UMBC’s Office of the Provost has launched a university-wide initiative to celebrate faculty who go above and beyond as educators, scholars, and leaders on campus and in their fields. This initiative strives to highlight tenure-track junior faculty, lecturers, and adjunct, research, and clinical faculty whose work is essential to UMBC’s success. The first recipients were announced last month, and represent a broad range of disciplines.

In the College of Engineering and Information Technology, recipients were announced during a special celebration marking the end of the academic year. Chris Hennigan, assistant professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, received the Early Career Faculty Excellence Award. Gunes Koru, associate professor of information systems, received the Mid-Career Faculty Excellence Award. Chuck LaBerge, professor of practice of computer science and electrical engineering (CSEE), was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award.

In the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Pengwang Zhai, assistant professor of physics, received the 2018 Early Career Faculty Excellence Award. Tamra Mendelson, professor of biological sciences, was awarded the Mid-Career Faculty Excellence Award. Tiffany Gierasch, senior lecturer in chemistry and director of the Chemistry Tutorial Center, received the Excellence in Teaching Award.

The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences also presented awards to three faculty. The Early Career Faculty Excellence Award was presented to Corrie Parks, assistant professor of visual arts. The Mid-Career Faculty Excellence Award was awarded to Susan McDonough, associate professor of history. Andrew Nolan, senior lecturer of history and director of the UMBC history program at the Universities at Shady Grove, received the Excellence in Teaching Award.

UMBC’s Office of the Vice President for Research presented its inaugural  Research Faculty Excellence Award to Milt Halem, research professor of CSEE. Halem came to UMBC following a highly successful career at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, serving as founding director of a UMBC center focused on big-data computation and next-generation computing.

“UMBC is the academic home to over 180 research faculty who contribute their expertise and personal commitment to making UMBC a destination for cutting-edge research while providing our students with remarkable insights and opportunities,” said Karl Steiner, vice president for research, shared. He noted that Milt Halem’s “energy and expertise have been a major factor in UMBC being recognized as a major contributor to high performance computation and data analytics.”

Banner image: Library pond. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Baltimore’s McKeldin Fountain, an icon of Brutalist architecture, may have been demolished in 2016, but Lisa Moren, professor of visual arts, wants to ensure visitors can still experience its presence and history. On Saturday, May 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the former site of the fountain at the intersection of Pratt and Light Streets, she will officially launch her augmented reality app NONUMENT 01::McKeldin Fountain, a project created in partnership with James Mayhew, MFA ’10, IMDA, and Slovenian artists Martin Bricelj Baraga and Neja Tomšič. The launch event is free and open to the public.

The app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices, projects a full-scale 3D image of McKeldin Fountain onto tablet or smartphone screens, creating the illusion that the fountain is present in the surrounding environment. The fountain’s history is told through various interactive “memory artifacts,” such as koi fish and protest signs, which when clicked will show interviews with Baltimore residents sharing their memories of events at McKeldin Square. The app can be downloaded for free and used anywhere in the world, but its effects are best realized when used on McKeldin Square where the fountain once stood.

“McKeldin Fountain was a place where ordinary citizens could express themselves creatively, relax, or stand up for their values,” says Moren. “The story of its destruction, which included little public input, points to the diminishment of public spaces worldwide. In terms of public art, quality of life, and free speech, we feel a loss for the residents of Baltimore.”

Audio engineering for the app was provided by Timothy Nohe, professor of visual arts, and Lexie Mountain, MFA ’14, IMDA, with additional contributions of 3D models by Ben Shaffer ’16, visual arts, and the Imaging Research Center’s Ryan Zuber ’04, visual arts.

Following the event at McKeldin Square on May 19, participants are invited to move to Maryland Art Place on Saratoga Street for an exhibit featuring video installations of content used in the app and mixed reality media.

See here for a March 2017 UMBC News story on the development of NONUMENT 01.

For more information about NONUMENT 01, visit its website here.

Images courtesy of Lisa Moren.

UMBC students have rewritten the record books in 2018. With graduation around the corner, and our soon-to-be new Retriever alumni preparing for graduate school, careers, and research around the world, we reflect on all they have achieved.

UMBC celebrates two valedictorians for the Class of 2018. Valedictorian Kara Seidel ‘18, psychology, a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar, discovered a particular passion for supporting families dealing with trauma through several intensive research and internship experiences. These include work at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in an HIV and addiction lab, a research internship at the American Psychological Association, and work as lead research assistant in the Trauma Lab of Christopher Murphy, professor and chair of psychology.

