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Carter School student knocks the socks off year-long internship

Shayla Brown — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:53:35 +0000

Carter School student knocks the socks off year-long internship Shayla Brown Fri, 08/23/2024 - 13:53

��ӽ紫ý senior Nathaniel Socks has had two internships in his field, and he credits a course he took his sophomore year with his advisor Jane Walker for helping him get them.

“I took Jane [Walker]’s course CONF 314 Career Development Seminar, which was so helpful because we created resumes and [practiced] interviews,” said Socks, who is majoring in conflict analysis and resolution in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

Nathaniel Socks. Photo provided

“I was able to get an internship with the Department of State that spring, and then also got accepted to do this Pathways internship, which could turn into a full-time job, so I’d say her class worked exactly how it was supposed to for me,” he said.

The Pathways Internship program is designed to provide students with opportunities to explore federal careers while being paid for the work performed. Socks is interning with the General Services Administration (GSA), a federal agency that works on procurement and acquisition services, and after completing a year-long internship, he’s eligible to convert to a full-time position through competitive hiring.

“As an intern here, I've been providing overall general support for different projects, as well as creating a newsletter for the team on travel industry updates. A big part of what my office does is work with travel management companies to get them contracted with different agencies,” said Socks.

Rather than zeroing in on one optimal career path, Walker, director of Undergraduate Student Services for the Carter School, said she uses the Career Development Seminar to help students expand their career focus and consider a minimum of three options.

“Conflict is everywhere, our students can apply their degrees to many different career paths—we want them to fully explore those opportunities within the class,” said Walker.

“Nathaniel is an excellent student, but more importantly, he is a hard worker that approaches life with humility—these are traits that will take him far in his career as they are valued and important for advancement and success,” she said.

For his previous internship at the Department of State, Socks was a staffer for the front office at the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

“As a staffer, we did everything from drafting department documents to pushing papers to get cleared by heads of leadership. I would say that, because of everything going on in the Middle East, that position was a little bit more hectic and versatile, [whereas] this job with GSA and my responsibilities are more consistent,” said Socks.

Socks, who is working on a minor in intelligence studies, said it was originally his goal to work in international relations, but his internship at GSA has opened up the possibility of working in the travel industry.

“The GSA also contracts to the Department of State, so there’s still possibilities of me being able to get more experience with international affairs there,” he said.

Socks is set to graduate from ��ӽ紫ý in December and hopes to continue his journey at GSA.

“I didn't always feel confident in these different positions, especially with them being federal agencies, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to just be confident in your abilities,” said Socks.

In This Story

Jane Walker

Find your own internship with the help of Career Services

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Sustainability MBA elective matches student teams with partner companies

Greg Johnson — Thu, 16 May 2024 15:09:06 +0000

Sustainability MBA elective matches student teams with partner companies Greg Johnson Thu, 05/16/2024 - 11:09

When hearing the term “sustainability” in business circles, there’s often a misconception that it hinders growth. For the last three years, the MBA elective course Environmentally Sustainable Operations has offered interested graduate students from across ��ӽ紫ý the opportunity to work with companies from multiple industries on making the business case for sustainability.

Dominic Leone, Jordan Heisen,
Sabrena Snow (Hyde), Rachel Edwards

Each year, new companies participate, mobilized by ��ӽ紫ý alumni, faculty and staff, and other community members. “I only need to have one conversation with them, and then they're on board,” says Ioannis Bellos, an associate professor of Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM) at the Costello College of Business at ��ӽ紫ý and director of the MBA Program; Bellos developed the course and has been teaching it since Spring 2022. This latest semester the course featured consulting projects with: Schneider Electric, 4P Foods, Hyde, MAXSA Innovations, and Future Acres Urban Farming.

Because of the partnership building done by Bellos and others at ��ӽ紫ý, this course offers an excellent experiential learning opportunity where students help real companies, gaining insight from the executives in the process. “It was an exceptional opportunity to mentor MBA students from ��ӽ紫ý’s Environmentally Sustainable Operations course,” says Kevin DeLeon, program manager of sustainability business at Schneider Electric. “We were excited to participate and offer students a glimpse into the practical aspect of driving sustainable improvements. This collaboration is a reflection of Schneider Electric’s mission to champion sustainability and our commitment to engaging and educating future leaders.”

