Faculty and Staff News

In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees

Tama Moni — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 18:41:54 +0000

In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees Tama Moni Wed, 01/18/2023 - 13:41

Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees

Harry Van Trees, a distinguished and award-winning researcher, textbook author, member of the National Academy of Engineering, and George Mason University Professor of Information Technology and Electrical and Systems Engineering passed away on December 29, 2022.

Van Trees was born in Kansas City on June 27, 1930. He went on to graduate first in his class from West Point and earned an Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after a stint in the army. He joined the MIT Electrical Engineering Department, where he studied signal processing. He made significant contributions to detection and estimation theory, optimum array processing, and Bayesian estimation of random processes. He is regarded as a founder of the detection and estimation theory body of knowledge. His impressive CV may be found here.

Later in his career, he would go on to be the founding director of Mason's Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I). George Mason University Professor Emeritus Alexander Levis noted, “His vision for such a center was inspired by his brief service as Air Force Chief Scientist and then as the first Assistant Secretary at DoD for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence. He recognized that rapidly evolving information technology would change fundamentally Command and Control and that both basic and applied research were very much needed. Indeed, thirty-five years later, Command and Control has now been recognized as a defining pillar of national security.”

Others on the Mason campus also paid tribute to his lasting legacy. “Harry Van Trees was a brilliant engineer, educator, mentor, and colleague who had a remarkable life and career in academia, government, and industry,” added Kristine Bell, Affiliate Associate Professor in the Mason Statistics Department. “His books on Detection and Estimation Theory and Array Processing have educated so many engineers and inspired so many important research findings in the last 45 years. There is no doubt that our world would look different without his contributions. I was so privileged to have worked with him. He was a wonderful man who cared deeply for his family, but also for his colleagues, and his community. I will miss him tremendously.”

According to his official obituary, his passing was unexpected but fortunately, although in the hospital, he was able to spend his last week with Diane, his beloved wife of 69 years, and his six surviving children, Stephen, Mark, Katie, Tricia, Harry, and Julia. 

Topics

professor emeritus

College of Engineering and Computing

Obituary

Faculty and Staff News

Advisor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering wins academic advising award

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 16:12:31 +0000

Advisor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering wins academic advising award Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/11/2021 - 11:12

Topics

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Academic Advising

Volgenau School of Engineering

Faculty and Staff News

Smriti Kansal Patwardhan

Photo credit:

Courtesy photo

One of the rewards of being an academic advisor is helping students through difficult times and then watching them flourish afterward, says Smriti Kansal Patwardhan, an academic advisor and coordinator for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

For instance, when an international student came to talk to Patwardhan a few years ago, she was homesick, hadn’t connected with anyone, and felt all alone, says Patwardhan, MS Electrical Engineering ’04. “Engineering is hard enough, and she was trying to manage all these emotions on top of her studies.”

She found the young woman a study group and a student organization with members from her home country. “I helped her adjust through that first year, and she blossomed and graduated with honors.”

Patwardhan is known among Mason Engineering students and faculty for her willingness to go the extra mile in all aspects of her job, and for those efforts, she was awarded the 2020 Jade Barricelli Spirit of Academic Advising Excellence Award, a peer-nominated academic advising award.

In 2016, she was named the V. Ann Lewis Academic Advisor of the Year, an award given to an advisor nominated by students.

Patwardhan didn’t plan on becoming an advisor. In fact, she didn’t have an advisor when she was an undergraduate earning a bachelor of engineering in electronics in India.

After graduation, she worked as an engineer in India then came to Mason to earn her master’s degree. She started to pursue a PhD while working as a research faculty member, but after her first child was born in 2006, she decided to take a break from work.

Then in 2012, the ECE department asked her to come back as an advisor. “It was all a new experience for me. I had no clue of what to do and what not to do,” she says.

She got input and guidance from faculty and peers and quickly excelled in her new role.

Now she conducts the orientations of all the new ECE students, hosts prospective student visits for the department, and advises several groups including Honors College students, those in special international programs, and anyone who can’t find a faculty advisor.

She works closely with the department’s faculty who are advising other ECE students. “All 600 undergraduate students can come to me whenever they want.”

In addition, Patwardhan reviews course evaluations, works on the department’s undergraduate curriculum committee, helps with class scheduling, and coordinates the publication of the department’s newsletter.

Her technical knowledge often comes in handy. “My engineering background helps. I tell students, ‘I am an engineer. Don’t take these courses together, because I know this will make it too hard for you to be successful.’ And they listen to me.

“When people bring in transfer credits, I know what makes sense to count and what doesn’t make sense.”

The hardest part of her job is not being able to help everyone and making tough decisions. There are so many challenges our students go through––health problems, financial problems, family problems. I want to do everything I possibly can to make school easier for my students.”

Monson Hayes, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, says, “She is a remarkable advisor who is committed to being the most effective advisor that she can be. Her approach to advising is one of compassion and understanding, and she is keenly aware of the struggles and difficulties a student may face, both academically and personally. She is a great listener. She is never judgmental, and she is an extremely effective communicator.”

