Alumnus. Romberg is currently on the editorial board for the SIAM Journal on Imaging Science.

What:  College of Computing, UROC Job Fair

When: Thursday Dec. 5th, 3-5pm

Where:  Klaus 1116 E/W

You will hear 5 min presentations from faculty members, from across the college, about projects that have openings for UROC students.  Pizza will be served.  

Best, 

Andrea Thomaz & Alex Orso

CoC UROC Coordinators

Please note that this workshop is intended only for current clients of the Counseling Center.

Click here for more information including how to register.

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: January 9
Topic: “Quantification and Low Dimensional Representation of Material Internal Structure Using Spatial Correlations”
Presenters(s): Surya R. Kalidindi
Abstract:
Almost all materials that relate to advanced technologies exhibit a richness of hierarchical internal structures at multiple length scales (spanning from atomic to macroscale). Certain salient features of this structure control the performance characteristics of interest for a selected application. Although there is often some intuition about what these salient features might be, validated protocols do not yet exist for reliably identifying these features. Further, efficient computational protocols do not yet exist for tracking their evolution during the various unit processing/synthesis steps employed in the industrial manufacture of new products/devices. In fact, the optimization of the material structure resulting in improved performance of engineering components is often the main motivation behind all activities in the field of materials science and engineering. Despite its important role, a unified computational framework for the quantification of the material hierarchical structure does not exist currently.  In this talk, I will describe a rigorous theoretical framework developed by my research group for the stochastic quantification of the material structure at any selected length scale, utilizing spatial correlations as the central metrics. This framework combines the use of n-point spatial correlations (or n-point statistics) and principal component analyses to arrive at objective, low-dimensional, representations of material internal structure in establishing core materials knowledge systems.  
Bio:
After earning a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, Surya R. Kalidindi joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. In 2013, his research group moved to the George W. Woodruff School at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he has courtesy appointments in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and in the School of Computational Science and Engineering. Kalidindi’s research efforts over the past two decades have made seminal contributions to the fields of crystal plasticity and microstructure design. His current research is directed at developing and validating new data science enabled workflows for the successful realization of accelerated and cost-effective development of enhanced performance materials for advanced technologies.

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: February 6
Topic: "Understanding Language Variation in Social Media"
Presenter: Jacob Eisenstein

Abstract:

An increasing amount of informal communication is conducted in written form, through computer-mediated channels such as social media. This offers new challenges and opportunities for large-scale text analysis. I argue that social media analytics should be guided by an understanding of how social media language differs from other written language, and why. I will describe a series of studies that document language variation across a number of different social variables. In some cases, social media writing tracks spoken language variation; in other cases, relatively novel "netspeak" terms like emoticons and abbreviations can also be strongly correlated with demographics and geography. Our recent work concerns language change over time, using a new dataset of hundreds of thousands of authors over nearly three years. Aggregating across thousands of words, we build a unified model of the geographic and demographic factors that drive the spread of words between cities.

This research is in collaboration with David Bamman, Brendan O'Connor, Tyler Schnoebelen, Noah A. Smith, Eric P. Xing, and Yi Yang.

Bio:

Jacob Eisenstein is an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. He works on statistical natural language processing, focusing on social media analysis, discourse, and latent variable models. Eisenstein was a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Illinois. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT in 2008, winning the George M. Sprowls dissertation award.

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: January 23
Topic: "Interactive Visual Analytics for Text Data Analysis"
Presenter: Haesun Park

Abstract:

Many modern data sets can be represented in high dimensional vector spaces and have benefited from computational methods that utilize advanced techniques from numerical linear algebra and optimization. Visual analytics approaches have contributed greatly to data understanding and analysis due to utilization of both automated algorithms and human’s quick visual perception and interaction. However, visual analytics targeting high dimensional large-scale data such as a document collection has been challenging due to low dimensional screen space with limited pixels to represent data.

