SEAS Colonial Cable

Message from Dean David Dolling


Our fall semester and the celebration of our 125th anniversary are winding down, but we are wrapping up our celebration with one more 125th anniversary event, the final Frank Howard Lecture. The lecture will take place this evening, Wednesday, December 2nd, in the City View Room at 1957 E Street, N.W. Registration and a reception will begin at 6:00 pm; the talk begins at 7:00 pm. We are fortunate to have Dr. Barbara Liskov as our final speaker in the Frank Howard Lecture series.

Dr. Liskov heads the Programming Methodology Group in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT and is the Ford Professor of Engineering in MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. Her early innovations in software design have been the basis of every important programming language since 1975, including Ada, C++, Java, and C#. Her long list of awards includes the ACM Turing Award in 2009, the ACM SIGPLAN Programming Language Achievement Award in 2008, the IEEE Von Neumann Medal in 2004, a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Women Engineers in 1996, and being named one of the 50 most important women in science by Discover Magazine in 2003.

I encourage you to consider joining us and to take advantage of this opportunity to listen to, and ask questions of, one of the top experts in this field.

I'd also like to give you advance notice of a new initiative that we have planned for the spring semester. Throughout the spring semester, SEAS will host the GW Entrepreneurship Seminar Series. Developed in conjunction with the SEAS National Advisory Council, this series will cover various aspects of entrepreneurship, such as developing an idea into a start-up company, understanding intellectual property rights, getting access to capital, and other topics. The first session is scheduled for the evening of January 19th, with subsequent sessions in February, March, and April. More information will follow early next semester. In the meantime, please mark your calendars for the first session on January 19th.

Lastly, let me end by wishing you and your families a peaceful and happy Holiday season.

Sincerely,
Signature David Dolling

David S. Dolling, Ph.D.
Dean

News & Events

 

A message from Development . . .

James Howard

Dear SEAS Alumni and Friends:

The close of each year gives us a particular opportunity to look back and think about all that has happened in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We have much to be thankful for, and I am particularly thankful for all of you who have played a part in helping to build our great school. As you know, this is a very special year for SEAS, as we have been celebrating 125 years of engineering here at GW.

As we celebrated the past we have been building for the future, and our plans for the next few years are exciting and ambitious. From planning the new science and engineering building, to expanding international opportunities for students, to strengthening our alumni network, the activity at SEAS is contagious. If you have not been involved and would like to be, please let us know. We can find a way to put your talents to work!

We continue to seek support for the SEAS 125th Anniversary Scholarship Fund, and your gift of any amount to this important source of student aid would make a meaningful impact. Your gift can be made online at https://www.gwu.edu/online_giving/, or by mail to: SEAS, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, 210 Tompkins Hall, 725 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052. If you would like to speak with me or a member of the SEAS development staff, we can be reached at 202-944-8474 or by email at seas@gwu.edu.

Thank you again for all that you have done on behalf of SEAS in 2009. I wish you and your families a happy and blessed Christmas and Holiday Season.

With my best regards,
Jim Howard

Assistant Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations
210 Tompkins Hall
jphoward@gwu.edu
Tel: 202-994-4121

~~ SEAS 2009 - Celebrating 125 Years of Engineering ~~

 


 

Scantegrity Voting System Used in Local Elections


Election history was made in Takoma Park, MD, on November 3, 2009. For the first time anywhere in the world, voters had the ability to independently audit the election tally. About 1,700 voters used the Scantegrity voting system to cast votes for the positions of mayor and city council members. The Scantegrity count has been confirmed by a hand count, within the expected margin between hand counts and automated counts. Scantegrity has been developed by Professor Poorvi Vora, of the Department of Computer Science, and graduated doctoral student Stefan Popoveniuc, in collaboration with several other universities. Public domain efforts to prototype this class of voting systems have become somewhat widespread (about eight such protoyped systems exist) after the first one, Citizen Verified Voting, was prototyped entirely at GW by Professor Vora's doctoral student, Ben Hosp.

