patent

One AI model, trillions of variants: Breaking mass attacks on voice assistants

Nathan Kahl — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:16:20 +0000

One AI model, trillions of variants: Breaking mass attacks on voice assistants Nathan Kahl Thu, 10/15/2026 - 12:16

Imagine sitting in your home, listening to what you think is a run-of-the-mill advertisement or perhaps a piece of music you enjoy. But while you hum along, that audio file is sending a secret, malicious audio message—imperceptible to human ears—telling your home assistant to unlock your door or maybe transfer money from your bank account.

It is this stealth threat that 911�� Department of Computer Science associate professor Qiang Zeng is investigating.

"You hear one thing, but what the AI interprets is something else," Zeng said.

Zeng and PhD student Ying Meng developed a technique that could make such attacks more difficult, without slowing down devices or requiring companies to spend millions of dollars retraining their artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

He presented a paper outlining their approach, called DivNet, this summer at the prestigious 2026 ACM International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services (MobiSys) in Cambridge, England.

Zeng is working on a patent for DivNet, given its broad usefulness. Photo provided

The dangers of this melodic, malicious hack are magnified because manufacturers commonly install identical AI models across millions of devices. It would be as if every house in a neighborhood had the same lock, someone possessing one key could access each home. An attacker who successfully manipulates one device could potentially use the same recording against several others.

Training sophisticated models is expensive, so companies have little incentive to create a different one for every customer. DivNet creates numerous slightly different versions of an AI model, preventing attackers from using the same malicious audio to fool multiple devices; rather than giving every device an identical defense, it makes each AI model slightly different.

The researchers accomplish this by examining the millions of numerical values, called weights, that help a neural network process information. Some weights are important for accurately recognizing ordinary speech. Others contribute little to normal recognition but are important to the success of audio attacks. DivNet identifies and selectively changes the latter.

By modifying different combinations of these weights, the researchers produce an enormous number of distinct models that continue recognizing legitimate speech accurately but respond differently to malicious recordings.

Tests using established speech-recognition systems found that DivNet substantially reduced the success of attacks while causing minimal reductions in normal recognition accuracy. Unlike many existing defenses, DivNet also adds no processing time when a device recognizes speech. After an initial analysis, generating a new variant takes only milliseconds. The number of possible variants exceeds the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe, offering an enormous pool of alternatives. Even a single voice assistant can periodically switch variants, making attacks even harder to develop and reuse.

And perhaps its biggest practical advantage is cost. "Every time you train the AI system, it's very expensive because you need the GPU," Zeng said, referring to the powerful processors used to develop AI models.

The researchers created the DivNet project website with demonstrations and technical information, including audio examples showing how identical malicious recordings produce different results across model variants.

Zeng, who started a recent meeting about this research by casually addressing his home assistant with "Alexa, good morning," activating the lights in his home, recognizes the benefits as a consumer himself; he owns five Alexa speakers, by his count.

He said the team is pursuing commercialization, believing the approach could interest major technology companies. "We are applying for patents because we think it has some value."

And for users of the ever-expanding AI assistants, that’s music—and ONLY music—to their ears.

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In This Story

Qiang Zeng

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AI hacking

Artificial Intelligence

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911��’s Injury Analytics Lab receives patent for AI bruise detection system

Heather Carroll — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:11:25 +0000

911��’s Injury Analytics Lab receives patent for AI bruise detection system Heather Carroll Mon, 08/10/2026 - 10:11

Newly patented AI technology helps get bruise detection tools into the hands of clinicians, law enforcement, and researchers

Can new technology make it easier to understand bruises? That's the question researchers at 911��'s Injury Analytics Lab (IAL) are answering with a patented technology that combines artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and clinical data to give clinicians, forensic professionals, and researchers better information about skin injuries.

This technology reflects years of collaboration among experts in nursing, health informatics, and engineering, who worked together to transform research into a practical tool for injury assessment.

How the technology works

Image by College of Public Health.

The newly patented technology addresses current challenges in injury assessment by analyzing images of the skin alongside relevant clinical and demographic information from electronic health records. Similar to popular plant identification apps that combine image data with location information, the system uses AI to detect and assess bruise lesions.

"Documenting injuries accurately is essential for both medical treatment and seeking justice for victims of violence," said Associate Professor of Nursing and IAL Co-Director Katherine Scafide. "This patent recognizes our innovative approach that combines artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and clinical data to help professionals make more informed decisions."

The patented artificial intelligence technology is built on a dedicated injury platform, which includes a large repository of injury images used by computer vision systems, and data from electronic health records that work together to support accurate injury assessment and real-world use. Development of the platform that hosts the data and systems, and related software is led by Professor of Health Informatics and IAL Co-Director Janusz Wojtusiak, while Professor of Engineering and IAL Co-Director David Lattanzi leads development of the computer vision systems and user-centered design.

One of the most innovative aspects of the patented technology is its ability to tailor imaging conditions such as light wavelength and camera filter to each individual.

