UMBC’s demonstrated strength in supporting students from underrepresented groups on their path to success in STEM fields has earned the university another round of funding for STEM education. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just renewed its support for UMBC through the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) for the third time since the program’s inception in 2001.

The EPP/MSI funds four cooperative science centers, each consisting of several institutions and focusing on one of NOAA’s four core research areas. UMBC has been a member of the NOAA Center for Remote Sensing Science and Technologies, led by the City University of New York, since 2001. This year Howard University, which heads the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, recruited UMBC to join its team as well.

“Our main goal is to educate and train underrepresented minority students to become the next NOAA workforce,” says Ruben Delgado, the lead on UMBC’s remote sensing EPP/MSI grant since 2011 and research scientist at UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET).

Delgado is proud of the interdisciplinary nature of the program, which currently supports undergraduate and graduate students in physics, geography and environmental systems, computer science, mechanical engineering, biological sciences, and chemical engineering. The program, he says, bridges the gap between scientists and engineers and promotes a feeling of unity among diverse individuals, “because they’re all talking science and engineering.”

NOAA provides $11.9 million per year across all four cooperative centers, each of which includes several schools. UMBC receives approximately $330,000 per year through the NOAA grant. Almost 70 percent of it goes directly toward student stipends and costs associated with presenting research at conferences, like travel and registration.

NOAA-funded students at UMBC tackle research topics in areas such as weather forecasting, wind energy, and air quality. The cooperative center structure allows students and faculty to collaborate across institutions and share resources such as instrumentation, data, and expertise.

For example, with remote sensing equipment, “We can monitor the long-range transport of pollution,” says Delgado. That includes smoke from fires in Alaska and Canada or dust coming from China or the Sahara Desert. Students learn to interpret the remote sensing data, and those also involved in his group’s Smog Blog project learn how to explain their findings to non-scientists.

“The program allows our students to be at the forefront of what NOAA is doing,” says Delgado, so when they graduate, “they are on the right track for professional careers at places like NOAA.”

But the program goes deeper than that. Delgado works hard to provide his students “opportunities to strengthen their weaknesses and build on their strengths.” He empowers them to make a real difference as researchers, with the goal that they carry that attitude beyond UMBC.

“You don’t come here to do glasswork and clean the lab,” Delgado explains. “From day one you are conducting cutting edge science and engineering.”

Image: Ruben Delgado; photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

A delegation from Portugal visited UMBC earlier this month to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining plans to develop collaborative exchange programs for teaching, learning, and research between the Portuguese Naval Academy (PNA) and UMBC. Initial projects will focus on cybersecurity, an area of strength for both schools.

Antonio Moreira, vice provost for academic affairs at UMBC, earlier named an “advisor of Portugal in the world” by that nation’s president, spearheaded the formal collaboration after meeting Admiral Torres Sobral from the Portuguese National Security Agency at a conference in Lisbon. Similarities emerged between the PNA and UMBC in their conversation, especially in cybersecurity and naval science. Moreira shared, “It became natural to focus on collaborations between the two institutions.”

High-level Portuguese officials have embraced the collaboration. “I think it is important to be here and be aware of what’s happening in our two countries,” said Navy Captain Afonso Galrito, Portugal naval and air attaché, at the signing event. “As soon as I heard we were taking this next step I asked, ‘Can I go?’”

The newly formalized relationship, which will initially last five years and is slated for automatic renewal, will support faculty exchanges for research and teaching, student exchanges at the undergraduate and graduate levels, joint seminars and conferences, and collaborative publication efforts.

UMBC is particularly excited to collaborate with the PNA this year, as the university’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program kicks off. “It is fitting we are signing on the first day of classes and on the first day of our new NROTC program,” Moreira said. In addition, UMBC has strong ties with the U.S. Naval Academy, and the PNA signed an MOU with the Annapolis, MD institution in February 2016, providing opportunities for triangular collaboration.

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski emphasized to the Portuguese dignitaries that an NROTC program within the University System of Maryland offers local students a compelling new path to military service and leadership development. “I am so proud of getting this program,” Hrabowski shared, having worked for many years to bring NROTC to UMBC.