Seidel is particularly appreciative of the opportunities for hands-on learning that she accessed in her time at UMBC, as well as mentorship that paired high expectations with support. She says:

One of the best things about UMBC is how supportive professors and staff are. They tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it. They see potential in you and encourage you to take each mistake as a learning experience. Their ongoing support helped me feel confident about pursuing a wide range of opportunities.

Seidel will work as a behavioral therapist and researcher for the next year, before beginning a Ph.D. program in psychology, with a focus on supporting families experiencing trauma.

Valedictorian Eudorah Vital ‘18, biochemistry and molecular biology, is a Meyerhoff Scholar, MARC U*STAR Scholar, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar. She pursued research from her earliest days as a freshman at UMBC, quickly advancing in Rachel Brewster’s developmental biology lab. She has already co-authored two papers in top-tier academic journals, and a third is coming soon.

Vital is also an advocate for community support, and shares that her professors and friends have been essential to her growth and success, saying, “I did not make it through alone.” In recognition of this support, she has become a mentor and tutor for undergraduates newer to her field. She shares:

UMBC prepares its students to be productive members of society, who strive to understand others and bring people together. I came to UMBC thinking I knew what I wanted to do, and I am leaving with a refined version of my goals, which reflect the values of inclusivity, support, and grit.

With a commitment to pursuing clinically relevant research, Vital will soon begin Emory University’s neurobiology M.D./Ph.D. program.

UMBC’s 2018 history-makers include the graduating Retrievers of the men’s basketball team.

K.J. Maura ‘18, sociology, took a few twists and turns in his college journey, as he found his path from Puerto Rico to UMBC. Once he put on the Retriever jersey, he got to work making a lasting impact, and by 2018 he was named the America East Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He helped lead the charge in UMBC’s NCAA round one victory of University of Virginia, 74-54. How does Maura think about his success? It’s all about reaching for greatness together, as a team, he says:

The chemistry and the friendships we have built helped us stay focused on our goals. I’m thankful for my teammates and coaching staff. Every single person on the team played a role to help us reach together and I’m proud to call them family.

When Joe Sherburne ‘18, financial economics, traveled from Wisconsin to Maryland to attend UMBC, he couldn’t have anticipated where that path would lead. He has skillfully balanced academics and athletics, becoming the first UMBC and first America East Conference men’s basketball player to ever be named to the Academic All-America Division I Basketball First Team. Sherburne served as a captain for the history-making 2017-18 men’s basketball team and still maintained his place on the President’s List each semester. After graduating, he will continue to play for UMBC while pursuing his master’s degree in data science.

Jourdan Grant ‘18, media and communication studies, holds the record for playing the most men’s basketball games in UMBC history. NCAA showcased his exuberance after dethroning no. one seed University of Virginia in this year’s “One Shining Moment” tournament highlights video. Reflecting on his college experience, Grant shares:

UMBC has prepared me in the way that the university has a standard in how you carry yourself and really embrace success.

Also a member of the Class of 2018 is UMBC’s first Rhodes Scholar, Naomi Mburu ‘18, chemical engineering, who will next pursue a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering at Oxford. Mburu is a Meyerhoff Scholar, MARC U*STAR Scholar, and recipient of the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, as well as president of UMBC’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Mburu has conducted notable research at UMBC and around the world. In the lab of Gymama Slaughter, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, she worked to help develop a bioreactor to extend the viability of human organs awaiting transplant. She has also brought her passion for learning and creating new solutions to internships at Intel, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. She will soon travel to Europe to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, which invites the world’s top emerging scientists to meet with thirty Nobel laureates.

UMBC’s Class of 2018 includes thousands of phenomenal graduates.

In the arts, humanities, and social sciences, Shirley Basfield Dunlap, Ph.D. ‘18, language, literacy, and, culture, is finishing her doctorate at the age of 65 after steadfastly completing one course a semester for nearly a decade. She will apply her dissertation research on the history of African American stage directors to her work as coordinator of theatre arts at Morgan State University. Emmanuel Mones ‘18, visual arts, will launch a men’s streetwear brand and magazine designed to promote public dialog about gender, sexuality, and equality. Flora Kirk ‘18, ancient studies, has already traveled the world to study ancient coins, and will next research Roman coinage in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, as a Fulbright Scholar.

Among UMBC’s impressive STEM scholars, men’s club lacrosse team captain Greg Huxtable ‘18, physics and mathematics, will build on his high-level research in quantum computing through a Ph.D. at UC Irvine. Arissa Falat ‘18, biochemistry and molecular biology, an award-winning professional figure skater, will pursue a Pharm.D./J.D. at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. After multiple internships with Google, CWIT Scholar Katherine Dillon ‘18, computer science, will soon work as a software engineer at the company’s San Francisco campus.