Media covered the process in print and via radio. Online articles appeared in Wired magazine, and Computerworld.

WAMU radio provided the following coverage:
"Takoma Park Voters Use New System"
http://wamu.org/audio/nw/09/11/n4091104-29958.asx (Microsoft Media Player)
http://wamu.org/audio/nw/09/11/n4091104-29958.ram (Real Audio)

"New Voting Technology Makes Debut In Takoma Park"
http://wamu.org/audio/nw/09/11/n24091103-29954.asx (Microsoft Media Player)
http://wamu.org/audio/nw/09/11/n24091103-29954.ram (Real Audio)

 

Upcoming SEAS Events

SEAS 125th Anniversary Event: Frank Howard Lecture Series
In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the School of Engineering and Applied Science

This fall, the Frank Howard Distinguished Lecture Series hosts three engineering experts in fields that are the focus of the cutting-edge research happening in engineering. Please join your fellow alumni at the final lecture and reception.

Speaker:

 Barbara Liskov

Date:

 Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Time:

 6:00 pm

Location:

 1957 E Street N.W., City View Room
Washington, D.C.

Come hear Dr. Barbara Liskov, whose early innovations in software design have been the basis of every important programming language since 1975, including Ada, C++, Java, and C#, discuss "The Power of Abstraction." Abstraction is at the center of much work in Computer Science. It encompasses finding the right interface for a system as well as finding an effective design for a system implementation. Furthermore, abstraction is the basis for program construction, allowing programs to be built in a modular fashion. This lecture will discuss how the abstraction mechanisms we use today came to be, how they are supported in programming languages, and some possible areas for future research.

Barbara Liskov heads the Programming Methodology Group in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT and is the Ford Professor of Engineering in MIT's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. In 2009, she was named an Institute Professor, the highest honor awarded to an MIT faculty member. She also won the ACM Turing Award in 2009, the ACM SIGPLAN Programming Language Achievement Award in 2008, the IEEE Von Neumann Medal in 2004, a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Women Engineers in 1996, and was named one of the 50 most important women in science by Discover Magazine in 2003. (Read more and register...)

 

3rd Annual Alumni House Holiday Open House

Date:

 Thursday, December 3, 2009

Time:

 6:30 - 9:00 pm

Location:

 Alumni House @ 1918 F Street, NW
Washington, DC

Kick off the holidays with GW alumni! Join fellow alumni for an evening of music, drinks, food and fun at an open house at Alumni House!
(Read more . . .)

 

Reception for GW Alumni in DC Government

Date:

 Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Time:

 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Location:

 Ben's Next Door
1211 U Street, NW
Washington, DC

GW alumni working for the DC government -- you are cordially invited to attend our second annual reception in your honor, with President Steven Knapp. Enjoy the famous fare of Ben's Chili Bowl while reconnecting with your alma mater and networking with your alumni colleagues.
(Read more . . .)

 

Save the Date: Alumni Reception at the 89th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board

Date:

 Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Time:

 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Location:

 Omni Shoreham Hotel, Congressional Room
2500 Calvert Street, NW
Washington, DC

 

Save the Date: GW Entrepreneurship Seminar Series

Developing Your Idea Into a Start-Up: The first of the GW Entrepreneurship Seminar Series will be held on the evening of Tuesday, January 19th. More information will follow in the next Colonial Cable on this and the subsequent topics in the seminar series.

 

2009-2010 GW Basketball Tickets Now Available!

Single Game Tickets -- Your GW Alumni Association has purchased a set of men's basketball tickets -- cheer with fellow alumni at any home game of your choice this season! We will be hosting tailgates at Alumni House as well. Visit our website for more information and to buy tickets.

 


Archives: SEAS Colonial Cable

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2008-2009 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2007-2008 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2006-2007 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2005-2006 Academic Year