The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus is a world-class center of collaboration with distinctive centers of excellence in transportation safety, energy research, high performance computing and computational biology. Faculty, graduate students, research scientists, and government and corporate partners conduct advanced research in well-equipped laboratories and centers.
Labs, Centers, Institutes
Computational Biology Institute (CBI)
Started in fall 2012, the Computational Biology Institute (CBI) focuses on computational and bioinformatic approaches to biological questions in the genomics era. Focus areas include biodiversity informatics, translational medicine, and systems biology.
Earthquake Engineering and Structures Laboratory
Researchers use current knowledge and cutting-edge technologies to improve methods for assessing and enhancing infrastructure safety. The laboratory, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, features one of the most sophisticated earthquake simulators of its kind in the nation.
Energy Research Laboratories
Faculty in chemistry, physics, and mechanical engineering come together to conduct interdisciplinary research and develop solutions to critical energy problems including renewable energy generation and more efficient energy storage, transmission, and utilization.
- • Biologically Inspired Energy Laboratory (spring 2012)
- • Energy Efficiency Research Laboratory
- • Nanomaterials & Nanomechanics Laboratory
- • Photo Emission Advanced Research Laboratory (PEARL)
- • Renewable Energy R & D Solutions Laboratory
- • Smart Systems Laboratory
- • Thermo-Fluids Laboratory
- • Turbulence, Fluid Dynamics and Wind Energy Laboratory
High Performance Computing Laboratory (HPCL)
The five active projects in the HPCL are sponsored by DoD, NASA, NSF, ARSC, IBM, and Microsoft. They fall into the areas of: UPC (Unified Parallel C), high-performance reconfigurable computing, embedded and high-performance computer algorithms, and architectures for remote sensing. The lab has been a leading authority in high-performance reconfigurable computing, an area in which supercomputers include, in addition to the massive number of traditional microprocessors, reconfigurable processors based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) processing elements.
Center for Intelligent Systems Research (CISR)
- • Driving Simulator Laboratory (CISR)
- Center for Intelligent Systems Research (CISR) scientists study crash avoidance. Using a vehicle donated by General Motors Corp., researchers examine the human factors involved in motor vehicle accidents. CISR also has a truck-driving simulator used to study the effects of fatigue on driver performance. The Driving Simulation Laboratory is a partnership with the Federal Highway Administration.
Institute for Magnetics Research (IMR)
The Institute for Magnetics Research (IMR) focuses its work on modeling, experimental measurements, and the use of magnetic materials. The materials most commonly studied are magnetic nanostructures, magnetic recording media, magneto-optical media, and magnetostrictive materials.
National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC)
- • FHWA/NHTSA NCAC Film Library
- • NCAC Vehicle Modeling Laboratory
- • The NCAC is one of the nation's leading authorities in automotive and highway safety research. A cooperative effort of The George Washington University, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), NCAC's comprehensive approach addresses a panorama of safety issues related to surface transportation. Researchers and engineers investigate, quantify, and analyze the roles and performance—both individually and in combination—of vehicles, occupants, safety restraints, and roadside structures (such as guardrails, poles, construction barriers). They conduct statistical analyses of crash data; undertake hospital studies to correlate crash events to occupant injuries; incorporate state-of-the-art investigation methods and biomechanics research to determine injury patterns; and evaluate vehicle and roadside hardware crash performance by reviewing crash-test films and crash data by using cutting-edge computer modeling.
Center for Nuclear Studies—Data Analysis Center
The Center for Nuclear Studies Data Analysis Center (DAC) acts as a link between theoretical and experimental investigations into the properties of nucleons and nucleon resonances. Primary funding comes from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Thomas Jefferson Lab.
Pharmacogenomics/Health Sciences Laboratory
The Pharmacogenomics/Health Sciences Laboratory contains dedicated educational and research spaces shared between GW and Shenandoah University's Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy. The major research theme for the laboratory centers on personalized medicine. The Program's faculty has ongoing projects investigating the genetic and clinical factors that impact oral anti-coagulant therapy, assisted reproduction, cancer chemotherapy, and ethnic variations in drug metabolism. Students in the program conduct mentored research in one of these areas as part of their experiential education at GW. The faculty also offer several popular programs to help local high school students and teachers understand genomic science.
Center for the Study of Learning (CSL)
The Center for the Study of Learning (CSL) is an international research and development organization devoted to issues of learning in the field of Human and Organizational Studies. CSL provides high quality services to all types of organizations, primarily through specific projects in organizational strategy, organizational learning, cultural assessment, human resource systems, re-organization and transformational leadership.