Rather than relying on a standard lighting setup, the system can determine a person's skin color and select the most effective light wavelengths, filters, and imaging conditions for capturing injury evidence. By optimizing imaging for each person, the technology can improve injury detection and assessment across a wide range of skin tones, especially for people with darker skin tones, whose injuries can be harder to identify with traditional imaging.

But the technology goes beyond simply determining whether a bruise is present.

The system can estimate characteristics such as a bruise's age, size, color, and shape while also providing information about the confidence of its predictions. By combining visual data with information such as medical history, medications, demographics, and skin color, the technology can account for factors that influence how injuries appear, resulting in more accurate and reliable assessments than images alone.

Why the technology matters

Janusz Wojtusiak and Katherine Scafide in the Injury Analytics Lab. Photo provided

Bruises and other skin injuries have traditionally been difficult to identify and assess. Factors such as skin tone, lighting conditions, and the age of an injury can affect how visible an injury appears, creating challenges for clinicians, forensic professionals, and researchers.

This patented technology helps address those challenges by providing more objective, consistent injury assessments. More accurate documentation can help clinicians make informed treatment decisions, strengthen forensic evidence, support investigations, and give researchers better data to improve future care. By improving injury detection across diverse skin tones, the technology also has the potential to reduce disparities in how injuries are documented and evaluated.

It was also shaped by the needs of the professionals who will use it in real-world settings. “This technology is the result of a user-centric research process that included countless hours of interviews and workshops with health care providers and forensic professionals,” explains Lattanzi. “These groups told us that they need easy-to-use tools that make documentation faster and more reliable. So that’s exactly what we’re building.”

Built on years of research

The patented technology is supported by a library of more than 100,000 images of bruises and other skin characteristics collected through years of interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

The technology identifies and analyzes a wide range of skin features, including bruises, burns, scars, birthmarks, rashes, eczema, psoriasis, and other conditions. This extensive dataset helps train the system's deep-learning models and enables it to recognize patterns that may be difficult for the human eye to detect consistently.

Moving research into practice

The patent marks an important milestone in IAL's broader effort to develop evidence-based technologies that can improve injury assessment and documentation.

Beyond protecting the intellectual property behind the innovation, the patent creates opportunities for new partnerships, commercialization, and broader adoption of the technology. Researchers envision future applications that support health care providers, forensic specialists, law enforcement professionals, researchers, and patients through interfaces tailored to their specific needs.

As the technology continues to advance, the goal remains clear: transforming cutting-edge research into practical tools that improve accuracy, support equity, and help professionals make better-informed decisions when injury documentation matters most.

About the Injury Analytics Lab

Launched in 2026, 911��’s IAL brings together researchers from clinical science, engineering, and health informatics to advance ongoing research focused on injury detection, assessment, and documentation. The lab serves as a hub for interdisciplinary projects that build on years of research to improve patient care, investigations, and legal proceedings.

IAL is directed by an interdisciplinary team including Katherine Scafide (School of Nursing, College of Public Health [CPH]), who leads the lab’s clinical research; Janusz Wojtusiak (Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics, CPH), who leads development of the injury platform and software systems; and David Lattanzi (Volgenau School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing), who leads development of the computer vision systems and user-centered design.

Key Takeaways

911�� researchers received a U.S. patent for technology that helps identify, document, and assess bruises and other skin injuries.
The technology tailors imaging to each individual, helping improve injury detection across a wide range of skin tones, particularly for people with darker skin tones.
The patented technology is the result of interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers in nursing, engineering, and health informatics, demonstrating how expertise across multiple fields can advance injury assessment and documentation.
The patent creates opportunities to bring the technology into healthcare, forensic, and research settings, supporting better clinical care, investigations, and future innovation.

In This Story

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAFS

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

David Lattanzi

Topics

injury analytics lab

Bruise Visibility

Artificial Intelligence

Research

patent

College of Public Health

College of Engineering and Computing

GCI-Health

GCI-Digital

Imagining an imaging breakthrough

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:08:24 +0000

Imagining an imaging breakthrough Nathan Kahl Mon, 04/27/2026 - 08:08

In This Story

Remi Veneziano

Parag Chitnis

A research team at 911�� is working to move a promising medical imaging technology closer to real-world use, supported by a new grant from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC).

911�� researchers Parag Chitnis and Remi Veneziano. Photo provided

Associate Professor Remi Veneziano and Professor Parag Chitnis in the Department of Bioengineering received a Tier 2 VIPC award to advance the development of a contrast agent for photoacoustic imaging. The two-year, $200,000 grant will support efforts to scale-up production and demonstrate that the material can be manufactured consistently for translation outside of a laboratory setting.

If successful, the work could provide a standardized, scalable contrast agent for photoacoustic imaging and expand its use across biomedical research.

Photoacoustic imaging combines light and ultrasound to visualize biological tissues. While the technique can detect naturally occurring molecules such as hemoglobin, it lacks widely available contrast agents that can target specific tissues or disease sites. As a result, researchers often create their own materials, which vary from lab to lab.

Veneziano began working on the problem about eight years ago with collaborators at 911��. His team focused on developing a contrast agent using indocyanine green, an FDA-approved dye. Instead of relying on complex chemical processes, the group created a method based on self-assembly, allowing the dye molecules to form aggregates with controlled size and surface properties.