While the initial collaborative focus is on cybersecurity, “What we sign here is just a start of the collaboration between these two institutions,” said Commodore Henriques Gomes, superintendent of the Portuguese Naval Academy, “We look forward to expanding it to other fields.”

Image: Antonio Moreira (r), UMBC’s vice provost for academic affairs, and Commodore Henriques Gomes (l),  superintendent of the Portuguese Naval Academy, shake hands after signing the MOU between their two institutions in the presence of other UMBC and PNA representatives. Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Lasse Lindahl’s goal for the MARC U*STAR Scholars program is to “light the fire in the belly so students are hooked on science.”

Lindahl, director of the MARC U*STAR program at UMBC and professor of biological sciences, founded the UMBC chapter of the intensive research training program with a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 1997. The program engages individuals from historically underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences, with the goal that they go on to complete advanced degrees. UMBC’s MARC U*STAR program celebrated its first alumnus to earn a Ph.D. in 2004, and just honored its 100th Ph.D.

MARC U*STAR stands for Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research. Students receive a yearly stipend, significant tuition assistance, and funding for travel to conferences where they present their research. Biomedical experts present regular seminars to MARC students on campus. With 40 students in the program on campus each year, UMBC’s MARC U*STAR program is now one of the largest in the country; 386 students have participated since its inception.

The cornerstone of the program is research experiences. Students are paired with a research mentor at the outset of the program and conduct research during the school year and over the summer. “Research is not just a summer excursion,” says Lindahl, “It is a lifelong pursuit.”

He and associate director Jackie King Ph.D. ‘09, psychology, are instrumental in helping students obtain research opportunities off campus as well as helping with the graduate school application process, from selecting appropriate schools to preparing for interviews. Keith Harmon, director of the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program, also mentors MARC students, many of whom are also Meyerhoff Scholars.

King sees mentorship as essential to the program’s success, connecting students directly with people “who have high expectations, but also provide resources and support.”

MARC Scholar and 2016-17 Goldwater Scholar Andreas Seas ‘17, chemical engineering, says, “The support I get from Dr. King and Dr. Lindahl is really amazing,” particularly as he has continued to seek out new research opportunities. Seas regularly shares with them the setbacks and his accomplishments on his path to a research career.

Erwin Cabrera ‘10, biological sciences, was the 100^th MARC Scholar to complete a Ph.D., earning his in 2016 in Basic Biomedical Sciences – Neuropathology from the New York University School of Medicine. “As an undergraduate filled with self-doubt, the MARC program, and especially Mrs. Taifa Hibbert Simpson (the assistant director at the time), provided the love and confidence that allowed me to excel,” he shares. The research experience bolstered his confidence, too. “The MARC program allowed us a safe space to be who we were and incorporate the title of ‘researcher’ into that mosaic,” Cabrera reflects.

Lindahl hopes the program will have a “multiplier effect,” because MARC alumni “serve as role models for underrepresented groups,” he says. Cabrera has embraced that charge, as he takes on a new role as associate director of the Research Aligned Mentorship program at Farmingdale State College, part of the State University of New York.

The MARC program “solidified my career passion for work in higher education,” Cabrera says. “It showed me that mentorship is a key component in a student’s success, and that I would like to contribute the same wisdom to others that was given to me.”

Another of Lindahl’s goals is to help students “see the impact research has on the larger community.” Seas has taken that to heart. After homing in on his passion through undergraduate research, he plans to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. related to vascular surgery. His favorite part of UMBC’s MARC program, he says, is “being surrounded by people that are interested in science and want to improve people’s lives with science.”

Image: Andreas Seas ’17 presents his research at URCAD 2016; Photo Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. Erwin Cabrera ’10, photo courtesy Farmingdale State College.

When a person suffers a severe injury, it is crucial that any bleeding is stopped quickly. While there are many ways to stop external bleeding, current methods for stopping internal bleeding are limited.

Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, developed a nanoparticle that helps the body form blood clots and reduce internal bleeding. During the American Chemical Society’s national meeting, Lavik presented her work and explained how these nanoparticles could save lives.

“Compared to injuries that aren’t treated with the nanoparticles, we can cut the bleeding time in half and reduce total blood loss,” she explained.

Lavik and her team worked to create nanoparticles that attach to activated platelets so that clots can be formed to stop internal bleeding. These nanoparticles were initially developed and tested on rodents, to control bleeding due to brain and spinal cord injuries, but Lavik saw their potential to help people who have suffered a broader range of severe traumas.

