The Georgia Institute of Technology will hold its Fall 2022 Commencement ceremonies Dec. 16 – 17 at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
This semester's ceremonies celebrate 1,690 summer graduates and 3,930 fall graduates — 1,500 bachelor’s students, 3,760 master’s students, and 360 doctoral students across both semesters.
As part of the ceremonies, three distinguished speakers will address graduates as they embark on their post-graduate lives and careers. All three are familiar with the Georgia Tech experience, either as a student or faculty member — and one is a College of Sciences alumna.
Nine new Faculty Fellows were appointed to the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS). In addition to their own work, BBISS Fellows serve as a board of advisors to the BBISS; foster the culture and community of sustainability researchers, educators, and students at Georgia Tech; and communicate broadly the vision, mission, values, and objectives of the BBISS. Fellows will work with the BBISS for three years, with the potential for a renewed term.
The BBISS Faculty Fellows program has been in place since 2014. Fellows will number between 10 and 15, will be drawn from across all 6 colleges and GTRI at Georgia Tech. It is expected that annual allowances provided to each BBISS Fellow will range from $1000 to $1500 depending on number of fellows in the program and availability of funds.
The new BBISS Faculty Fellows are:
- Joe Bozeman – Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Dylan Brewer - Assistant Professor, School of Economics
- Andre Calmon – Assistant Professor, Scheller College of Business
- Brian Gunter - Associate Professor, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
- Jenny McGuire – Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and School of Biological Sciences
- Jessica Roberts – Assistant Professor, College of Computing
- Ilan Stern – Senior Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Anjali Thomas - Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
- Zhaohui Tong - Associate Professor, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
These faculty members join the current roster of Faculty Fellows:
- Baabak Ashuri - Associate Professor, School of Building Construction
- Kevin Caravati – Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Ellen Dunham-Jones – Professor, School of Architecture
- Daniel Matisoff - Associate Professor, School of Public Policy
- Kate Pride Brown - Associate Professor, School of History and Sociology
- Perry Yang – Professor, School of City and Regional Planning
More information can be found on the BBISS website.
Nine new Faculty Fellows were appointed to the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS). In addition to their own work, BBISS Fellows serve as a board of advisors to the BBISS; foster the culture and community of sustainability researchers, educators, and students at Georgia Tech; and communicate broadly the vision, mission, values, and objectives of the BBISS. Fellows will work with the BBISS for three years, with the potential for a renewed term.
The BBISS Faculty Fellows program has been in place since 2014. Fellows will number between 10 and 15, will be drawn from across all 6 colleges and GTRI at Georgia Tech. It is expected that annual allowances provided to each BBISS Fellow will range from $1000 to $1500 depending on number of fellows in the program and availability of funds.
The new BBISS Faculty Fellows are:
- Joe Bozeman – Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Dylan Brewer - Assistant Professor, School of Economics
- Andre Calmon – Assistant Professor, Scheller College of Business
- Brian Gunter - Associate Professor, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering
- Jenny McGuire – Assistant Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and School of Biological Sciences
- Jessica Roberts – Assistant Professor, College of Computing
- Ilan Stern – Senior Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Anjali Thomas - Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
- Zhaohui Tong - Associate Professor, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
These faculty members join the current roster of Faculty Fellows:
- Baabak Ashuri - Associate Professor, School of Building Construction
- Kevin Caravati – Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Ellen Dunham-Jones – Professor, School of Architecture
- Daniel Matisoff - Associate Professor, School of Public Policy
- Kate Pride Brown - Associate Professor, School of History and Sociology
- Perry Yang – Professor, School of City and Regional Planning
More information can be found on the BBISS website.
For marine scientist, climate activist, and Tech alumnus Albert George (MS HSTS 2009), the fight against climate change is also a fight for home.
Now, what started as a citizen science initiative led by George has turned into a $2.6 million National Fish and Wildlife Association effort to restore degraded salt marshes in Charleston, South Carolina. As part of the project, Joel Kostka, professor and associate chair of Research in the School of Biological Sciences, will lead a team of researchers to not only monitor these restoration efforts, but gain insights into why the marshes degraded in the first place — and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
Over the past three years, Kostka, who has a joint appointment in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has worked with SCDNR and Robinson Design Engineers, a local firm co-led by Tech alum Joshua Robinson (CEE 2005), to develop engineering and design plans for the restoration of the salt marshes.
“That project went really well,” shared Kostka, “and now we have developed engineering and design plans for the actual restoration as we are moving forward with the next phase.”
Work for the current phase of the project is set to begin soon. Over the next four years, community volunteers will work to plant marsh grasses, restore oyster reefs, and excavate the tidal creeks that supply the marsh with sea water.
“Because if we don't do this work,” George shared, “then basically it means a place that I grew up in and a place that I call home will no longer exist.”
