diversity

World Engineering Education Forum and Global Engineering Deans Council host international event in South Africa

Tama Moni — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 16:04:38 +0000

World Engineering Education Forum and Global Engineering Deans Council host international event in South Africa Tama Moni Fri, 01/27/2023 - 11:04

In This Story

Kenneth Ball

Ariela Sofer

Gregory Washington

The 2022 World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) and Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) event (“Adapting to Global Disruption”) drew hundreds of people to Cape Town in late 2022. Collocated with the African Engineering Education Association (AEEA) conference, the event offered space to approach challenges in an integrative multidisciplinary, interinstitutional, cross-cultural, inclusive, diverse, trusting, and ethical manner. Hans Hoyer, in the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing, organizes the event from his position as Executive Secretary of GEDC and as the Secretary General of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES).

Photo by the 2022 World Engineering Education Forum

IFEES and the GEDC Secretariat have been located at the Mason College of Engineering and Computing since January 2018. The IFEES/GEDC Secretariat adds strategic access and linkage to large international representation for Mason students and faculty. IFEES and GEDC have extended membership to several individuals and societies within the Mason community including President Gregory Washington and GEDC Executive Committee member and Dean Kenneth Ball. CEC became the third ‘Academic Partner’ to join IFEES at a Gold Level represented by George Mason’s, Ariela Sofer, the Interim Divisional Dean in the College of Engineering and Computing. She also represents IFEES Bronze Member, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). Mason’s, J.P. Auffret, the Director of the Research Partnerships and Grants Initiatives, represents IFEES Bronze Member, International Academy of CIO (IAC). Mason also partners with the GEDC and Siemens for the annual GEDC Diversity Award, a global award for innovative projects that inspire students of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering.

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South Africa

diversity

Engineering Education

Summer Saturdays Spark Interest in STEM

Tama Moni — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 18:17:35 +0000

Summer Saturdays Spark Interest in STEM Tama Moni Wed, 08/03/2022 - 14:17

Elementary school students operating a drone with a controller.

The Nguyen Engineering Building buzzed with activity on Saturday mornings throughout the month of July as the Office of Diversity and Inclusive Learning hosted 200 elementary, middle, and high school students for STEM Summer Saturdays.

“It was exciting to see so many kids here at the college. We hope the experience sparked an interest in STEM that will continue throughout their school year, and we see some of them again next year,” says Mercadi Crawford, diversity associate for the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC).

The students learned about flying drones, forensic science and entrepreneurship, statistics, career pathways and preparing for college. College of Engineering and Computing faculty and staff volunteered to make the experience both enjoyable and educational. Student mentors and orientation leaders were also on hand to help.

Parents said their children raved about the program were grateful for the opportunity to explore STEM careers, see possibilities, and focus on abilities. They came home excited to research careers in fields such as forensic toxicology and other areas they might not have otherwise known about. Many parents look forward to seeing the program again next year.

“The support from our partners in the College of Science, the National Society of Black Engineers, STEAM Pipelines, The Abacus Project and the Department of Statistics was spectacular,” says Christi Wilcox, CEC diversity associate. “We are so thankful for their contributions.”

Topics

STEM

Summer Camps

College of Engineering and Computing

College of Science

diversity

Diversity center goes live

Martha Bushong — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 19:55:20 +0000

Diversity center goes live Martha Bushong Wed, 10/20/2021 - 15:55

As part of its BLAST OFF week activities, the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) will formally launch the Computing and Engineering Diversity Resource Information Center (CEDRIC).

CEDRIC will serve as a resource for students, faculty, and staff, providing a central repository of scholarship, research opportunities, peer mentorship programs, student organizations, and more.

For faculty, it will support an inclusive curriculum, broadening participation activities, research, and the college’s recruitment and retention efforts. Existing student programs such as the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a federal grant program through the National Science Foundation, and the existing CEC diversity organizations like Girls Who Code, the National Society for Black Engineers, and new ones such as Out in STEM will be administered through CEDRIC.

