With intense competition in today’s workforce for entry-level professional positions, internships are a popular way for students to get experience and contribute to companies and government agencies during their undergrad years, and to make the connections that can help them secure a job that matches their skills and interests. Caroline Baker, assistant vice president of careers and corporate partnerships, recently told The Baltimore Sun that employers are also competing with each other to hire top students, particularly in fields such as computer science, information systems, and cybersecurity.

“Because of the demand in hiring, we know that there are great jobs for these students,” she says, noting that UMBC is working to generate more student interest in these fields, especially among women. “We’re trying to break down the perception that cybersecurity professionals work alone in a dark room looking for hackers.”

Employers are hiring students as interns earlier in their college careers to provide them with more in-depth experience in core areas and entice them to consider full-time positions post-graduation. Baker says that previously internships were offered to juniors and seniors only, but recently she has seen sophomores and even some freshmen who have been offered competitive internships.

“It used to be unusual, but now companies are offering jobs at the end of internships,” Baker says. “The competition for talent is high.”

The special Baltimore Sun issue on education that highlighted UMBC’s Career Center also included articles focusing on UMBC’s robust teacher training program and 3D printing.

For future teachers, training to engage with and support diverse student populations is essential. UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program addresses the need for highly qualified math and science teachers who also understand the diverse populations that they serve, explains Rehana Shafi, director of the program.

“We support science and math majors who want to be K-12 teachers with professional development in culturally competent practices and offer applied learning in local urban settings,” Shafi says.

The Sherman STEM Teachers Scholars Program also offers support to alumni of the program when they enter the teaching workforce. “We help them see what they’re doing well, and talk about what’s going on in the schools,” she explains.

After Sherman alumnus Corey Carter ’08, biological sciences, ’10 M.A.T., was selected as 2016 Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Teacher of the Year in April, Shafi noted, “Corey’s journey is a wonderful example of why the support provided by the Sherman Scholars Program, both during a student’s time at UMBC and during their first few years teaching, is so important.”

The Sun highlighted the assistive technology work of Amy Hurst, assistant professor of information systems, and her students, in the article “Humanizing Technology.” Hurst’s Prototyping and Design (PAD) lab at UMBC focuses on creating tools to help people with disabilities engineer technologies to fit their needs. William Easley ‘13, information systems, ‘15 ‘M.S. and ‘22 Ph.D., human centered computing; and Erin Buehler ‘14, M.S. and ‘18 Ph.D., human centered computing, taught a class in the Students United for Campus-Community Engagement for Post-Secondary Success (SUCCESS) program, which enabled students with disabilities to design 3D models and learn to operate a 3D printer.

The team is now looking at ways users with different cognitive abilities can use create 3D models as a drawing, mold or form.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about the level of ability needed to use 3D printers—that you need an engineering background,” says Easley. “But we taught them the basics of 3D printing and the class created their own 3D print shop on campus. In the end, nobody became an expert, but everyone had designed their own model and [participants] were able to print with minimal assistance.”

Read the full education section in The Baltimore Sun.

UMBC and IBM Research have announced an exciting new collaboration to create the Accelerated Cognitive Cybersecurity Lab (ACCL), opening at UMBC in fall 2016. Housed within the College of Engineering and Information Technology, the ACCL will advance scientific frontiers in cybersecurity and machine learning. The new lab is supported by a multi-year commitment from IBM.

“UMBC faculty and students in the College of Engineering and Information Technology are excited to expand our work on global scientific and cybersecurity challenges in collaboration with world class partners like IBM,” says Julie Ross, dean of the UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology.

Anupam Joshi, director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity and chair of computer science and electrical engineering, will lead the ACCL. Building on prior research, faculty and students working in the ACCL will apply cognitive computing to complex challenges in the rapidly expanding field of cybersecurity. They will collaborate with IBM scientists and leverage IBM’s advanced computing systems to add speed and scale to the cybersecurity solutions they develop.