MBA students Rachel Edwards and Jordan Heisen had previously participated in the Global Residency program at the Costello College of Business, where they visited Sweden and Denmark to meet with businesses in the sustainability field, sparking both of their interests in the subject. For their sustainable operations project, they joined fellow MBA student Dominic Leone to work with Hyde, a Washington, D.C., based company pioneering AI-driven solutions to combat excess inventory in the apparel industry. The three of them worked closely with Hyde representatives to examine ways they could make their practices more sustainable.

“Apparel clothing discarded in landfills is now visible from space,” says Sabrena Snow, Hyde’s vice president of partnerships and sustainability. “We began working with the Costello College of Business to really quantify the impact of excess inventory, and its disposal, on the environment.”

The team of Costello MBA students examined Hyde’s business practices to see how they could best help them.

“A lot of companies are pumping out new fashion trends,” says Leone. “If that trend is going to continue, how can we do it in a more sustainable way where we don’t overorder and have a crazy amount of excess inventory?”

Once a week, the team met with CEO Rahul Jindal and Snow. “Going through the paper with Hyde and hearing the feedback from both representatives, they were an incredible pleasure to work with,” says Heisen.

“By building a framework, and combining our EPA data, company interviews, and Hyde's proprietary data, the ��ӽ紫ý team was able to size the impact of producing and dumping excess apparel inventory in the United States,” says Snow. 

The Hyde representatives took it a step further and connected the students with high-profile contacts from the fashion industry’s sustainability field. “When we started this project, Hyde was trying to get partners and funding,” says Edwards. “Being able to attach this white paper to any sort of funding that they’re trying to get later, this is their documentation of what’s going on.”

One of the community partners who worked to recruit participating companies for the course was Fairfax County Government’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination. “When we were approached about working with Professor Bellos, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for companies in our Green Business Partners program,” says Gina Weil, co-manager of the Green Business Partners program. “We know that green business is good business, and helping businesses identify both the economic and environmental benefits to adopting sustainable practices is central to our mission.  We were thrilled to be able to connect his students with Future Acres Urban Farming, and we know the experience for the students and the company was incredibly positive and beneficial for both.” The mission of the Green Business Partners program is to support Fairfax County businesses in creating a carbon neutral economy through collaboration and learning opportunities that advance climate action.

Students with guest speaker Ian Gayman,
MBA '23 (Partner at Environmental
Resources Management)

Though there was more to the course than this collaborative project, the experiential aspect brought the learning experience full circle. Bellos worked closely with the company representatives to ensure that their organizations got the most out of the projects.

Heisen appreciated how he explained case studies in the classroom. “He does a really great job of breaking down each case and ultimately getting you to thinking of another perspective,” he says. Sustainable operations lead to profit, says Edwards, “Unless it’s actually making money and it’s financially viable, there’s no reason for a company to do it.”

Recently, 68% of all prospective graduate students surveyed by the Graduate Management Admission Council said that sustainability is important or very important to them. This course is in direct response to this increasing market need.

If you want to learn more about how you can become a business leader with a sustainability mindset, please learn more about the Costello College of Business MBA program.

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Ioannis Bellos

Art history students learn how to mount an exhibition

Shayla Brown — Wed, 01 May 2024 17:07:44 +0000

Art history students learn how to mount an exhibition Shayla Brown Wed, 05/01/2024 - 13:07

��ӽ紫ý students taking Art History 495/595 Curating an Exhibition worked together to take an exhibit of South African art from conception to completion this spring.

Students putting the exhibition up at the Gillespie Gallery in the Art and Design Building. Photo provided.

The class of undergraduate, graduate students, and professional artists were split into four groups: research, installation, design, and marketing/outreach, and worked with a faculty member from Mason Exhibitions to co-curate Faces and Figures: Identity through Printmaking in South Africa, which ran from March 24 to April 19 in Gillespie Gallery of the Art and Design Building on ��ӽ紫ý’s Fairfax Campus.

The artwork in the exhibit was from student and professional artists associated with Artist Proof Studio in South Africa. The course was taught by LaNitra Berger, an associate professor of history and art history and director of African and African American Studies Program.

“It's such an honor that we get to work with real artists from South Africa,” said art history graduate student and chief curator of the exhibition Irena Jansen, who is from Croatia. “I was really struck by the connection that it makes across countries. It spoke of my time growing up in the communist country, but here it speaks in their context.”