“We figured out a method to control the size of the assembly without the need for complex chemistry,” Veneziano said. “When you reduce the chemicals and the number of steps, you make it easier for manufacturing and future approval or at least to make something safer.”

The team refined the process to the point where researchers in the lab can reliably produce aggregates with specific characteristics tailored for specific applications. Early funding, including a previous VIPC Tier 1 award and a university seed grant, supported initial development and validation. The group published its findings in 2023 and began building collaborations with other researchers.

A key step in the work involved combining standard indocyanine green dye molecules with modified versions of this dye that allow for additional functionality, such as targeting specific cells or adding other fluorescent molecules. That approach helped turn the material into a more flexible platform that can be adapted for different research needs.

The current grant focuses on what Veneziano described as the transition from a “lab product” to something that could be used more broadly. That includes demonstrating reproducibility across batches, establishing quality control standards, and determining how long the material can be stored without losing effectiveness.

“When you want to commercialize a product, you need to demonstrate reproducibility and quality control,” he said. “From one batch to another batch, you always want the same properties.”

Veneziano and his collaborators are also working with 911��’s Office of Technology Transfer and filed a patent application related to the technology. The team founded a start-up, NanOptical Biomedical Inc., to pursue commercialization, and the team plans to seek additional funding through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

At the same time, the research continues to evolve. The team is working with collaborators to adapt the platform for different applications, including adding fluorescent capabilities and improving targeting for specific diseases. “We are at a stage where we are learning from them, from their experience, from what they need, how to make our particle better,” Veneziano said.

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Bioengineering Primary Faculty

imaging

Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation

Research

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Tech Transfer

911�� makes the National Academy of Inventors Top 100

ckearney — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:04:53 +0000

911�� makes the National Academy of Inventors Top 100 ckearney Thu, 03/19/2026 - 14:04

911��, a university that has been recognized consistently for its innovation and entrepreneurship, has been named to the top 100 U.S. universities for patents. This spring, the National Academy of Inventors ranked 911�� No. 92 on its list for patents granted during 2025.

Utility patents cover the creation of a new or improved product, process, or machine. In 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 14 utility patents to 911�� inventors for methods to improve virtual reality (VR) navigation, traffic congestion, and wound healing.

Craig Yu with VP Andre Marshall. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of University Branding

“This recognition from the National Academy of Inventors signals more than a ranking—it reflects 911��’s vision for how research can shape the future,” said Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “Each of the 14 patents granted in 2025 represents an idea with the potential to improve lives, strengthen industries, and fuel economic growth. Our place among the nation’s top 100 universities affirms our commitment to turning bold research into meaningful solutions, expanding our global impact, and creating an environment where innovation thrives and talent is drawn to make a difference.”

Scene-aware teleportation, developed by 911�� researcher Craig Yu of the College of Engineering and Computing and his former doctoral student Changyang Li, PhD Computer Science ’24, gives VR users a significantly smoother navigation experience in virtual environments. The technique improves the navigation through teleportation by determining the most suitable teleport positions for the user. This invention may be used in a wide range of applications, such as gaming, virtual touring, and VR-assisted navigation of hazardous and military environments.

Brian Mark of the College of Engineering and Computing and Melvin Friedman, a retired physicist from the Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, developed a method for coordinating traffic lights and reducing traffic congestion. In 2023, Mark worked with three senior design teams on the traffic light control methodology, road geometry design, and hardware, which enables motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians to make every traffic light with a suitable road geometry. This invention can eliminate or minimize traffic congestion by substantially reducing red light wait time while maximizing traffic flow.

Monique van Hoek (right) in her lab on the Science and Technology Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

911�� researchers Monique L. van Hoek and Barney M. Bishop of the College of Science were awarded an additional patent for their work with antimicrobial peptides inspired by the Komodo dragon’s natural defenses. The duo has been collaborating since 2009 to study the peptides and their activity against important bacterial pathogens. These synthetic peptides represent a breakthrough in the fight against drug-resistant infections.

Also among the patents awarded in 2025 was the GMU Dynamic Low Visibility Pneumatic Cofferdam, invented by George L. Donohue, professor emeritus and founding director of the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at the College of Engineering and Computing, and a team of students, now alumni. The coastal resilience system designed to protect against flooding was licensed by serial entrepreneur Anthony Fung and his company Valorlox LLC earlier this year and is the first commercial product to move forward under the state’s new Lab-to-Launch initiative, marking an early milestone in the commonwealth’s push to accelerate university research into the market.

“We are incredibly proud of the innovative work coming out of 911��’s research community,” said David Grossman, senior director of technology transfer and industry collaboration. “Our role is to help move these ideas beyond the lab and into real‑world applications. By working closely with industry partners, we reaffirm our commitment to translating research into solutions that benefit society.”

The academy’s Top 100 lists are created using data provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The last time 911�� made the list was in 2022. Other Virginia universities in the top 100 included University of Virginia ranked at 38 and Virginia Commonwealth University at 88.

