college of engineering

Georgia Tech to Strengthen Nation’s Faculty Development in Geospace Science

admin — Tue, 20 May 2025 16:30:33 +0000

Georgia Tech to Strengthen Nation’s Faculty Development in Geospace Science admin Tue, 05/20/2025 - 12:30

Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering and Sciences have been chosen by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to hire a new faculty member focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather research. The NSF is prioritizing a national need in geospace physics and selected Georgia Tech from a pool of national universities.

“Space weather has many societal implications, including dangers to the power grid, the aviation sector, satellite lifetimes, communications, and navigation,” said Morris Cohen, professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the grant’s co-principal investigator. “However, the number of qualified graduating students interested in this area is not sufficient to meet the future demand. This is especially true as the generation of professionals trained during the space race of the 1960s and ‘70s continues to retire.”

NSF will fund the position for five years and $1.5 million. The grant is led by Susan Lozier, dean of the College of Sciences and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair. She and Cohen are joined by Raheem Beyah, dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair, and Glenn Lightsey, the John W. Young Chair in the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE).

The two Colleges relied heavily on their strength in space research and Georgia Tech’s culture of multidisciplinary collaborations in the NSF application. These traits will allow Georgia Tech to conduct a unique search process. Instead of one unit making the hire as is typical in higher education, leaders from four schools will team up with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) for the search process. It’s an approach that addresses a nationwide problem in the field.

“Decades ago, space physics largely fell within electrical engineering,” Beyah said. “These days, it’s highly interdisciplinary and typically has no true home — faculty are often scattered across aerospace engineering, applied physics, and earth sciences.”

Beyah said that a few universities have a large cluster of space physics faculty as a result. Many others have none. He said this limits the pipeline of future space science professionals because a substantial fraction of students has little or no exposure to the field.

Georgia Tech is right in the middle, with a presence in solar-terrestrial science and space weather research but not a large cluster of faculty members. The new hire will allow Tech to reach more students interested in the field. Georgia Tech also pointed to its Vertically Integrated Projects program as a mechanism to get many new students involved in the new hire’s research.

According to Lozier, solar-terrestrial science and space weather encompass at least four buckets: advanced theory and simulations that span the extremes of physics; big data and machine learning; innovative tools to collect new types of measurements; and operational needs in industry and defense, which motivate translation of research into real-world practice.

“This breadth has hampered faculty growth in this area, as it has other interdisciplinary research fields like quantum computing and neuroscience,” Lozier said. “These areas straddle pure science and engineering, which often are separate in university hierarchy. We believe these interdisciplinary aspects of geospace science should be celebrated. More importantly, we believe they can be turned into a strength.”

Representatives from AE, ECE, GTRI, the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and the School of Physics will form the hiring committee. The hire will complement Georgia Tech’s February announcement of a new Space Research Initiative. Once the NSF-funded position is filled, the Colleges will collectively fund and search for a second faculty member in the field.

Subtitle

With NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather.

Summary sentence

With NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather.

Summary

With NSF support, Colleges of Sciences and Engineering will collaborate to hire a researcher focused on solar-terrestrial science and space weather.

Dateline

Wed, 05/22/2024 - 12:00

Contact

Jason Maderer
Director of Communications
College of Engineering

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College of Sciences

college of engineering

Geospace Science

space weather

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Categories

Engineering

Physics and Physical Sciences

Research

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

674860

Source updated

Fri, 05/24/2024 - 15:24

Campus Connection Inspires Mother and Son to Find Purpose and Passion

admin — Fri, 09 May 2025 14:00:41 +0000

Campus Connection Inspires Mother and Son to Find Purpose and Passion admin Fri, 05/09/2025 - 10:00

When Andrew Rush started at Georgia Tech last fall, he already had a sense of direction as soon as he set foot on campus. His mother, Holly Rush, is a longtime Georgia Tech staff employee, and this exposure influenced Andrew to study at the Institute.

We caught up with Holly and Andrew to learn more about what makes Georgia Tech so appealing to students and employees alike, and the unique perspective their mother-son relationship brings to campus.