ECE Associate Chair Pelin Kurtay, agrees, “Smriti is an indispensable asset to our faculty advisors and plays a tremendous role in the success of our students. Her knowledge about policies and university resources, coupled with her background in engineering, means she can quickly provide students with access to the support they need, bring a swift resolution to their issues, and provide a personalized plan that best meets their individual needs.”

Patwardhan is passionate about her job. “I love it,” she says. “I am an engineer helping future engineers.”

CINA Center of Excellence names Jim Jones as its new director

John Hollis — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 10:00:00 +0000

CINA Center of Excellence names Jim Jones as its new director John Hollis Tue, 02/18/2020 - 05:00

Jim Jones, associate professor in the ECE department
Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services/George Mason
University

Jim Jones has been named the new director of George Mason University’s Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) Center.

Jones, an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department within the Volgenau School of Engineering, succeeds CINA’s founding director Tony Stefanidis, who relocated to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, earlier this year and remains affiliated with the center. As the new director of CINA, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence, Jones will work with DHS stakeholders to develop CINA’s strategic vision, outreach program, and research portfolio.

“CINA’s mission is to be at the forefront of criminal network analysis, forensics, and investigative processes in order to solve the hard problems of today and to forecast and address the problems and challenges of tomorrow,” Jones said in a statement. “We work closely with DHS components to understand current needs and operational environments, turning problems into ideas and fielded solutions.”

“Jim brings a strong background into this leadership role for the CINA Center,” said Deborah Crawford, Mason’s vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “The lead university in the CINA consortium, Mason is a top-tier research institution with a strong commitment to advancing research with significant societal impact. Our proximity to Washington, D.C., also allows us to connect our robust research enterprise and student workforce pipeline to a full range of industry professionals, DHS components, and preeminent researchers from government agencies.”

The CINA Center leverages a core science committee—as well as a nationwide network of partners and colleagues throughout academia, industry, and law enforcement–to assess emerging technologies and potential solutions. Jones has served as a member of CINA’s science committee since the center was established, was a principal investigator of one of the center’s first funded projects, and placed its first CINA scholar interns.

Jones has served as cybersecurity and digital forensics practitioner, researcher, and educator for more than 25 years in various industry, government, and academic roles.

“Transnational Criminal Organizations are complex, dynamic, and ever-evolving,” he said. “I look forward to continuing our collective mission, to help DHS successfully address today’s current threats while working to stay ahead of the homeland security challenges of tomorrow.”

For more information on Mason’s CINA Center, please visit the center’s website.

Professor signals new way to engage students, transmit knowledge

284b32ef-f5e4-49b3-b958-e02a665d1125 (Nanci Hellmich) — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 18:30:52 +0000

Professor signals new way to engage students, transmit knowledge 284b32ef-f5e4-… Mon, 06/10/2019 - 14:30

Kathleen Wage, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, won the 2019 John Toups Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching.

When Kathleen Wage teaches signal processing, she doesn’t stand in front of her students and lecture for the entire period.

“That’s what a pop-star prof would do,” says Wage, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “I consider myself more of a DJ prof—mixing different modes of instruction to design the best learning experience.”

Her formula for an active-learning classroom: Intersperse short lecture segments with collaborative problem-solving sessions. While students work on exercises with their classmates, she moves around the room, guiding their efforts. She also augments in-class instruction with tutorial videos posted on YouTube. Her most popular video has more than 200,000 views.

Her innovative classroom strategies and dedication earned her the 2019 John Toups Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching, one of several teaching awards she’s received in her career.

For almost 20 years, Wage has focused on improving signal processing instruction. Her interest in interactive teaching strategies began with a project aimed at designing assessment tools for engineering educators.

A year after joining Mason in 1999, she and a friend from graduate school began a decade-long project, funded by the National Science Foundation. They developed the Signals and Systems Concept Inventory (SSCI), an assessment tool that has been administered to thousands of students at universities in the U.S. and around the world.

Concept inventories are typically administered at the beginning and end of a course to measure students’ gain in understanding. The questions examine conceptual understanding, rather than rote computational skills.

In physics, a concept inventory study prompted reforms when it showed that students in active learning courses gained approximately twice as much as students in traditional lecture courses. The SSCI study convinced Wage that switching to an interactive format was the right method.

She is working with colleagues at Mason and elsewhere to develop active-learning materials for undergraduate signal processing and acoustics classes.

Her main area of research is a synthesis of signal processing and ocean acoustics, which is funded by the Office of Naval Research. “I’m currently applying new results from mathematics to analyze and improve algorithms for processing data from larger and larger arrays of sensors,” she says.

Sometimes she’s able to weave that research into classroom discussions. “I love using experimental data from deep water arrays to illustrate applications of abstract signal-processing concepts.”

Signal processing is mathematical, and students don’t always see the connection to engineering, she says. “The challenge of it is convincing them that these are tools that will be helpful if they put some effort into learning them.”

What she likes most about teaching is “getting students excited about the material and helping them develop critical-thinking skills that apply to my course and beyond.

“At Mason, I am grateful to have found a community of other DJ profs who are devoted to improving their pedagogical playlists and engaging students in learning.”