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Bo Han, Associate Professor, Computer Science, andSongqingChen, Professor, Computer Science,are set to receive funding for the project: "Securing the Metaverse: A Privacy-preserving Zero Trust Approach."

Their long-term goal is to do just that: secure the metaverse.

To do so, they will consider issues including: authentication, authorization, and accounting (3A), management of personal data such as user-generated content (UGC), secure interactions between virtual and real-world objects (e.g., digital twins), etc.

They will focus on authentication in the metaverse and argue that it should satisfy four design objectives: zero trust, high reliability, non-intrusive interaction, and privacy preservation. More specifically, they propose to explore the emerging security threats and privacy concerns in social virtual reality, the early prototype of the metaverse, and propose a privacy-preserving continuous and adaptive authentication scheme by employing a federated-learning-based zero-trust framework that authenticates users with multimodal biometric information. This project will shed light on addressing the security and privacy challenges in the future development of the metaverse.

Han and Chen will receive $80,000 from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority for this work. Funding will begin in late May 2022 and will end in late May 2023.

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About George Mason University

George Mason University is Virginia's largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 38,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more athttp://www.gmu.edu.

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Han and Chen to receive funding for project aimed at securing the metaverse - EurekAlert

Nearly 500 members of the Class of 2020 gathered on the Middlebury main quad with family, friends, faculty, and staff on Tuesday to finally celebrate their Commencementa rite of passage denied them in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic cut short their time oncampus.

Your memories of the last time you were here must be powerful. I know they are for us, said President Laurie Patton in her Baccalaureate address, which was included in the main ceremony. It was snowing off and on the week of March 10, 2020. You must remember. I certainly do. We left each other with shock and disappointment andtears.

At the time of their departure, Patton said, they faced not only the isolation, fear, and loss from the pandemic, but also the immense challenges of starting postcollege lifefinding jobs and places to liveamid a nationwidelockdown.

Considering these extraordinary circumstances, what can we say to you? And do for you? asked Patton. I believe we can do two things: First, we can welcome you home, to your first, most unusual Reunion. And second, at the very same time, we can give you a proper celebration which creates closure, a sense of an ending to your Middleburycareers.

Two members of the classMollie Smith, an anthropology major from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and Jack Litowitz, a double major in economics and philosophy from Glencoe, Illinoisdelivered the traditional student Commencementaddress.

Smith asked her classmates not to define themselves by the turbulent yearson campus and nationallythat marked much of their college experience. Rather, she encouraged the class to rethink their own story of who they areto not be merely that class that missed out on so many things. She reminded them of just a few of their major accomplishments as Middlebury students, including winning national championships and leading the College to fossil fuel divestiture and the launch of a Black Studiesprogram.

This ceremony today is an opportunity for celebration, for we are finally able to honor the pivotal years we spent together, said Smith. At the same time, its also an opportunity for closure and for reflection, two things that are often neglected in our fast-paced quotidian routine. Its a chance to take stock of the good times and bad that made up not just the last four years, but the last six, and how they have shaped us both individually and as aclass.

Litowitz noted the remarkable fact that, unlike any previous graduating class, the Class of 2020 had already glimpsed the future. Never before has a graduating class established the beginnings of a formal legacy outside of the stone walls and green hills of Middlebury prior to their official Commencement ceremony. Yet, that is exactly what we have done. I stand before you today not to say, The future looks bright, but instead with the incredible fortune to say, We already reside in a bright future, and it will continue to shine brighterstill.

Jason Collins, a retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player, gave the Commencement address and was presented an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. After the 20122013 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay in a cover story for Sports Illustrated. He was the first male active player in any of the four major American professional sports to announce that he was gay. Former President Obama expressed his gratitude to Collins for his courage and said he couldnt be prouder of Collins, recognizing this as a point of progress for the LGBTcommunity.

After a quick introduction, Collins jumped right into advice for the class. So now we get to the fun part where I get to impart some lessons that Ive learned over the course of my tall, big, black, beautiful, gay, fabulous life, Collinssaid.

Collins encouraged the graduates to not overlook repetition and mastery of the smaller tasks in life as they prepare for bigger challenges. He urged them to take the time to find their own role in life and then be the very best they can, even if its not in a starring role. He also asked them to always be goodteammates.

Ask yourself: Are you someone that cares about others especially when they are struggling, off balance, and maybe knocked down? And will you reach out your hand to help more than just the people in your immediate circle? Be that good teammate for your family, your friends, your neighbors. But also be that good teammate for someone who doesnt look like you, or someone who doesnt have the same background as you, because I think the teamand Im talking about society nowis made stronger when you support and care aboutothers.