After early testing revealed the nanoparticles successfully kept rodents from bleeding out, Lavik wanted to determine how human blood would respond to the presence of the nanoparticles.As a next step, the nanoparticles were tested in pig’s blood, which indicated that the immune system reacted well their presence.

In the future, Lavik and her team will test the nanoparticles in human blood, and will develop tests to fully understand the safety of these nanoparticles. She says they need to understand whether the particles may cause clotting that could lead to stroke before the product can be on the market, although she hopes the nanoparticles will eventually be available for clinical use.

Watch the full video of Lavik’s ACS press conference on YouTube.

The Lavik Lab’s nanoparticle research has been featured on Medgaget, News Atlas, Futurism, and Physics Central.

Image: Erin Lavik at TEDxBroadway. Photo by TEDxBroadway, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Each summer dozens of college students from around the nation travel to UMBC to take advantage of the university’s leading research facilities and faculty.  This year, 28 students studied climate change, diabetes, and other topics as part of UMBC’s Interdisciplinary Program in High Performance Computing, a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) housed in the mathematics and statistics department. At the same time, 10 students tackled projects through the new Chemical Sensing and Imaging REU, hosted by the chemistry and biochemistry department. Students learned new scientific skills, refined career goals, and practiced teamwork.

Matthias Gobbert, professor of mathematics and director of the Interdisciplinary Program in High Performance Computing, explains that the program emerged from a collaboration between the Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Consulting (CIRC) and the High Performance Computing Facility. Gobbert and math department colleagues match each student team with a client from a local company who comes to the table with a problem they’d like the students to solve. It’s not about imagined scenarios, Gobbert says, “It’s real consulting.”

“It’s a good chance to get used to working with teams,” says Lois Miller, a rising senior at DePauw University. Abigail Kramer, a rising senior at Kent State University, agrees, adding, “It’s been great to talk to math majors from other schools.”

The interdisciplinary projects have exposed students to new options. “People don’t think about how math can overlap with other things,” says Danielle Sykes ‘19, mathematics and statistics and a Meyerhoff Scholar, whose team applied a data analytics model to huge amounts of climate data from across the Missouri River Basin. “It’s definitely expanded my thinking about what my career options are,” she shares.

The National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and National Security Agency all contributed funding for the program this year, enabling a larger student cohort to participate. Fifty percent of students come from institutions with limited research opportunities, so the program gives them rare first-hand experience and helps them decide if they’d like to pursue research further. A graduate student and faculty member are assigned to each undergraduate team, “so teams can be really well supported,” says Gobbert.

UMBC’s new chemistry REU “embraces the UMBC mission to provide research and education opportunities to students from all backgrounds, including students from underrepresented minorities in STEM,” says Zeev Rosenzweig, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry. Supporting these students is a team effort. “I greatly appreciate the dedication of our UMBC faculty and graduate student mentors to the participating students,” he says.

The 10 students in the program had eye-opening experiences in their research projects. “I’ve gained an appreciation for the principal science behind a lot of the things we use,” says Kalen Sullivan, a pre-med student at Iona College who worked with Marcin Ptaszek, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Sullivan didn’t meet his project’s goal to produce a specific novel compound in the lab, although he worked long and hard, but he’s found an even greater respect for people who work “in the trenches” of science.

Kathy Barron, a 2016 chemistry graduate from Virginia Tech, worked with Jennie Leach, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering (CBEE), and Erin Lavik, professor of CBEE. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about a field of research I was unfamiliar with,” she says. It went so well that Lavik asked her to stay on after the REU ended. She’ll continue doing research in the lab and is considering graduate study in the same field.

Becca Pontius, a rising senior chemistry major at Clemson University, has been inspired to pursue a new field after working to develop quantum dots in Rosenzweig’s lab. Slightly uncertain about her project at first because it contained a significant biology component, “Now I know I can stretch out to new things and still be successful,” she shares. “The REU program at UMBC was a big step towards my dream job of becoming a research professor.”

All UMBC REU students presented their work at the 19^th annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fest on August 10.