UMBC is also one of eight universities working to train IBM’s Watson computer system, internationally famous for its capacity to answer questions delivered in natural language, for application in the cybersecurity sphere. This work seeks to increase the capacity of cybersecurity professionals to quickly detect and respond to emerging threats. The other universities involved with training Watson include California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Pennsylvania State University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; New York University; the University of New Brunswick; the University of Ottawa, and the University of Waterloo.

Beyond moving forward a research mission with great public impact, the ACCL collaboration will also help IBM establish itself as an employer of choice for UMBC graduate and undergraduate students.

Joshi shares, “This collaboration will allow our students and faculty to work with IBM to advance the state-of-the-art in cognitive computing and cybersecurity.”

Update: UMBC is one of six institutions working with IBM as part of the Cognitive Horizons Network.

Media coverage:
The Washington Post: IBM is training Watson to hunt hackers
Fortune: IBM Watson brings AI wonders to cybersecurity
Baltimore Business Journal: UMBC partners with IBM Research for cybersecurity lab
The Daily Record: UMBC to help IBM’s Watson fight cybercrime
Tech Times: IBM Research And UMBC Team Up To Create Cognitive Computing Cybersecurity Lab
International Business Times: IBM Watson supercomputer teams up with top universities to fight cybercriminals
Christian Science Monitor: Can IBM’s Watson fight cybercrime?

Image: Anupam Joshi and Yelena Yesha working with several UMBC students, top; Ph.D. student Lisa Mathews, Dean Julie Ross, and IBM’s Jeb Linton (l-r) view a Watson interface, second photo. Photos by Mitro Hood/Feature Photo Service.

Matt Pelton, assistant professor of physics, has received the prominent CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance his research on vibrating nanoparticles. His award totals approximately $650,000 over five years, and his research will focus on how nanoparticles act in various liquids, to understand the unique ways in which mechanical energy flows at the nanometer scale.

“We congratulate Dr. Pelton on his NSF CAREER Award, a recognition of his work and dedication to impacting other scientific fields through his research,” said Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research. “This recognition of Dr. Pelton adds to our growing list of outstanding young faculty who are receiving this high level of peer-based recognition from NSF and other sources.”

Scientists understand how conventional liquids, like water, behave on ordinary time and length scales, and how individual molecules make up liquids, but there is less understanding about liquids on intermediate scales. Pelton has developed a method based on ultrafast laser spectroscopy of vibrating metal nanoparticles suspended in liquids to understand the complex properties and molecular interactions of ordinary liquids.

“It’s like ringing a bell, but on a much smaller scale,” Pelton says of his work. When a bell is rung, it vibrates many times, and if the bell was rung and then submerged in water, it would ring fewer times than when it was not in water, he explains. And if the same bell was rung and then submerged in honey, a viscous liquid, the bell would only ring once or twice.

The nanoparticles in liquids that Pelton studies vibrate a few billion times per second, and can be manipulated with laser pulses. These pulses cause the nanoparticles to expand and vibrate, but like a bell, they react differently depending on the liquid that they are in. Pelton is working to understand how long the nanoparticles vibrate when hit with laser pulses, and where the energy goes as the particle moves.

It is known that particles on fast time scales and short length scales do not act the way that the particles on ordinary scales behave. Pelton explains that sometimes liquids act like a solid, giving the example of cornstarch mixed with water. The mixture acts like a liquid if somebody pushes slowly on it with their finger, but someone presses quickly enough, the particles in the mixture cannot move out of the way and the mixture appears to behave like a solid. Pelton’s research shows that this happens even for an ordinary liquid, such as water, if you push on it quickly enough — such as with a vibrating nanoparticle.

By contributing new knowledge about the complex properties of liquids, Pelton’s work will expand understanding of the function of biological molecules, which live in a liquid environment, and of potential new molecular sensors based on vibrating nanoparticles.

Beyond the research methodologies and findings, Pelton shares that UMBC has allowed him to create his own, independent research group and train the “next generation of scientists in an environment that emphasizes inclusive excellence.”