Each graduate received a replica of Gamaliel Painters cane, presented by Janine Hetherington 95, president of the Middlebury Alumni Association. The cane is a symbol representing the founding of the College and now is used as the mace for official academic ceremonial events. Patton noted that the canes have many stories connected to them, including stories of the workers who made them, the trees that provided the wood, and the Native Americans who cared for theforests.

We are only beginning to tell these stories, and we ask you to remember them as you journey from here, she said. These canes are a symbol of the historical ties that bind us all to this institution, the generosity that supports us, and the hard work and learning that brought you to this place today as a graduate of MiddleburyCollege.

In addition to Collins, honorary degrees were presented to thefollowing:

Allison Burroughs 83, a judge for the United States District Court ofMassachusetts.

Marta Casals Istomin, a renowned musician known for her work as a cellist and her dedication to musicaleducation.

Kim Collins Parizeau 79, P12, 15, 19, an alumna and the former chair of the Middlebury Board of Trustees, a board she served on for 16years.

Ernie Parizeau P12, 15, 19, a professor of the practice at Middlebury College and an advocate of experiential education andentrepreneurship.

Read more about the honorary degreerecipients.

Two students were recognized with College honors: Sarah Laurynn Nelson, a molecular biology and biochemistry major from Spokane, Washington, was named valedictorian, and Nicholas Hunter Mosier, a double major in computer science and mathematics from Tucson, Arizona, was namedsalutatorian.

Also as part of the ceremony, Associate Chaplain Rabbi Danielle Stillman gave the Colleges land acknowledgment and invocation. Ukrainian-American soprano Teryn Kuzma performed the Ukrainian song Remind Me, Bandura, of Your Song. Mariia Dzholos 24 read the poem History of Snow by poet Serhiy Zhadan in Ukrainian and English. Additional music was performed by Miranda Seixas 20; George Matthew Jr., carillonneur; Timothy Cummings, bagpipe; and the Constitution BrassQuintet.

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Class of 2020 Celebrates Long-Awaited Commencement - Middlebury College News and Events

Newswise On April 29-30, 2022, student researchers from across the CSU presented their work at the36th Annual CSU Student Research Competition, hosted virtually bySan Francisco State University.

Many of our students work closely with faculty mentors to explore topics ranging the arts, humanities, behavioral sciences, and science and engineering, says Ganesh Raman, Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor of Research at the CSU Office of the Chancellor.The event, which showcased both undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship and creative activity, was truly a delight to watch and exemplified the CSUs'learn by doing'approach to learning.

Meet a few of the competitions first-place winners.

Name: Madison Stewart Campus: CSU San Marcos Major/Program: Biotechnology, Senior Project: Defining the Relationship Between the Soil Microbiome and Crop Nutritional Content

Working with Biological Sciences Professor Matthew Escobar, Ph.D., and research partner Sheyenne Black, Madison Stewart studied if a soils microbiomeits ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and other organismsaffects nutritional content in crops, specifically tomatoes.

The larger goal of this project is to figure out if there is a relationship where we can alter the nutritional content of these tomatoes using a process called biofortificationwhich is biotechnology, agricultural practices or selective breeding to increase crop nutritionbecause a lot of people are nutrient-deficient in the U.S., Stewart says.

For the project, Dr. Escobar gathered five soil samples from across Southern and Central California, which were then split in half. The first half kept its live microbiome, while the other half was steam-sterilized to kill the microbiome. The team then grew micro tomato plants in each, as well as in a steam-sterilized potting mix. The resulting tomatoes were then freeze dried, ground into a powder and analyzed for nutrient content.

The study confirmed the teams hypothesis that a relationship exists between the soil microbiome and the crops nutritional contentand earned Stewart first place in the Biological and Agricultural Sciences (Undergraduate #1) category. Since then, the team has conducted further analysis and found high levels of ectoinea compound plants do not produce, but may increase their drought resiliencein tomatoes grown in soil with live microbiomes. Future research would investigatehowthe microbiome changes the tomatoes nutritional content.

This ectoine content might be beneficial in times of drought, and if we knew [the relationship], we could pass on [the knowledge to] farmers, Stewart says. As for human consumption, it's a little bit further in the future, but if we can figure out which specific bacteria cause specific nutrient changes, you might be able to engineer a soil microbiome to get a desired crop.