Research at 911��

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College of Science

Innovation Awards recognize 911�� researchers

ckearney — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:00:11 +0000

Innovation Awards recognize 911�� researchers ckearney Thu, 06/26/2025 - 11:00

In May, 911�� celebrated its research enterprise with Innovation Awards. Hosted by the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, the event recognized researchers, a start-up, and those who received and/or licensed a patent in the past two years.

From left, 911�� researchers Lance Sherry, Mikell Paige, and Craig Yu received Innovator Awards. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of University Branding

“We're deeply committed to fostering a research environment that encourages innovation and supports discovery,” said Provost James Antony in his opening remarks. “We want to ensure that the faculty have the tools, the partnerships, and the resources that they need to take their ideas further.”

Antony also commended the researchers for mentoring 911�� students. “You set a powerful example for emerging scholars. You show them what it's like to be both a researcher and a changemaker.”

At the event, the university awarded its second Mason Lifetime Disclosure Award, which recognizes a researcher with the most innovation disclosures. The first recipient was Lance Liotta, codirector and cofounder of the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM). It was Liotta who presented this year’s award to his CAPMM cofounder and codirector Emanuel Petricoin.

Petricoin, who joined 911�� in 2005, is a cofounder of four life science companies: Theranostics Health Inc., Ceres Nanosciences Inc., C-4 Diagnostics Inc., and Perthera Inc. He also is a coinventor on 40+ patents and has published more than 350 peer-reviewed publications.

CAPMM's Kelsey Mitchell with Paula Sorrell, associate vice president of innovation and economic development. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of University Branding

This year’s Mason Start-Up of the Year went to Mingkui Wei, an associate professor in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering, and his company CyberMirage. CyberMirage, which started as a collaborative research project involving researchers in network security with experts from both academia and industry, offers solutions to protect websites against web content theft and copyright infringement.

Three groups of researchers received 911�� Licensed Technology Awards, which celebrates when a protected intellectual property, such as a patent, is licensed by a company.

Kathryn Laskey of the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) and Paul Houser of the Geography and Geoinformation Science Department in the College of Science had their prototype system licensed by Global MapAid, a nonprofit working in Africa. The technology maps groundwater to help small farmers locate better wells and create soil conservation programs.
Leading biotechnology tools provider Targeted Bioscience licensed a tissue collection method patented by the CAPMM team of Liotta, Alessandra Luchini, Marissa Howard, and biosciences PhD candidate Purva Gade.
Toronto-based Affinity Diagnostics licensed a method for sequestering and/or isolating analytes of interest from an oral fluid, also developed by a CAPMM team. Researchers Ahana Byne, Fatah Kashanchi, and Kelsey Mitchell joined Luchini, Liotta, and Howard on this award.

The Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact also gave out Innovator Awards in the categories of sustainability, biohealth innovation, and digital innovation.

CEC’s Lance Sherry was recognized with the Innovators Award in Sustainability for his work with contrail mitigation. His pioneering research and technologies have not only enhanced flight safety and operational efficiencies but have also addressed aviation's growing efforts to track and mitigate the environmental impacts and to quantify their CO2 equivalency.

The College of Science’s Mikell Paige was recognized with the Innovators Award in Biohealth Innovation for his groundbreaking work in biochemistry at the interface of synthetic organic chemistry, drug discovery, and molecular design. His work focuses on designing small molecules that target computational modeling and biochemical assays to produce drug development in meaningful and practical ways.

Craig Yu of the College of Engineering and Computing received the Innovators Award in Digital Innovation for developing groundbreaking systems that redefine how people interact with virtual and augmented spaces. Through his research, Yu has developed a more human-centered approach to navigation, designing digital pathways that take into account physical effort and make virtual experiences more natural and inclusive.

“At 911��, we’re not just advancing research—we’re building a culture of innovation that has real-world impact,” said Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “These awards are about honoring the bold ideas and the committed people who move the university’s research forward—and outward—into the world. They represent the spirit of innovation that defines our university: impactful, collaborative, and driven by a desire to make a difference far beyond our campus.”

The awards the researchers took home for patents and licensed technologies have a special design. They are Plexiglas hexagons with magnets so researchers can add to their award over the years as they receive patents/licensing.

The researchers and teams behind 19 911�� patents were also recognized.

Compositions and methods for laser capture microdissection—Virginia Espina, Lance Liotta, and Alessandra Luchini
Collapsible fluid collection system for point-of-care diagnostics—Marissa Howard, Liotta, Luchini, and Kelsey Mitchell
Honey proteomics for honeybee disease and environmental biomonitoring—Liotta and Luchini
Antimicrobial peptides and related methods—Shravani Bobde
Molecularly imprinted particles—Barney Bishop, Mrinalini Ramanan, and Yaling Zhu
Systems and methods for coordinating travel through traffic lights—Melvin Friedman and Brian Mark
Impactor platform allowing freefall upon impact—David Cerri
Recombinant host cell with heterologous nucleic acids encoding SHREK proteins—Deemah Dabbagh and Yuntao Wu
Methods for breast cancer treatment—Emanuel Petricoin and Julia Wulfkuhle
Anti-fibrotic agent—Mikell Paige and Gregory Petruncio
Using Wi-Fi infrastructure to predict locations and contacts—Janusz Wojtusiak
Methods and systems for system call reduction—Kun Sun
Systems and methods for improved aircraft safety—Lance Sherry
Exertion-aware path generation—Lap-Fai (Craig) Yu
Complex user authentication factor integrating a sequence of fingerprints and a personal identification number—Massimiliano Albanese
Small molecule inhibitors of SLC25A1—Mikell Paige
Mining all atom simulations for diagnosing and treating disease—Mohsin Jafri
Antimicrobial peptides and related methods—Monique van Hoek
Look-up table containing processor-in-memory cluster for data-intensive applications—Sai Manoj and Sathwika Bavikadi