“I’m particularly happy to receive the CAREER award because it recognizes both of these goals: effective teaching and innovative research,” Pelton says. “It allows me to pursue a research project that will form a cornerstone of my longer-term scientific program as a researcher and educator: to understand the unique ways in which energy flows at the nanometer scale.”

In the last two decades, UMBC faculty have received 30 NSF CAREER awards. Helena Mentis, assistant professor of information systems, is the most recent previous recipient of a CAREER award for over half a million dollars to advance her research on gesture-based tools that can be used by remote surgeons to share expert knowledge in the operating room.

Image: Matt Pelton works with a student in his lab. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

More than 350 students joined in this year’s annual HackUMBC, a 24-hour “tech innovation marathon” where participants focus intensively on creating technical solutions to specific challenges. The slogan: “Dream big. Make it happen.”

Students worked individually and on teams to build projects, or “hacks,” which were judged on technical complexity, elegance, and creativity during an expo at the conclusion of the event.

“HackUMBC gives students the chance to work on the things that they are truly passionate about, and it really shows during the demos,” said Michael Bishoff ’16, computer science, co-president of HackUMBC.

A story on Technical.ly Baltimore highlights several student projects developed during the hackathan that solved different problems in unique, creative ways. One example is the app “Rart,” which guides job-seekers as they build resumes and helps them highlight skills that are most relevant to the position they are applying for. Another example is a voice-controlled coffee maker that wakes the user up with an alarm when their coffee is freshly brewed.

During the hackathon, participants were given opportunities to connect with mentors from industry, who were available to advise and encourage students as they developed their hacks. Industry experts also provided demonstrations and gave talks during the event.

Read the full article “5 innovative projects from HackUMBC” on Technical.ly Baltimore to learn more about HackUMBC 2016.

Image: Participants during HackUMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The UMBC’s Cyberdawgs have emerged victorious from the finals of the 2015 Maryland Cyber Challenge (MCC), winning the top prize for a student team with a total of 18,979 points and outscoring the professional division’s winning team by more than 5,500 points.

UMBC’s winning Cyberdawgs 1 team included Tyler Campbell ‘16, computer science; Josh Domangue ‘16, computer science; Chris Gardner ‘18, computer science and mathematics; Anh Ho ‘17, computer science; Jacob Rust ‘16, computer science; and Julio Valcarcel ‘16, information systems, all members of the UMBC Cyber Defense Team. The UMBC team Cyberdawgs 2 also participated in the final round of the challenge.

The final round of competition began on October 28, but was paused due to technical difficulties. The contest resumed on Saturday, February 20, 2016, and the Cyberdawgs hit the ground running.

“We are delighted that the competition was able to finish, and are very pleased that we were able to do as well as we did,” said Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering (CSEE). Nicholas is a faculty adviser of the Cyber Defense Team, with Richard Forno, assistant director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity and director of the cybersecurity graduate program.

Approximately 25 teams from colleges and universities across the state qualified for the semifinals of the challenge. Two of the eight teams that moved on to the finals were from UMBC, representing the maximum number allowed from an individual university.

The annual MCC competition offers participants the opportunity to complete hands-on cybersecurity challenges, and allows teams to test their ability to break into a target machine and secure the machine against other teams’ attacks.  

“The Maryland Cyber Challenge is one of several competitions that I enjoy because we get to compete as a team. Participating in this competition is a great deal of fun because we get to learn new skills every year and always come away with new ways of thinking about cybersecurity issues,” said Valcarcel.

The Cyber Defense Team is looking forward to participating in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) in the spring. Last year, UMBC placed fourth overall at NCCDC.

Image: A computer circuit board. Photo by Harland Quarrington, CC BY-NC 2.0. 