As a part of CEC’s commitment to inclusive excellence, the center will be used to help recruit, retain, and develop faculty, staff, and student talent from historically marginalized communities. Mason, the most diverse university in Virginia, has a proud history of accessibility and inclusiveness. Our leadership, however, recognizes the need to build on these successes.

Christopher Carr, CEC’s chief diversity officer, advocated establishing the center as part of his plan for inclusive learning. Informed by the work of Walter Lee, associate professor at Virginia Tech, CEDRIC will employ best practices of similar centers at Virginia Tech, the University of Maryland, the University of California San Diego, Georgia Tech, the University of Washington and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Originally designed as a physical-only space, the center adapted lessons learned from COVID and pivoted to launch an online platform first to serve all students—including those who are online-only learners. The Office of Diversity Outreach and Inclusive Learning hopes to launch a physical space in the next academic year. When this happens, CEDRIC will be the first engineering and computing education center operating as both a face-to-face and online.

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diversity

College of Engineering and Computing launches new diversity initiative

Martha Bushong — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 22:43:08 +0000

College of Engineering and Computing launches new diversity initiative Martha Bushong Mon, 10/04/2021 - 18:43

George Mason University’s College of Engineering and Computing and the Office of Diversity, Outreach, and Inclusive Learning (DOIL) invites students, faculty, and staff to participate in the launch of DOIL’s Computing and Engineering Diversity Resource Information Center (CEDRIC).

The events will occur during the week of October 25 and will showcase some of the information and resources available at CEDRIC. Attendees may ask questions, and engage with the panelists, presenters, and each other and discuss what useful resources and communities they have found or would like to see at the college.

The schedule is as follows:

Monday, October 25 (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) | Atrium

Belonging

Student groups and organizations will promote their mission, values, and resources for diverse students looking for peer communities that will support them socially, academically, and professionally.

Tuesday, October 26 (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) | Stackable Conference Rooms ENGR 1602, ENGR 2901, ENGR 3507

Leadership

Explore the on- and off-campus resources and opportunities available for diverse students, faculty, and staff within CEC to engage in leadership roles.

Wednesday, October 27 (11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) | Computer Science Conference Room 4201

Access

Learn about research and funding opportunities available to diverse undergraduate and graduate students and hear from university resource centers and offices with information on support for fellowships, graduate schools, research, and study abroad opportunities.

Thursday, October 28 (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) | Research Hall 163

Success

Engage in our Career Services Sessions where industry advising experts discuss the resources available on campus for diverse students to get them career-ready to pursue a myriad of internship and employment opportunities.

Friday, October 29 (All Day) | Atrium

Transformation

Mix and mingle in the Atrium (socially distanced, of course) and view the recorded walk-through and virtual launch of CEDRIC.

Topics

diversity

Mason launches TTIP Thematic Initiative to grow multidisciplinary teams of diverse faculty

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 15:56:39 +0000

Mason launches TTIP Thematic Initiative to grow multidisciplinary teams of diverse faculty Colleen Rich Mon, 04/12/2021 - 11:56

In This Story

Siddhartha Sikdar

Christopher A. Carr

Sanmay Das

When Christopher Carr learned about George Mason University’s initiative to hire clusters of faculty around a singular theme, he saw an opportunity to take on a social justice challenge from an unexpected position.

Carr, the College of Engineering and Computing’s chief diversity officer, had an idea for a Social Justice, Engineering, and Computing proposal centered on technology’s impact on historically marginalized communities—a decidedly political focus for a team that would work closely with engineers.

Christopher Carr

“Many times engineers will say, ‘We're not political; we're not involved in social issues. We solve infrastructural and technical and mechanical problems,’” said Carr. “But when we’re looking at the impact of technology and who it may be harming, these infrastructural and technical and mechanical problems are political and social.”

Challenging traditional ways of thinking is exactly the point of the TTIP Faculty Thematic Hiring Initiative—Mason’s new action to promote multidisciplinary education, research and collaboration in computing. The initiative is part of the university’s effort to support Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP), the plan to ensure that Amazon and the state’s tech sector have a strong and sustainable talent pipeline. As Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university, and its largest producer of tech talent, Mason figures prominently in the performance-based plan, which calls for 25,000 additional graduates in computer science, computer engineering and software engineering over the next 20 years.