To learn about these students and more from across the university, see UMBC’s Class of 2018 profiles:

Summer Akhtar, political science and financial economics
Mohammad Arif Ul Alam, Ph.D., information systems
Janae Baptiste, Ph.D., chemistry
Mollye Bendell, M.F.A., intermedia and digital arts
Morgan Chadderton, modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication
Ciara Christian, M.A., applied sociology
Kaylin Corsiatto, psychology
Todd Cox, financial economics
Adrian Davey, chemical engineering
Andrea Davis, sociology
Katherine Dillon, computer science
Shirley Basfield Dunlap, Ph.D., language, literacy, and culture
Richard Elliott, American studies and political science
Soheila Escobar, information systems
Arissa Falat, biochemistry and molecular biology
Jourdan Grant, media and communication studies
Ke He, Ph.D., chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering
Stormy Hill, applied statistics
Greg Huxtable, physics and mathematics
Flora Kirk, ancient studies
Sophia Lopresti, global studies
Joshua Massey, computer engineering
K.J. Maura, sociology
Naomi Mburu, chemical engineering
Emmanuel Mones, visual arts
Daniel Morris, biochemistry and molecular biology
Marie Pessagno, social work and gender and women’s studies
Max Poole, computer science, mathematics, and economics
Priyanka Ranade, information systems
Kourtney Rutkowski, mechanical engineering
Maia Schechter, dance
Marc Schultz, political science and global studies
Kara Seidel, psychology
Jamshaid Shahir, mathematics and statistics
Joe Sherburne, financial economics
Adaku Uchendu, mathematics
Bryan Vanek, computer science
Manisha Vepa, economics and global studies
Eudorah Vital, biochemistry and molecular biology
Doopashika Welikala, biological sciences and anthropology
Jonathan Werner, bioinformatics and computational biology
Noah Zazanis, psychology
Morgan Zepp, English and global studies

Top image: Orientation Peer Advisors cheer for UMBC in the Commons, Spring 2018. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Guenet Abraham, associate professor of graphic design, who received a 10-month Fulbright for 2017 – 2018 to teach graphic design and conduct research in Ethiopia for an upcoming multimedia exhibition, will extend her stay with the support of an additional Fulbright award for 2018 – 2019. She will continue teaching at the Alle School of Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University as well as conduct her research, which has taken her to the far reaches of the country.

The design courses Abraham has developed for the school, including a course in typography, are pilot courses aimed to help introduce a full graphic design curriculum. Her work includes direct instruction of students and mentoring of faculty. The curriculum will address the needs of university students well-placed to contribute design skills in the many sectors of Ethiopia’s growing economy.

“It is going very well in spite of challenges I am not used to in my teaching activities,” says Abraham, noting that there is no wifi in classrooms, many students do not own their own laptops, and there are limitations in computer lab facilities. “Despite these roadblocks, the students have universally embraced the course material. I am pleased to say that they continue to surpass my expectations. This has allowed me to continue to expand the learning goals.”

The additional year afforded through the second-round Fulbright will enable Abraham to continue teaching and working with faculty to draft a program that will continue long after the end of her stay.

In addition to teaching, Abraham is using the time in Ethiopia to research the rise and rule of The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army – later named Derg – the brutal military regime that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 – 1992. Her historic and artistic research will culminate in a multimedia exhibition, Labyrinth of Memory, at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) when she returns.

The exhibition will present a depiction of the political violence, displacements, and disfigurements exacted by the Derg “for public consumption and debate,” as Abraham put it. “It stems from my belief that artists have the unique skills to address sensitive topics in ways that encourage contemplation and create dialogue. The trauma that Ethiopian society has faced is documented in tomes, but there are few monuments, exhibitions, explorations, and interpretations. The tragedies cannot be left to languish in archives or filed away in governmental reports. They must be given a proper place in the public’s memory.”

Her research has led her to explore many regions, such as sulfur lake in Dalol, Danakil Depression, to juxtapose natural and contemporary sound and imagery against the horrors of the Derg period.

Abraham’s extended stay in Addis is also a return. As civil war erupted, she departed with her family in 1974 and escaped the extreme violence that followed. “Since I left, the country has gone through two major regimes, the first one being the communist government of Mengistu which fractured the social fabric of the country. Soon after the present government toppled the Mengistu’s regime in 1991, the country split in two (Ethiopia and Eritrea) in 1992.”

The whole population of Ethiopia before the split was about 26 million, 450,000 in Addis Ababa. Now Ethiopia’s population is close to 100 million with over 6 million in Addis Ababa. “I simply do not recognize the country,” says Abraham. “The city is completely new and so are many aspects of the culture.”

Abraham also shared the unexpected feeling of “otherness” she has experienced in navigating a country that is both an old home and new place. It is not unlike what she encountered as a new American, she describes. Her approach has been to focus on the present rather than searching for what she remembers, she explains, saying, “I continue to immerse myself in the culture of today.”