Research at 911��

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A slippery slope to safety: New material promises steady steps

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:11:36 +0000

A slippery slope to safety: New material promises steady steps Nathan Kahl Mon, 03/10/2025 - 08:11

Winter weather can be treacherous at times, especially for those trying to navigate slippery situations on foot. Fortunately, 911�� materials scientist Shay Bagheri is working on better footwear to handle icy conditions.

Shay Bagheri. Photo by Office of University Branding

Bagheri, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and an affiliate scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, received a $100,000 grant from the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation for her research. CCF “supports Virginia’s small business community and its colleges, universities, and nonprofit research institutes at the earliest stages of their entrepreneurial and/or commercialization journeys, seeking innovative technologies with a high potential for economic development and job creation.”

In 2016, Bagheri was working at the Toronto Rehab Institute, which has numerous labs that recreate real-world environments. Bagheri was drawn to the Winter Lab, where researchers were studying shoe safety in slippery conditions.

“WinterLab is a self-contained facility with an ice-covered floor that can be tilted at different angles," Bagheri said. "Harnessed participants walk up and down the icy slope, and the steepest angle they can manage without slipping is used to measure the slip resistance of their footwear.”

The topography of the footwear surface, magnified. Graphic provided

While working at the Winter Lab, she received new generations of winter footwear based on composite technology. These shoes had excellent slip resistance when they were new, but she was surprised to learn many of the boots and shoes they tested lost a significant amount of their nonslip properties after a mere 75,000 steps—barely a week for a frequent, avid walker.

“And all of them cost over $200. So, we knew something had to be done in order to improve the material and the manufacturing process.”

The commercially available composite-based footwear have soles that get traction from tiny pieces of glass. Glass is by nature very sensitive to abrasion and the fabrication of glass is very hazardous, making it less than ideal. Bagheri said, “Instead of glass, we are adding polymeric fibers that are very resistant to wear and abrasion. They are non-hazardous, soft, and capable of withstanding significant abrasion. This material is five times more effective than what’s currently on the market.”

She said that instead of using the common injection molding technique to make these composite materials, she uses additive manufacturing, allowing for more uniform distribution, with a little bio inspiration. “In order to enhance friction on ice, we incorporate polymeric microfibers that protrude to the surface, triggering the friction mechanism similar to what you would see in polar bear feet,” she said. For the second approach, she uses a 2-D material with a large surface area that triggers the friction mechanism through adhesion, similar to the way frog’s feet work.

Bagheri and colleagues hold a patent for the method of manufacturing these innovative composites. She and her student at 911�� have also filed a provisional patent through their work, using additive manufacturing technology to make these composites more efficiently.

In This Story

Shaghayegh Bagheri

Learn more about Research at 911��

Read about research at 911��

Learning to fly
October 21, 2026
Alexandre Barreto selected for national EM-FUEL leadership program
October 19, 2026
NSF grants to support novel space weather prediction models and cybersecurity that could help further non-terrestrial infrastructure
October 15, 2026
One AI model, trillions of variants: Breaking mass attacks on voice assistants
October 15, 2026
Statistical sleuthing strengthens medical records
October 12, 2026

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mechanical engineering

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Research

This 911�� alum can help you sleep better

ckearney — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:16:30 +0000

This 911�� alum can help you sleep better ckearney Thu, 09/26/2024 - 12:16

In high school and as an undergraduate student, Dan Gartenberg, MA Psychology ’12, PhD ’16, would stay up late and struggle to wake early, a typical experience for many students. Early on in his graduate studies at 911��, he took a course on the neuroscience of sleep and was hooked.

Dan Gartenberg. Photo provided

Gartenberg became passionate about the study of sleep, due to his own personal struggles with sleep—including delayed sleep phase syndrome and insomnia. He is now founder and CEO of SleepSpace and a scientific advisor to other companies in the sleep science field, including Wesper, Biostrap, CPAP.com, Perfectly Snug, and MDBiowellness.

“Mason is where I learned to be a scientist, constantly question things, and where I learned the scientific method. That’s an invaluable thing,” he said.

For his dissertation in psychology, Gartenberg worked with the Naval Research Laboratory to develop artificial intelligence (AI) models that could help predict when people, such as pilots, are getting fatigued doing a task for a long period of time by using eye tracking data.