How long have you worked at Georgia Tech? What do you do as a financial operations assistant director?

[Holly] I have been at Georgia Tech since 2000 and joined the College of Computing in early 2005. Ironically and very memorably, I found out I was expecting Andrew right after I started in Computing. I still recall being very nervous about telling my new boss that I was expecting, but she was happy for me and very accommodating. I went to the bookstore right after our meeting and bought Andrew his first Georgia Tech t-shirt, which I plan to pass down to him one day.

Being part of the College for this long, I have watched it grow from having divisions to schools. I began as a financial administrator and steadily grew into my current role as assistant director of financial operations for the School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE). In my current role, I oversee financial operations for the School of CSE, including budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and ensuring compliance with Institute and sponsor guidelines. I work closely with faculty, staff, and leadership to support our financial programs and other initiatives. It is a rewarding role that allows me to contribute to the success of the college while watching it grow, just like my own journey here.

How much influence did your mom’s work at Georgia Tech have on your interest in coming here for college?

[Andrew] It definitely played a role. I grew up a fan of all things Georgia Tech, so this was always my dream school. When I got in, all the stars aligned. Tech was my dream school, my mom worked there, and I was close to home. It was perfect.

What is it about Georgia Tech that has kept you here for more than two decades?

[Holly] From the beginning, I have always felt that my work contributes to something bigger – supporting faculty who offer world-class education and innovation. I have had the opportunity to grow professionally and work alongside very talented colleagues.

How has your first year gone? What do you like best about attending Georgia Tech?

[Andrew] Overwhelming. I wasn’t sure what to expect from attending college. The college lifestyle was a big change for me, and I had to learn how to navigate it. I knew Georgia Tech would be challenging, and I thought I was ready for it, but it was still harder than I expected. However, I managed to get through my first year with great resilience and finish stronger than I started.

What do you each like best about being on campus together?

[Holly] I enjoy being nearby and getting to share this chapter of his life. There are many times that Andrew is focused on his studies or his fraternity commitments, so he doesn’t get to come home as often as I would like. But with me being on campus, we can grab a quick lunch or have a short visit. I also like knowing he is a short walk from my office if I want to drop off a homemade meal. Even when we are both too busy for a visit, sometimes I find myself looking out the window across campus. Just seeing the top of a building where he is attending class gives me comfort knowing he is there.

[Andrew] Bouncing off of what my mom said, it has been great. It is comforting that I can go to her office just to say “hey,” and not drive all the way home. It’s nice that when I’m having a rough patch with school, she drops by to offer some reassurance.

What has been the key to reaching the milestones of a fulfilling career and witnessing your children achieve their goals?

[Holly] The key to reaching these milestones has really been maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Georgia Tech has given me the space and support to grow professionally while also being present as a parent. That balance has been everything. It allowed me to build a fulfilling career that I’m proud of, while also being there to watch my children grow and pursue their dreams, including Andrew becoming a Georgia Tech student himself. Being able to do both, without having to choose one over the other, has truly been the foundation of my success and happiness.

What do you look forward to in the next few years studying computer engineering at Georgia Tech? And after graduating?

[Andrew] I am most excited for my threads and starting my career. I have learned so much that I am already applying my studies. I recently used Raspberry Pi to build a circuit that enabled a motion detector to work and set off an LED indicating motion. This was a part of my discovery class for my major, and it was the most fun I have had at Georgia Tech so far. It was very new and exciting to learn about, and it motivates me to put my skills to work.

After graduating, I want to work in cybersecurity, possibly as a hardware security engineer for the government or even my own startup. The project I mentioned opened my eyes to my threads and really motivated me to continue in this field.

Rush is one of more than 150 College of Computing staff members who support the College and its five schools. Staff members are the backbone of the College. From managing operations to providing essential services, their dedication ensures the seamless delivery of education, research, and community support, making them integral to the College's success.

Summary sentence

Holly Rush has worked at Georgia Tech since 2000. Her employment influenced her son, Andrew, to attend the Institute and study computer engineering.