UMBC’s Helena Mentis, assistant professor of information systems, has received the distinguished CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance her research on surgical telemedicine. Beginning in June 2016, the $518,121, five-year award will enable her to examine the benefits of collaborative image interaction through gesture-based tools for remote surgeons to share expert knowledge in the operating room.

Mentis’ work focuses on “touchless interaction” interfaces and how physicians, specifically surgeons, can utilize technologies while remaining sterile during surgery. The technologies that she uses in her lab are commercially available, she explains, and surgeons can wear the devices under their scrubs. Mentis began her research with the Xbox Kinect and eventually began working with the Leap Motion. Most recently she has worked with the Myo armband and Google Glass.

Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research, shares, “We congratulate Dr. Mentis on her NSF CAREER Award, a highly-deserved recognition of her innovation and growing national reputation as a researcher and scholar of human-computer interaction and health informatics.”

The CAREER Program is one of NSF’s most prestigious awards, created to support “junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.” The funding will support Mentis’ project, “Collaborative Image Manipulation and Annotation in Surgical Telemedicine.”  

Mentis will advance understanding of which tools and best practices can most effectively facilitate telemedicine, teleconsulting (consulting between surgeons with similar expertise and experience), and telementoring (interaction between two professionals, one of whom has more experience and expertise than the other). In addition, she will determine the verbal and nonverbal mechanisms that medical professionals can use to share knowledge and images quickly, while avoiding contamination in the operating room.

“The NSF CAREER Award will allow me to take my work to the next level,” says Mentis. She explains that although telemedicine is a popular topic in discussions about the future of medicine, and many promising technologies are now available, “there are no clear directions yet about the best ways to do telemedicine.”

Mentis utilizes a surgical training space at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland, to test gestural interface functionality before bringing technologies to surgeons in operating rooms. She predicts that over the course of the grant she will continue to incorporate new emerging technologies into her research.

In addition to having clear benefits for medical practitioners and patients, Mentis’s work also provides research opportunities for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. Bringing students into the training room early on, to work closely with these new technologies, gives them a more direct connection with engineering careers and encourages them to stay in STEM fields, she explains.  

“It’s not just about data systems or solving computational problems,” says Mentis. “We get to show and explain what the students can do with a degree.”

UMBC faculty have received 29 NSF CAREER awards in the last two decades. Most recently Christopher Hennigan, assistant professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, received a CAREER award of over half a million dollars to further his atmospheric particle research. Gymama Slaughter, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, received a CAREER award in December 2013 for to develop a self-powered implantable glucose monitor, research she recently presented at TEDxBaltimore.

Image: Helena Mentis demonstrating a few of the gesture-based tools that she uses in her work. Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

UMBC is among the the nation’s best colleges for students seeking an exceptional education with great career preparation at an affordable price, according to an announcement today by Princeton Review.

In the 2016 edition of Colleges that Pay You Back, Princeton Review highlights the top 200 universities from across the U.S. that “give you the best bang for your tuition buck,” balancing superb academics, affordability, and “getting their graduates out the door to satisfying and rewarding careers.”

Princeton Review’s profile of UMBC notes:

Arguably the “best public college in Maryland,” UMBC is an “extremely diverse school” that manages to maintain a “small community feel.” And from the moment you set foot on campus it’s evident that the university is focused on “providing exceptional education and research opportunities for students.”

The profile highlights a broad range of strong undergraduate programs at UMBC, from education and interdisciplinary studies to engineering, biology and chemistry. It also describes how:

Inside the classroom, students are greeted by “very knowledgeable professors” who typically devote “most of the class time to real world discussion[s].” And, perhaps most importantly, professors at UMBC push students to “learn as much as [they] can, work as hard as [they] can and really think outside the box.”

With a focus on value, “Colleges That Pay You Back” gives particular attention to career support for students and alumni. Princeton Review writes:

Thanks to UMBC’s amazing Career Center, undergrads here are able to enter the job market with confidence. Starting from freshman year, the office works to empower students and help them plot their career goals.