“I was making models of fatigue and using different cognitive tasks to predict when errors would occur,” he said. “You don’t want a pilot to crash a $30 million aircraft, and there are ways to tell when someone is tired based on their [movements].”

Gartenberg published several papers and released his first few sleep apps around this time. He worked closely with the late 911�� professor Raja Parasuraman, an expert in the field who developed one of the main theories of vigilance.

Photo provided

While at 911��, Gartenberg received grants from the National Science Foundation to test whether playing certain sounds during sleep could encourage deeper sleep. His research team brought people into a lab and hooked them up to polysomnography—like an EEG but used to measure multiple physiological data streams.

They played sounds on the up state of delta brainwaves and showed some evidence that it primes deeper sleep. Gartenberg and his colleagues went on to get more grant funding in that area. But he found having someone wear a device was cumbersome.

“And it wasn’t a great form factor for consumers, so I pivoted a bit toward insomnia,” he said.

Then, in 2020, he received a $2.5 million grant from National Institutes of Health to develop a new digital therapeutic for insomnia. He recently ran a randomized control trial to test this novel therapy. This is the main focus of his company, SleepSpace. He also raised $1.8 million from venture capitalists to build this sleep improvement platform.

First, Gartenberg and team created very accurate sleep trackers. Gartenberg made some algorithms on the Apple watch and using smartphone sensors to track sleep in real time for the purpose of playing sounds to augment sleep and later integrated smart lights.

Gartenberg said that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the treatment for insomnia recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and other academies. So the team built a six-week CBT course with collaborators at Penn State University and the University of Arizona. The software also integrates with sound and light devices to promote improve sleep quality, and includes meditations and interactive content driven by an AI chatbot called Dr. Snooze.

“Our software allows the coach or a sleep doctor to see their client’s data from the app and wearable devices, so they can see the perception of sleep alongside what’s happening and create customized sleep programs,” he said.

Gartenberg and colleagues showed that when people experience the treatment as usual plus the software, more people were able to avoid insomnia remission, and it was more effective at treating it on some metrics. Since launching, they have 30 therapists and coaches using the platform and have seen more than 100,000 downloads.

“We’re augmenting the therapist, not replacing them,” Gartenberg emphasized.

He’s currently working on developing a comprehensive package to improve sleep and also launching a new smart topper and bedsheet called the SleepSpace Smart Sheet that will integrate with his current software and be able to control the temperature on either side of the bed. It can help with falling asleep, hot flashes, night sweats, and navigating different temperature needs of partners.

And it all started at 911��. Gartenberg said the university played a major role in his career as a scientist and entrepreneur.

“911�� gave me, as a PhD, the freedom to pursue a lot of different interests that weren’t strictly in one field,” he said. “It was a combination of software development, science, and even intellectual property. I worked with Mason’s [Tech Transfer] team on some patents, and I got my first patent granted through that collaboration.”

Gartenberg’s advice for Mason students is to know who you are and what you want. He took the entrepreneur route, but he admits it’s not for everyone, and it can be quite stressful. However, he thinks entrepreneur skills are more important than ever, especially creative problem solving and persistence.

“If you can creatively solve problems, that can be applied to almost anything.”

Learn more about Gartenberg's work

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College of Humanities and Social Sciences

National Science Foundation

National Institutes of Health

Spirit Fall 2024

Spirit Magazine

Mason named to top 100 list for patents awarded in 2022

ckearney — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 13:30:11 +0000

Mason named to top 100 list for patents awarded in 2022 ckearney Thu, 10/12/2023 - 09:30

It isn’t surprising that 911��, a university that has been recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, would be among the top 100 universities in United States for patents. This fall, the National Academy of Inventors ranked Mason No. 91 in its list of the top 100 universities granted patents during 2022.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“Mason is in the business of discovery,” said Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “Our researchers are curiosity-driven. As such, we don't always know where our research will lead or what impact it may have. I am absolutely delighted that the Mason Enterprise tech transfer team is working with our researchers on inventions and patents to transform our discoveries into impact.”

In 2022, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 15 utility patents to Mason inventors including a method to monitor physical cues for people in recovery, a wearable device for knee injuries, a system for detecting power grid states and determining appropriate actions, and therapeutics for dealing with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), to name a few. Utility patents cover the creation of a new or improved—and useful—product, process, or machine.

Mason professors Padmanabhan Seshaiyer of the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Holly Matto, Department of Social Work, share a patent for systems and methods for biobehavioral-regulation treatments. Their invention provides recovery support for users by monitoring their biobehavioral state and strategically delivers, in real time, personalized recovery cues to treat and prevent relapse. It is the first patent for the Department of Social Work.

Researchers Marissa Howard and Lance Liotta at Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine patented a wearable device that measures, tracks, and monitors a wearer's physical physiological conditions during a rehabilitation period. The device collects metrics, such as temperature, patellar shifting, limb circumference, and acceleration, and communicates them through a networked communication system so medical personnel and patients can stay updated with the patient’s rehabilitation progress and make adjustments.