We present some of the key foundational methods for supervised dimension reduction such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA), dimension reduction and clustering/topic discovery by nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and visual spatial alignment for effective fusion and comparisons by orthogonal Procrustes. We demonstrate how these methods can effectively support interactive visual analytic tasks that involve large-scale document data sets in two of the visual analytics systems, UTOPIAN for interactive topic discovery and VisIRR for visual document retrieval and recommendation.

Bio:

Prior to joining the College of Computing's School of Computational Science and Engineering faculty in 2005, Haesun Park was on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, from 1987 to 2005, and from 2003 to 2005, she also served as a program director for the Computing and Communication Foundations Division at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va. She is the director of the NSF/DHS Foundations of Data and Visual Analytics (FODAVA-Lead) initiative and executive director of the Center for Data Analytics (CDA) at Georgia Tech.

Park's current research interests include numerical algorithms, pattern recognition, bioinformatics, information retrieval, and data mining. She has published more than 100 research papers in these areas and has served on numerous conference committees and journal editorial boards. Currently, she is on the editorial board of BIT Numerical Mathematics, SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications, and the International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications. In 2008 and 2009, Park served as a conference co-chair for the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining, and in 2013, she was elected as a SIAM Fellow.

To attend, students are required to apply online. Applications are due by January 1, 2014. If accepted to the program, cost of attendance is $15 which includes a SLF14 t-shirt and meals for the program (breakfast, lunch, and optional dinner). Payment can be made via cash, check, or Buzzcard at the event.

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: February 27
Topic: “Time Series Data in Healthcare: From Mental Health to the ICU”
Presenter: Gari Clifford

Abstract:

The enormous volume of available data from patients in both the hospital and outpatient settings presents both exciting opportunities for healthcare and several key problems. These include:

1. Traditional time series analysis algorithms are tuned to be over-sensitive, which results in many false alarms, and the expectation that an expert will over-read each alarm. With patient-to-doctor ratios ranging from 100 to 50,000 to one, this paradigm will no longer address the issues.
2. Multiple sensors can record similar information, and so we must build trust metrics to identify the signals we can trust, or work out ways to combine the signals together in a robust manner.
3. Humans disagree on diagnoses and labels, even when the disease is well described. Inter- and intra-human bias and variance in diagnoses must be addressed, particularly if we are to build automated algorithms from the labeled data.
4. Data labeling of medical data is vast and most likely impossible to do so by hand. Low-cost, semi-supervised and unsupervised approaches to event labeling, state definition, and feature extraction are needed. Finding clinically acceptable approaches to address this problem may be key to developing appropriate predictive machine learning algorithms.

Bio:

Gari Clifford recently joined the Emory and Georgia Tech faculties as an associate professor of bioinformatics and biomedical engineering. Previously, he was an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Oxford University and the director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Healthcare Innovation at Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

Clifford’s research group explores machine learning and signal processing to extract actionable information from medical data. In particular, the lab focuses on intensive care medicine, cardiovascular disease, circadian rhythm disorders, sleep, and mental health. This research is aligned with the concept of sustainable healthcare, and he has a particular interest in mHealth in resource-constrained settings and circadian rhythms.

Prior to joining the faculty at Oxford, Clifford was a principal research scientist at MIT, where he spent six years managing the engineering effort behind a multi-million dollar project to collect and analyze the world's largest public database of hospital data. Clifford also serves on the international advisory and editorial boards of several organizations, including the NIH Public Access Resource, PhysioNet, and the Institute of Physics' Journal of Physiological Measurement.

In addition to licensing several patents, Clifford has been closely involved in the regulatory approval of medical devices for more than ten years. Also, he has received several awards for his research, including the 2009 Martin Black Prize, the 2010 mHealth Alliance Award, the 2011 International Engineering World Health Design Competition, the Dell Best Innovation Leveraging Technology Award in 2012, and the Computing in Cardiology Challenges in 2008, 2012, and 2013 for ECG analysis and mortality prediction.