“The TTIP program has provided a great opportunity for Mason to increase faculty diversity and focus them on critical national issues.” said Provost Mark Ginsberg. “The initiative is a creative way to support Virginia’s TTIP program’s charge. It will help to bring down barriers as it relates to the faculty and the selected themes. It’s a bold move designed to make a big impact.”

Last fall, faculty teams were invited to submit proposals describing thematic hiring opportunities. The decision committee evaluated 14 proposals for innovation and timeliness, alignment with Mason strengths, recruiting plans and hiring strategies.

Three proposals emerged as the top selections—the Computational Systems Biomedicine theme, led by Bioengineering’s Siddhartha Sikdar and Juan Cebral; Carr’s Social Justice, Engineering and Computing proposal; and Computer Science professor Sanmay Das’s AI, Society, and Public Policy proposal, which eventually merged with the Social Justice proposal to form an even more powerful unified theme of AI, Social Justice, and Public Policy.

Proposal teams comprise Computer Science, Statistics and Information Science and Technology faculty from the proposed School of Computing who teamed up with faculty colleagues in other academic departments, colleges and schools.

“We had many ideas with great potential, but the committee agreed that the themes selected have the potential to focus and advance research in critical areas of national importance,” said Aurali Dade, interim vice president of research and the decision committee chair.

Sanmay Das

For the AI, Social Justice, and Public Policy proposal team, the multidisciplinary focus will give Mason an entree into the national discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) and technology. Algorithms are wielding increasing power, often without safeguards or government regulations. The proposal reflects the growing concern that unconscious bias may be creeping into systems that affect areas such as mortgage approval, credit scores and hiring practices, often with destructive outcomes for affected communities.

For Das, this cluster hire will focus on interrupting systemic bias and will also identify ways to use AI to embed “fairness, accountability and transparency” into algorithmic decision making.

“We want to approach this from a broader perspective and go beyond technical definitions of fairness and really think about how algorithms can contribute to justice,” said Das.

The Computational Systems Biomedicine team is focused on the opportunities of data integration.

“Our health care system is very fragmented,” said Sikdar. “We have specialists who care for patients, and there is a lot of data and knowledge that is available, not only about these individual patients and their underlying conditions, but also the environment where they live, their communities and their socio-economic status.”

Sikdar says the goal is to utilize this broad knowledge base to deliver “precision medicine.”

“Everyone now recognizes that you can’t just treat the symptoms,” said Sikdar. “You have to take a more holistic view so that we can personalize treatments and care coordination for the individual.”

Recruited faculty will use computational methods to leverage Mason’s strengths to engage with medical, industrial and federal collaborators in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

“Mason already has significant strengths in computing, systems biology, bioengineering, epidemiology and health informatics,” Sikdar said. “What we are missing is what we call ‘system integrators,’ people who have the methodological expertise to bridge these gaps.”

Siddhartha Sikdar

Each team will recruit up to four tenure-line faculty over the next three years, and the allocated funds will be dedicated to faculty salaries, start-up packages and other infrastructure needs. Faculty recruited under this program may start their appointments at Mason in spring 2022 or fall 2023.

Sikdar’s team will hire four tenured/tenure-track faculty who will form a cluster between five participating departments/schools: Bioengineering, Systems Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Statistics.

The AI cluster will hire four faculty specializing in fairness, accountability and transparency in AI (Departments of Computer Science and Computational and Data Sciences); social justice, and the governance of AI and big data (Schar School of Policy and Government); the intersection of technology with historically marginalized communities (Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution), and the ethics of AI (Department of Philosophy in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences).

For Sikdar, diverse perspectives will be a critical part of the new team’s approach.

“We want many different ways to think about the problems. Disciplinary diversity is critical, and it is also important to recruit from underrepresented groups,” said Sikdar. “We know there are significant disparities in health that need to be factored into a systems medicine model. We need people with lived experiences who are not only motivated to address those gaps, but also have the right expertise to do it.”