The publication goes on to highlight UMBC’s recruiting and networking events as opportunities to meet with representatives from top employers, interviewing workshops, and writing seminars for resumes and cover letters.

UMBC has appeared on this “best value” list several times in the past, including in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014. Four other Maryland universities are included this year: Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Naval Academy, Loyola University of Maryland, and University of Maryland, College Park.

A few weeks ago, UMBC was also again named a Best Value College for 2016 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, appearing on both the Best Value Public University list and “top 300” national Best Value University list.

Images: UMBC library, by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC, and “Colleges That Pay You Back” (2016 edition) cover, courtesy of Princeton Review.

UMBC, Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), and the Northrop Grumman Foundation have launched a $1.6 million partnership to boost science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education. This news, announced on January 7, 2016 at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in Southwest Baltimore, marks a significant milestone in UMBC’s ongoing work to support Baltimore’s K-12 students, teachers, and their communities.

Three years ago, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Lakeland Principal Najib Jammal met to lay the groundwork for collaboration inspired by the vision and philanthropy of George and Betsy Sherman. The partnership that emerged brought UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, Shriver Center Peaceworker Program, and The Choice Program to Lakeland, and it has already had a major impact.

The newly announced partnership will expand this work to support students at three city schools, while providing adult educational opportunities for local residents. Najib Jammal, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton, U.S. Congressmen Dutch Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes, Northrop Grumman Chief Operating Officer Gloria Flach, and President Hrabowski all provided remarks during the launch event to illustrate the meaningful impact the partnership will have on students’ lives and in surrounding communities.

A primary focus of the program will be the development of a state-of-the-art STEAM Center at Lakeland that will have robust curriculum-based resources, professional development for teachers, and adult education and meeting resources for community members.

A second core component is an expansion of The Choice Program, a highly successful national model for community-based intervention that has served more than 20,000 youth and their families from Maryland’s highest risk communities for more than 27 years. Through the partnership, The Choice Program will expand to serve students at Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove and Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood.

“We are very excited to join forces with UMBC and Baltimore City Public Schools in the establishment of this innovative educational initiative,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation and Northrop Grumman vice president, Global Corporate Responsibility. “This partnership is an outstanding opportunity to involve Northrop Grumman employee volunteers who can share their mentoring expertise with students and adults in nearby communities, reinforcing the link of academics to the wide-ranging career opportunities available in science, technology, engineering and math-related professions.”

“These are partnerships that bring a renaissance in education,” said Thornton. “I would like to thank the Northrop Grumman Foundation and UMBC for their support of these schools and the students and families they serve. This partnership provides support both inside and outside the classroom that our students need as they progress on their paths toward success in college and careers.”

The new STEAM Center, developed through a transformation of the recreation center at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School through partnership with Baltimore City’s Department of Recreation and Parks, is expected to feature science labs, a makerspace, digital video and sound studio, computer lab, parent resource room, and community meeting space.

Quality STEAM programming and professional development for teachers on topics such as project-based learning and integrating the arts and service-learning into curriculum will maximize the impact of these new resources. This work will help prepare city school students, parents, teachers, and adult education students for success in the evolving economy. It is also designed to help build strong, supportive, and engaged school communities.

“The impact of this partnership goes beyond institutional philanthropy. It provides meaningful learning opportunities for all partners, from Lakeland and UMBC students, to teachers and professors, to STEAM professionals,” explained Rehana Shafi, director of the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program at UMBC.

The expansion of The Choice Program to Benjamin Franklin High School and Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood will provide a continuum of services to youths facing challenges at school and at home. The program’s 24/7 wraparound services include monitoring and ensuring school attendance; providing transportation to and from school; home visits and family support services; classroom coaching, speakers, and specialists; and afterschool activities.

“We are going to work with our colleagues to prepare these children to compete against anybody, anywhere in the world,” said President Hrabowski. “We want to be saying that we can take children from any background…and make them best in the world. It takes that village, and it takes…hard work.”

