Leadership

2021 Katona Scholarship recognizes stand out bioengineering students

Rena Malai — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 19:49:29 +0000

2021 Katona Scholarship recognizes stand out bioengineering students Rena Malai Mon, 11/15/2021 - 14:49

From left, Dr. Peter Katona, Inas Zabin, and Michael
Buschmann, Mason bioengineering
department chair and professor

Recognizing and motivating bioengineering students to help the community in the field of bioengineering is a big part of what the Katona Scholarship for Excellence in Bioengineering is about, according to Claudia Borke, advisor for the bioengineering department at Mason.

“This is a scholarship that recognizes not only bioengineering excellence, but looks at the student holistically,” says Borke.

Named for Dr. Peter Katona, founder of the bioengineering program at Mason, the scholarship awarded $1,000 to 2021 winner Inas Zabin, a Mason senior whose education combines bioengineering with a concentration in pre-health.

“Winning the scholarship gave me the little bit of extra push that I needed, and I’m very grateful,” says Zabin. “There are so many qualified people in the bioengineering department. But if you’re thinking of applying for the scholarship, just go for it.”

According to Katona, the students selected for the scholarship show exceptional promise to engage in a successful bioengineering career, which in turn helps society.

“We certainly look at GPA, and it’s a part of the criteria for the scholarship, but it’s not all we see,” says Katona. “We also look at a student’s leadership skills and how they have tried to enhance their skills outside of the classroom.”

Showing an initiative to help other students is also an example of leadership that is a welcome asset for a potential scholarship winner, says Katona.

“We have had some excellent applicants, and we are delighted that we can do this for our bioengineering students showing exceptional promise,” he says.

The Katona Scholarship for Excellence in Bioengineering began in 2015, and is awarded to bioengineering seniors at Mason who show excellence across their academic performance, leadership initiatives, and career aspirations that aim to support society at large.

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Cyber Security Engineering alum leads students to cybersolutions

Martha Bushong — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 20:12:03 +0000

Cyber Security Engineering alum leads students to cybersolutions Martha Bushong Mon, 11/04/2019 - 15:12

We all work to protect our personal information, but with today’s technology, our medical devices, such as insulin pumps, are more vulnerable than ever to cyber-attacks.

Inova Health information security analyst Matthew Wilkes, BS Cyber Security Engineering ’18, is guiding two cybersecurity senior design teams to find solutions to these new problems while preparing them for careers in the field. “These projects were created to challenge engineering students,” says Wilkes.

The teams are looking at different devices. One is examining insulin pumps, which are wirelessly connected to our phones while the other is looking at an infusion pump, which can be wirelessly adjusted. This pump controls the delivery of fluids, such as nutrients and medications, into patients’ bodies.

Both teams are tasked with finding vulnerabilities in these devices, pinpointing ways that cyber-attackers get into their devices, and coming up with different solutions to protect or monitor cyber-attacks.

“One big flaw that we predict is that insulin pumps now connect with your cell phones and that can be extremely exploitive. These products are designed for functionality, not security,” says Evan Simon, a cyber security major and member of the insulin pump team. And the same holds true for the infusion pump team.

Wilkes was a part of the first class of cybersecurity graduates from Mason Engineering, and he says it has been a fulfilling experience working with undergraduates at his alma mater. “The students are extremely intelligent, very interactive, and have shown a desire to succeed in the cybersecurity field. They’ve asked intriguing questions and have shown a desire to prove themselves.”

Both teams pointed to Wilkes as a crucial guide to navigate their first real-world cybersecurity project.

“He tries to push us in the right direction, but he wants us to come up with our own solutions to the problem,” says David Nguyen, a member of the infusion pump team.

Since this is new territory in the field, Wilkes wants to challenge the students to find the best solution so that they are prepared for careers in cybersecurity. “I want to ensure they’re encouraged to be successful in both their project and beyond. I won’t make it easy for them because if it was easy every student could do it,” says Wilkes. “Any student who graduates from Mason with a degree in cyber security engineering has very high expectations.”

Next semester the students will be working on implementing their research, designing their solutions, and testing them, which will pose challenges for both teams, but Wilkes stresses the importance of being prepared for challenges.

“We’re only human so we will make mistakes, but how do you learn from those mistakes? Have a backup plan if something goes wrong,” says Wilkes.

Electrical Engineering major leads initiative towards a more eco-friendly Mason

alin23 — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 17:44:33 +0000

Electrical Engineering major leads initiative towards a more eco-friendly Mason alin23 Thu, 10/17/2019 - 13:44

Osaze Shears

While interning at BAE, Annam Khan has received mentorship from Honors College alumnus Osaze Shears (Computer Engineering, '18)

“Nowadays our power grid is not built for renewable energy; it is built for power consumption.”

— Annam Khan, Honors College senior and Electrical Engineering major

Electrical Engineering major Annam Khan came to Mason looking for opportunities to make an impact. Just a couple years later, she’s the project lead of an initiative to put George Mason University on a self-sufficient microgrid.