Images, from top: Guenet Abraham in the Ethiopian highlands, photo by Teddy Berhanu; Guenet Abraham with students, photo by Fitsum Seyoum; Guenet Abraham at the sulfur lake in Dalol, Danakil Depression, photo by Colton Flynn; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, photo by Guenet Abraham.

UMBC expects over 350 presenters and 2,500 guests to attend Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day on April 25, making URCAD 2018 the largest in the event’s 22-year history. The annual showcase of advanced undergraduate work offers students a chance to share with the broader community projects they have been working on for months, or even years. Through URCAD, students practice their presentation skills, get robust feedback on their work, and engage with fellow researchers to think, collaborate, and push their research in new directions.

“I am most proud of the kinds of questions these students are asking in their research and creative work,” says April Householder, director of undergraduate research and prestigious scholarships. “From developing clean air technologies or bringing awareness to human trafficking, to collaborating with local poets and creating meaningful art, UMBC undergrads are making change in the world.”

Undergraduate Research Award (URA) recipient Courtney Mattson ‘18, biological sciences, works with Tamra Mendelson, professor of biological sciences, to examine the mating behaviors of male darters, a common freshwater fish. Mattson spent hours catching darters in a Pennsylvania stream and running controlled trials in the lab, on top of her regular coursework and dedication to cross-country and track and field.

With all of these commitments, Mattson says that completing research required her to hone her time-management skills. “Because my experiment had to be conducted during mating season, I was sometimes trying to find an extra 10 hours per week to run trials on top of a full-time course load and outdoor track competition season,” she says.

Still, Mattson found it exhilarating, and she recommends all students dive into a variety of experiences. “Never put yourself into a box,” she says. “Don’t limit yourself by thinking, ‘I’m an athlete, so I don’t have time for research,’ or ‘I’m not a STEM major, so I can’t do research.’ Through my research, I’ve learned so much about ecology and evolution, but I have also made friendships, gotten to know a faculty member, and had fun along the way.”

Maia Schechter ‘18, dance, will present Now Elsewhere, a performance of three acts featuring six dancers that she choreographed to explore the profound loss of loved ones. Schechter shares, “I believe the movement and music work together to create a poignant journey that the audience can relate to.”

URCAD will be the third presentation of Now Elsewhere, which will also be performed in June at the Kennedy Center as an official selection of the National College Dance Festival. Festival adjudicators shared, “We chose Now Elsewhere with deep appreciation of its unusual compositional structure, and its taut, compelling performance. The work demands that its performers work with physical accuracy and synchronicity as well as emotional transparency in its abstract rendering of a community reforming itself.”

Jamshaid Shahir ’18, mathematics and statistics, will present his research on mathematically modeling cell polarization—a process through which cells develop distinct front and back ends, allowing them to move and transmit information. His research with mentor Hye-Won Kang, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, is supported by NIH and NSF. Both a Meyerhoff Scholar and MARC U*STAR, Shahir has already received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. in computational biology at UNC Chapel Hill.

Reflecting on his research experiences at UMBC, Shahir shares, “The mentorship and guidance I have received…has been invaluable in clarifying my resolve to earn a Ph.D. and has opened many doors for me in terms of research opportunities.” This includes “presenting at conferences around the country, from Harvard to Hawaii.”

Priyanka Ranade ‘18, information systems, another URA recipient, will present her work on using advanced computing techniques to more accurately identify cyber threats—part of UMBC’s research collaboration with IBM. Ranade works with Anupam Joshi, chair and professor of computer science and electrical engineering. She has been focusing on a specific aspect of cybersecurity called multilingual representation, which relies on natural language processing to understand cyber threats in a range of natural languages.

“The URA allowed me to explore a whole new area I was not familiar with, which was the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity,” she says. Her advice to new student researchers: Ask your mentor questions instead of Googling everything. Ranade explains, “Human insight from experience cannot always be communicated through a search engine. Being open about what you don’t understand…it’s a part of being a researcher.”

Kelly Dunn ‘18, Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI), has examined constructions of collective and personal memory of armed conflict in Colombia, under the mentorship of Tania Lizarazo, assistant professor of MLLI. Dunn explored how participants in the Mujeres Pacificas storytelling project spoke about their personal experiences with violence in the context of other life experiences, involving gender and economic disparities, in a way that differed from how memory of the conflict was presented at the national level.

As part of his research, Dunn traveled to Colombia, living with a host family. There he developed a clearer sense of the diversity within Colombian culture and the experiences of Colombian people living in different communities. “I would encourage students to jump in and get engaged in the research process as soon as possible,” he says, “especially when you are talking about doing research in a language that is not your own.”