Rosenzweig hopes the students take away more than research knowledge from UMBC. “It is my hope that the REU students will become ambassadors of UMBC in their academic institutions, and help us to promote and expand the UMBC culture of inclusive excellence.”

Faculty Mentors for Chemical Sensing and Imaging REU:
Brad Arnold, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Marie Christine Daniel-Onuta, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Lisa Kelly, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Minjoung Kyoung, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering
Jennie Leach, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering
Matt Pelton, assistant professor of physics
Marcin Ptaszek, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Zeev Rosenzweig, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry, REU director
Ryan White, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry

Interdisciplinary Program in High-Performance Computing REU:
Nagaraj Neerchal, professor of mathematics and statistics, REU co-director
Brad Peercy, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, REU faculty mentor
Kofi Adragni, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, REU faculty mentor

Banner image: 2016 Chemical Sensing and Imaging REU cohort at SURF.
In-text image: 2016 High-Performance Computing REU cohort at SURF.
Photos by Tim Ford for UMBC.

A crowd of more than 250 people gathered to learn from and celebrate emerging scientists at UMBC’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF) on August 10, 2016. The program has humble beginnings, but it’s come a long way in 19 years.

“In its first year, we had 10 posters in the engineering building,” says Lasse Lindahl, director of the MARC U*STAR Scholars Program and professor of biological sciences. This year, 131 students presented 84 posters about their work with individual faculty mentors and in 11 different summer research programs, ranging from the National Security Agency Scholars to the new SCIART program.

“SURF’s growth demonstrates the commitment of UMBC to undergraduate research and getting the next generation of researchers prepared,” Lindahl says.

Kayla Sims, a rising sophomore at the STEM magnet high school Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, had never taken chemistry when she dived into research at UMBC’s Molecular Characterization and Analysis Complex (MCAC) this summer as part of the Summer Biomedical Training Program sponsored by UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) and Graduate School. She was nervous, but, “The people at MCAC taught me a lot,” she says. Now she can explain myoglobin digestion optimization like a pro, and she is ready to tackle her first chemistry course this fall.

Anna Opoku-Agyeman ’18, biological sciences, is a MARC*USTAR Scholar and says her summer of research has been “life-changing.” She researched novel therapies for breast cancer to help prevent recurrence. She also developed a clearer sense of her interests in scientific research and policy, and she now hopes to pursue a Ph.D. related to infectious diseases that affect sub-Saharan Africa. A law degree might also be in her future, to enable policy work.

In addition to the two lively poster sessions, six student research teams gave oral presentations to the packed ballroom. Austin Gabel ‘19, biological sciences, conducted research in the lab of Rachel Brewster, associate professor of biological sciences. He discussed his work on developmental arrest in zebrafish embryos with poise, enthusiasm, and clarity. Joel Tyson ‘17, biochemical engineering, explained his pioneering work to develop a minimally-invasive probe that measures brain activity, conducted in the lab of Gymama Slaughter, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering. Additional projects dealt with topics ranging from climate modeling to nanoscale drug delivery.

Across these diverse areas, the SURF presenters shared a commitment to developing new scientific knowledge through research, both in their future careers and in high-level work during their student years. CNMS dean Bill LaCourse reflected, “To see the joy and the excitement in the students’ faces is a wonderful thing.”

Image: SURF participants from the Summer Biomedical Training Program, with mentor Michael Summers on far left and Kayla Sims on far right; photo Tim Ford.

When Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, was pursuing her graduate degree, she was required to pursue a minor outside of her discipline, and she selected playwriting. Lavik found that teamwork was crucial to the success of theatre, and that it also translated well into the scientific field she was pursuing, she explained in her recent TEDx Broadway talk “Genius Is Created Through Collaboration.”

“Theatre is the greatest gift you can give an aspiring scientist because theatre is dreaming realized,” Lavik said. She shared that she watched people come together with big ideas about stories, lights, and sound, only to surpass their dreams and the dreams of others around them as they moved forward with the creative process.

Lavik discussed how collaboration is crucial in the scientific discovery process, just as it is essential to a successful production in theatre, and she described how teamwork has impacted her research. She also addressed common stereotypes about the personalities and tendencies of scientists, including that they are male, work in isolation late into the night, and are odd or strange, and said that these stereotypes need to be broken. 

