2023 UVA Engineering Faculty Research Retreat

The SEAS-wide Faculty Research Retreat was held on Thursday, August, 10, 2023, from 8am to 4:30pm at WINTERGREEN RESORT.  We had a full one-day event with a lot of time designated for faculty engagement and discussion. The goal of the retreat was for each and every faculty member to come away with new ideas about how to elevate their research and scholarship. The agenda is below. Logistics and parking information is at the bottom of the webpage.

Agenda

Note: slides are available for UVA internal use only via the hyperlinked presentations below. Accessing the slides requires UVA NetBadge login.

8:00-8:30  Light breakfast and coffee (breakfast served buffet-style in Skyline Room)

8:30-8:40  Welcome and introduction; overview of day (Skyline Room; FRED EPSTEIN, PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND RADIOLOGY, AND ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE); PRESENTATION LINK

8:40-9:50  What’s new in AI and how can SEAS faculty from all engineering disciplines apply AI in their research (Skyline Room; Introduction: SANDHYA DWARKADAS, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; Facilitators: SARAH COLLIE and BECKY SOWERS, Organizational Excellence) 

• "The State of the Artificial" SCOTT ACTON, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK; LINK TO NSF "AI-ENABLED SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION" WORKSHOP REPORT
• Facilitated discussion organized by Sarah Collie and Becky Sowers
• Applications of AI:
  • PRASANNA BALACHANDRAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING AND MECHANICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
  • DEVIN HARRIS, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION STUDIES; PRESENTATION LINK
  • MIAOMIAO ZHANG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• Facilitated discussion and full group Q&A

9:50-10:05   Coffee break (coffee served in Skyline Room)

10:05-11:05   Morning concurrent sessions

• Research agenda and potential collaborations with the School of Data Science and the School of Medicine (Skyline Room; Moderator: SHAYN PEIRCE-COTTLER, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING)
  • JEFF MARTENS, PROFESSOR, PHARMACOLOGY AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE; PRESENTATION LINK
  • DON BROWN, PROFESSOR, DATA SCIENCE AND SYSTEMS & INFORMATION ENGINEERING AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH, SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
  • Q&A and discussion
• Science of teaching and learning (Pryor's Porch; Moderator: MEGAN RYALS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, APPLIED MATHEMATICS)
  • REID BAILEY, PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS & INFORMATION ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
  • NADA BASIT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
  • HUI MA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, APPLIED MATHEMATICS; PRESENTATION LINK
  • GEORGE PRPICH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
  • Q&A and discussion

11:05-12:05   New faculty research (Skyline Room; Moderators/facilitators: SARAH COLLIE and BECKY SOWERS, Organizational Excellence)

• SANDHYA DWARKADAS, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• GEOFFREY FOX, PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND BIOCOMPLEXITY INSTITUTE; PRESENTATION LINK
• WAJIH UL HASSAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• FELIX LIN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• YIXIN SUN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• TIANHAO WANG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• SHANGTONG ZHANG, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK
• MATTHEW BOLTON, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• Posters

12:05-1:10      Lunch, posters, and socializing (lunch served buffet-style in the Skyline Room)

• Posters from brand new faculty who are beginning their appointments this summer will be presented in the Skyline Foyer area from 12:40-1:10pm

1:10-2:10        New faculty research (Skyline Room; Moderators/facilitators: SARAH COLLIE and BECKY SOWERS, Organizational Excellence)

• DAN ABEBAYEHU, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• SEPIDEH DOLATSHAHI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• NATASHA SHEYBANI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGNEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• CAMILLE BILODEAU, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• LAKESHIA TAITE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• NICK VECCHIARELLO, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• NEGIN ALEMAZKOOR, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• MC FORELLE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ENGINEERING & SOCIETY; PRESENTATION LINK
• SARAH SUN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• Posters

2:10-3:05        Spotlight on big projects and team science (Skyline Room; Moderators/facilitators: SARAH COLLIE and BECKY SOWERS, Organizational Excellence)

• Facilitated discussion organized by Sarah Collie and Becky Sowers; discussion participants:
• KEVIN JANES, PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING and MATT LAZZARA, PROFESSOR, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
• BETH OPILA, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, DIRECTOR, ROLLS ROYCE UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY CENTER; PRESENTATION LINK
• KEVIN SKADRON, PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE; PRESENTATION LINK

3:05-3:15 Coffee break (coffee served in Skyline Room)

3:15-4:15 Afternoon concurrent sessions

• DoD funding (Skyline Room; Moderator: BETH OPILA, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, DIRECTOR, ROLLS ROYCE UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY CENTER)
  • How to get funded by DoD (BINDU NAIR, DIRECTOR OF BASIC RESEARCH AT US DOD, via Zoom); PRESENTATION LINK
  • How I got funded by DoD
    • ​GEORGE CHRIST, PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY; PRESENTATION LINK
    • ROB KELLY, PROFESSOR, MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
    • BAOXING XU, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING; PRESENTATION LINK
  • Q&A and discussion
• Planning an NSF ERC proposal (Pryor's Porch; Moderators/facilitators: SARAH COLLIE and BECKY SOWERS, Organizational Excellence) 
  • Facilitated discussion organized by Sarah Collie and Becky Sowers; discussion participants:
  • JON GOODALL, PROFESSOR, CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND DIRECTOR, LINK LAB; PRESENTATION LINK
  • LAURA BARNES, PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS & INFORMATION ENGINEERING AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, LINK LAB
  • BEN CALHOUN, PROFESSOR, ELECTRICAL & COMPUTER ENGINEERING

4:15-4:25 Concluding remarks (Skyline Room; JENNIFER WEST, PROFESSOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND DEAN, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE)

Parking and meeting room information:

Location information and driving directions are available at this LINK. Most of the sessions will be in the Skyline Room in the Skyline Pavilion (building B) and retreat attendees can park in lots 1 & 2 (stay straight by the fire dept., turn RIGHT on Grassy Ridge and the lots are on the left. Additional parking is available in Lot A, near the entrance to the Mountain Inn). If you are using Google Maps, Waze, or a similar app to get directions on your phone, enter the following address: 11 Grassy Ridge, Roseland, VA.

The Skyline Room and Pryor's Porch are our meeting rooms. Wireless access is available using the network "Wintergreen resort wireless"; no password is needed. Food and coffee will be served buffet-style in the Skyline Room, and the sessions will be located as indicated in the agenda. There is also an elevator available for ADA guests.