Summary

We caught up with Holly and Andrew to learn more about what makes Georgia Tech so appealing to students and employees alike, and the unique perspective their mother-son relationship brings to campus.

Dateline

Thu, 05/08/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Bryant Wine, Communications Officer
bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu

Keywords

College of Computing

college of engineering

School of Computational Science and Engineering

College of Engineering; School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Daily Digest

The Whistle

whistle

Georgia Tech News Center

Mother's Day

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Community

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Engineering

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

682285

Source updated

Fri, 05/09/2025 - 09:59

College Expands Partnership with CREATE-X to Double Down on Entrepreneurship Curriculum

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:20:41 +0000

College Expands Partnership with CREATE-X to Double Down on Entrepreneurship Curriculum admin Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:20

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in the College of Computing, with student interest in startup-driven education hitting record highs.

To meet this demand, the College is doubling down on efforts to equip students with entrepreneurial skills, offering expanded course sections and deeper collaborations with CREATE-X. Faculty say the goal isn’t just to produce startups—it’s to teach students how to identify and tackle meaningful problems, a skill that’s increasingly vital in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Entrepreneurial Capstone Growth Through Cross-College CollaboratiThe College’s entrepreneurial capstone more than doubled in size within the same academic year, growing from 55 students in Fall 2023 to 126 this semester. Enrollment in the CREATE-X entrepreneurial capstone surged by 14% this semester, continuing its steady growth since launching in 2018. What began with just nine students has now expanded to 126 participants eager to transform their ideas into real-world ventures.

This growth can be traced back to the collaborative roots of the CREATE-X Capstone. In 2018, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Olufisayo Omojokun partnered with Mechanical Engineering Professor Craig Forest to co-teach the Institute's first multi-college capstone section.

This allowed engineering and computing students to work together in a dynamic learning environment.

"Right away, we saw how powerful this combination of engineers and computer scientists working together was. The College of Computing has always been a willing and eager partner to try experiments and boldly move toward this future direction. Every step of the way, they've risen to the challenge," Forest said.

Preparing Problem Seekers, Not Just Problem Solvers

This jump represents the College’s emphasis on creating the next generation of problem solvers who are also problem seekers.

“It’s not just about finding solutions but identifying the problems that must be solved. This emphasis is more important than ever given the changing landscape of computing,” Omojokun said.

He points to AI and automation as key drivers of this shift. While launching startups is an exciting outcome, the deeper focus is on preparing students for a future where the definition of a software engineer may evolve and the number of traditional roles in the market could shift. With the power of computing, students who can identify meaningful problems are better equipped than ever to solve them—often with fewer resources and smaller teams.

“Can our College lead in graduating such multifaceted students who know how to fix things and what to look for? Embedding entrepreneurship into our non-elective courses gives us that opportunity,” Omojokun said.

Building Confidence Through Entrepreneurship

While some students may go on to continue their projects after the course, others might revisit them after graduation, driven by personal motivation or market opportunities. Many will enter the workforce and, perhaps years later, draw on the confidence they built through this capstone to forge their paths in entrepreneurship.

“It’s not necessarily about launching the most successful startups right now. It’s about giving students the confidence to try—and even fail—while the stakes are low,” Omojokun said.

“Whether they pursue entrepreneurship immediately or later in their careers, my hope is that the confidence from this course sticks with them if they ever choose to do something different and forge their path.”

Inside the CREATE-X Capstone Experience

SCI faculty members Aaron Hillegass, Dan Forsyth, and Jennifer Whitlow co-mentor the College’s entrepreneurial capstone course. Whitlow describes the course as a hands-on, problem-driven environment where students are encouraged to tackle scalable, global challenges.

“We’re trying to treat it like a venture studio would work,” said Whitlow, who is familiar with executing such a model from her leadership role at a startup accelerator. “The first part of the class is focused on identifying scalable real-world problems and understanding actual pain points through customer discovery.”