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: February 20
Topic: “Predictive Analytics for Improving the Reliability and Sustainability of Engineering Systems”
Presenter: Nagi Gebraeel

Abstract: 

Many high-valued engineering assets used in the manufacturing and service sectors are today being monitored by hundreds and perhaps thousands of sensors. Typically, the goal is to monitor system performance and degradation for numerous purposes, one of which is the prevention of unexpected failures. This talk focuses on how to effectively utilize sensor data to predict future system degradation and remaining lifetime (aka. prognostics).

The talk will begin by introducing a basic prognostic framework and how it has been implemented (through a live streaming demo, if possible). Next, the talk will focus on some scalability challenges that arise once we start dealing with big (sensor) data, which will be followed by a moderately technical discussion about some of the recently developed state-of-the-art modeling techniques that have targeted a few facets of this problem. 

Bio:

Nagi Gebraeel is the Chandler Family Associate Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue University in 1998 and 2003, respectively. Gebraeel’s research interests focus on leveraging condition-based sensor data streams to improve the predictability of unexpected failures of engineering systems and on improving subsequent operational and logistical decision making processes. He is a member of the Institute of Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

All meetings are held on Thursdays during lunchtime. 

Date: January 16
Topic: “Scalable, Interactive, and Comprehensible Tools for Data Analytics”
Presenters(s): Polo Chau

Abstract:

Massive datasets now arise in virtually all domains. Yet, making sense of these data remains a fundamental challenge. At the “Polo Club of Data Science,” we are innovating at the intersection of data mining and human-computer interaction (HCI) to combine the best from both worlds to create scalable, interactive tools for making sense of graphs with billions of nodes and edges.

I will briefly describe some of our latest work, both on-going and published, that aims to tame big data through scalable algorithms, interactive visualization, and comprehensible models (machine learning/data mining) that users can more easily understand and work with.

Bio:

Duen Horng (Polo) Chau is an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Computational Science and Engineering and an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing. Polo received his Ph.D. from the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and his Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from CMU.

Chau solves large-scale, “real world” problems that impact society. His NetProbe auction fraud detection system was featured in The Wall Street Journal and on CNN. His patented Polonium malware detection technology (with Symantec) protects 120 million people worldwide.

Chau’s thesis work received an honorable mention in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science Distinguished Dissertation Award competition. He is the only two-time Symantec fellow, and he received a Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Award. Chau contributes to the PEGASUS peta-scale graph mining collaboration, which won an Open Source Software World Challenge Silver Award. He is also an award-winning designer and created Carnegie Mellon’s most recently used ID card design.

• Adam Friedman, Director, Pratt Center for Community Development;
• Kate Sofis, Executive Director, San Francisco Made;
• Michael Cooper, Assistant Vice President of Market Development, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation; and
• Dr. Nancey Green Leigh, Associate Dean for Research, Georgia Tech College of Architecture

Following the panel discussion, guests are invited to network with colleagues at a reception hosted by the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

The Urban Manufacturing Alliance is a national collaborative of non-profit, for-profit and governmental stakeholders working together to grow urban manufacturing, creative living wage jobs and catalyze sustainable local economies.

Register today!

Training will cover:

• Recent changes in OSHA's national, regional and Georgia special emphasis programs, as it relates to manufacturing
• Cost savings opportunities from compliance with OSHA regulations
• Advice on implementing an effective Safety Management System in your organization.

The series is brought to you by the Gwinnett Technical College, Partnership Gwinnett, EI²/Georgia MEP. The quarterly breakfast program provides actionable tips and tools of the trade specficially designed to help Georgia Manufacturers grow their business.

To reserve your seat, visit: http://tinyurl.com/kb6eamh. Registration is $15, and lunch is included.

All media are considered, including drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, architecture, craft arts, graphic design, code-based art, music, poetry/prose, performance, film, and video. The event includes live readings and special performances put on by artistic student groups, spoken word, and open mic opportunities. Light refreshments will be available throughout the building.