Following graduation, shell begin a Ph.D. program at University of California, Davis to study stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Name: Nikita Mishra Campus: Cal State Los Angeles Major/Program: Biochemistry, Computation Biology and Bioinformatics minor, Senior Project: Computational Characterizations of Binding Affinity in SARSCoV2 Variants to the Human ACE2 Receptor

Nikita Mishra earned the top spot in the Engineering and Computer Science (Mixed) category for her research with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Negin Forouzesh, Ph.D., modeling mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

In the past year, we've been hearing a lot about [COVID-19] mutationsOmicron, Delta, Gammabut what we are struggling with right now is that the variants are hard to predict, Mishra says. My research is trying to build a tool that can analyze these different mutations of the virus to see how damaging a given mutation will be should it occur in the virus and then infect the human body.

Using a computer model of the virus protein, Mishra manipulates the amino acids (proteins component parts) that bind to the human ACE2 receptor. The strength of this binding affects how quickly the virus spreads between people and how severe it is. These models help predict the effects of potential variants and how to defend against them.

The virus continues to evolve as time goes on; it's not stopping and it's not going away for the foreseeable future, Mishra says. Having this tool to understand what mutations could be next should help scientists in terms of vaccine development and booster development.

Mishra will continue working with Dr. Forouzesh during the summer to automate the mutation prediction tool before beginning her masters in bioengineering at Stanford University.

Name: Justise Wattree Campus: San Jos State Major/Program: Humanities, African American Studies and Public Health minors, Senior Project: The TwoFront War: SelfHelp, and Black Health Activism during The Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDS, and COVID19

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed health disparities or health inequities [by race and ethnicity] a lot more than what we've seen before, Wattree says. I saw the attempts to counter these disparities in the Black community within the Black church and within activist groups and I was wondering if the community mobilized itself the same way during past pandemicsduring HIV/AIDS and during the Spanish flu.

For this project that won Wattree first place in the Humanities, Arts and Letters (Undergraduate #1) category, he compared the Black health activism carried out during the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, the HIV/AIDS epidemic beginning in the 1980s and the COVID-19 pandemic. The research involved archival work, reviewing Black newspapers from 1918 and newspapers and photographs from the 1980s and 1990s. He then conducted an interview with a public health official and obtained resources from local activist groups in the Bay Area about the current pandemic.

One interesting finding included a fashion campaign in the Black community during the 1918 pandemic to encourage women to wear masks, in hopes theyd influence their families. In addition, Wattree found that the Black churchwhile usually a strong agent of public health activismdid not respond as quickly to the HIV/AIDs epidemic due to the taboos associated with its transmission. The latter leads into his next research project on how the Black churchs connection to local activist groups impacts its response to pandemics, namely the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

It's important to investigate health activism as an avenue for addressing health disparities because health activists may have access to resources or connections with the people that the public health infrastructure wouldnt have, Wattree says. Some of it has been in community groups, but its also Black churches. I think Black churches or religious organizations in the Black community should be mobilized to the fullest capacity to counter health disparities.

Name: Mauricio Gomez Lopez Campus: Cal State Fullerton Major/Program: Physics, Mathematics, Senior Project: Studying the Material Properties of an Active Suspension of Swimming Bacteria

There is a phenomenon known as a starling swarm, or starling murmuration, when a flock of hundreds to millions of these birds form changing shapes and patterns as they fly. Scientists have noticed such motion patterns reflected at the microscopic level.

You see those same dynamics, that same kind of motion from the microscopic scale with E. coli all the way up through birds, says Mauricio Gomez Lopez. So that makes us think that there might be some physical laws determining these sorts of motions.

Taking first place in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences (Undergraduate) category, Gomez Lopez studied how E. coli particles move in response to force, seeing if and how they follow these movement patterns. Working in theSLAM Labwith Assistant Professor of Physics Wylie Ahmed, Ph.D., Gomez Lopez programmed an infrared laser, called optical tweezers, to direct force on the particles, documenting the resulting motion. In the videos taken under the microscope, it almost looks like this dense crowd, and someone trying to get through.

The hope is understanding the particles reaction will help scientists figure out how to harness the energy generated by the moving particles to produce power.

When we think about renewable sources of energy, we can see bacteria and E. coli being a possible new energy source, Gomez Lopez says. We were able to show that there is this transfer of energy, so the idea now is how can we engineer something to extract that energy and use it to power stuff we use on a daily basis.

Gomez Lopez will continue his research as he works towards his masters in physics at Cal State Fullerton.

See thecomplete listof this years CSU Student Research Competition winners, and view morecoveragefrom CSU campuses.

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Bright Minds of the Future - Newswise