Good News Report for College of Science, Engineering, and Technology - July 2021
Center for Materials Research
Jasmine Beckford, Doctoral Student at the Center for Materials Science, advisor Dr. Messaoud Bahoura, published a journal paper entitled “Gallium doped zinc oxide thin films as transparent conducting oxide for thin-film heaters," by Jasmine Beckford, Makhes K Behera, Sangram K Pradhan, and Messaoud Bahoura, in the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Advances, Vol.11, Issue 7, pp. 075208, 07-02-2021. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0016367.
Taliya Gunawansa, M.S. Student at the Center for Materials Science, advisor Dr. Messaoud Bahoura, successfully defended her M.S. thesis entitled “Green synthesized luminescent carbon quantum dots from various fresh fruit for heavy metal ion detection” on 07/22/2021.
Dr. Kyo D. Song, Professor of Engineering, Center for Materials Research (CMR), and Director of Institution of Space Science and Engineering (ISSE) at Norfolk State University, was invited and presented at the Minority Educational Institutions Student Partnership Program (MEISPP) Webinar Session, hosted by DOE on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The presentation was entitled “Clean Energy.”
Center for Materials Research and Chemistry Department
Joseph Norman, Ph.D. student at CMR/MSE program, advisor Dr. Sam Sun, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Demonstration of an Electro-electric and Thermo-electric Dual-modulation Material and Device” on July 1, 2021.
Olivia Penrose, M.S. Student at the Center for Materials Science, advisor Dr. Carl Bonner successfully defended her M.S. thesis entitled “Enhancement of electron transfer rate constant by metal/dielectric structure nonlocal dielectric environments provided by metal/dielectric structures” on 07/20/2021.
Center for Materials Research and Physics Department
Tejaswini Praful, Ph.D. student at CMR/MSE program, advisor Dr. Natalia Noginova, successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Novel approaches in plasmonic based sensing” on 07/13/2021.
Joshua K. Asane, Md G. R. Chowdhury, Kanij M. Khabir, Viktor A. Podolskiy, and Mikhail A. Noginov, published a paper titled “Stimulated emission in vicinity of the critical angle”, in Appl. Phys. Lett. 119, 031102 (2021); doi: 10.1063/5.0051901.
Department of Engineering
Dr. Hongzhi Guo, and Mr. Albert A. Ofori (MS.EEN) published a conference paper " Sequential Task Allocation with Connectivity Constraints in Wireless Robotic Networks," in 5th IEEE International Workshop on Wireless Communications and Networking in Extreme Environments in conjunction with IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing in Sensor Systems (DCOSS 2021). The paper describes the use of deep reinforcement learning to intelligently assign sequential tasks to multiple robots in an isolated area. Albert Ofori is a Master of Science in Electronics Engineering graduate student, and Dr. Hongzhi Guo is Assistant Professor of Engineering. This project has been supported by National Science Foundation award #1953460 and The Jeffress Memorial Trust.
Department of Technology
Zero Energy Building Economic and Energetic Assessment with Simulated and Real Data Using Photovoltaics and Water Flow Glazing by Fernando del Ama Gonzalo, Belen Moreno Santamaria, José Antonia Ferrándiz Gea, Matthew Griffin and Juan A. Hernandez Ramos
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113272
Department of Computer Science
Mary Ann Hoppa, Ph.D., Associate Professor with Norfolk State University’s Department of Computer Science, was selected as a 2021-22 fellow by the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (https://www.advancingstemleadership.net/). CASL’s mission is to substantially broaden the participation of underrepresented students in U.S. STEM higher education.
Mary Ann Hoppa, Ph.D., Associate Professor with Norfolk State University’s Department of Computer Science, was awarded a scholarship by University of California, Davis to attend the National Innovators Forum, July 26 – 30, 2021. This virtual program, offered by the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is designed for faculty and postdocs in computer science and engineering to grow the knowledge and networks needed to develop the commercial potential of research ideas.
Rasha Morsi, Ph.D., Professor of Computer Science, Director of the Creative Gaming and Simulation (CGS) Lab, and CSC Graduate Program Coordinator and Mrs. Walaa Mahmoud, computer science graduate student, became Gamification Journeyman Certified by Sententia Gamification on July 2, 2021. Certified individuals are able to integrate gamification methodologies for the improvement of learning and development. They create Learner Personas and plan player-centric learning and development as well as scenarios for a range of players, and provide an improved, more interactive experience for the player. “The Sententia Gamification Certification is the premier standard for recognition as a gamification specialist for Talent Development and HR Professionals.”
Felicia Doswell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Computer Science, Frank Hu, Ph.D., Professor of Computer Science, Norfolk State University and two computer science graduate students (Thalia Guadalupe and Fana Wachamo) were funded to attend the Gamification Surveyor Certification Workshop (Level 1) delivered by Sententia Gamification on July 17 and July 24, 2021. This hands-on workshop takes participants through the 5-step process of gamifying a corporate training or adult learning program. This professional development activity was supported through Title III by Dr. Rasha Morsi towards her efforts to gamify courses at NSU and Dr. Desideria Hacker through the Office of Graduate Studies and her efforts to support graduate student professional development.
Felicia Doswell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Computer Science, Norfolk State University, was selected to participate in the Science Gateway Community Institute Applied Distributed Systems (SGCI-ADS) 5-Week Summer Seminar Series that occurred from June 14 – July 22. The content included HPC using Python, Gateway Frameworks, Hackathon Mentor Training, Hackathon Event Participation as Mentor/Staff, and Pearc21 Conference Participation. Information acquired here will support the curriculum development efforts of the State of Virginia Tech Talent Innovation Program Initiative at NSU.
Felicia Doswell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Computer Science, and Thorna Humphries, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Norfolk State University were supported by an ASEE CISE-MSI Mini Grant under NSF award CNS-2039244 for period of performance from June 14, 2021 – September 14, 2021, to initiate collaborative research on Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). The grant supports collaborative grant activities with faculty at North Carolina A&T University and Lemoyne-Owens College including support to enhance their awareness of IoMT current technology and industry trends through their participation in select workshops in the following conference: IEEE 7th World Forum on the Internet of Things, June 14 – July 31, 2021.
Felicia Doswell, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Computer Science, Norfolk State University along and four computer science students (Angie Estien, Thalia Guadalupe, Walaa Mahmoud, Fana Wachamo) were funded to attend the Gamification Surveyor Certification Workshop (Level 1) delivered by Sententia Gamification on July 17 and July 24, 2021. This hands-on workshop takes participants through the 5-step process of gamifying a corporate training or adult learning program. This professional development activity was supported by Dr. Rasha Morsi toward her efforts to gamify courses at NSU.
Army ROTC
Norfolk State University Army ROTC • 2021 Cadet Summer Training
From May 23rd to July 7th, twenty Cadets from the Spartan Battalion reported to Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Nine have already graduated, and eleven are on track to graduate by the end of August.
Cadet Summer Training is the largest annual training event in the Army. It is designed to lay the foundation of Army future leaders in the Active force, Army Reserve and National Guard. Each year, 10,000 cadets from around the country attend training in Basic or Advanced Camp. Approximately 1,500 other cadets participate in professional development opportunities such as internships and the Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program.