Title:
Identifiability for Bilinear Inverse Problems with (Eventual) Applications to Blind Deconvolution, Matrix Factorization and Dictionary Finding

Abstract:
A number of important inverse problems in signal processing such as blind deconvolution, matrix factorization, dictionary learning, and blind source separation share the common characteristic of being bilinear inverse problems. In such problems, the observation model is a function of two variables and conditioned on one variable being known. The observation is a linear function of the other variable. A key question is that of identifiability: can one unambiguously recover the pair of inputs from the output?  We shall consider both deterministic conditions for identifiability as well as probabilistic statements that result in novel scaling laws under cone constraints.  Our approach is based on a unifying and flexible approach to identifiability that exploits a connection to low-rank matrix recovery and lifting.

Bio:
Urbashi Mitra received B.S. and the M.S. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and her Ph.D. from Princeton University. After a six-year stint at Ohio State University, she joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where she is currently a professor. She is a member of the IEEE Information Theory Society's Board of Governors (2002-2007, 2012-2014) and the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s Technical Committee on Signal Processing for Communications and Networks (2012-2014). Her achievements include: 2012 Globecom Signal Processing for Communications Symposium Best Paper Award, 2012 NAE Lillian Gilbreth Lectureship, USC Center for Excellence in Research Fellowship (2010-2013), USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean’s Faculty Service Award (2009), 2009 DCOSS Applications & Systems Best Paper Award, the USC Mellon Mentoring Award (2008), IEEE Fellow (2007), Texas Instruments Visiting Professor (Fall 2002, Rice University), 2001 Okawa Foundation Award, 2000 OSU College of Engineering Lumley Award for Research, 1997 OSU College of Engineering MacQuigg Award for Teaching, and a 1996 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award.  

Dr. Mitra has been/is an associate editor for the following IEEE publications: Transactions on Signal Processing (2012--), Transactions on Information Theory (2007-2011), Journal of Oceanic Engineering (2006-2011), and Transactions on Communications (1996-2001).  

Dr. Mitra has held visiting appointments at the Delft University of Technology, Stanford University, Rice University, and the Eurecom Institute. She served as co-director of the Communication Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California from 2004-2007. Her research interests include: wireless communications, communication and sensor networks, detection and estimation and the interface of communication, sensing and control.

Visitors will also see examples of GIS mapping technologies used for reviewing mining resources in the Congo as well as examples of the ways that underprivileged inhabitants in Nairobi have begun to map the space in which they live. 

An interactive media platform that recalibrates the conception of place and memory incorporated into a particular African artifact – the Lukasa board – will allow visitors to produce collaborative narratives which will perforce give “objective” personal stories a peculiar mytho-graphical dimension.

Museum hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, May 17 is a private reception and viewing.

Africa Atlanta 2014 is a citywide, year-long series of events highlighting Atlanta as a nexus for reinventing the cultural and economic bonds among Africa, Europe, and America. Running from October 2013 through Fall 2014, nearly 50 art exhibitions, performances, cinema, and multi-disciplinary conferences, seminars, and symposia encompass the realms of arts & culture, business & innovation, education, and global affairs. A highlight is KONGO across the WATERS, an exhibition from one of the world’s premier African art collections - the Royal Museum of Central Africa.

Africa Atlanta 2014 is presented by Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts with the Consulate General of Belgium and the Africa Atlanta Partners, a collaboration of twenty-five organizations that includes the city’s premier universities, arts and community organizations, business and industry, the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, federal and consular agencies. Visit www.africaatlanta.org for a comprehensive schedule of activities.

Title: Interlacing Families and Bipartite Ramanujan Graphs

Abstract: We will outline the proof that shows the existence of bipartite Ramanujan Graphs of any degree as well as some of mixed degrees. Our approach uses the idea of Bilu and Linial to show that there exists a 2-lift of a given Ramanujan graph which maintains the Ramanujan property.  This will include introducing a new technique for establishing the existence of certain combinatorial objects that we call the "Method of Interlacing Polynomials."

This talk is intended to be accessible by a general computer science audience, and represents joint work with Dan Spielman and Nikhil Srivastava.

Student activities and projects will be on exhibition in the Clough Commons Atrium to raise awareness and interest among the campus community. 

Stop by to learn more about student civic engagement at Tech. 

