Research

The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus is a world-class center of collaboration with laboratories, centers and institutes conducting interdisciplinary research in many growing fields. VSTC faculty, graduate students and research scientists—in collaboration with government and corporate partners—are advancing human knowledge in a number of STEM disciplines, including the following focus areas:

Shake table experiment
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GW Colonial One
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lasers
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Solar Shed
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Wind Tunnel Laboratory
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Nanotechnology Lab
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HPCL lab
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Licht's Energy lab
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Shake table
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Magnetic Refrigeration
Close-up of the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) in the Institute for Magnetics Research laboratory.
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Research Highlights

Professors Volker Sorger and Tarek El-Ghazawi with technology devices

Lighting the Way: The Future of Data Processing

Imagine a world where you never had to wait for a document to download or a video to stream, where a self-driving car was aware of everything around it, and you didn’t question the security of online banking. Two GW School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers are pioneering a new way to process information—using light instead of electrons—that could transform the era of digitalization driven by the need to quickly, efficiently and securely process data.

2 students doing research with plants

New Website to Connect Students with Research Opportunities

A new GW website, GW Student Research Commons, provides a one-stop resource to connect students with research opportunities.The website is geared toward the university’s undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across all disciplines. Students will be able to use the website to find paid research positions, fellowships, databases of scholarships and other funding opportunities, research internships and other for-credit or volunteer opportunities.

research strategy meeting

Research Ecosystem Review Launches

A goal of the university’s research strategic initiative, working groups will review and make recommendations to strengthen GW’s research efforts.

Baja vehicle being test driven on bumpy field near Exploration Hall at GW's VSTC campus

GW Baja Team Trains at VSTC for International Competition

GW mechanical engineering students worked hard to build an off-road vehicle from scratch to compete in an international Baja competition. They have been test driving it at VSTC.

Photo of Professor Licht, lead faculty member, in an unknown location, wearing a white shirt and dark vest.

GW Researcher Advances to the Final Round of NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

A team of George Washington University researchers were named as finalists in the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition on Monday. The C2CNT team is led by Department of Chemistry Professor Stuart Licht, who team uses low-energy, low-cost technology developed in his lab located at GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into widely useful and highly valued products—carbon nanotubes.

Dr. Pelphrey

The Autism Sex Bias

Boys are diagnosed with autism at more than four times the rate of girls. Scientists are trying to figure out why, but this much is becoming clear: All that we think we know about autism is only half the story.

UAS in flight at VSTC

GW Researchers Conduct Flight Test of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) at VSTC

On a windy spring morning there was excitement in the air as a group of six GW faculty and students gathered at GW's Virginia Science & Technology Campus (VSTC) to conduct a flight test of a "drone," technically called an unmanned aerial system (UAS), under development for use by the U.S. Navy. The trial flight at VSTC is part of a multi-year development process to test the prototype's ability to fly and collect accurate data about when and under what conditions it is safe to land helicopters on Naval ships.

From left to right: Steven Knapp, Kevin Pelphrey, Michele Carbonell, Nelson Carbonell, Forrest Maltzman, Jeffrey Akman.

Kevin Pelphrey Installed as Carbonell Family Professor in Autism

The position was created through a $2.5 million gift from the Nelson A. and Michele Carbonell Family Foundation.

Sceptre Grant Diagram

New Grant to Boost Cybersecurity Education in Virginia through GW Cyber Hub and Partnerships

GW is teaming up with the Michigan Cyber Range (MCR) to bring a cutting-edge cybersecurity training environment to GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus. Made possible by a half-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, the SCEPTRE project will create a platform for training, research and experimentation.

Assistant Professor Saniya LeBlanc

GW Faculty Member Receives Gov. McAuliffe's Research Commercialization Award

Saniya LeBlanc, an assistant professor in GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), has recently been awarded a Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) grant by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to continue her work developing technologies that address the growing demand for energy and improving their energy efficiency.