“You also have a lot less time than you think you have,” Dunn notes. “I have been speaking Spanish for about 8 or 9 years and am comfortable with it, and even then…it took a while to get my ear to adjust to the specific dialect.”

Linda Wiratan ’19, biochemistry and molecular biology, and URA recipient and 2018 Goldwater Scholar, conducts research on the relationship between plant defense systems and their circadian clocks with Hua Lu, associate professor of biological sciences. “Plants have evolved extremely sophisticated mechanisms of disease immunity,” Wiratan says. “They are even capable of anticipating attacks by specific pathogens at certain times of day, and coordinate defense activities with their circadian clock.”

Wiratan has embraced the role of researcher at UMBC. Through her work, she says, “I gained a deep appreciation of how plants, despite being immobile, survive amid constant threats.” She describes research as a “thrilling” experience of discovery, explaining, “The researcher is the first one who learns a little more about the universe, and that role is invaluable.”

URA recipient Ezra Pailer, visual arts, will present an animated documentary created in collaboration with local poet Jordann Allen, under the mentorship of Corrie Parks, assistant professor of visual arts. The project combines hand-drawn animation and live-action film to reveal an intimate view of the artist’s imagination and personal inner narrative as expressed both visually and in spoken words.

Pailer shares, “The audio of Allen reading her poetry has a serene and fluid quality; this presented an interesting challenge in designing animated sequences that complement the flowing nature of a medium like poetry.” Allen will join Pailer at the presentation of his film.

Lucas McCullum ‘18, mechanical engineering, explores how piezoelectric materials, which create electricity in response to mechanical stress, can be used for different purposes, including to detect tumors. He has found research to be an incredibly valuable experience and suggests it can “help a younger student to discover their passions while learning about how to successfully manage their time and critically analyze complex problems.”

McCullum, a URA scholar who works with Soobum Lee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, particularly appreciates his research experience for teaching him how to embrace new situations where he doesn’t immediately have all the answers. “One of the most certain things in research is that you never know what is going to happen the next time you go into the lab, and the ability to be flexible and adapt to unpredictable situations is one of the most valuable experiences out there,” he says.

Yuwanyun Zhu ‘18, SAHAP and psychology, has studied parental control among European American and Asian American parents, specifically Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in the U.S., under the mentorship of Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology. Zhu has interviewed numerous mothers in English, Mandarin, and Korean languages over the past two years, with the goal of deconstructing cross-cultural stereotypes about parenting styles and their effects on children’s behavior and development.

This project has solidified her feeling that research “is a very powerful way to help people change their beliefs and remove stereotypes,” which can in turn help people “become more understanding” of each other.

Through all this work, Householder says, it’s evident that URCAD “upholds UMBC’s mission as a public research university to integrate teaching, research, and service in dynamic and engaged ways.”

Whether a student goes on to graduate school or directly into a career, major projects completed in their undergraduate years can drive lifelong passions, support critical thinking, and boost an array of skills crucial to their future success. This includes everything from how to identify a problem and explain its importance to how to set project goals, see a project through to completion, accept feedback constructively, and connect with stakeholders who are impacted by the work.

Householder invites all of UMBC to support URCAD presenters by attending the event on April 25 and “asking good questions” that challenge students to think about their work in new ways. “There is something for everyone at URCAD,” she says, sharing, “I hope it inspires even more people in our community to conduct research, collaborate, mentor, and bring creativity to their work each day.”

Featured image: November 2017 performance of Now Elsewhere. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Mollye Bendell
M.F.A., Intermedia and Digital Arts
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland
Plans: Artist residency at Wave Farm in Acra, New York

UMBC provided amazing faculty who really took the time to personally mentor me. I was given the creative freedom and conceptual guidance to learn a lot of new skill sets such as algorithmic modeling, codeable objects, programming for virtual reality environments, electronics production, and many others.

During her time as a graduate student in the department of visual art’s intermedia and digital arts program, Mollye Bendell led the setup of a new fabrication facility, the FabLab, and also worked at the Smithsonian Institution’s design shop as a fabricator for public displays and museum exhibitions. She taught classes on lab equipment, including computer-aided design (CAD) software, laser cutters, and a computer numerical control (CNC) router.

Bendell also served as a student leader, teacher, and mentor on campus. She was a member of the Graduate Student Senate and taught Visual Concepts III: Three-dimensional Form, Space and Interaction.

In 2016, Bendell’s artwork XXchange was exhibited at Area 405 in Baltimore, and in 2017 she participated in UMBC’s Spark II gallery at Light City with Resistant Cells. Also in 2017, her works Artists for Truth and FFPP: Feminism Fights Patriarchal Power, were displayed at Space Camp in Baltimore, and her work FFMM: Feminism Fights Military Morals was displayed at the Ballroom Gallery in Baltimore.