Whitlow and Hillegass have startup experience and unique perspectives that they share with students. These insights help students understand the entrepreneurial process of identifying problems, designing solutions, and building products.

"This is the only course at Georgia Tech where they go from zero to 100. By the end of the semester, students have developed something entirely from scratch, giving them a unique skill set that sets them apart from their peers," said Whitlow, a Georgia Tech computational media alumna.

Based on enrollment growth this Spring, the College offered students the option to choose between the course’s two sections. Computing students seeking to work with engineering students on solutions incorporating hardware and software elements signed up for the multidisciplinary section. Students exclusively interested in software chose the section dedicated to software-based solutions.

Hillegass, who recently sold a midsized software company and spent years at different startups before his academic career, is mentoring thirteen software-only teams.

“The software-focused section gives me a chance to apply my knowledge and give students a perspective that can help them address the real-world challenges and opportunities specific to companies whose fate is determined primarily by software,” Hillegass said.

Forsyth, who has many years of industry experience building large software system, says the following about the process of guiding students through the problem finding phase of the course:

“The problem-finding phase requires balancing a passion for solving particular problems with the realities of customer preferences, technical limitations, team strengths, and financial sustainability. This phase is often the most challenging because teams must navigate ambitious ideas, practical constraints, and customer needs while making tough, objective decisions," he said.

"I can't make choices for them, and the future is uncertain, but I can challenge them with hard questions to determine whether they can make reasonable assumptions that plot a path to success. I see myself as a colleague to the students—offering my advice based on experience while also having the privilege of helping them tackle problems I've never encountered before. Watching bright, passionate students break through barriers to achieve their goals is incredibly rewarding.”

A Launchpad for Future Innovators

Unlike traditional capstone projects with predefined requirements, Computing’s entrepreneurial capstone course gives students full ownership of their ideas. Students finish with a product to showcase in job applications or with the foundation for a startup. They can pursue opportunities like CREATE-X Startup Launch or the Klaus Startup Challenge, with the added advantage of owning their intellectual property.

"It’s really the launching pad to additional opportunities to turn it into a business. Even if they fail, they’ve learned, pivoted, and now have a new place to launch from," Whitlow said.

Continuing the Momentum

With the continued success and growth of the CREATE-X Capstone, Omojokun is committed to sustaining this momentum and expanding the program further, especially given the endorsement of CREATE-X Director Rahul Saxena. He says this will require collaboration from more people, including experienced entrepreneurs from Atlanta’s vibrant ecosystem.

Interested in participating in or learning more about the College of Computing’s CREATE-X Capstone? Contact Omojokun at omojokun@cc.gatech.edu to explore opportunities for involvement.

Summary sentence

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in the College of Computing, with student interest in startup-driven education hitting record highs.

Summary

Entrepreneurship is on the rise in the College of Computing, with student interest in startup-driven education hitting record highs.

Dateline

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 12:00

emily.smith@cc.gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

College of Computing

college of engineering

CREATE-X

CREATE-X Capstone

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Campus and Community

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Education

Engineering

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

680538

Source updated

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:19

Machine Learning Could be Key to Early Leakage Detection in Underground Carbon Storage Sites

admin — Mon, 13 May 2024 14:38:41 +0000

Machine Learning Could be Key to Early Leakage Detection in Underground Carbon Storage Sites admin Mon, 05/13/2024 - 10:38

A new machine learning method could help engineers detect leaks in underground reservoirs earlier, mitigating risks associated with geological carbon storage (GCS). Further study could advance machine learning capabilities while improving safety and efficiency of GCS.

The feasibility study by Georgia Tech researchers explores using conditional normalizing flows (CNFs) to convert seismic data points into usable information and observable images. This potential ability could make monitoring underground storage sites more practical and studying the behavior of carbon dioxide plumes easier.

The 2023 Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2023) accepted the group’s paper for presentation. They presented their study on Dec. 16 at the conference’s workshop on Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning.

“One area where our group excels is that we care about realism in our simulations,” said Professor Felix Herrmann. “We worked on a real-sized setting with the complexities one would experience when working in real-life scenarios to understand the dynamics of carbon dioxide plumes.”