A complete roundup of news coverage of the partnership launch can be found below:

UMBC, Northrop Grumman to invest $1.6 million in South Baltimore school (Baltimore Sun)
$1.6 million partnership to boost Baltimore schools, teachers and communities (WJZ)
Three Baltimore schools get boost from Northrop Grumman, UMBC (The Daily Record)
A new STEAM center is attached to a Baltimore school, but it’s not just for students (Technical.ly Baltimore)
8 things you need to know this morning (Baltimore Business Journal)
In the Media: Hogan to Propose Tax Cuts; UMBC and Northrup Grumman Invest in South Baltimore School (WEAA)
Equity in STEM: Public-private partnerships drive opportunity for all students (New America)

Images (photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC): Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students at the partnership launch event on January 7, 2016; group photo of partners and students; and UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski speaks during the launch event. 

Bachelor’s and master’s programs in cybersecurity at Maryland colleges and universities are growing rapidly as more students become interested in careers in the industry. At UMBC, the number of graduate students studying cybersecurity has grown nearly five-fold over the past six years, explains Rick Forno, director of UMBC’s graduate cybersecurity program and assistant director for UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, in an article in The Daily Record.

UMBC’s proximity to government agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA) and private security and tech firms, has contributed to the growth of the university’s cybersecurity programs. One draw, engaging both introductory students and more advanced experts in the field, is the Maryland Cyber Challenge, a statewide competition for high school and college students and cybersecurity professionals held during the CyberMaryland Conference, which Forno founded.

Forno says that there are between 12,000 and 13,000 job openings in the cybersecurity industry across the state, which is good news for graduates from UMBC’s programs.   

In a separate article in The Daily Record, Tim Finholm, cybersecurity instructor at UMBC Training Center, shares his perspective on risks that companies must identify and be alert for to protect private information. He explains that companies must fend off threats that employees may unknowingly click right into—links that seem innocuous but are really traps left by hackers, designed to gather information or lead the user to a site where a server can take control of the computer, says Finholm.

Image: UMBC cybersecurity class in 2014. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

A recent program produced by Maryland Public Television about college affordability featured UMBC student Liz Winters ’13, psychology, and current master’s student in industrial and organizational psychology. The program “Ways to Pay for College” guided viewers through the many options of funding higher education. Several financial experts and student success stories were featured during the program which aired November 21 and 23 on Maryland Public Television.

https://youtu.be/Zsn23C-n6Us

Liz Winters (story begins at 33:50 in the video above) described her path in finding ways to finance her education at UMBC. After she served in the military for 12 years, she returned to school and needed to explore options to cover her costs for tuition, living expenses, and daycare for her children. She used the Post-9/11 GI Bill but still needed to fund her remaining expenses.

“One of the strategies I had in funding my way through college was to talk to people,” Winters shared. “I didn’t know how to navigate this on my own, so I started networking on campus. I started finding my places on campus that I felt comfortable with and started asking the staff and the faculty that were sitting in those areas to really help me find my way through college and develop my career path.”

As a student, Winters worked closely with the Women’s Center and developed a close relationship with Jess Myers, director of the Women’s Center, who worked with Liz to find the Charlotte W. Newcombe Scholarship. The scholarship is for women over 25-years-old who are returning to school to obtain an undergraduate degree.

“Liz has never been afraid to ask for help,” explained Myers in the segment. “I think so often non-traditional students will be afraid to make waves, but instead Liz really asked for help. She sought out the Women’s Center…piecing it together, I was able to realize that a scholarship that we provide would be a really good fit for her and her family.”

“I was really excited to know that his scholarship was actually perfect for me,” said Winters. “I could use it for daycare for my children, I could use it for gas money, for all the extra little things that go along with funding your education. For me, finding scholarships that addressed what I needed…the more I looked, the more I realized that this scholarship was looking to fill those gaps that I needed to be filled.”

For more about the “Ways to Pay for College” program, visit the Maryland Public Television website.

Image: UMBC campus. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.