Chief curator, Irena Jansen. Photo provided.

Senior art history major Esther Perez-Rosales was in charge of the installation group.

“I printed small versions of the artwork and made an initial draft of what the curatorial flow would be like, which was really fun to do,” said Perez-Rosales. “It was really good to kickstart the process because it taught me a lot about curatorial work and how different aspects of it can make or break the vision.”

The themes of migration, family and community, and gender roles were emphasized using theme texts mounted alongside the artwork.

“We felt that identity was the overarching theme as the artists try to figure out who they are personally,” said Jansen.

��ӽ紫ý graduate student Nicola Macdonald, who is from Durban, South Africa, was part of the research team.

“Being a part of the culture and from contemporary South Africa, I knew I could bring that to the table, so when we divided into groups, I [wanted] to be in the research group to bring this historical background to aid in putting the exhibition together,” said Macdonald, who worked with family members throughout the creative process to ensure authenticity to the South African culture.

“We got to choose most of the works that were shipped to us,” said Jansen. “Some of the works that arrived were a little bit of a surprise, but that was a great challenge for us because that's what happens in real world sometimes.”

The students hope to do more work with Artist Proof Studio in the future and potentially reinstall the exhibition at Mason Exhibitions Arlington, said Jansen.

“Our goal was to highlight South African art as elevated and sophisticated, and I hope we’ve done that,” Jansen said.

Students from the course, Mason Exhibition faculty members, and Professor Berger (far right). Photo provided.

In This Story

LaNitra M. Berger, PhD

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Mechanical engineering students build motorized Vitruvian man for a School of Music performance

Shayla Brown — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:23:35 +0000

Mechanical engineering students build motorized Vitruvian man for a School of Music performance Shayla Brown Mon, 04/08/2024 - 16:23

In This Story

Dr. Lisa Billingham

Nathan Kathir

A group of ��ӽ紫ý mechanical engineering students are building a motorized Vitruvian man for a Center for the Arts (CFA) performance of "Flying to the Stars," a choral concert dedicated to the beginnings of flight from the time of Leonardo da Vinci to the exploration of space.

Team members Kevin Kuck (left) and David Gosselin working on their project in the Machine Shop. Photo provided.

Lisa Billingham, director of choral activities at the Dewberry Family School of Music, said she wanted the concert to be an immersive experience for the audience, and reached out to the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) for help. There she connected with Nathan Kathir, a mechanical engineering professor, who shared the project idea with his students.

“This project is exciting because we are partnering with another unit at Mason outside of CEC,” said Kathir, who is the director of senior capstone projects for mechanical engineering students.

“There is already a lot of art involved in engineering, and this collaboration between music and our department will be very inspiring for future students,” said Kathir.

The four students assigned to the project are working in the Machine Shop on the SciTech Campus and call themselves The Polymaths.

“We were thinking about the show’s theme of Leonardo da Vinci and we knew that the Vitruvian man is kind of his staple,” said Mellany Ayala, a senior mechanical engineering student. “I drew a very rough sketch of the Vitruvian man inside a gyroscopic figure, and it ended up being what our team decided to build.”

The device, which will hang from center stage throughout the show, has two spotlights as well as projections that will shine down on the students as they perform.

“We’re aiming for something similar to the immersive Van Gogh experience in D.C.,” said Kevin Kuck, a senior mechanical engineering student and the team leader.

The Polymaths met once a week with Billingham and her student research assistant and choir member, Ross Calvin, to discuss the project and work on a proposal for funding. They applied for and received a grant from Mason’s University Life.

Billingham also created a QR code fundraiser on Facebook and received anonymous donations, she said.

“Hopefully these cool project collaborations keep happening in the future. It was really refreshing to work with people from CVPA; they were so easygoing and in such happy spirits,” said Ayala.

The Polymaths worked with the CFA’s electrician and did a run-through a week before the performance. They will also give a presentation about the project on Capstone Day to showcase the final product.

“This project has been one of the more hands-on experiences I’ve had at Mason so far,” said Kuck. “Being able to build something with my own hands was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing it go from an idea on a page to something real. I think that's been the most satisfying part for me.”