CNFs are generative models that use data to produce images. They can also fill in the blanks by making predictions to complete an image despite missing or noisy data. This functionality is ideal for this application because data streaming from GCS reservoirs are often noisy, meaning it’s incomplete, outdated, or unstructured data.

The group found in 36 test samples that CNFs could infer scenarios with and without leakage using seismic data. In simulations with leakage, the models generated images that were 96% similar to ground truths. CNFs further supported this by producing images 97% comparable to ground truths in cases with no leakage.

This CNF-based method also improves current techniques that struggle to provide accurate information on the spatial extent of leakage. Conditioning CNFs to samples that change over time allows it to describe and predict the behavior of carbon dioxide plumes.

This study is part of the group’s broader effort to produce digital twins for seismic monitoring of underground storage. A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object. Digital twins are commonplace in manufacturing, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and other industries.

“There are very few digital twins in earth sciences, especially based on machine learning,” Herrmann explained. “This paper is just a prelude to building an uncertainty aware digital twin for geological carbon storage.”

Herrmann holds joint appointments in the Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS), Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computational Science and Engineering (CSE).

School of EAS Ph.D. student Abhinov Prakash Gahlot is the paper’s first author. Ting-Ying (Rosen) Yu (B.S. ECE 2023) started the research as an undergraduate group member. School of CSE Ph.D. students Huseyin Tuna Erdinc, Rafael Orozco, and Ziyi (Francis) Yin co-authored with Gahlot and Herrmann.

NeurIPS 2023 took place Dec. 10-16 in New Orleans. Occurring annually, it is one of the largest conferences in the world dedicated to machine learning.

Over 130 Georgia Tech researchers presented more than 60 papers and posters at NeurIPS 2023. One-third of CSE’s faculty represented the School at the conference. Along with Herrmann, these faculty included Ümit Çatalyürek, Polo Chau, Bo Dai, Srijan Kumar, Yunan Luo, Anqi Wu, and Chao Zhang.

“In the field of geophysics, inverse problems and statistical solutions of these problems are known, but no one has been able to characterize these statistics in a realistic way,” Herrmann said.

“That’s where these machine learning techniques come into play, and we can do things now that you could never do before.”

Summary sentence

Summary

Dateline

Wed, 12/20/2023 - 12:00

Contact

Bryant Wine, Communications Officer
bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

go-researchnews

Daily Digest

College of Computing

School of Computational Science and Engineering

Computational Science and Engineering

artificial intelligence

machine learning

College of Sciences

School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

college of engineering

College of Engineering; School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

go-ai

Research Horizons

News room topics

Earth and Environment

Categories

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Mercury ID

671661

Source updated

Mon, 05/13/2024 - 10:37

Simpler Approach to Prevent Cervical Cancer Makes Collegiate Inventors Competition Finals

dgivens8 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 15:31:39 +0000

Simpler Approach to Prevent Cervical Cancer Makes Collegiate Inventors Competition Finals dgivens8 Fri, 03/22/2024 - 11:31

A group of Georgia Tech students is looking to prevent cervical cancer and other gynecological diseases with a new approach to testing that could increase access to healthcare and turn a wasted resource into a valuable tool.

Their idea, a simple menstrual pad add-on to collect blood for lab screening, has earned them one of five finalist spots in the national Collegiate Inventors Competition Oct. 24-25. They’ll compete against other undergraduate teams for $10,000, mentoring from experienced inventors, and a patent acceleration certificate from the U.S. Patent and Trade Office.

The team also is competing for a People’s Choice Award that’s based on online voting.

“We are trying to end the stigma against periods — that's one of our biggest missions behind the product — and we want to increase access to healthcare. Nearly all cervical cancers are preventable with earlier screening and testing for HPV,” said team member Rhea Prem, referring to the human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer. “We want healthcare to be on your own terms so that you feel in control of your health, and you feel control over what you're doing with your body.”

Read about the team's FADpad kit on the College of Engineering website.