 Abundant summer outdoor activities exist in Utah and nearby states, including numerous national parks and monuments, such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Arches National Parks.  Logan is among the best college town in the nation.  From remote areas accessible only to hardy backpackers, to beautiful views enjoyed on a leisurely walk, Logan’s wide spaces are a patchwork of scenic, recreational, and historic venues,  Mountain hiking, biking, and rock climbing are among popular summer sports. 

 Each REU student will receive up to $7,500, including 1) a stipend of $5,000, 2) a housing and meal allowance of $1,800, and 3) up to $700 for a round-trip airfare ticket to travel between your distant locations and USU.  The living cost in Logan is low.  Applicants must be a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the United States, and must be an undergraduate student with a good academic standing in a professional undergraduate program in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics discipline.

 The deadline of application is April 1, 2014. 

 If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Oenardi Lawanto at olawanto@usu.edu or

Dr. Ning Fang at ning.fang@usu.edu. 

 The details of this REU program, application form, application instruction, and check list can be downloaded from http://www.eng.usu.edu/eed/reu/

Committee:
Todd Sulchek, Ph.D. (Chair and PI), ME
Oliver Brand, Ph.D., ECE
Peter Hesketh, Ph.D., ME
Wilber A. Lam, MD, Ph.D., BME
Hang Lu, Ph.D., ChBE

The focus of this work is on a micro-fabrication technique for batch fabrication of a low stiffness fluid force microscope with direct connection to a microfluidic capillary.  A fluid force microscope is an AFM probe that has a micro-channeled cantilever, giving it the additional capacity to perform contractile and adhesion measurements, perfusion and cellular manipulation.   The abiotic and reversible nature of the device enables decoupling of receptor-ligand associated stimulus responses and enables rapid serial measurements.  The major limitations of current fluidic probes are twofold:  1. Current fabrication techniques disenable force microscopy in the pN range, which is physiologically relevant to cell thrust, early adhesion and contraction.  2.  The fluidic system interface requires destructive modification of the AFM’s costly mounting assembly.  In this work, three enabling design or micro-fabrication techniques are developed and validated:
1. A low stiffness micro-channeled cantilever | The aim is to design and perform both analytical and experimental validation of a thermally decomposable polynorbornene sacrificial resist technique to fabricate low stiffness (<0.1 N/m) cantilever for high resolution at sub-nN force spectroscopy.  Stiffness is first characterized as a function of dimension by a numerical analysis, design and experimental validation follow;
2. A fully integrated microfluidic system | The aim is to design and validate a glass capillary to probe interconnect technique to create a fully integrated fluidic channel avoiding the need for modification of the AFM mounting assembly;
3. A surface to bulk microfluidic channel | The aim is to design and validate a multi-layer and multi-viscosity resist based technique to form a fluidic interface between surface and bulk microfluidic channels for modulation of the pressure at the cantilever terminus.
The probe is then fabricated and characterized.  Biological utility is demonstrated by performing simultaneous measurements showing cell size, adhesion and stiffness on early leukocyte-epithelial cell adhesion and comparing with benchmark technologies.

ABOUT DON MCCONNELL:

Don McConnell serves as Georgia Tech’s Executive Director of Industry Strategy and Commercialization in the office of Dr. Steve Cross, the Georgia Tech Executive Vice President for Research and as an Associate Director for Industry Research and Commercialization at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He joined Georgia Tech in October, 2012 having served as a consultant to GTI and GTRI over the last 18 months focused on enhancing and expanding the scope and economic impact of research for industry.

Over the last 30 years, Don McConnell served as a senior executive and officer of the Battelle Memorial Institute, the leading independent research and development organization with annual research revenues of $6.5 billion. His career spanned the full spectrum of research, development and deployment of innovations for government and industry. Over his career at Battelle, he held a number of leadership positions of increasing responsibility, retiring in 2012 as a Corporate Senior Vice President leading one of Battelle’s four global businesses.

Highlights of Mr. McConnell’s career included the following.