During the concert, students will perform Jocelyn Hagen's “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” and “Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine” by Eric Whitacre. A piece by alum Peter Kadeli will also be performed.

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Center for the Arts

Dewberry School of Music

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Mason students work on international projects through Diplomacy Lab partnership

Shayla Brown — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:20:42 +0000

Mason students work on international projects through Diplomacy Lab partnership Shayla Brown Mon, 03/25/2024 - 09:20

��ӽ紫ý students are working with the U.S. Department of State to find out what motivates students to study abroad, specifically in Southeast South Korea.

Cortney Rinker works with her students in their Diplomacy Lab course. Photo by Ron Aira/��ӽ紫ý.

Global affairs students in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Schar School of Policy and Government students from Mason Korea and the Fairfax Campus are collaborating with the Diplomacy Lab on two projects. The first project aims to help the Busan Consulate increase study abroad of U.S.-based students in Busan, roughly 150 miles outside of Seoul. The second project aims to address allegations of violence by the security forces in Senegal, West Africa.

“The problem is that a lot of American students don't go to South Korea at all, they typically go to Europe,” said Mason Korea student Leah Tudor, who is working on the study-abroad project. “If they do go to South Korea, it’s for universities in the greater Seoul region.”

Universities in the Busan region are asking how they can be more attractive to U.S.-based institutions and students for study abroad, explained Cortney Rinker, director of Mason’s Global Affairs Program, who teaches the Applied Approaches in Diplomacy course where the students are taking on the projects.

The Diplomacy Lab is CHSS’s first institutional partner and provides students an opportunity to participate directly in solving real-world problems.

“This was an excellent project for our program because it’s similar to one of the goals of the Global Affairs Program, which is to get more Fairfax students to attend Mason Korea,” said Rinker.

In her research for the project, Tudor, who is a junior global affairs major with a minor in Korean studies, has found that students who are more exposed to foreign languages when they're younger are more likely to travel in the area(s) that speaks those languages since they're less likely to experience language barriers.

“This course has shown me how to communicate with people at the intersection of higher education and diplomacy,” said graduate student Seihoon Lee, who is working on a master’s degree in higher education and student development. “Being a bilingual and bicultural student, I always seek opportunities to be a bridge that brings these worlds together.”

Seihoon Lee and his group present their research in the Diplomacy Lab course. Photo by Ron Aira/��ӽ紫ý.

In the class there are ethnic and non-ethnic Korean students, as well as other students who have very different lives, said Lee. “[Because of these experiences], we have very intense conversations of how we should approach this project and our research questions, and it's really stimulating.”

This is the last research project before graduating for senior global affairs major Inn Kyung Seo, who agreed with Lee’s sentiment.

“I try to compare what I feel in the U.S. as a Korean student with what foreign students in Korea might feel,” said Seo, who participated in various diplomatic camps hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Korea.

“This course is an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the difficulties international students face and resolve those issues,” he said.

An advisory board of faculty members with expertise either in the region or on the topic guides the students on each project.

Advisory board member Soyoung Kwon, associate professor of global affairs and director of security policy studies–Korea, said she provides support to students and faculty involved in the project, including advising on research methodologies, offering insights on relevant topics or issues, and facilitating connections with external partners, such as the U.S. Consulate in Busan.

Kwon, who has taught GOVT342 Diplomacy at Mason Korea since 2017, believes that this partnership will expose students to different approaches to diplomacy and teach them about the most effective public diplomacy strategies while being part of public diplomacy project, she said.

Rinker and her students will be traveling to Washington, D.C., on April 19 to present on the projects at the State Department’s Diplomacy Lab Fair, where all of the participating institutions are invited to present their work.

“I am definitely going to teach this course again next spring,” said Rinker. “We hope to expand it in the future so that other students and faculty members can become involved in the Diplomacy Lab as well.”

Interested in studying abroad yourself?

Learn more about Mason Korea

Innovate for Good: Social Work case simulation goes virtual

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 14:09:23 +0000

Innovate for Good: Social Work case simulation goes virtual Mary Cunningham Wed, 01/24/2024 - 09:09

The College of Public Health at ��ӽ紫ý wants every student to be able to learn through virtual reality training—and the Department of Social Work is helping to lead the way.