Summary sentence

Students create a multilayered menstrual pad add-on that collects blood samples for gynecological disease screening.

Summary

Students create a multilayered menstrual pad add-on that collects blood samples for gynecological disease screening.

Dateline

Mon, 10/23/2023 - 12:00

jstewart@gatech.edu

Contact

Written by Matthew Kistner

For more information:
Joshua Stewart
College of Engineering

Associated importer

Keywords

Collegiate Inventors Competition

college of engineering

cos-students

cos-microbial

Categories

Engineering

Student Honors and Achievements

Mercury ID

670583

Source updated

Fri, 03/22/2024 - 11:31

AE, ME Students Named 2024 Brooke Owens Fellows

dgivens8 — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 16:29:21 +0000

AE, ME Students Named 2024 Brooke Owens Fellows dgivens8 Wed, 03/20/2024 - 12:29

Three Georgia Tech engineering students have been named Brooke Owens Fellows this year, recognition of their talent, experiences, and commitment to service as well as their potential to become leaders in the aerospace industry.

The 2024 class of fellows comprises 47 students, including Nina Otebele and Ellen Wang in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE) and Emily Winters in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (ME). The Brooke Owens Fellowship Program selected just one in 10 applicants for this year’s group.

As fellows, the three Tech students will intern this summer for leading aerospace engineering companies and be matched with an executive-level mentor to support and guide them as they launch their careers.

Summary sentence

The three engineering undergrads will intern this summer with leading aerospace engineering companies and be paired with an executive-level mentor.

Summary

The three engineering undergrads will intern this summer with leading aerospace engineering companies and be paired with an executive-level mentor.

Dateline

Mon, 02/12/2024 - 12:00

jstewart@gatech.edu

Contact

Joshua Stewart
College of Engineering

Associated importer

Keywords

Brooke Owens fellowship

aerospace engineering

college of engineering

Categories

Aerospace

Engineering

Student Honors and Achievements

Mercury ID

672899

Source updated

Wed, 03/20/2024 - 12:27

Mokhtarian, Sholl Elected to National Academy of Engineering

admin — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 22:38:41 +0000

Mokhtarian, Sholl Elected to National Academy of Engineering admin Wed, 02/07/2024 - 17:38

Two College of Engineering professors are among the newest members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the organization announced Feb. 6.

Patricia Mokhtarian and David Sholl are part of a 2024 class that includes 114 new members and 21 international members. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional recognitions for engineers and an honor bestowed on just 2,600 professionals worldwide.

New members are nominated and voted on by the Academy’s existing membership. With Mokhtarian and Sholl, Georgia Tech now has 48 NAE members.

Get the full story on the College of Engineering website.

Summary sentence

CEE, ChBE professors are the 47th and 48th members of the Academy from Georgia Tech.

Summary

CEE, ChBE professors are the 47th and 48th members of the Academy from Georgia Tech.

Dateline

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 12:00

jstewart@gatech.edu

Contact

Joshua Stewart
College of Engineering

Associated importer

Keywords

national academy of engineering

David Sholl

college of engineering

civil and environmental engineering

chemical and biomolecular engineering

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Engineering

Mercury ID

672826

Source updated

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 17:38

Georgia Tech to Launch Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Research Program

admin — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 16:41:31 +0000

Georgia Tech to Launch Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Research Program admin Mon, 09/18/2023 - 12:41

This fall, the Institute will launch a foundational, interdisciplinary program to lead in research related to neuroscience, neurotechnology, and society. The Neuro Next Initiative is the result of the growth of GTNeuro, a grassroots effort over many years that has led in the hiring of faculty studying the brain and the creation of the B.S. in neuroscience in the College of Sciences, and contributed to exciting neuro-related research and education at Georgia Tech.

Neurosciences research holds enormous potential for wide-ranging health and societal impact, and Georgia Tech's culture of applied research and integrated interdisciplinary liberal arts scholarship is uniquely positioned to create the environment in which Neuro Next can become an international leader in the discovery, innovation, and translation in neuroscience and neurotechnology.