She points out that as young children we are all scientists, and, as we grow into adulthood and pursue careers, there is great value in continuing to support the intense curiosity and willingness to experiment and learn that children often demonstrate.

As a student interested in pursuing engineering, Lavik said, “Knowing that I could work with other people”—that science didn’t need to be a solitary enterprise—“made it a little less scary. And I went to college of be an engineer so that I could learn about science and apply it to big problems.”

The big problem that Lavik and her team are working on now is determining how to protect and repair the brain and spinal cord after injury, with a focus on stopping internal bleeding.

“I don’t know if our material will ultimately work in humans,” she said. “But I am absolutely and utterly sure that we wouldn’t have gotten to this point if it wasn’t for the fact that we have a whole team.”

John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and Pepsi-Cola and currently entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups, visited the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) at UMBC on April 15 to learn more about the innovative work conducted by CAST researchers. Sculley met with Govind Rao, CAST director and professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, as well as staff and students.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research, welcomed Sculley and his wife, Diane, to campus.

“It is an honor to share some of the exciting and path-breaking research underway at UMBC with an internationally recognized technology leader like John Sculley,” said Karl Steiner. “The world-class work that Govind Rao and his outstanding team at CAST are pursuing has the potential to change some well-established paradigms.”

Sculley was particularly interested in learning more about CAST’s “biologics on demand” program, part of the BioMOD program supported by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). He also spoke with team members about a non-invasive respiration and glucose sensor project and a low-cost cardboard neonatal incubator for developing nations.

Image: John Sculley and wife, Diane, visit with CAST students, staff, and faculty at UMBC.

Sara “Cheli” Arussy
B.S., Chemical Engineering
Summa Cum Laude
Hometown: Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Plans: Ph.D, Stanford University

UMBC students and faculty members hold themselves to the highest standards of academic excellence and research rigor, but at the same time foster an environment of support and camaraderie. This culture has made it fun to pursue my research interests and extracurricular passions, and it’s certainly prepared me for my future career.

Cheli Arussy came to UMBC with an interest in medicine following a year volunteering at the Pediatric Dialysis Center at Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. After hours of hard work in UMBC faculty labs, that spark grew into a clear career plan to become a medical researcher and professor.

Once on campus, Arussy jumped right in, pursuing her degree in chemical engineering while doing research in the lab of Mark Marten, chemical and biochemical engineering. She quickly became a leader in the lab, training nearly 20 new lab members. Arussy then went on to work on prostate cancer research with Chuck Bieberich, biology, and spent two summers as a student researcher at MIT.

Arussy is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the honors engineering society, and a recipient of the national Tau Beta Pi scholarship and the Carmi Award at UMBC. She is a Meyerhoff Scholars Program affiliate, member of the Honors College, and has presented at six research fora. She has also earned notable recognition for her research, including UMBC’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship Support Award and Undergraduate Research Award, and became a member of Sigma Xi, the national honor society for scientific research.

This fall Arussy will pursue her Ph.D. at Stanford University, where she hopes to create electronic, wearable materials to help patients restore their sense of touch.

Image: Cheli Arussy, center, pictured with her faculty mentors from the MIT summer research program, which she participated in twice; photo courtesy of Cheli Arussy. Portrait by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.

Travis Dennis
B.S., Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Bowie, Maryland
Plans: Manufacturing Leadership Program, W.R. Grace & Co.

[UMBC] has given me the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to solve any problem. It has taught me to be versatile…and to persevere in the midst of adversity.

During his time on UMBC’s men’s soccer team, Travis Dennis has been part three America East Conference Championships and one memorable NCAA College Cup, making it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in December 2014. Dennis credits UMBC with helping him learn how to be versatile, work hard, and persevere through challenges.

When not on the soccer field, Dennis has been involved with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, Black Student Union, and Meyerhoff Scholars Program, as an affiliate member. In Summer 2015 he worked for McCormick as a process engineer. He excelled in a part-time position at W.R. Grace & Co. prior to being offered a full-time position at the company, in its Manufacturing Leadership Program, to begin after graduation.

Image: Travis Dennis and his UMBC’s men’s soccer teammates after they won the 2013 America East Championship title, with President Hrabowski; photo courtesy of Travis Dennis. Portrait by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.