Volgenau School of Engineering

Cyber security engineering major Mitchell Martinez is poised to become the first in his family to earn a college degree.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved the move to establish a School of Computing at Mason—the first such school in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Illegal goods can have deadly consequences. Whether it’s a counterfeit face mask that doesn’t provide a frontline worker adequate protection from COVID-19, or a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl (a synthetic painkiller 50-100 times more potent than morphine), millions of lives can be at risk.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers and students at George Mason University is working to stop such criminal activity. Thanks to a nearly $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF)—and a $16,000 grant supplement awarded to two undergraduates on the team—they will be investigating how to disrupt illicit supply chains, influence policy, and ultimately save lives.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved Mason’s proposal to set the stage for a reorganization of the Volgenau School of Engineering to a newly formed College of Engineering and Computing, comprising the proposed School of Computing and Volgenau School of Engineering. The College of Engineering and Computing will be led by Ken Ball. The change will become effective on April 1, 2021.

This is the National Society of Black Engineers Week, with festivities taking place all week.

Honors College student Brenda Henriquez has been named an Adobe Research Women-in-Technology Scholar, a program that recognizes outstanding undergraduate female students studying computer science.

A team of George Mason University students are among the brains behind a satellite that launched into space this weekend as part of a collaboration with Northrop Grumman and Virginia Space that includes being part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station.