This May, Bendell will present her master’s thesis exhibition, Wander/Wonder, at the conference “Politics of the Machines — Art and After” in Copenhagen, Denmark. She’ll then move on to an artist residency at Wave Farm in Acra, New York.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Emmanuel Mones
B.F.A., Visual Arts
Magna Cum Laude
Hometown: Columbia, Maryland
Plans: To launch a men’s streetwear brand, ALT.MASC

The UMBC visual arts department gave me this great balance of guidance and freedom that has helped me come to realize what it is that I want to pursue in my future. My mentors taught me to see the value of my personal experiences as source material for my work. They taught me the sound of my own creative voice.

Emmanuel Mones has capped off an innovative and fruitful creative career at UMBC with a thought-provoking senior project: creating the men’s streetwear brand ALT.MASC.

Developed through the support of an Undergraduate Research Award, “ALT.MASC: Redefining Masculinity through Fashion and Photography” seeks to challenge existing, limited models of masculinity with alternative visions of masculinity that are more inclusive. Through fashion and photography, Mones hopes to encourage public discourse on gender, sexuality, and equality. After graduation, Mones plans to launch the ALT.MASC brand and its accompanying publication, Wonderboy Magazine.

Mones shares that the faculty mentorship he received has been key in his growth as an artist addressing challenging societal questions. “Obviously, through my classes, I learned the craft of art making — photography, video, and design. But, in those classes, my professors gave me a lot of freedom to follow my own intellectual curiosities,” says Mones. “They encouraged me to ask my own questions, and to make use of the class projects to find answers.”

While at UMBC, Mones has received an Imagining America Scholarship and a Smithsonian Minority Awards Scholarship. He has also worked as an intern with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), and had an APAC fellowship the following year. He was also the recipient of the Bartleby Annual Prize from UMBC’s creative arts journal.

Portrait by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC will help illuminate the third annual Light City Baltimore festival with art, ideas, and entertainment. Running April 14 – 21 in and around the Inner Harbor, the evening celebration of light and the Labs@LightCity companion series of daytime innovation conferences prominently feature UMBC faculty, staff, students, and alumni as artists and thought leaders.

Launched by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts in 2016, Light City Baltimore is the first large-scale international light festival in the United States, and it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Members of the UMBC community (alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends) are invited to an Alumni Social on Saturday, April 21, 7 – 10 p.m. at the Baltimore Visitor Center on Light Street. The space, right on the path of the BGE Light Art Walk, offers a stunning view of Light City. Attendees to this free event will enjoy complimentary food and drink, and can pick up glow-in-the-dark swag (first come, first served).

Featured Artist
UMBC artist Kelley Bell, associate professor and associate chair of visual arts, will present her installation The Herd on the BGE Light Art Walk, open nightly from 7 to 11 p.m., with extended hours until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Sponsored by UMBC, The Herd will be visible between Piers 5 and 6.

“The Herd is a tribute to all the citizens of Baltimore City who continue to hope for a healthy city and healthy waterways,” says Bell. “It is a cluster of 400 luminous inflatable swim rings, similar in appearance to the floats used by swimmers at the seaside. The rings are laced together in a net to form a glowing multitude of creatures calmly bobbing in the shimmering ripples of the nighttime harbor. The empty ghostly rings of The Herd are a hope and a promise that someday they will be filled by happy bathers enjoying the Inner Harbor in a new, refreshing way.”

The Labs@LightCity
The daytime Labs@Light City, a series of innovation conferences dedicated to sparking social change, are organized in seven half day, topical labs: EduLab, SocialLab, GreenLab, HealthLab, ArtLab, MakerLab and FoodLab. The Labs will be held at the University System of Maryland (USM) Columbus Center on Pratt Street starting on Wednesday April 18. UMBC will be the supporting sponsor of MakerLab on Friday, April 20.

On Wednesday, April 18 at EduLab, Christine Mallinson, professor of language, literacy, and culture, and affiliate professor of gender and women studies, will take on code-switching in her talk, “Baltimore: An Incubator of Language Diversity.”

On Friday, April 20, at MakerLab, Foad Hamidi, a post-doctoral researcher and designer in Human Computer Interaction, will share his work in the talk “Transcending Invisible Lines.” Also at MakerLab, President Freeman Hrabowski will join Kathy O’Dell, associate professor of visual arts, special assistant to the dean for education and arts partnerships, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Richard Chisolm, ’82 interdisciplinary studies; and artist David Hess in the discussion “The Making of Gun Show.” Their conversation will reflect on the 2017 exhibition Gun Show at UMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture. The show was created to foster dialogue about gun ownership and gun violence.