Electrical Engineering major and Honors College senior, Annam Khan, talks about her project to take Mason off the grid. Photo by Joshua McLean.

This year-long project has Khan, a current senior, and her team of six other Mason students searching for more efficient ways of generating power. Like most places, George Mason receives its energy from a large power grid, spending millions of dollars every year on utilities. “Ideally, we would like to isolate George Mason off of the main power grid,” Khan explains. “We would make our own energy and consume our own energy.”

Such a project requires finding ways to implement renewable energy sources on campus, and Khan and her team are looking to put up solar canopies for parking lots and solar panels for buildings on campus.

Further aiding the project, Khan’s team is partnered with large companies, like Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) and Dominion Energy, as well as overseen by faculty supervisor Dr. Liling Huang. “We’re lucky to have her,” says Khan. “She puts a lot of effort in connecting students with outside opportunities — every two or three weeks she’s bringing guest speakers to talk to us. She incorporates opportunities to network in her class.”

Alongside her work with microgrids, Khan found her passion in engineering, specifically power engineering, during her time in HNRS 410: Multidisciplinary Research Seminar, now offered as HNRS 361. This course focuses on developing individual research projects while working with students across majors, gaining new perspectives by learning to effectively sharing information and offer constructive criticism. Khan chose to research renewable energy integration.

“Nowadays our power grid is not built for renewable energy; it is built for power consumption,” Khan explains, describing the obstacle of incorporating renewable energy into a system that constantly needs power, even when the sun, or other natural resources, are not out to provide it. Finding a solution to this issue would require revamping current power grids to accommodate the peaks and falls of natural energy and provide huge environmental benefits. In the Multidisciplinary Research Seminar, Khan says, “you spend so much time working with people who aren’t necessarily engineers, and you realize you have to do something that matters for everyone."

Photo by Joshua McLean.

Khan’s work on microgrids builds on her already-impressive professionalization work. Khan spent a couple years as part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which makes an effort to connect students with engineering opportunities. Over the Summer, she was a Virginia Microelectronics Consortium (VMEC) scholar assigned to work at BAE systems; for her work, she was awarded the VMEC Gold Award. This Fall, she's continued her work at BAE systems, where she is mentored by Honors College alumnus Osaze Shears.

The Honors College has helped Khan come to appreciate the value of connecting with others outside of engineering. Her work in one of the Honors College’s team-based applied research courses connected her with students from a range of majors as they conducted research for the Early Identification Program (EIP). EIP aims to help first generation prospective college students prepare for school. Khan’s class worked to develop a proposal about how programs like this can self-evaluate and offered a preliminary assessment of EIP and comparable programs.

“It was a good experience,” Khan says, referring to working with a small class to help another organization. “You have to be able to communicate effectively with other people and work effectively with other people. […] I now firmly believe in the power of multidisciplinary communication.”

Khan looks forward to the future and her further involvement in making a difference with power engineering.

Mechanical engineering students learn leadership lessons

Martha Bushong — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 12:39:45 +0000

Mechanical engineering students learn leadership lessons Martha Bushong Tue, 09/10/2019 - 08:39

Retired Navy Vice Admiral Mat Winter (on left) with Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Oscar Barton at a special lecture for fourth-year mechanical engineering students. Photo by Leigh McCue.

Retired Navy Vice Admiral Mat Winter had 20 seconds. Twenty seconds to make a potentially life-altering decision while trying to land an A-6 Intruder aircraft safely with both engines on fire. In five seconds, Winter and the pilot made a decision. They communicated with one word so they both understood the next step – “continue.”

“The next 15 seconds were probably the most exciting of my life,” says Winter. Winter and the pilot continued to land, despite the manual’s advice, because they knew from experience that the outcome of raising their landing gear, putting the throttles at full power, and flying away could be catastrophic.

Communication and decision-making are just two of the important qualities that Winter, who has his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Notre Dame University, stressed to the students in the mechanical engineering Developing the Societal Engineer course.

Winter shared stories about how he found his way from leading 22 men to 125,000 in the Navy, and how being able to talk to people, make decisions and provide feedback were all key to his success.

“How you communicate, your body language, your facial expressions – never underestimate it,” says Winter.

In the Navy, in industry and even in school, having a decision-making model, values, a team-mentality, and being prepared are all key to success, says Winter. If you can make a space where people can find the best technical solutions, instead of giving a technical solution, then you can understand all of the risks, the issues involved, and what the solution needs to be, says Winter.

“There are very few things that are 100 percent you,” says Winter. “You step out in the real world you are going to be in teams. If you want people to work with you, and get that productivity out of yourself and others, it is ‘us’ and ‘we’ versus ‘I’ and ‘me.’”

Winter urged that even though they may not have everything figured out now, and they don’t need to, that keeping these goals and skills in mind will help students get to where they want to go in their career.

“But don’t eliminate any opportunity space,” says Winter. “About 60 percent of the orders I received were ones I didn’t want, but 100 percent were exciting and brought me to where I am.”

