News Archive: 2010
Krasnow Phase II continues its progress as the steel frames of Phase I and II are connected. New offices and laboratories are taking shape as the interior walls are being constructed. Additionally, crews have almost completed laying brick on the exterior facade. Over the next several weeks, Whiting Turner will be continuing interior construction to include erecting walls and laying flooring. Substantial completion of Krasnow Phase II should be in April 2011.
At a recent event, George Mason Intellectual Properties (GMIP) honored a number of Mason patent recipients and inventors. One such recipient was our own Dr. Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, Director for the Center for Social Complexity. He was awarded a patent for "Anthropogenic Event Risk Assessment." The Institute applauds him on this honor.
The Krasnow Institute is excited to announce its two new short courses to be offered in June of 2011. One week long, these intensive executive-level courses are offered in areas of the Institute's expertise: Computational Social Science & Policy, and Neuroscience & Policy. For more information, visit our Decision Maker Short Course webpage.
Jane Wendelin, our Assistant Director for Budget and Research Administration, was awarded an Outstanding Achievement award at the Fall 2010 awards ceremony. Jane received this award recognizing her contributions during the transition to a full academic unit of the University. She has also played a central role in HR operations and recruitment of students to the Neuroscience PhD and Computational Social Science PhD programs.
Photo courtesy of Mason University Relations.
Dr. Mohamad Awad is a Fulbright fellow in residence at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies this semester. Dr. Awad’s choice of GMU was based upon its international reputation, the well-known Evolutionary Computation Laboratory headed by Professor Kenneth De Jong, and the cultural diversity of the university.
Dr. Awad’s research is a multi-disciplinary topic that combines evolutionary algorithms and remote sensing image processing. His research focuses on the use of evolutionary algorithms to create an adaptive cooperative robust satellite image segmentation method that can help in improving the accuracy of extracted information from these types of images. In addition to his research while in residence, Dr. Awad hopes to establish the groundwork for continuing cooperation in the future.
Dr. Mohamad Awad earned his BSc. and Msc. degrees in Computer Science from the Lebanese American University in the years of 1988 and 2001 respectively. He earned his PhD from the University of Rennes 1, France in Telecommunication and Signal processing in May 2008. Dr. Awad has been working for the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research as an assistant researcher and then Scientific Researcher since 1996. Dr. Awad has many published papers in different domains and disciplines (GIS, Remote Sensing, Computer Science, Geosciences…etc). His current subject of research is multi-component image segmentation. In addition to his research activities he teaches in many known national private and public universities such as the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese University. Finally, Dr. Awad is a reviewer for many well known scientific journals and conferences and a member of American and International Scientific Societies.
Construction work continues on Phase II of the Krasnow Institute. Steel framing has been erected ahead of schedule. Once the new structure is enclosed, connections will be created between the two buildings.
Look for additional updates as work progresses...
Construction has begun on the 15,000 square foot expansion of the Krasnow Institute. The piles have been driven and the base of building begins to take shape. The project is due to be completed next year. The new facility will provide space for the vivarium, state of the art labs in translational and basic neuroscience, and labs for neuroengineering.
On June 2nd, Krasnow hosted Congressman Connolly, President Merten, and the Krasnow Advisory Board for an official groundbreaking ceremony. The event was attended by various university administrators, the construction project team, and Krasnow researchers and staff. Remarks by Rep. Connolly, Dr. Merten, and Dr. Olds paid tribute to the research projects conducted at Krasnow and the growth of research programs at George Mason University.
On May 27 and May 28, Krasnow scientific staff and researchers gathered for the annual research retreat. The one and one-half day retreat gives research groups the opportunity to present reports on research projects and future directions of their research.
Due to the varying nature of expertise in each laboratory, Krasnow's researchers benefit from understanding and, at times, incorporating insights and methodologies of their fellows in other labs. The retreat serves as a mechanism for collaboration allowing the Krasnow Institute to make additional scientific advancements.
With final approval expected soon from the Bureau of Capital Outlay Management on the construction of the next phase of the Krasnow building, contractor Whiting-Turning, today, began installing perimeter fencing. A rescheduled groundbreaking will be held in early June.
Interior construction was recently completed on the upper level of Krasnow's new wing. This gave the Institute the opportunity to welcome Dan Cox and his lab to the Krasnow Institute from the Prince William Campus. The new wing is also home to the labs of Nadine Kabbani and Robert Lipsky and is the home of the new microscopic imagining center.
Plans continue to move forward with the newest wing which will be a mirror image of the most recent addition. This will double the research space currently available at the Institute and provide Krasnow the capability to further the study of neuroscience at George Mason University. A virtual groundbreaking ceremony is due to be held in April with the work to begin sometime this spring.
On February 3, Krasnow's Center for Social Complexity hosted a visit by Nobelist Elinor (Lin) Ostrom, from Indiana University. She was greeted by Krasnow Director Jim Olds and Claudio Cioffi. Center members had a unique opportunity to discuss current projects with Ostrom and her the latest on her forthcoming publications and projects on socio-ecological complexity and sustainability.
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