Topics

Campus News

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

Faculty and Staff News

Artificial Intelligence

diversity

Mason Engineering student leads first cloud computing conference

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:59:53 +0000

Mason Engineering student leads first cloud computing conference Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/04/2021 - 12:59

Topics

information sciences and technology

diversity

women in computing

Volgenau School of Engineering

Maya Chatterjee's internship at BAE Systems was one of the first times she was exposed to cloud computing. It sparked an interest in her that led her to start the first cloud computing conference at Mason. Photo provided.

In the summer of 2020, senior information technology major, accelerated master’s student, and student leader Maya Chatterjee realized someone needed to fill in the gaps for students on how cloud computing empowers nearly every aspect of engineering and technology.

President of Mason’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Chatterjee decided to tap into her network and partner with the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA) to create Mason’s first-ever one-day Patriot Cloud Conference.

“I was first exposed to cloud computing from the client perspective at my BAE Systems internship a few semesters back,” says Chatterjee. “And over the summer, I was interning with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and seeing cloud from the provider perspective. I was even more exposed to how the cloud can speed up so many business processes.”

Her internship experiences set her on a mission to ensure every engineering/technology student can learn cloud computing's foundational concepts. With this idea in mind, she established the first free-to-students virtual cloud computing conference at Mason to demonstrate the cloud’s capabilities.

“I contacted Kammy [Kamaljeet] Sanghera, associate professor and the interim director of IDIA, over the summer to see what she thought we could do, and she said we have to do a cloud conference,” says Chatterjee. Then they got to work.

Chatterjee contacted everyone in her network and worked with her SWE board members to get the word out. “I wanted to make sure to include a variety of different backgrounds in cloud computing,” she says. “But what I loved was that most of our speakers were women.”

Chatterjee first encountered SWE and the technology space in high school. Her mother, a SWE member herself and a Mason graduate from the master’s in information technology program, told her about a SWE event for high school students. “It opened my eyes, and I just stayed involved when I got to college. SWE is so important to me. It brought me so much.”

Since then, she has always looked for ways to get other women into STEM and show them possibilities for careers and education, and the Patriot Cloud Conference was a massive leap towards accomplishing her goal.

“Women sometimes get type-cast in the technology space. People limit us to the less-technical roles or project manager positions, and that isn’t right. We can do anything we set our mind to,” she says. And the women in the Patriot Cloud Conference exemplified this sentiment.

“It was a pleasure to work with Maya Chatterjee. She led her SWE team and volunteers, reached out to speakers, and prepared them from a dry run of the event to remind them about the areas of interest to the audience. She has excellent leadership and communication skills. Her passion for cloud computing drove the entire conference,” says Sanghera.

The feedback they received was remarkable, says Chatterjee. “We had around 350 participants total, and we got a variety of different reactions. Participants were all super ecstatic to find a free platform to learn about cloud computing fundamentals,” she says.

Chatterjee is graduating with her bachelor’s degree in information technology this May, and she will begin her accelerated master’s program in applied information technology full-time this fall. So, while she will not be the SWE leader as a graduate student, she hopes that the Patriot Cloud Conference will continue.

“The conference was designed to be for everyone, not just women and not just people specifically interested in cloud computing.” And she attributes the accessibility of the conference to its success. “People want to learn.”

Mason faculty design Break Through Tech Program

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:15:32 +0000

Mason faculty design Break Through Tech Program Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/04/2021 - 11:15

Topics

diversity

Break Through Tech

women in computing

Computer science; computing; School of Computing

College of Engineering and Computing

Volgenau; Diversity

information sciences and technology

Learn more about Break Through Tech's program and mission

“Women represent 57 percent of all bachelor’s recipients in the U.S. but only 19 percent of CS graduates,” said Sanjeev Setia, proposed School of Computing Division Dean. “For social equity and inclusion, it is imperative that we work towards gender parity in the technology sector.”