Guided by faculty members Christopher Rozell, professor and Julian T. Hightower Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Simon Sponberg, Dunn Family Associate Professor of Physics and Biological Sciences; and Jennifer S. Singh, associate professor in the School of History and Sociology, the Neuro Next Initiative at Georgia Tech will lead the development of a community that supports collaborative research, unique educational initiatives, and public engagement in this critical field.

“Georgia Tech has a very strong, but decentralized, neuroscience community,” said Sponberg. “The Neuro Next Initiative really sprung from a lot of thoughtful input from dozens of people across many schools, colleges, and roles, which reflects how neuro interfaces so broadly. Our goal with this initiative is really to open a new front door to the neuro community here, to highlight the leadership that Georgia Tech is already taking in many areas of neuro-related research, and to create new ways to support our interdisciplinary work.” Aiming to foster a broad community that is passionate about shaping the frontiers of neuroscience and neurotechnology to better serve humanity, the initiative will launch in October.

“Neuroscience and neurotechnology have advanced dramatically in the last few years, making it clear that there are few endeavors that have as much potential societal impact as our study of the brain,” Rozell said. “Georgia Tech is uniquely positioned to build on its existing strengths to create an effort tailored to meet the scientific, technical, and social needs of these promising research trajectories. I'm excited that the Neuro Next Initiative represents the next step in creating that collaborative community.” By bringing together a cohort of faculty experts from varied disciplines, members aim to create a holistic and integrative approach to neuroscience and neurotechnology that centers real human impact and broad accessibility.

Singh noted, “Neuro Next is an important and exciting initiative that is prioritizing the inclusion of a range disciplinary expertise, including social science, humanities, business, and the arts, to critically investigate how we can research and develop neurotechnologies that are accessible, responsible, and socially just. Building a collaborative neurocommunity that centers societal impacts from the start shares the commitment of Georgia Tech to developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.”

Attend the Neuro Next Launch Event | Oct. 25 – 26 | Georgia Institute of Technology

Register for the Upcoming Neuro Next Launch Event Here

For faculty interested in participating in Neuro Next, click here to join our affiliates list.

Subtitle

The Neuro Next Initiative will explore research at the intersections of neuroscience, neurotechnology, and society.

Summary sentence

This fall, the Institute will launch a foundational, interdisciplinary program to lead in research related to neuroscience, neurotechnology, and society.

Summary

Neurosciences research holds enormous potential for wide-ranging health and societal impact, and Georgia Tech’s culture of applied research and integrated interdisciplinary liberal arts scholarship is uniquely positioned to create the environment in which Neuro Next can become an international leader in the discovery, innovation, and translation in neuroscience and neurotechnology.

Dateline

Mon, 09/18/2023 - 12:00

christa.ernst@research.gatech.edu

Contact

Christa M. Ernst | christa.ernst@research.gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

go-researchnews

go-ibb

go-ipat

go-data

go-irim

college of engineering

2021 College of Sciences Student Awards

Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS)

gtneuro

go-bio

News room topics

Science and Technology

Categories

Research

Mercury ID

669715

Source updated

Mon, 09/18/2023 - 12:40

Cobb, Jo, Sa de Melo Honored as Lifetime AAAS Fellows

bwaye3 — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 22:10:24 +0000

Cobb, Jo, Sa de Melo Honored as Lifetime AAAS Fellows bwaye3 Mon, 02/14/2022 - 17:10

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected three faculty from Georgia Tech and Emory University to the newest class of AAAS Fellows, one of the highest distinctions in the scientific community:

Kim M. Cobb, Georgia Power Chair, director of the Global Change Program, and ADVANCE Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences
Hanjoong Jo, Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering and the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering’s associate chair for Emory University
Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo, professor in the School of Physics, College of Sciences

The 2021 class of AAAS Fellows includes 564 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.

Tech’s trio of honorees lead a spectrum of global research spanning climate variability and trends to theoretical physics to atherosclerosis.