Mason alum Eniye Tebekaemi, PhD Information Technology ’18, and Duminda Wijesekera of the College of Engineering and Computing were awarded a patent for a secure overlay communication model for decentralized autonomous power grids. The model is a logic-based system deployed onto computing devices in power grid stations and substations. In response to detecting various power grid faults, such as line failures and over-current states, the system can automatically rearrange power line configurations.

Researcher Yuntao Wu, a professor in Mason’s School of Systems Biology and the Center for Infectious Disease Research, was awarded two patents in 2022 for his work on HIV: “Targeting the Cofilin Pathway” and “Method and System for Inactivating Virus Infectivity for Producing Live-Attenuated Vaccines.” Wu has devoted his career to HIV research. In 2013, he founded the biotech company Virongy after licensing an HIV drug-screening technology that was developed in his Mason lab.

“The Office of Technology Transfer takes great pride in the quality of patented innovations brought forth by our dedicated researchers,” said David Grossman, senior director of Technology Transfer and Industry Collaboration at Mason. “We are honored to help these innovators transition their groundbreaking concepts from the laboratory to the marketplace. This collaboration between academia and industry underscores our unwavering commitment to harness the full potential of research for the betterment of society.”

The academy’s Top 100 lists are created using data provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Other Virginia universities in the top 100 included University of Virginia at 52 and Virginia Commonwealth University at 86.

According to the National Academy of Inventors press release, “This new list was created to highlight and celebrate American innovation and to showcase the universities that play a large role in advancing the innovation ecosystem within the U.S. and beyond.”

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Andre Marshall, PhD

Holly Matto, PhD, LCSW-C

Lance A. Liotta

Duminda Wijesekera

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Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine - CAPMM

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Strategic Direction

Aspiring to smoother traffic

tdonnel — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 19:19:23 +0000

Aspiring to smoother traffic tdonnel Fri, 06/02/2023 - 15:19

In This Story

Brian Mark

There are few better feelings than hitting all green lights on your drive home. Brian Mark’s research aims to bring you that feeling more often. Ideally, technology can help you hit a “green wave” by keeping your car within an optimal speed bracket, says 911�� electrical and computer engineering professor Brian Mark.

The increasing likelihood of autonomous vehicles on the road offers a prospect even more promising than the idea of creating an app for human drivers, originally proposed in joint work of Mark and Melvin Friedman, a retired physicist from the Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Through Mason's Office of Technology Transfer, Friedman and Mark submitted a U.S. patent application on a method for coordinating traffic lights and reducing traffic congestion.

“It probably will work even better with connected and automated vehicles,” explains Mark, “so you know the car itself is programmed to keep on the green wave. Like, if you have to turn right, you might not be on the green wave; so ... you might have to catch up to the green wave ahead of you or slow down to catch the green wave behind you.”

Mark supervised a senior design project to move toward his goal sponsored by the Army Strategic Program for Innovation, Research, and Employment (ASPIRE). Three 911�� Electrical and Computer Engineering Department teams participated in ASPIRE, supervised by Qilian Li, Brian Mark, and Cameron Nowzari, respectively. As part of the program, in addition to several Zoom meetings, the seniors attended a spring meeting at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where they presented their project progress.

Mark’s ASPIRE team constructed a model of a connected and automated vehicle. Sara Sulaiman Alaraini, Colin Graves, Corey Jones, Nitin Mandadi, Andrew Mokhtare, and Adham Obeid modified a remote-control vehicle to operate autonomously on a tarp designed like a road system, complete with centralized traffic light–controlled intersections. The team outfitted the car with sensors, a camera, and arUco tags to help it stay oriented in its environment.

"The traffic lights are connected to a centralized server, and the car is able to automatically stop at a traffic light and then go when it turns green,” said Mark.

“Through the centralized server you can indicate the destination ... It will automatically calculate the path through the street grid, and the car will just go to that destination and obey all the traffic lights as it goes.”

Mark hopes a future senior design team can further extend the project by incorporating multiple cars to simulate traffic scenarios.

“The next project would be if you have a bunch of cars. And they're all following green waves, so that they're all obeying the traffic lights. But they never really have to stop unless they have to turn. That would be the ultimate demonstration of this concept.”

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Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty

Autonomous Cars

robotics and autonomous systems

Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center

Research

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Innovation Awards celebrate Mason researchers

ckearney — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:57:40 +0000

Innovation Awards celebrate Mason researchers ckearney Fri, 06/02/2023 - 09:57

On May 9, 911�� celebrated its research enterprise with Innovation Awards, recognizing the Innovator of the Year and a Mason start-up, and those who received and/or licensed a patent.

Michael Buschmann's team accepted the Innovator of the Year award from Vice President Andre Marshall (holding plaque) on his behalf. Photo by John Boal Photography

According to David Grossman, senior director of technology transfer and industry collaboration in Mason’s Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, this was the first time since 2010 that the university formally recognized researchers. Going forward it will be an annual event.

“At the Mason Innovation Awards, we were privileged to recognize the tireless pursuit of knowledge and the transformative impact of our faculty’s discoveries,” said Grossman. “Through their dedication, these researchers are helping shape the world with their groundbreaking technologies and pushing the boundaries of what is possible."