George Mason University received a grant from Break Through Tech to propel more students who identify as women and non-binary into tech education—and ultimately tech careers—through curriculum innovation, career access, and community building.

The grant’s goal is to increase the number of these students graduating with a tech degree at Mason by 12.5 percentage points by 2026.

Mason’s Break Through Tech program will be directed by the Volgenau School of Engineering, the proposed School of Computing, and the Departments of Computer Science and Information Sciences and Technology.

The faculty working on this initiative seek to attract and retain women and underrepresented communities pursuing computing degrees and careers in tech in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Mason’s Break Through Tech program will include:

A summer program for rising first-year students designed to ignite interest in tech by teaching them how to code mission-driven, real-world applications;
A new, innovative introductory sequence of computing courses;
A paid, three-week mini-internship program called a “Sprinternship®” that gives first- and second-year students a resume credential and real-world experience to make them more competitive when applying for a paid summer tech internship;
A networked cohort of individuals who identify as women and non-binary—both peer-to-peer and student-to-professional—in the D.C. metro area to support, engage and motivate one another.

“We are very excited about the opportunities this grant provides for curriculum innovation and industry partnerships that will strengthen our ability to recruit, train, and incorporate more women as successful professionals to the computing disciplines,” said Ozlem Uzuner, chair of the Department of Information Sciences and Technology. “This project will have a lasting positive impact in terms of improving diversity in the workplace, and we are well-positioned to make our mark.”

Department of Computer Science Chair David Rosenblum echoes the importance of curriculum innovation. Notably, adjusting the introductory computing courses offered at Mason.

“An increasing number of institutions, most notably Harvey Mudd College, have experienced tremendous success in attracting female students into their computing programs, through innovations to the design and content of their introductory computing courses,” said Rosenblum. “At Mason, we will apply the best practices that have been established by these pioneering institutions while introducing homegrown innovations of our own.”

Huzefa Rangwala, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and principal investigator for the grant, said that in addition to revamping Mason’s introductory computing course, a free “bootcamp” will be offered over the Summer to prepare students for the course.

“By 2026, estimates are that the U.S. will only be producing 17 percent of the graduates needed to meet the nation’s tech workforce needs. This is a national problem,” said Rangwala.

Break Through Tech at Mason is purposefully working to ensure long-term tech success for the program participants through community building efforts. Volgenau School of Engineering’s Chief Diversity Officer Christopher Carr says Mason is taking a holistic approach.

“From our K-12 outreach, we will utilize structures like our Early Identification Program, which works with communities across the National Capital Region, with particular emphasis on those communities that have been historically oppressed and marginalized,” says Carr. “We will then ensure that all participants have support through not only mentorship and cohort development, but by intentional efforts to connect the participants to all that is Mason - from our student organizations to living-learning communities, and so much more.”

Mason awarded grant to further diversify D.C. region’s tech ecosystem

Martha Bushong — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 16:41:48 +0000

Mason awarded grant to further diversify D.C. region’s tech ecosystem Martha Bushong Mon, 03/01/2021 - 11:41

Topics

Volgenau School of Engineering

computer science

information technology

diversity

Students

Campus News

Learn More

George Mason University announced today a grant from Break Through Tech to propel more students who identify as women and non-binary into tech education—and ultimately tech careers—through curriculum innovation, career access, and community building. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of these students graduating with a tech degree at Mason by 12.5 percentage points by 2026.

"Computer science is a growing and lucrative field, yet less than 20% of computer science degrees in this country are awarded to women," Mason President Gregory Washington said. "George Mason is the largest producer of tech talent in Virginia, and this partnership with Break Through Tech will provide additional opportunities for women to excel in computer science, broadening the capabilities of the digital workforce."

George Mason University and the University of Maryland will be joining Break Through Tech as it expands from its hubs in New York City and Chicago to Washington, D.C. This expansion was made possible through the Gender Equality in Tech (GET) Cities initiative, which is led by a $50 million investment from Pivotal Ventures, the investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates, as well as an additional $7 million investment from Cognizant U.S. Foundation and Verizon. Mason’s Break Through Tech program will be administered by the Volgenau School of Engineering, the proposed School of Computing and the Departments of Computer Science and Information Sciences and Technology.