Mason hosts 2nd Annual Virginia Cybersecurity Conference

Martha Bushong — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 19:56:01 +0000

Mason hosts 2nd Annual Virginia Cybersecurity Conference Martha Bushong Mon, 08/05/2019 - 15:56

Find Out About our BS in Cyber Security Engineering

Learn About Cybersecurity at Mason

On Aug. 13-14 George Mason University will host the 2nd Annual Virginia Cybersecurity Education Conference on its Fairfax campus. The conference will expand on the theme of Improving Cybersecurity Education at All Levels with talks, workshops, and discussions that will help administrators and faculty educate high schoolers and college and university students on cybersecurity.

"We've got two full days of great talks, workshops, and panel discussions planned,” said Virginia Cyber Range Director David Raymond. “This is an excellent opportunity for educators, administrators, and industry partners to learn new educational tools and techniques for teaching cybersecurity, and to build networks of like-minded professionals."

The conference features four tracks that address the overarching theme. Attendees will discover new cybersecurity instruction tips, tackle hands-on cybersecurity activities, learn about case studies, and explore cyber workforce development and credentialing efforts.

“The Commonwealth of Virginia has made it a priority to increase the cyber workforce within the state,” said Peggy Brouse, director for Cyber Security Engineering at George Mason University and member of the Virginia Cyber Range executive committee. “The Virginia Cyber Range is a remarkable initiative with a partnership of higher education institutions throughout the state working in a common, collegial effort to provide a service for all educators in the Commonwealth.”

A main goal of the Virginia Cyber Range is to develop a sense of community around cybersecurity and help it grow to meet the demand for cybersecurity professionals.

The conference is open to all high school, community college, and higher education faculty, administrators, and partners. Advance registration is recommended.

The Virginia Cyber Range is operated by Virginia Tech and led by an executive committee representing 12 community colleges and universities within Virginia that are nationally recognized centers of academic excellence in cybersecurity. Thousands of educators and students in more than 200 high schools, community colleges, and universities across the state use the Virginia Cyber Range courseware and cloud-hosted exercise environment for hands-on cybersecurity training for students.

This is an excellent opportunity for educators, administrators, and industry partners to learn new educational tools and techniques for teaching cybersecurity, and to build networks of like-minded professionals.

David Raymond, Director of the Virginia Cyber Range

Engineering Undergrads School Young Students on Cybersecurity

dallen21 — Mon, 19 May 2014 14:34:30 +0000

Engineering Undergrads School Young Students on Cybersecurity dallen21 Mon, 05/19/2014 - 10:34

When George Mason University sophomore Jessica Miers looks out at the young students she is instructing in Volgenau School of Engineering cybersecurity camps this summer, she recalls her jarring first encounter with mentors in the cyber field.

"I came into my cyber class thinking, ‘Oh, I've got this," she says with a laugh. "'I know cybersecurity. I have a password on my computer. I have a firewall. Good to go. This class is going to be easy.'"

When the instructor used easily accessible software to crack Miers's "super complex" password in about 10 seconds, she discovered she did not know as much about cybersecurity as she thought she did.

The Fairfax resident now pulls a similar eye-opening stunt for her students by showing them how easily she can access their supposedly deleted Snapchat photos.

"Just seeing their faces—I love watching that," says Miers, who last week instructed a mobile cybersecurity youth camp on George Mason's Fairfax Campus with fellow applied computer science major Alex Handley, a sophomore from Falls Church. "It's funny to watch. But you know they're learning something at the same time."

"You don't know as much as you think you know," says Handley, who like Miers already has worked internships in the cyber industry. "But it's easy to learn. That's the thing. All these concepts that are out there, there's plenty of research behind them. There are plenty of tutorials or places to learn online. It's getting them over that first hump in the learning curve and it flows well from there."

That's certainly the case with the young students who are enrolled this summer. The mobile cybersecurity camp taught students about the limitations and possibilities of smartphones and how they can protect their personal devices. Another cybersecurity camp July 14‒18 will offer demos of cyber tools and cover such topics as computer ethics and common attacks. Some openings remain for that camp.

Volgenau encourages its undergraduate students to help promote the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields to children from kindergarten to seniors in high school, both with summer camps and weekend classes in the fall.

Miers's hope is that some of the summer campers are as intrigued and inspired by computers and cybersecurity as she became in high school. There is an ever-growing need for college graduates with cybersecurity knowledge and experience.

"We're just about to start our second year of college, but we can stand up here and say these are the internships we've had before even graduating from college," says Miers, who has a software engineering internship this fall with Northrop Grumman. "You don't have to be a PhD or corporate CEO to start doing the cool stuff in the field. I can be a second-year college student. I could be in high school. You can start whenever you want."

"People like Jess and I having just learned the entry level and moving on to the more advanced levels, we're the perfect people to go back down and teach the entry level because we know what worked when we were learning it," Handley says. "We were there just a couple years ago. We want to raise people up with us."

A version of this story by Preston Williams appeared in Mason News on July 9, 2014.
For more information contact pwilli20@gmu.edu