Georgia Tech Community-Wide Campaign Event on December 10th
Please join us for a campaign launch event for students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Enjoy free food and giveaways, along with interactive experiences with students and alumni as they describe their startups developed through CREATE-X and showcase their work in robotics and artificial intelligence. Test your Tech knowledge on the Tech Trivia Wall and listen to engaging speakers.
Event Details
December 10, 2022
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Speaker Program begins at 12 p.m.
Speaker lineup:
- Jenny Moore, AE 2005, “From Freshman Calc to 5th Gen Fighters”
- Jimmy Mitchell, CE 2005, “Building Sustainability Through Progress & Service”
- Tom Fanning, IMGT 1979, M.S. IMGT 1980, HON Ph.D. 2013, “Three Spheres: Southern Company chairman, president & CEO Tom Fanning shares how energy security breeds economic security, which in turn breeds national security”
- Jean Marie Richardson, MGT 2002, “Set Your Intentions to Build the Future”
Jenny “Juno” Moore, AE 2005, is an F-35 Training and Operations subject matter expert, flight instructor, and fighter pilot.
Jimmy Mitchell, CE 2005, is senior director of business development at Skanska and one of Georgia’s first LEED managers, the creator of the Atlanta Mission urban garden, and a founding board member of the Lifecycle Building Center, the construction material reuse nonprofit based in Atlanta. His project experience includes the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, a fully certified Living Building Challenge project.
Tom Fanning, IMGT 1979, M.S. IMGT 1980, HON Ph.D. 2013, is the chairman, president & CEO of Southern Company.
Jean Marie Richardson, MGT 2002, is the founder and CEO of iFOLIO, an Atlanta-based, rapidly growing tech company.
Transform tomorrow, together. Visit transformingtomorrow.gatech.edu for more information.
Event Details
Paula T. Hammond, Ph.D.
Institute Professor and Department Head of Chemical Engineering
Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Paula T. Hammond is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the MIT Energy Initiative, and a founding member of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. The core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanomedicine encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery, and has developed self-assembled materials systems for electrochemical energy devices.
Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Science in 2019, the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013. She is one of only 25 distinguished scientists elected to all three national academies. She won the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science in 2018, and she is also the recipient of the 2013 AIChE Charles M. A. Stine Award, which is bestowed annually to a leading researcher in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering, and the 2014 AIChE Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research. She was selected to receive the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Teal Innovator Award in 2013, which supports a single visionary individual from any field principally outside of ovarian cancer to focus his/her creativity, innovation, and leadership on ovarian cancer research. By developing degradable electrostatically assembled layer-by-layer (LbL) thin films that enable temporal and even sequential controlled release from surfaces, Paula Hammond pioneered a new and rapidly growing area of multicomponent surface delivery of therapeutics that impacts biomedical implants, tissue engineering and nanomedicine. A key contribution is her ability to introduce not only controlled release of sensitive biologics, but her recent advances in actually staging the release of these drugs to attain synergistically timed combination therapies. She has designed multilayered nanoparticles to deliver a synergistic combination of siRNA or inhibitors with chemotherapy drugs in a staged manner to tumors, leading to significant decreases in tumor growth and a great lowering of toxicity. The newest developments from her lab offer a promising approach to messenger RNA (mRNA) delivery, in which she creates pre-complexes of mRNA with its capping protein and synthesized optimized cationic polypeptides structures for the co-complexation and stabilization of the nucleic acid-protein system to gain up to 80-fold increases in mRNA translation efficiency, opening potential for vaccines and immunotherapies. Professor Hammond has published over 320 papers, and over 20 patent applications. She is the co-founder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of LayerBio, Inc. and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Moderna Therapeutics.
IBB welcomes all in Georgia Tech's bio-community to attend - lunch immediately following the lecture.
Event Details
A major focus of Dr. Liu’s visit and the Appleton MBM series is to give students opportunities to engage with the speaker. Students interested in this opportunity should sign up for the breakfast Career Conversations or for lunch with the speaker.
Slots are limited so sign up soon!
This student-led seminar series is supported by the Appleton MBM Fund, in honor of Patricia “Alisha” Appleton. To learn more about our seminar series, please visit our website here
Event Details
Molecular Bio-Medical (MBM) Research Community Seminar Series presents:
The Long and Winding Road: A Professional Journey in Public Health Practice
(Career discussion to follow)
G. David Williamson, PhD
Associate Director for Science, National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
GT College of Sciences Board Member
Bio:
Dr. Williamson is an accomplished scientific leader/advisor and executive director. He currently is the Associate Director for Science, National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role, he serves as the primary scientific advisor for environmental public health at CDC, providing direction and leadership in developing and implementing the NCEH/ATSDR scientific research agenda and facilitating high-quality scientific products and achievements. He recently was the Deputy for Science, CDC’s Zika response, with responsibilities to review and approve all scientific/research materials related to Zika that CDC developed and communicated to the public. He directed the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, and helped implement and direct the Analytic Methods Internship Program and Public Health Informatics Program in his years with CDC’s Epidemiology Program Office.