“Receiving the grant from Break Through Tech will provide a tremendous boost to the Departments of Computer Science and Information Sciences and Technology’s efforts to broaden participation in computing,” says Sanjeev Setia, division dean for the proposed School of Computing. “Not only does the grant provide funding for several initiatives that seek to increase the proportion of women students in our programs, but the Break Through Tech team has pioneered several initiatives that have been successful at other universities, and we are keen to learn from their experiences.”

Mason’s Break Through Tech program will include:

A summer program for rising first-year students designed to ignite interest in tech by teaching them how to code real-world applications that are mission-driven;
New, innovative introductory sequence of computing courses;
A paid, three-week mini-internship program called a “Sprinternship®” that gives first- and second-year students a resume credential and real-world experience to make them more competitive when applying for a paid summer tech internship; and
The development of a networked cohort of individuals who identify as women and non-binary—both peer-to-peer and student-to-professional—in the D.C. metro area to support, engage and motivate one another.

Huzefa Rangwala, professor in the Department of Computer Science and principal investigator for the grant, says, “Using data analytics to ensure college student success has been the cornerstone of my research for the past six years. I am thrilled to collaborate on this grant with several colleagues at Mason to narrow the gender gap in computing by innovating across the curriculum, establishing career pathways, and building an inclusive environment.”

In Break Through Tech’s founding city, Cornell Tech partnered with the City University of New York (CUNY), which saw an increase in the number of women pursuing computer science degrees by 61 percent since Break Through Tech New York launched in 2016.

“The field of computer science would not have achieved the widespread success and impact it enjoys today without the critical contributions of women scientists and engineers,” says David Rosenblum, chair of the Computer Science Department at Mason. “Our partnership with Break Through Tech gives us the opportunity to work on overcoming the barriers that female students experience in STEM disciplines, so that we can attract and educate a new generation of women graduates who will play a critical role in shaping the future of computer science.”

The combination of the current economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the national awareness of COVID’s outsized impact across gender, race and other underrepresented identities in society, makes this a critical time to scale a movement toward equity in tech—an industry with the growth potential to support the kind of economic empowerment that should be available to everyone.

“GET DC will impact an emerging tech hub that’s bustling with opportunity for women and underrepresented groups in an industry that continues to trend majority male and white,” said Judith Spitz, founder and executive director at Break Through Tech. “Break Through Tech will work towards tackling two key hurdles for women—access and experience.”

About Break Through Tech

Launched at Cornell Tech, with support from Pivotal Ventures, Cognizant U.S. Foundation, and Verizon, Break Through Tech provides curriculum innovation, career access, and community building for women in tech. The program originated in 2016 as a program called Women in Technology & Entrepreneurship New York (WiTNY), created at Cornell Tech in partnership with the City University of New York (CUNY) and a broad set of industry partners. Now Break Through Tech is replicating the highly effective ecosystem model originated in New York City to increase women’s representation in computing graduates across the United States. To date, the program is in New York City, Chicago, and the DC Metro Area.

About the Department of Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science has 46 tenured and tenure-track faculty and 15 teaching-track faculty with wide-ranging research interests, and strong research groups in cybersecurity, systems and networks, machine learning and data mining, artificial intelligence and software engineering. The department has seen a substantial increase in computer science majors as enrollment has grown from 550 undergraduates in 2012 to nearly 2,000 today. The department has more than 130 PhD students and more than 350 graduate students enrolled in four MS programs. The department has $14.5 million in annual research expenditures, 18 recipients of the prestigious CAREER/Young Investigator Awards, four IEEE Fellows, and two ACM Fellows.