Members of the UMBC community (students, faculty, staff and alumni) are encouraged to register for the Labs@LightCity at no cost here.

Spark II
Spark II, a pop-up gallery of engaging, projection-based artworks, will be open in the Harborplace’s Pratt Street Pavilion during Baltimore’s Light City Festival, April 14 – 21. Made possible through the support of PNC and curated by Ginevra Shay, the gallery features the work of UMBC faculty and graduate students, as well as artists from Towson University. Spark II also features a schedule of performances, events, and interactive activities.

Spark II will feature works by:

• Stephen Bradley, associate professor of visual arts, and Tagide deCarvalho, research assistant professor of biological sciences
• Lynn Cazabon, associate professor of visual arts
• Cathy C. Cook, associate professor of visual arts
• Eric Dyer, associate professor of visual arts
• Lisa Moren, professor of visual arts; Jaimes Mayhew ’10, IMDA MFA; Neja Tomšič, former UMBC artist in residence; and Martin Bricelj Baraga
• Timothy Nohe, professor of visual arts and director of the Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts
• Corrie Francis Parks, assistant professor of visual arts
• Sarah G. Sharp, assistant professor of visual arts

Special events at the Spark II gallery will include a Visual Arts Alumni Reception on Wednesday, April 18, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to which all visual arts alumni are cordially invited. Additional events featuring UMBC faculty, students, and alumni include:

Sunday, April 15, 4:15 p.m. — Krisztina Dér ’12, music, presents Light/Flute, focused on the integration of flute music and lighting art

Monday, April 16, 8 p.m. — Lisa Cella, associate professor of music, and Stephen Bradley present SHINE. Lisa Cella performs the flute works of four contemporary composers — Christopher Adler, Adam Greene, Christopher Burns, and retired UMBC professor of music Stuart Saunders Smith — and provides a sonic framework for Stephen Bradley’s time-lapse video work that explores a meditative perspective of quotidian events.

Thursday, April 19, 7 p.m. — Shelly Purdy ’10, music, and Jason Charney ’20 IMDA MFA, perform improvised music for electronics and percussion, in an event featuring selections from Timothy Nohe‘s When People Become Verbs composed for a dance by Renée Brozic, ’99 dance.

Friday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. — The Umbilicus Percussion Ensemble will perform. Umbilicus was founded in 2012 in reaction to the generic contemporary percussion quartet, with the intention of promoting and performing a more experimental repertoire, much if it composed by its members. Umbilicus (containing the letters UMBC) consists of UMBC associate professor of music Tom Goldstein and three UMBC alumni: Paul Neidhardt, Michelle Purdy and Will Redman. Their performance will feature works by composers Will Redman, John Cage, Joseph Cello, and Brian Johnson.

Saturday, April 21, time to be announced — Puppet event by Colette Searls, associate professor and chair of theatre

On Demand
Videos by UMBC artists are featured in On Demand, a Light City curated program of time-based digital content displayed on a 12 by 20 foot LED screen. Featured are works by Vin Grabill, associate professor of visual arts; Timothy Nohe, also participating in Spark II; Jeffrey L. Gangwisch ’18, IMDA MFA; and Justyna Kurbiel ’18, visual arts.

For complete information on UMBC’s presence at the 2018 Light City Baltimore festival, visit UMBC’s Light City webpage. More information about the entire festival is available through Light City.

Header image: Visualization of Kelley Bell’s “The Herd,” courtesy of the artist.

UMBC’s Maurice Berger, research professor and chief curator for the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC), and a major national figure in the field of media studies, has won the International Center of Photography (ICP) 2018 Infinity Award. The award, in the category of Critical Writing and Research, honors Berger’s acclaimed ”Race Stories” column for the Lens section of the New York Times.

ICP’s Infinity Awards are widely considered the leading honor for excellence in the field of photography and visual culture. The selection committee includes Isolde Brielmaier, assistant professor at NYU and executive director of Arts, Culture and Community, Westfield World Trade Center; Marina Chao, assistant curator of exhibitions for ICP; James Estrin, Lens blog co-editor and senior staff photographer for the New York Times; and Antwaun Sargent, writer and critic.

Since 1985, the ICP Infinity Awards have recognized major contributions and emerging talent in the fields of photojournalism, art, fashion photography, and publishing. The 34th annual ICP Infinity Award honorees will be celebrated at a gala on April 9 in New York City.

”I am honored to receive an award long considered important to the community of photographers, writers, editors, and curators of which I’m a part,” Berger shares. “To write monthly for the New York Times about the ways photography mediates the issues of race fulfills a long held dream. To have that work acknowledged and rewarded by my peers, in addition to the incredible support I get from Times readers, is truly wonderful.” 

