International Symposium of Hydrological Sciences and High-efficiency Water Resources Utilization Under the Changing Environment (ISHW) - Wuhan University, China
Dr. Ekundayo Shittu and Dor Hirsh Bar Gai presented their work, "Meta-analysis of emerging models of food,
energy and water systems: What do the models tell us?" at the International
Symposium of Hydrological Sciences and High-efficiency Water Resources
Utilization Under the Changing Environment (ISHW). The ISHW took place in
Wuhan, China, October 24-26. The US team (GW and Lehigh Universities) on the
NSF-INFEWS project focusing on the Columbia River Basin met with their Chinese
counterparts (from Wuhan and Tsinghua Universities) focusing on the Mekong
River Basin.
1st Summer Intensive Modeling Workshop for High School Students, 2019
Dr. Ekundayo Shittu conducted a six-week, summer, intensive modeling workshop for 13 high school students, grades 9-12, who have impressive competence in mathematics and data analysis and are interested in expanding their skillset. The workshop, infused with project-based learning pedagogy, introduced the students to spreadsheet modeling with Microsoft Excel, linear and integer programming, elementary data analysis, and introduction to computer programming using visual basic for applications in Excel and Python. The students were also exposed to the elements of professional preparation including resume writing, presentation decorum, and interviewing etiquette. The program was run in a hierarchical educational mentoring platform that also included two undergraduate teaching assistants. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this workshop aimed to excite students to pursue degrees in STEM, especially in systems engineering and computer science. The students, shown in the picture below, were drawn from a pool of applicants in high schools across Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
Front row (left to
right): Kian Asongwed, Tsige Solomon, Amy
Campos, Eileen Sawyer, Camila Marryshow, Kamyia Denson, Kaili Clark, and Nadav Oren
Back row (left to right): Prof. Shittu, Will Bates (UCSD), Roman Kassaraba, Adwin Paul, Amir Oyolola, Andreas Frey, Robbie Mirabello andAlexa Rosdahl (GW/EMSE)
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Meeting, 2019
represented GW at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Oak Ridge Associated
Universities (ORAU) Council of Sponsoring Institutions on March 4-6, 2019. The theme
of this year’s meeting was "Ensuring a Robust
U.S. Energy Future." ORAU provides innovative scientific and
technical solutions to advance research and education, protect public health
and the environment, and strengthen national security. Through specialized
teams of experts, unique laboratory capabilities, and access to a consortium of
more than 100 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal,
state, local and commercial customers to advance national priorities and serve
the public interest.
3rd Annual LMI Government-University Forum
June 2016: The LMI Research Institute (LRI) convened its 3rd annual Government-University Forum at LMI headquarters in Tysons, VA on June 7, 2016. The Government-University Forum serves to: provide insight into the challenges facing government clients; inform LMI's academic partners about LMI--what they do, for whom they do it, their research direction; allow LMI's academic partners an opportunity to discuss their work and share ideas for exploration; and, make connections among LMI'ers, academic researchers, and government representatives. Professor Shittu's attendance at this event was captured in this video also shown below.
Senior Design Team Visits LMI
April 2016: The senior design team mentored by Professor Shittu visited LMI (one of Prof. Shittu's funding partners) to interview LMI's Senior Consultant and Research Fellow, Roger Miller and Consultant, Shanta Whitaker regarding their recent publication in Health Affairs, "Reorganizing Nigeria's Vaccine Supply Chain Reduces Need For Additional Storage Facilities, But More Storage Is Required." See the clip below or this link for a video of the interview.
Duke Energy Renewables Solar Farm visit
March 2016: Professor Shittu with Professor Saniya LeBlnc (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) and Professor Leila Farhadi (Civil and Environmental Engineering) took a group of masters degree students to Elizabeth City, NC to visit a solar farm (20MW capacity) that is part of the Capital Partners Solar Project. This was part of a funded project to conduct a living laboratory for solar farms supported by the inaugural Duke Energy Renewables (DER) Innovation funds. A key goal of the visit is to link technical, economic, and policy considerations for energy technologies as students learn about solar PVs. See this link for some pictures of the visit to the farm and this link for pictures of the lunch the group was hosted to by DER.
Inaugural Duke Energy Renewables Innovation Fund
February-March 2016: Professor Shittu is a PI on one of three research projects funded by the inaugural Duke Energy Renewables Innovation Fund Awards, a multi-year research grant program for energy research—including the unprecedented growth of the solar industry. He is a co-Pi on another. Read more about the awards here. See a video of the award recipients with the President of GW discussing Solar Energy here or in the clip below.
Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP)
May-August 2015: In collaboration with the Institute of International Education (IIE), the C2E2DM Lab hosted 12 BSMP undergraduate students from Brazil on a summer research experience between May and August 2015. The students were exposed to optimization modeling in excel and AMPL. They also worked on energy technology investment problems and prepared reports on their research projects and experience. See this link for a group picture of the students with Professor Shittu.
High School Summer Research Internship
July-August 2015: Two high school students (under-represented and female) from Montgomery County in MD with funding support from the EMSE Department conducted research projects related to energy policy data collection and analysis in the C2E2DM laboratory. See this link for a picture of the students with Professor Shittu.
IPCC Report
November 2014: Professor Shittu was a Lead Author on Chapter 2, "Integrated Risk and Uncertainty Assessment of Climate Change Response Policies" of IPCC's 5th Assessment report (AR5) on "The mitigation of climate change."
GreenGov Forum
June 2015: On Wednesday June 10, 2015 the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the George Washington University hosted the 2015 GreenGov Symposium. Professor Shittu moderated a panel, "Less is More: Achieving Energy Efficiency," that had panelists including Kathleen Hogan (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energu Efficiency at the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE), Katy Hatcher (EPA Energy Star National Manager for Public Sector), Jeff Sherman (Director, Federal Energy & Sustainability Services, Schneider Electric), and Landon Van Dyke (Senior Advisor for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, State Department). See a video of the panel discussion below - scroll to 7:28:00 to see this panel.
Media Activities
LMI Research Institute
May 27, 2015: The LMI Research Institute hosted the second annual Government-University Forum, bringing government leaders and university researchers together. Over the course of a day, government leaders from a across section of Federal agencies and the Department of Defense discussed their mission and innovation challenges with leading university researchers. The two-part interaction between the Vice President of Communications at LMI and Professor Shittu can be seen here-part 1 and here-part 2 or below.
Metcalf Institute
April 2014: Professor Shittu discusses a variety of regional, national and international initiatives to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at Metcalf Institute's Climate Change and the News: Impacts in Marine and Coastal Environments seminar for journalists held in Washington, DC April 24-25, 2014. Below is a video of the talk.
Voice of America
April 2014: On Earth Day, Professor Shittu was invited by the Voice of America (VOA) to discuss on a TV program, "On the Line" on the topic titled, "Economic Argument for Action on Climate Change." See the TV discussion here and below.
Tedx-TU Talk
November 2011: Professor Shittu was invited to address over 400 people in a Tedx Talk at Tulane University on Climate Change. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Below is a video of his talk where he enthusiastically shares the hard consequences of energy over-consumption as well as engages the audience in ways to limit such consumption.