• Joining Battelle in 1981 as Director of the Battelle Petroleum Technology Laboratory in Houston Texas, he led a laboratory dedicated to frontier oil and gas production, including deep offshore and deep sour gas production systems.
• He joined Battelle’s Columbus Ohio Laboratory as the Vice President and General Manager of the Design, Materials and Manufacturing Division with responsibility for the full spectrum of R&D for industry and government with a particular focus on expanding Battelle’s product development and limited manufacturing efforts for the defense intelligence communities as well as the energy, automotive and medical products industries.
• Subsequently, appointed as Battelle’s Senior Vice President for the Commercial and Industrial Technology Division, he was responsible for the Battelle’s technology development and commercialization efforts. He established Battelle’s energy, medical product, automotive and consumer products businesses, returning over $4 million in annual earnings to Battelle’s research and charitable purposes.  His operating units spanned the Columbus Ohio, Pacific Northwest, Geneva-Switzerland and Frankfurt-Germany labs, linking these laboratories into joint initiatives targeted on expanding and enhancing the market impact of innovations from these labs. During his tenure as the SVP for the Commercial and Industrial Technology Division, he served as the Chair of the Battelle’s venture fund, Battelle Innovation Partners, serving as a Board member of several Battelle spin-out ventures. Most notably, he led Battelle’s successful efforts to monetize Battelle’s joint venture with Mitsubishi and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, Photonic Integration Research Inc. (PIRI), a manufacturer of photonic multiplexing and splitters. PIRI was sold for cash and stock valued at $2.2 billion.

• Don joined Battelle’s Laboratory Management Global Business and was asked to lead the Energy, IT and Materials Division of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as an Associate Director of the lab. During his tenure the laboratory doubled its energy research volume and initiated two national energy programs that spanned several national laboratories, academia and industry.
• Rejoining Battelle Corporate Operations as a Corporate Senior Vice President, he assumed the role of the Chief Operating Officer for the Laboratory Operations Global Business. In this capacity he had responsibility for the corporate leadership and oversight of the operations of the Brookhaven, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, National Renewable Energy, and Idaho National Nuclear laboratories.  He also instituted and operated the Energy Science and Technology Initiative that linked the $975 million annual research volume in energy across the five national labs managed by Battelle as well as Battelle’s own labs. Recognizing the scope of the Battelle Energy and Science Initiative, Don was asked by the Under-Secretary of Energy to chair the DOE-wide Laboratory Working Group initiative to assess the DOE energy science and technology program portfolio. For the following five years, the assessments of this program were used by the Office of the Secretary as the basis of the annual budget development process.

• Following the assignment as COO of Battelle Lab Operations, Don was asked to develop a new Battelle international energy business unit focused on commercial business penetration in the US, Middle East and Far East. Highlights of this effort included the development of an energy laboratory strategy for PETRONAS, the Malaysian national energy company and the development of a national energy laboratory development strategy for the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE).

Following his retirement from Battelle in 2011, Don founded and ran the Tarrington Group LLC, an energy and technology strategy consulting network that has developed and implemented major program and proposal strategies for universities, national labs and industrial firms. Through the efforts of the Tarrington Group with Georgia Tech, Don became engaged with the Institute in revamping the strategy for the GT’s Strategic Energy Institute to gain national recognition and growth in the volume of energy science and technology research. This strategy has been adopted and extended by Georgia Tech as part of the overall strategy of the Institute to develop enterprise wide interdisciplinary research initiatives.

Throughout his career, Mr. McConnell has served the communities in which he has operated. He served for 12 years as the Chair of the Board of Ohio Dominical College and has served as a member of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Board and as the Chair of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute for the last 15 years.

The Office of Institute Diversity will open the 2014 Georgia Tech Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration with a keynote address from his Excellency, Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana. Ambassador Gasana is a Rwandan diplomat and is the current Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations in New York City.

Ambassador Gasana Biography>

RSVP by Dec. 15 at: http://www.diversity.gatech.edu/mlk-institute-lecture-rsvp

Attendees must apply and register. The program begins Thursday and runs until Sunday.

For an extended detailed description of this program, visit www.focus.gatech.edu.