Kim M. Cobb

Geology & Geography | For distinguished service to the field of paleoclimatology and in outreach and education to foster a new generation of earth scientists who are engaged with the real world.

“As a climate scientist,” Cobb shares, “it’s thrilling to uncover some of Earth’s longest held secrets. In that way, our research has always been its own reward to me. But this honor is special, and a true testament to the outsized contributions of our team’s research faculty, students, and staff.”

The mission of Cobb’s research is to uncover the mechanisms of global climate change — both natural and anthropogenic — to inform regional projections of future climate change.

More recently, her research has included the study of climate extremes in Georgia, with the aim of bolstering community resilience to climate change impacts.

As historically marginalized communities are most vulnerable to such impacts, Cobb explains, she works with a large team of colleagues and students that includes social scientists, as well as local officials and community organizations. Her AAAS Fellow citation recognizes her sustained efforts in communicating climate science to policymakers and the general public.

Hanjoong Jo

Biological Science | For distinguished contributions to atherosclerosis research, especially in discovering the role of blood flow on endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis using novel animal models and cultured cells.

Jo’s research focuses on better understanding atherosclerosis, a buildup of artery-clogging fats and cholesterol that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be elected as an AAAS Fellow,” shares Jo. “This election recognizes my lifetime contribution to vascular mechanobiology and atherosclerosis by a distinguished group of AAAS Fellows, who are themselves accomplished leaders in broad [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] fields.”

Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo

Physics | For seminal contributions to superconductivity and superfluidity, particularly the crossover from BCS (Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer) superconductivity to Bose-Einstein condensation in ultra-cold atoms, and for communicating these advances to students and the public.

Sa de Melo’s work focuses on theoretical condensed matter and ultra-cold atomic and molecular physics: superconductors, quantum magnets, superfluids, and Bose-Einstein condensates.

“I strongly encourage my students to be broad, deep and creative,” he shares. “Breadth of knowledge is very important in today's physics job market, as is expert (deep) knowledge in a particular area.” But most of all, he adds, it’s “the development of new directions, never explored before” comprising the dominant component of his research.

“I am very thankful to the colleagues that have nominated me for such a recognition — to my students and postdocs for their collaboration,” Sa de Melo says, “and to the AAAS Council for electing me to the rank of Fellow for contributions to theoretical physics in the fields of superconductivity and superfluidity.”

A tradition since 1874

“AAAS is proud to bestow the honor of AAAS Fellow to some of today’s brightest minds who are integral to forging our path into the future,” says Dr. Sudip Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and Science executive publisher. “We celebrate these distinguished individuals for their invaluable contributions to the scientific enterprise.”

This tradition stretches back to 1874. AAAS Fellows are a “distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers, and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines ranging from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry, and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.”

AAAS members achieve the rank of Fellow through a rigorous annual nomination and selection process. Cobb, Jo, and Sa de Melo join more than 90 faculty from Georgia Tech faculty elected as Fellows since 1954, including Kaye Husbands Fealing, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, who also serves on the AAAS Executive Board — along with several fellow Georgia Tech faculty inducted as AAAS members, including Susan Lozier, dean of the College of Sciences and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair.

The new class of Fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin to commemorate their election (representing science and engineering, respectively) and will be celebrated at an AAAS commemoration later this year. The cohort is also featured in the AAAS News & Notes section of Science for January 2022.

***

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 44,000 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.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, visit www.aaas.org.

Subtitle

Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among AAAS scientists, engineers, and innovators being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.

Summary sentence

Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among AAAS scientists, engineers, and innovators being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.

Summary

Representing a trio of disciplines across Georgia Tech and Emory, Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among 564 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.

Dateline

Wed, 01/26/2022 - 12:00

jess@cos.gatech.edu

Contact

Jess Hunt-Ralston
Director of Communications
College of Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
jess@cos.gatech.edu
+1 (404) 385-5207

Joshua Stewart
Communications
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University
jstewart@gatech.edu
+1 (404) 385-2416

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Cobb, Jo, Sa de Melo Honored as Lifetime AAAS Fellows

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