The Innovator of the Year Award was awarded posthumously to Michael Buschmann, Eminent Scholar and the former chair of the Bioengineering Department within Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing. Buschmann help found the start-up AexeRNA Therapeutics Inc., in partnership with the university’s Office of Technology Transfer. He and his team licensed the commercial rights of four patents to the company. The technology AexeRNA is working on will make mRNA vaccines less costly and more readily available worldwide. Members of Buschmann’s AexeRNA team were recognized at the ceremony.

Saleet Jafri was awarded the Mason Start-up Award. Photo by John Boal Photography

The Mason Start-up Award was presented to Saleet Jafri, director of Mason’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience and professor in the School of Systems Biology, College of Science, for his company Pathodynamics. Pathodynamics has licensed three Mason patents and is developing a technology that solves the problem of cancer drug resistance, which is responsible for more than 90% of cancer deaths. Jafri has also received a Small Business Innovation Research award for the technology and is working with the Virginia Small Business Development Center’s Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP).

University Professor Lance Liotta, cofounder and codirector of the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, was recognized with a Mason Lifetime Disclosure Award. During his career, Liotta has filed more than 120 patent disclosures. Disclosures are the first step toward a patent by making a public claim about an invention or discovery. Liotta has 100 inventions to date and the prototype of one of these inventions—Laser Capture Microdissection, a method to procure subpopulations of tissue cells under direct microscopic visualization—is in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection.

Lance Liotta (left) and David Grossman holding Liotta's Lifetime Disclosure Award. Photo by John Boal Photography

During the program, Gisele Stolz, senior director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programs at Mason, was recognized for recently receiving an Impact Award from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative for mentoring students. Stolz has helped place more than 150 Mason students in internships with cyber-related start-ups.

Participants of the Virginia SBDC ICAP and national I-CORPS programs and Mason researchers who have patented or licensed a technology or invention were also recognized.

The awards for patents and licensed technologies are Plexiglas hexagons with magnets so researchers can add to their award over the years as they receive patents/licensing.

A list of those Mason researcher licensing technologies follows.

Mason Licensed Technology Awards

“Microscopic Particles for Target Bio-markers,” licensed to Ceres NanoSciences

Lance Liotta, Emanuel Petricoin, Alessandra Luchini Kunkel, Barney Bishop, Virginia Espina, Marissa Howard, and Fatah Kashanchi

“Self-Cleaning Intrusion Tolerance” licensed to SCIT Labs

Arun Sood

“Pre-Shot Sniper Detection” licensed to First Guard Technologies

Kenneth J. Hintz

“Cauldron” licensed to Cyvision Technologies

Sushil Jajodia

“Antiretroviral Compositions” licensed to Lentx

Yuntao Wu

“Biological Materials” licensed to Kera FAST

Barney Bishop, Monique van Hoek, Robin Couch, and Yuntao Wu

“Atomic Magnetometer” licensed to Twinleaf

Karen Sauer

“Protein–Protein Interactions” licensed to EMD Millipore

Alessandra Luchini Kunkel, Lance Liotta, and Virginia Espina

“Antiretroviral Cyclonucleotides” and “Pseudovirus Platform” licensed to Virongy

Yuntao Wu and Brian Hetrick

“Packet Flow Watermarking” licensed to CyberRock Tech

Xinyuan Wang

“Encryption IP Cores” licensed to Chaologix

Gaj Krzysztof and Panasayya Yalla

“Personalized Therapy” licensed to Avant Diagnostics

Emanuel Petricoin and Julia Wulfkuhle

“Thromboembolism Sleeve” licensed to Phase II Consulting and Staffing

Lance Liotta and Marissa Howard

“Laser Capture Microdissection” and “Tissue Molecular Profiling” licensed to Targeted Biosciences

Lance Liotta, Alessandra Luchini Kunkel, Virginia Espina, Amanda Nicole Haymond Still, Marissa Howard, and Philip Andrew Pappalardo

“Cancer and HIV Therapeutics” licensed to Targeted Pharmaceuticals

Catherine DeMarino, Fatah Kashanchi, Lance Liotta, and Virginia Espina

“HIV Vaccine” licensed to Viropeutics

Yuntao Wu

“Protein Painting” licensed to Monet Pharmaceuticals

Alessandra Luchini Kunkel, Amanda Nicole Haymond Still, Lance Liotta, Mikell Paige, and Virginia Espina

“Antidepressant Selection” licensed to Teahorse

Farrokh Alemi

“Honeybee Hive Therapy” licensed to Tri-State Proteomics

Alessandra Luchini Kunkel, Lance Liotta, and Rocio Solange Prisby

“mRNA Delivery Lipids” licensed to AexeRNA Therapeutics

Michael Buschmann, Mikell Paige, Suman Alishetty, and Manuel Carrasco

“COVID Contact Tracing” licensed to Vericord

Farrokh Alemi and Janusz Wojtusiak

“Wearable Devices for Managing Substance Abuse” licensed to LifeSpan Digital Health

Holly C. Matto and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

“Precision Oncology” licensed to Pathodynamics

Mohsin Saleet Jafri and Soukaina Amniouel

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