Musician Devin Walker ’89, political science, took his “Uncle Devin” show to the U.S. Capitol this summer, sharing educational music with children and parents alike.
Walker, who plays the drums, calls the show “a live, interactive musical experience for children five and over by renowned drummer Devin Walker. The show cultivates the minds of children through percussion instruments and is a dynamic cross between Fat Albert and Schoolhouse Rock.”
View photos from the show here.  Read more about the show here.
Walker and his jazz band, A Sense of Urgency, will be one of three alumni-driven bands playing at this year’s Homecoming Crab Feast on Saturday, October 13. (The others are: Fiddlin’ Around, an Irish folk band featuring UMBC’s own staff and faculty members Terry Aylsworth, Eric Ebersole, and William Farrell, and alums David Aylsworth ’74, Tara Ebersole ’08 and Sara Moreland ’97; and Black Falls, a blues and classic rock band featuring alumnus Philip Medenbach, Jr. ’87.)
For more information about the event, visit the Homecoming website here.

Musician Devin Walker ’89, political science, took his “Uncle Devin” show to the U.S. Capitol this summer, sharing educational music with children and parents alike.

Walker, who plays the drums, calls the show “a live, interactive musical experience for children five and over by renowned drummer Devin Walker. The show cultivates the minds of children through percussion instruments and is a dynamic cross between Fat Albert and Schoolhouse Rock.”

View photos from the show here.  Read more about the show here.

Walker and his jazz band, A Sense of Urgency, will be one of three alumni-driven bands playing at this year’s Homecoming Crab Feast on Saturday, October 13. (The others are: Fiddlin’ Around, an Irish folk band featuring UMBC’s own staff and faculty members Terry Aylsworth, Eric Ebersole, and William Farrell, and alums David Aylsworth ’74, Tara Ebersole ’08 and Sara Moreland ’97; and Black Falls, a blues and classic rock band featuring alumnus Philip Medenbach, Jr. ’87.)

For more information about the event, visit the Homecoming website here.

Philanthropy is an extremely personal act. We all give in different ways, and for very different reasons.

Many of us give back by writing a check to a favorite program, providing an immediate (and, often, necessary) infusion of funds. Some of us also volunteer time to the organizations that mean the most to us. And, many times, we give as members of groups — interactions that bind and strengthen our communities.

It is in this spirit that UMBC has launched BreakingGround, “a campus-wide initiative to embed opportunities for civic learning and collaborative problem-solving even more broadly and deeply in our curriculum and co-curricular activities.” Already, stories of new partnerships and programs designed to make UMBC — and, ultimately, the world — a better place are streaming onto the BreakingGround site.

For students learning how best to shape their world, BreakingGround is terrific way to inspire good work, and to frame and measure successes. It is also an excellent showcase of the many ways we, as members of the UMBC community, can put the philosophy of philanthropy to work in ways both fun and fulfilling.

In an op-ed published in this week’s Baltimore Sun, co-authors SGA president Kaylesh Ramu and David Hoffman, assistant director of student life for civic agency at UMBC, share a vision of civic engagement that invites students — and the community surrounding them — to think creatively about how they can improve UMBC, and beyond:

UMBC has received so much attention because our culture and practices make creativity, innovation, appreciation for diverse perspectives and talents, and public impact central to our identity. We take pride in our scrappy, can-do spirit, celebrating entrepreneurs, boundary-busters and problem-solvers in every field.

We look forward to seeing how UMBC’s students, faculty, staff and alumni use BreakingGround as a springboard for community-based philanthropy, and we will share the most interesting stories from these efforts throughout the year.

Kimberly Moffitt, assistant professor of American studies, discussed the Democratic National Convention on WYPR’s “Midday with Dan Rodricks” on Wednesday, September 5.  A central question of the hour was the way that both sides are trying to appeal to undecided voters, and whether those appeals are working.

“Working class and middle class individuals aren’t relating to [the message of the Republican party] at all,” Moffitt said, pointing out that the Democratic party is presenting itself as inclusive at its convention.

The full conversation can be heard here.

Ellen Hemmerly and Kent Malwitz were quoted in the September 7, Baltimore Business Journal in an article written by Jack Lambert, Cyber security attracts attention (and cash) from venture capitalists.

Lambert writes, “Cyber security is big business in Maryland. The state’s proximity to federal agencies in Washington, D.C., as well as nearby government contractors such as Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., has led to significant government investment in companies that can protect confidential data.”

Lambert goes on to write about his conversation with Hemmerly and Malwitz,

“The commercialization of cyber security products helped encourage investment, said Ellen Hemmerly, executive director of the UMBC bwtech Research and Technology Park. Companies developing new products for mobile devices like tablets and smartphones need to be protected, she said. And venture firms want to get in on the ground floor.

“We are seeing more and more folks trying to create a way to solve those cyber security issues,” Hemmerly said. “[Venture capital] money is agnostic. They are going to look where there is the business opportunities.”

Students and startups are taking advantage of those opportunities. Twenty-two cyber security companies are part of UMBC’S incubator and accelerator program in 2012, whereas only six companies were in the program when it began in March 2011.

Colleges and universities are seeing increased cyber security interest at the undergraduate level as well. UMBC taught 84 cyber security courses in 2011 compared to 70 courses in 2010, said Kent E. Malwitz, president of the UMBC training centers. The University of Maryland’s Cybersecurity Center has seen double the number of computer science and computer engineering majors over the last five to seven years, said Eric Chapman, the program’s deputy director.”

UMBC’s Training Centers launched its Cyber Academy program on September 10th, with the new certification program profiled by Baltimore Business Journal‘s Sarah Gantz in an article published September 7th.