Working with one of the college’s five Certified Healthcare Simulation Educators (CHSE), the department created an interprofessional, person-centered virtual reality simulation for students to apply their skills to a real-time social work case in a low-stakes environment.

Photo by Mary Cunningham/College of Public Health

The training, which meets the Healthcare Standards of Best Practice, was offered to 28 Master of Social Work (MSW) students in the HRSA-funded Community Academic Partnership-Behavioral Health program. The virtual reality (VR) experience was couched between pre- and post-simulation educational materials and debriefs that linked student experiences back to direct practice learning objectives.

“VR simulation offers students the unique opportunity for interprofessional group decision-making and support in providing care, in a context where immediate feedback around decision-making, as well as the opportunity for alternative decisions, can be experienced,” said professor Holly Matto, the lead author of a paper about the learning experience.

Department chair Emily S. Ihara, CHSE chief innovation officer Bethany Cieslowski, associate professor Denise Hines, and director of practicum education Jeanne Booth helped create and shape the experience. They were joined by other social work faculty to run pre-brief and post-debrief for the case.

In the VR scenario, students interacted with a teen in a hospital clinic after his foster parents called the police when the teen displayed violent behavior in the home after drugs were found in his room. The simulation offered a safe learning environment, encouraging student pairs to manage engagement, practice, and adjust their skills in a real-time, low-stakes scenario.

Feedback from students suggested they learned the importance of building rapport with a client, how to adapt to unfamiliar settings, how to adapt to new information and adjust communication styles accordingly, and how to create a safe space with an ambivalent client. After the simulation, the majority reported feeling more confident with client communications and providing interventions that foster client safety.

^{Mason’s Department of Social Work and other social work training programs are uniquely positioned to lead pedagogical advancements in innovative skill development,” said Ihara. "This includes developing methods that build safe learning spaces in order to enhance resiliency strategies students will need as they enter an increasingly demanding and challenging workforce environment upon graduation."}

Photo by Mary Cunningham/College of Public Health

With the success of this training case, the department plans to integrate VR simulation training into its Bachelor of Social Work and MSW curricula. In fact, the department has already developed a new custom social work VR case where social workers and other health professionals can work together with a substance-engaged family.

Coordinators of this training simulation are excited for the future opportunities that VR can provide for students and for substance recovery and support.

“We envision inviting peer support specialists and recovery coaches, critical to the existing behavioral health workforce, to participate in similar VR simulation trainings in the future," said Matto. "For example, VR simulations could be used to practice motivational interviewing skills routinely employed in recovery coach sessions, as well as to help peer providers understand ways to manage stigma, adhere to boundaries, assess for suicide and develop appropriate safety plans, and engage in inter-professional team decision-making around complex cases, which could offer peer providers a standardized skillset in these key domains."

The VR case simulation training was supported by funding from HRSA-22-109 Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training Program (U3NHP45404-01-00) and HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals (M01HP41969‒01‒00).

The team’s educational experience, “Virtual reality case simulation to build skill competencies in working with substance-engaged clients,” was published online in Social Work Education in December 2023.

The College of Public Health has set a goal of raising $10 million so that every student in the college can learn through VR. Learn more about our VR Simulation Center here.

Innovate for Good is an ongoing series that examines how Mason faculty in the College of Public Health are harnessing technology to improve health outcomes. If you have stories to share as part of the Innovate for Good series, email Mary Cunningham at mcunni7@gmu.edu.

In This Story

Holly Matto, PhD, LCSW-C

Emily Ihara, PhD, MSW, FGSA

Bethany Cieslowski, DNP

Denise Hines, PhD

Jeanne Booth

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Social Work

master of social work

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Schar School Undergrads Get a Surprise Visitor: A North Korea Defector

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 15:24:11 +0000

Schar School Undergrads Get a Surprise Visitor: A North Korea Defector Andrew J Schappert Fri, 11/10/2023 - 10:24

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North Korea defector Justin Seo: ‘There is no one message that could solve the problems of North Korea, but if the people can stay strong, perhaps positive change lies ahead.’

North Korea currently presents both direct and indirect security concerns for the U.S. and, indeed the world. Its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities pose a direct threat to specific regions, while its potential to influence other nations is strong.