About the Department of Information Sciences and Technology

The Department of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) has 27 full-time faculty members with research foci in cybersecurity, data mining and machine learning, natural language processing, human-centered computing, and computing and engineering education. IST has the largest and fastest-growing undergraduate major in the university, the BS in Information Technology (ABET-accredited), serving more than 1,700 students. Also available fully online, the BS program consistently ranks among the top 20 online programs in the United States. Additionally, Mason is ranked as the number 1 top Computer Science and IT College in Virginia according to the Computer Training Schools website. The department has about 200 graduate students in the MS in Applied Information Technology (AIT) program, ranking consistently in the top 25 online MS in Information Technology programs in the country according to the U.S. News and World Report. In addition to BS and MS programs, the department also participates in an interdisciplinary MS program in Data Analytics Engineering and offers an Information Technology concentration in the School-wide PhD program in Information Technology.

In conjunction with Amazon’s decision to establish a second headquarters in Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia announced a multi-year plan to invest in the growth of degree programs in computing, and George Mason University has committed to accelerating its plans to grow its capacity in computer science and related disciplines.

Alumnus Zach Tudor earns Career Achievement in Government Award

Martha Bushong — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:09:22 +0000

Alumnus Zach Tudor earns Career Achievement in Government Award Martha Bushong Tue, 02/23/2021 - 14:09

Topics

Cybersecurity

diversity

alumni

This story appeared on the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Nucleus page. INL is one of the three national laboratories that is partnering with universities nationwide including Mason to form CyManII (Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute). CyManII will have space on Mason's Arlington Campus. Tudor earned his MS in Information Systems in 2001.

When he got a call from a headhunter in 2016 to interview for a job at Idaho National Laboratory, Zach Tudor didn't rate his chances as all that high.

“I actually started laughing," he said. He figured he had been added to the list of candidates to round it out and make it more diverse. Still, he was game. “I had a lot of friends in Idaho Falls, so I thought it might be nice to have dinner and catch up with them," he said.

Then he realized INL was serious. “I had to readjust, but I thought, 'If they're crazy enough to offer me the job, I'm crazy enough to take it.'"

Today, as associate laboratory director for National & Homeland Security, Tudor manages 800 employees and subcontractors and administers a research and engineering budget of more than $400 million a year. He directs the lab's work in cybersecurity and resilience, nuclear nonproliferation, and armor material science.

This year, Tudor has been given the Career Achievement in Government Award at the Black Engineer of the Year Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) Conference. The ceremony is sponsored by Career Communications Group, which publishes US Black Engineer & Information Technology Magazine. The event, held virtually this year, recognizes exceptional leaders from government and industry whose actions have energized corporations and communities to create connections between minority students, educators and professionals in the STEM fields. The event has been held every year since 1987.

Tudor's achievement isn't bad for a kid from Brooklyn who enlisted in the Navy because the prospect of more school didn't excite him. Not that he was poorly educated. Tudor attended Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City's four public magnets and the alma mater of four Nobel laureates. Geneticist Eric Lander, now science adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, was a year ahead of him.

On nuclear submarines, Tudor's facility with computers eventually got him to the rank of Chief Data Systems technician. As a person of color in the Nuclear Navy, he found officers interested in his abilities and eager to help him advance. He mentions now-retired Lt. Cmdr. Tina Caston as an influence (“She definitely would walk the walk") as well as Charles Bolden, an astronaut later named administrator of NASA by President Barack Obama (“Talk about an inspiring guy"). But nobody had more of an impact on him than Anthony “Tony" Watson, the first black submariner to be promoted to the rank of rear admiral.

It was Watson who encouraged Tudor to seek a commission and took him on as an aide. Before leaving the Navy, Tudor rose to the rank of lieutenant. At the end of his service, he earned a master's degree in information with a cybersecurity concentration from George Mason University, where he also was an adjunct professor teaching graduate courses in information security.

In the decade or so that followed, Tudor built a resume that lists positions with Securicon (Homeland Security Services director), SRI International (Computer Science Laboratory program director), Security Innovation Network (advisory board member), and (ISC)2's Application Security Advisory Council (member, now board of directors chair).