Event Details
SKY at Georgia Tech will host Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a globally revered humanitarian leader who has spearheaded an unprecedented worldwide movement for a stress-free, violence-free society, to engage in a conversation regarding managing stress and developing mental resilience.
The event, “#TechMeditates – a Dialogue on Mental Wellness with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,” will take place on Thursday, November 10, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. in the Exhibition Hall Midtown Ballroom and is open to the entire Georgia Tech community. Registration is required.
When : November 10, Thursday, 11.00 AM - 12.00 PM
Where: Midtown I, Exhibition Hall, Georgia Tech
Registration Link - Campus Tickets
SKY at Georgia Tech is a student organization that focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of students, staff, and faculty on campus. In addition to the student organization, several campus leaders played an integral role in inviting Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to visit Georgia Tech: Shatakshee Dhongde, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts; Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; and Arijit Raychowdhury, Professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Dhongde, Ranjan, and Raychowdhury extended the invitation in an effort to support one of the six focus areas in Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan, Cultivate Well-Being. In addition, the visit supports one of the Woodruff School’s priorities in the capital campaign, Woodruff Strong.
Through the Woodruff Strong initiative, the Woodruff School aspires to transform and strengthen support for the School across three key areas over the next five years and beyond. Focusing on academic wellbeing, the Woodruff School aims to expand mental health services by giving students, faculty, and staff access to online counseling and hosting mental health events like #TechMeditates.
Registration for #TechMeditates is required. Click here to register.
About Gurudev and SKY
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a global humanitarian, spiritual leader, and peace envoy who has been teaching breath-based meditation techniques for health and well-being for more than 40 years. Through his life and work, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has inspired millions around the world with a vision of a stress-free and violence-free world.
Gurudev cognized the SKY Breath Meditation technique in 1982 which is now backed by research. SKY Breath Meditation has been implemented in schools, corporations, and retreat centers around the World. More than 127,000 students on 101 university campuses in the United States have participated in the SKY Campus programs and reported improvement in depression, stress, mental health, and social connectedness.
Gurudev has been invited to share the stage with several eminent global organizations and leaders in the past including the United Nations, WHO, and European Parliament, among others. He also hosted the largest global event series called the World Culture Festival (WCF) which brought together millions of people and thousands of artists from over 150 different countries to celebrate unity in diversity.
Event Details
Joseph Montoya, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and director of the Ocean Science and Engineering interdisciplinary graduate program, is one of 11 new Academy Fellows in the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), based in San Francisco.
The Fellows are a governing group of more than 450 distinguished scientists and other leaders who have made notable contributions to scientific research, education, and communication, according to the CAS: “Nominated by their colleagues and selected by the CAS Board of Trustees, the Academy Fellows are partners and collaborators in the pursuit of the Academy’s mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.”
“This was quite a surprise to me, and a really welcome connection with the CAS, which I came to know well as a student across the bay at (the University of California at) Berkeley,” Montoya said. “I was of course deeply honored to be named a CAS Fellow.”
“On behalf of the School of Biological Sciences, I congratulate Joe on his selection as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences,” said Todd Streelman, professor and chair of the School of Biological Sciences. “The Academy recognized Joe’s long-term impact in studying nitrogen cycles and energy flow in the world’s seas and rivers. We’re thrilled that the Academy has shone a spotlight on Joe and his lab group’s work.”
Montoya is a biological oceanographer with research interests at the interface of biology and geochemistry. His lab specializes in studies of the marine nitrogen cycle, using a combination of direct rate measurements and stable isotope natural abundance methods to explore the role of biological dinitrogen (N2) fixation in structuring the flow of nitrogen and energy through planktonic ecosystems. The metabolic capability to use atmospheric nitrogen to support biological production plays a key role in supporting diverse ecosystems in many offshore and coastal waters.
“I’m excited at the chance to interact with old and new colleagues studying the marine nitrogen cycle who are also CAS Fellows,” Montoya said. “The CAS will give us new opportunities for developing collaborations and sharing our work with the public, as well as with other scientists.”
The Montoya Lab has also been deeply involved in studies of the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on offshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico. His group’s research program is highly interdisciplinary, incorporating work in plankton biology, marine chemistry, and isotope biogeochemistry both at sea and in the lab.
Streelman also noted how the CAS highlighted Montoya’s work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, citing Montoya’s strong interest in education and outreach, and role as a founding member of the Georgia Tech College of Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
“I firmly believe that we have a duty as scientists and educators to share our work broadly and to ensure that our scientific community is open, welcoming, and supportive,” Montoya said.
Montoya received an A.B. in Biology at the University of California and a Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University. He served on the faculty of the Departments of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard before joining the Georgia Tech faculty in 1998.
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