In the subscriber-only article, UMBC Training Centers President Kent Malwitz spoke with Gantz about the idea behind the academy, where already-existing security courses will be tied with more specialized ones to aid in preparing students for entry-level technology jobs at cyber-security companies. The purpose will be to aid students who might not necessarily be as initially tech-oriented as others, and to help them gain more work in this information era, as well as the possible benefit to computer science students, as well.

“f you have a liberal arts background, you have a lot to bring to the table,” said Malwitz. “A lot of the knocks on people who are purely technical is they don’t have the communication skills.”

Gantz wrote that the program will be divided into three and four-week sessions, and will teach skills which can have immediate use as well give “a well-rounded understanding of how to apply technology in cyber security settings,” according to Homer Minnick III of  the university’s Center for Cybersecurity Training, who added that “the folks who really get into this are the ones who want to know how stuff works, [and have] a general thirst for more knowledge of whatever kind.”

Gantz wrote that as of July, there were 400 cyber security students involved in the Center for Cybersecurity Training, and with the addition of the Cyber Academy, the Center will grow to 1,200 by 2013.

Alumna Jeehye Yun ’97, computer science, was profiled along with her cybersecurity company Secured Sciences Group (SSG) by The Baltimore Business Journal‘s Jack Lambert in an article published on September 7th.

Yun told Lambert that SSG–a member of UMBC’s Research and Technology Park, and which is in the process of working with the research park on a plan to attract investors–is particularly adept at cutting through red tape and redundancies which can occur in government applications, saying, “We can take a lot of disparate policies and figure out where the overlaps are.”

The alumna, who is CEO/President of SSG as well as a former teacher at her alma mater from the late-90’s, also told Lambert that the company’s upcoming technology will new technology will hopefully cut through the quantity of material companies have to sift through from government grant applications and contracts by finding the overlaps between for organizations like the Department of Defense, the Navy and the Marines.

Yun also noted that her company’s products also have value for colleges, management consultants and small businesses, saying, “The biggest rule of thumb for us is, actually, are we solving a problem where we would want to use the product?”

Earlier this week, UMBC SGA President Kaylesh Ramu ’13, political science, shared the stage with the U.S. Under Secretary of Education and other leaders at the National Press Club as they launched Shaping Our Future, a new national civic engagement initiative (watch video).

Education Week covered the event, quoting Ramu on the role of college students as active agents of change in their communities, on campus and beyond. “We are starting to have a culture change and understand that we all bring about what is UMBC,” said Ramu, describing the ethos that grounds UMBC’s new BreakingGround initiative, which launched last week.

Shaping Our Future is a year-long national dialogue on the future of higher education. Ramu has been involved through her membership on the board of the American Commonwealth Partnership (ACP), a national alliance supporting innovative approaches to civic education and strong connections between universities and communities. President Hrabowski serves on ACP’s Presidents’ Advisory Council and UMBC staff David Hoffman, Michele Wolff and Craig Berger serve with Ramu on the national board.

UMBC senior back Liam Paddock (Worcestershire, England/Chase Technology College) has been named the male 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Paddock will be feted at the 2012 ECAC Honors dinner held in conjunction with the 24th Annual ECAC Convention and Trade Show that will be held September 29-October 2 at the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa in Groton, Conn. The Honors Dinner is slated for Sunday evening, September 30.

Rider University soccer standout Abi Cottam was the female recipient of the award.

Paddock is the first Retriever to receive this ECAC honor. He has been a starter on the soccer field since his freshman year, and is a team co-captain for UMBC in this, his final collegiate season. A center back, Paddock anchors the Retriever defense, and was named to the America East All-Rookie Team in 2009. The Retrievers won the America East title and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament during Paddock’s sophomore season.A double major in Psychology and Sociology, Paddock will graduate a semester early in December. In February of 2012, Paddock became the first Retriever to be named an America East Scholar-Athlete in the sport of men’s soccer. Paddock earned first-team all-conference honors and was the only first-team league honoree to be named to the All-Academic team in 2011. Additionally that year he was among three Retrievers selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America University Division Men’s Scholar All-East Region team, where he landed on the second team. Paddock has earned a place on the Fall 2010 and Fall 2011 America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll, and is a five-time member of the UMBC President’s List for earning a perfect 4.0 semester grade point average.

In his spare time, Paddock has spent over 30 hours tutoring at-risk youth in the College Gardens Youth Program. He has devoted time to Arbutus Middle School for Earth Day and the College for Every Student Program. He has also made time to volunteer with the Casey Cares Foundation Soccer Clinic for critically ill children.

One male and one female student-athlete from each NCAA Division are selected annually for the scholar-athlete awards based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics, and community service.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is the nation’s largest athletic conference and only multi-divisional conference, with approximately 300 member institutions ranging across 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938 with 58 charter members, the ECAC has since emerged as the nationwide leader in service.

Two Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) professors Alan Sherman and Rick Forno received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) this month. The grant is $2.5 million in total, and is a part of part of the Federal Cyber Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, whose aim “to increase and strengthen the cadre of federal information assurance professionals that protect the government’s critical information infrastructure,” according to the SFS website.

The grant will give students at UMBC from the undergraduate to the professional studies programs a full scholarship plus an annual stipend of $8,000 for undergraduate and $12,000 for graduate students. In an article on the grant published on CSEE’s departmental page, Forno spoke of the benefits the honor will pay for the university, saying, “UMBC’s strength in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and related STEM fields, combined with our reputation for producing qualified technologitsts makes our participation in SFS very attractive both to the school and our current and future students.”