The period corresponded with a growing awareness of the threats of cyber espionage and cyber terrorism posed to the United States' industry and infrastructure. If executives were slower to recognize the potential for trouble, the December 2015 cyberattack on the Ukrainian power grid, in which 230,000 people lost power, was a giant warning flare.

“Industry had a view that cyber experts were pushing fear, uncertainty, and doubt," Tudor said in August 2019 at the SCADA Security Scientific Symposium. “Suddenly we're being attacked, and the people that were naysayers before are now scrambling to find resources, technologies, and methodologies to go and do these things that we have been pushing for the last 15 years."

INL is in a great position to help with industrial control cybersecurity, but there is no “perfectly cut cookie" for everyone. “A lot of us have a passion for what we see as the problem, but we don't know how to put it into that context that executives are going to really understand," Tudor said. “So you have to take a step back and say, 'What is the business case that this boss cares about that I can put my perspective on the problem that I see?'" The key is to develop a value proposition.

While detection and defense are important, Tudor sees response as the most important part of cybersecurity. “My view is that we're all hacked and we need to admit it. We need people who can look inside our active networks now, understand what's going on in there and be able to respond," he said. “I don't think the opposite of fragile is anti-fragile. We've tried hardening, and I think we've decided that being resilient is more the way."

The need for new talent is pressing. “We need those trained folks, because our adversaries are not taking time off," Tudor said. At INL, he has been an advocate for developing a curriculum that gets young people into the workforce quickly. Mentoring is another aspect that can always be developed more. “I've had some wonderful mentors and some great opportunities, and it really helps," he said.

At INL, Tudor has led efforts to increase minority representation in its hiring and its internship and fellowship programs. Through the Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science fellowship program, he has provided career mentorship to students brought to the lab from historically Black colleges and universities. In the community, he has supported and sponsored important cultural activities through the Idaho Falls African American Alliance, the Idaho Falls Arts Council, and the Museum of Idaho.

Amused as he might have been when he was invited to interview at INL, Tudor says he sees great opportunities for the lab across the board. “This is one of the best positions in the country for cybersecurity," he said. “The impact we have is tremendous, and I'm glad to play a part."

Mason Engineering’s Christopher Carr receives a rising star in diversity award

Martha Bushong — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 11:39:18 +0000

Mason Engineering’s Christopher Carr receives a rising star in diversity award Martha Bushong Tue, 02/02/2021 - 06:39

Christopher Carr, chief diversity officer of the Volgenau School of Engineering, received the 2020 Rising Star in Diversity Award from the Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD).

The CoNECD Rising Star in Diversity Award recognizes an individual in their profession for less than 10 years who has actively worked to enhance diversity and inclusion by mentoring, supporting and/or advocating for the success of historically underserved individuals in engineering or computer science, or for climate and culture change that supports such success. Carr was recognized at the 3rd Annual CoNECD Conference held virtually from January 25 to January 28.

CoNECD is a partnership between the Minorities in Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates, the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, and the Women in Engineering Division of ASEE.

“Chris has been an innovative and dynamic leader since arriving at Mason in the summer of 2019,” says Ken Ball, dean of the Volgenau School. He has had an immediate impact, quickly leading us to ASEE Diversity Program recognition, and just as quickly Chris has become a highly valued campus-wide leader.”

Carr has developed a sweeping strategic plan and built cross-campus coalitions. He championed new policies for recruiting, retaining, and advancing diverse faculty; instituted a new system of equity champions for faculty searches; and strengthen the work of diversity and the resources available to students, faculty, and staff. He was recently selected to lead training and development for the presidential Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Taskforce.

“His leadership has garnered him recognition across the university, and his energy and expertise are in high demand across the institution,” says Christy Pichichero, associate professor of French and history and director of faculty diversity in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. "In my more than twenty years working in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Chris Carr is among the most brilliant, innovative, and effective leaders with whom I have collaborated.".

Before arriving at Mason, Carr was a senior staff member at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), where he played a key role in obtaining access to scholarships and high-quality outreach programming for thousands of Black engineering students and K-12 students.

Topics

diversity

Volgenau; Diversity

Volgenau School of Engineering