Former South Korea navy captain Joshua Park is a visiting research fellow at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��ӽ紫ý. He is also an adjunct professor, teaching a course called North Korea Security (GOVT 444) that calls on his extensive military experience in conveying a robust foundational understanding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and a thorough examination of its intricate network of foreign relations. Ultimately, Park delves into the intriguing dynamics between North Korea and the broader strategic competition among nations.

On a Thursday in September, Park introduced to the class a guest speaker who provided exclusive insight to contemporary life in North Korea and its foreign relations. The speaker, Justin Seo, is a defector from North Korea, having escaped from North Korea to China with his family in 2005.

Seo vividly narrated a detailed PowerPoint presentation that illustrated the concepts they have been studying as only someone who lived there could.

Seo stated how the propaganda implemented by the North Korean government runs rampant in the news, and civilians have essentially no choice but to believe it. Additionally, most civilians are required to spend a minimum of 10 years in the military, unless their status is deemed unworthy of serving the family of supreme leader Kim Jong Un. In that case, they are likely subject to a life of abject poverty.

North Korea’s flawed education system, he said, was rife with systemic concerns unimaginable to Western thinking.

“In People’s school,” he said, “the students are told to bring valuable things to school. Students may be asked to bring aluminum, herbs, human or animal wastes, rice, firewood, and sometimes money. The teachers collect these items under the dictator’s name to condition students to be subject to the rule of the Kim family at a young age.”

Seo added that students are taught to worship the Kim Jong Un family beginning as early as kindergarten.

Not surprisingly, Seo received a large number of questions from the Schar School class, including one that made his North Korea experience personal: “If you hypothetically had the power to tell all of North Korea one message, what would you tell them?”

“I would tell them to remain aware of their situation and to stay determined,” he said. “There is no one message that could solve the problems of North Korea, but if the people can stay strong, perhaps positive change lies ahead.”

Seo also encouraged the class to share news of the systemic realities of North Korea, such as their human rights violations and a recent summit cementing relations with Russia, as much as possible. He emphasized pressuring the U.S. Congress to accept North Korean people as international refugees.

The students in Park’s class said they were thrilled to have an engaging guest as Seo.

“Being able to hear Mr. Seo describe his background was an extremely fulfilling event,” said Government and International Politics major Jake Moran. “At this moment, I felt very grateful that I decided to take North Korean Security with Professor Park. Seeing a North Korean defector speak his mind with his presentation truly made the class standout relative to the other government classes I have taken.”

“Justin Seo’s guest lecture painted a vivid picture of the hardships that North Koreans face in their everyday lives,” said government major Jim Corcoran. “After hearing his story and learning about his perspective, I feel that I can better appreciate the human costs that the regime’s systems of oppression impose on their own people.

“I feel that this class, or any class on North Korea, would be incomplete without being able to learn firsthand about what life is like for ordinary citizens.”

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Government and International Politics

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School News for November 2023

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A Tasty Spin on Chemistry

Lynn Tierney — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:15:29 +0000

A Tasty Spin on Chemistry Lynn Tierney Thu, 10/19/2023 - 12:15

The aroma of garlic and onions hits instantly as you walk into the classroom. Five pairs of students shuffle around their assigned stovetop—one in the pair looking intently at a sheet of paper and spouting directions while the other handles the pan of sizzling ingredients.

Students tackle a risotto recipe in CHEM 460 Chemistry in the Kitchen. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services.

As they work, Mason chemistry and biochemistry Professor Rebecca Jones moves from station to station to check in on each group. She created the recipe for the risotto they are all cooking for lab and wants to be sure the students not only think through the steps, but also pay close attention to what is chemically happening to each ingredient.

Chemistry in the Kitchen (CHEM 460) is a new course that uses everyday recipes to demonstrate chemical concepts. After the idea came to Jones a year ago, she developed the course and worked closely with the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies to secure the Nutrition Kitchen in Peterson Hall for the lab component.

“Every kitchen is a lab when you think about it,” said Jones. “This class is designed to help students learn what molecules and chemical changes are associated with the food they’re eating.”

The class session covering molecular extraction was quickly followed by a lab with students using ingredients to make pour-over coffee to tangibly see this chemical concept take place as the hot water poured onto coffee beans created a brown liquid.

Rebecca Jones shows the risotto taught in class. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services.

“The cooking experiments really reinforce your understanding of the topics you learn in class,” said biology major Wilson Plummer. “You’ll touch on a topic, and then get to see it in action.”

