Eileen Roesler can’t help but be giddy about her new digs—and the opportunities that await.
An assistant professor in human factors and applied cognition (HFAC) program, Roesler is one of three professors in the Department of Psychology in George Mason University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences who recently relocated their offices to the Fuse building at Mason Square, which will have an official grand opening ceremony at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 25, on the university’s Arlington campus.
Joining Roesler will be HFAC assistant professor Beth Phillips, along with clinical psychology assistant professor Natasha Tonge. The 345,000 square-foot space will foster innovation programming, partnership, and community engagement for George Mason students, researchers, and commercial partners.
With the Institute for Digital Innovation and the College of Engineer and Computing also housing specialized labs at Fuse, Roesler welcomes the cross-discipline research opportunities. Much of her excitement is geared toward her students, who will gain experience collaborating with other academic programs along with industry and government leaders.
“I think it is a fantastic opportunity for us, for the college and the university, but really especially for our students,” Roesler said. “It gives them a chance to learn how to speak the language of other disciplines but not only disciplines research-wise but also other areas outside of academics. I think it is really a great space to learn for the students.”
On the Fairfax campus, Roesler currently heads the Human-Agent Collaboration (HAC) Lab and collaborates with Phillips in the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Lab. Phillips also leads the Autonomous Systems (ALPHAS) Lab while Tonge runs the Trust and Interpersonal Disclosure (TIDL) Lab.
At Fuse, they’ll be able to use state-of-the-art facilities and technology to expand on their respective studies and grow research with units from other colleges. Tonge and Roesler will serve as lab managers for the Human Subjects and Behavior Lab on the second floor at Fuse and Phillips will co-manage the Robotics Lab on the third floor.
“It is really nice for the people who are at the intersection of technology and humans because we have the perfect surrounding to do research on both,” Roesler said. “It is a really diverse outlet space we can use for different topics. So, we are extremely excited about the research opportunities, but we are even a little more excited about having the chance of meeting industry, government, and faculty in the same space.”
Next System Studies also to call Fuse home
Psychology won’t be the only CHSS department represented in the new building. Next System Studies, an initiative of the Center for Social Science Research and Department of Sociology and Anthropology, will now call Fuse home. The location won’t be entirely new as the Next System Fellows program has been run out of Mason Square since 2022.
The Digital Commonwealth Project (DCP) in Next System Studies fits nicely into the mission of Fuse. The DCP connects leading technologists with local community groups, civic leaders, workers, business associations, and universities in a community-led design process that addresses local priorities while supporting resilient local business ecosystems and increasing community and employee ownership.
Ben Manski, an assistant professor in sociology and the director of Next System Studies, said the ample meeting space and being closer to community partners such as the NOVA Web Development cooperative, the Arlington Education Association, and Latinx community cooperative SECOSOL—among others—will be extremely beneficial.
“For us, doing community engaged work, it is difficult we are only operating out of Fairfax,” Manski said. “We need to be closer to where our people are and our people are all throughout Northern Virginia in terms of our partners. The use of the Fuse facilities and simply the ability to operate out of Arlington will be very helpful to us with our community engaged research and action.”
September 15, 2025