Plummer said he liked the interactive nature of the class most, learning about caramelization one day, and making caramels the next, or listening to information on starch hydration and then baking bread.

While students partake in their lab assignment, they routinely take out their phones to capture images of the recipe’s current state from several angles. Instead of the traditional lab report, Jones requires the student to publish a blog post that incorporates photos throughout the cooking process so classmates see differences between their food and comment on each other’s work.

“Sometimes everyone does a slightly different thing while cooking, so they can benefit from seeing those differences in photos,” Jones said.

Students also design and execute their own food experiment, and they did not hold back on creativity. One student tested how sugar interacted with different gelling agents to make the best gummy bears; another measured fermentation’s effect on homemade hot sauces.

Juliana Primavera, a senior chemistry major, said the class combined her love for both cooking and chemistry and that she didn’t want to pass on an opportunity to learn from Jones. “Chemistry majors welcome such opportunities to be creative in our classes,” she says. “The cooking element not only gives us the hands-on experience that allows us to truly understand what's going on, [but] it also makes it engaging, memorable, and fun.”

Inspired by a lab where they made caramel sauce earlier in the semester, Plummer decided to focus his final experiment on soft caramels—more specifically how fat (e.g., dairy milk vs coconut milk) impacts the crystal structure of caramel.

After a few weeks of experimentation, students presented their findings to the class and showcased their work at a public poster session in May.

Primavera’s final project will focus on the effect of varying lye concentrations on pretzel texture. “I wanted to find a recipe that I knew I would use continually, would be complicated chemically, and because I love soft pretzels so much, I figured it would be a perfect learning opportunity.”

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Amazon develops data center engineering curriculum with Mason

Colleen Rich — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:09:51 +0000

Amazon develops data center engineering curriculum with Mason Colleen Rich Wed, 07/26/2023 - 13:09

In This Story

��ӽ紫ý is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to develop a course in data center engineering and expand the opportunities in its senior capstone courses.

Photo by Getty Images

Faculty in Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing are developing the ME/ECE 499: Data Center Engineering course, which will be offered for the first time this fall. The course, which will be crosslisted in the Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering departments, will introduce students to data center infrastructure design, operations, efficiency, cooling, and decarbonization.

Students will learn to design, operate, and maintain the hardware required for complex data center systems. The instructor will bring real-world industry experience into the classroom, and the class will have the opportunity to tour nearby data center facilities.

“We are happy to partner with ��ӽ紫ý and look forward to utilizing this collaboration to help students engage in critical research,” said Nicholas Lee-Romagnolo, program manager of Workforce and Economic Development at AWS. “Our goal is that the program helps prepare students to enter the tech field after their time at Mason, equipped to create solutions to the challenges faced by data center engineers.”

Through the course, students will gain hands-on experience and learn from experts in the field, such as guest speakers who will discuss data center career paths.

Across the Washington, D.C., metro area, there is a greater need for both mechanical and electrical engineering talent. The data center engineering course will help students gain experience, build on their skills, and prepare to enter the workforce as part of Mason’s commitment to feeding the ever-increasing tech talent pipeline for Virginia and beyond.

Kammy Sanghera, executive director of the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA), is coordinating the effort with Liza Wilson Durant, associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement in the College of Engineering and Computing.

“The data center engineering job market is exploding in Virginia, and our partnership with Amazon to provide real-world, hands-on training in this new area will position Mason engineers with the skills and knowledge to move out and lead in this emerging technical discipline,” Durant said. “Mason's strategic alliance with Amazon is enabling us to embed the skills and knowledge required of the engineer of the future and position our graduates for success.”

“We are excited to introduce the data center course and are looking forward to our continued partnership with Amazon,” Sanghera said. “This is another opportunity for Mason and its industry collaborators to provide unique experiences for students to engage in cutting-edge research and obtain the skills necessary to be successful in the ever-growing tech and engineering fields in Virginia and beyond.”

Earlier this year, AWS challenged Mason engineering students to create an evaporative cooler and test the effectiveness of evaporative media. AWS funded students for their design implementation of capstone project. This AWS capstone project was the first of its kind at Mason, and two similar capstones projects are planned for this fall—one in mechanical engineering, another in electrical engineering.

The two projects will be mentored by CEC professors Nathan Kathir and Tolga Soyata respectively, and students will have an opportunity to gain expert technical advice directly from Amazon engineers. The electrical engineering capstone project will give students a hands-on experience building a data center power monitoring system.

“We are looking forward to the Mechanical Engineering capstone this fall,” said Mason professor Leigh McCue, chair of Mason’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “These courses provide our students with opportunities to expand upon what they have learned in class and apply the skills they’ve learned to creating important solutions to real-world problems.”

“We are excited to partner with Amazon and to bring more opportunities for our students to learn, grow, and prepare to become part of the expanding data center engineering industry in Virginia,” said Mason professor Pelin Kurtay, associate chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department, who is leading the effort for ECE.

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New psychology special topics course puts theory into practice around campus

Colleen Rich — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 16:31:58 +0000

New psychology special topics course puts theory into practice around campus Colleen Rich Mon, 07/17/2023 - 12:31

From better cell phones to safer cars, the study of human factors—how people interact with technology—improves our lives every day. It’s a rapidly growing field, and while PSYC 340 Human Factors Psychology provides a solid foundation on the subject, ��ӽ紫ý psychology professor Yi-Ching Lee saw a need for a more advanced course at the undergraduate level, particularly for students considering human factors as a profession.

Psychology professor Yi-Ching Lee. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Lee designed PSYC 461 Advanced Topics in Human Factors, an interactive, hands-on curriculum that challenges students to solve real-life issues, with those students in mind. It was offered for the first time in the spring 2023 semester.

The course started with the study of advanced human factors principles before progressing to a series of projects that gave students the opportunity to apply those principles to human factors projects on campus.

“Knowing the theory is one thing, but using it to make a human interaction more enjoyable is another,” said Lee, who is an associate professor of psychology.

Collaboration with University Libraries and University Sustainability

The timing of the course was just right for students to apply human factors principles to assist Mason’s University Libraries with a website improvement project. After meeting with a library consultant on the goals of the project, students analyzed the requirements and developed recommendations to help improve the user experience. They presented their solutions to University Libraries staff.

The course culminated with a project that examined the Bigbelly smart waste bins located outside of the Starbucks on the northern side of campus. To start, University Sustainability staff briefed students on the “behind-the-scenes" technology of the smart bins, as well as campus guidelines that must be adhered to.

One group of students analyzed the design of the bins and made recommendations to optimize their design, function, and accessibility, with a focus on making the differences between recycle and compost bins more intuitive.

The second group studied the app and website dashboard that alerts the pickup crew when bins are full and made recommendations to optimize design, features, and function. Students presented their ideas to members of Mason’s University Sustainability staff.

Greg Farley, director of University Sustainability, was impressed with the students’ work. “The students brought forward some very good ideas and strong recommendations for improvement,” he said.

Getting the hands-on experience employers demand

Students worked with University Sustainability to improve the use of the bins on campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/OUB

“Watching the students’ presentation was like watching a consultant firm pitch a solution to a client—it was hard to remember these were undergraduate students,” said Mason psychology professor Keith Renshaw, the former Department of Psychology chair, who also attended the presentations.

Renshaw, who will transition to become Mason’s associate provost for undergraduate education in August, said he is excited that undergraduate students had this experience. “This type of course is precisely what our students need, and future employers are demanding—strong coverage of relevant knowledge, and then hands-on experience in applying that knowledge to real-world problems.”

Throughout the semester, Lee invited guest speakers from the field to the class, providing valuable insight on potential career paths.

Psychology major Thema Green, who took the class as a sophomore, said the guest speakers and the opportunity to build her professional portfolio were highlights of the class. She is already putting skills she learned into practice as a paid intern working on 3D programming and virtual reality development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this summer.

“I would recommend that everyone interested in psychology or design take this course,” Green said. “Your contribution is greater than you know because, in the world of human factors and applied cognition, diversity is a necessity. Varying backgrounds offer new insights, which often improve project outcomes.”

Lee said she hopes to teach the special topic course again in spring 2024 semester and wants to find similar opportunities for the next group of students.

“One of the reasons why I collaborated with the University Libraries and University Sustainability was that I wanted students to do something that would benefit the entire university community,” she said. “The implications of this class go beyond this semester. They are making the university better for the next generation of students.”

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