Berger’s monthly “Race Stories” column explores the relationship of photography to concepts, themes, and social issues around race not usually covered in the mainstream media. He launched the column, in July 2012 and two years later received the 2014 Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation ArtsWriters Grant in recognition of his writing.

The well-researched essays are written in a literary and reader-friendly style and explore a range of subjects and photographers. Predominantly focused on work from the civil rights era to the present, his writing has focused on a multiple issues: contemporary African American art and photography; the modern civil rights movement; Latino/a, Asian-American, and Native American photography; Asian and African photography; 19th-century and Civil War-era photography and race; and developments in Latino and Asian American photography. His work has also explored how artists and photographers of color have employed photography to combat stereotypes and prevailing ideas about race and identity in the United States.

Included in the series is a moving personal essay from December 2017, “Using Photography to Tell Stories About Race”, that contextualizes Berger’s writing on race within his personal story. In the essay, Berger writes:

As a Jew, I have known anti-Semitism. As a gay man, I have known homophobia. But neither has seemed as relentless as the racism I witnessed growing up — a steady drumbeat of slights, thinly-veiled hostility and condescension perpetrated by even the most liberal and well-meaning people. It was painful to watch, and as my friends let me know, considerably more painful to endure.

“Continually observing this reality shaped how I understood racism: When people told me they had experienced prejudice, I believed them. I had rejected the liberal tendency to defensively dismiss the victim to protect the accused.”

ICP worked with Harbers Studio and MediaStorm to produce mini-documentary films on each of the 2018 Infinity awardees, including a  12-minute film on Berger:

The CADVC recently launched a webpage indexing all of the “Race Stories” essays that is updated monthly as new posts are published. “I wanted to find ways to make the ‘Race Stories’ series available to as broad an audience as possible,” says Berger. “I think it’s important for college and university students to read these essays. So putting them on the CADVC website has made all of them available, in one convenient place, to our students at UMBC as well as the thousands of outside visitors to our website.”

Berger shared further, “I always write my essays for The New York Times and curate my exhibitions on race and visual culture with young people in mind…because if you can inspire a young person to see the world in new ways, then you can inspire anyone. I get a lot of emails from high school teachers and college professors, who tell me they routinely assign my ‘Race Stories’ essays to their students. I’m an educator, first and foremost. The principal purpose of my work is to teach racial literacy through visual culture.”

In addition to Berger’s writing for the New York Times, his work regularly appears in other major publications, from Artforum and Aperture to Wired and the Los Angeles Times. His latest essay, “These Reenactments Put a Personal Face on the History of Black Protest,” appears in a historic April special issue of National Geographic on race. The magazine put together a team of photographers and race writers to explore one of the most complicated issues of our time. Berger’s writing engages with the work of Senegalese artist Omar Victor Diop, who explores the fight for civil rights in reenactment photos. His essay will also appear in an eight-page spread in the print issue.

Top image: Maurice Berger, photo by James Estrin. Center images from left to right: Nona Faustine, Arbores autumnales puella, Queen Ming, the photographer’s daughter, 2016, Courtesy of the artist; Gordon Parks, Untitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956, Courtesy of the Gordon Parks Foundation; Ken Gonzales-Day, Erased Lynching: Disguised Bandit, 2006

During the summer months, hundreds of UMBC students immersed themselves in high-value internships at companies, nonprofits, and government agencies. There, they learned about new fields, developed skills, and expanded their connections, taking advantage of UMBC’s strong network of emerging and established professionals who value both leadership and mentorship.

Over the past 18 years, Wanda Keyes Heard ‘79, political science, an associate judge in the Baltimore City Circuit Court, has mentored 25 UMBC students as interns in her courtroom. Randall Ainsworth ‘20, philosophy, spent this summer working with Heard. Receiving permission to join her on the bench during court proceedings offered him a bird’s-eye view of the round courtroom in the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse.

Through her experience supervising interns over the years, Heard says that UMBC students have consistently exceeded her expectations and have delivered high-quality work. “This is real life. I am not giving [interns] busy work, I am giving them meaningful work,” she says. One of Ainsworth’s primary assignments has been to make recommendations for non-hearing motions based on what defendants request, and Heard notes that she has proceeded with many of his suggested actions.

Ainsworth has particularly valued the chance to see the unique way Heard handles monthly “collateral days,” which have changed his perception of how the judicial system operates. Rather than only bringing people on probation into her courtroom after they have violated their probation, Heard began using collateral days to bring probationers in to check on their progress hitting the milestones required by their probation. Heard realized that some of the people who came into her courtroom were unable to read or lacked the education or skills needed to meet the job requirements of their probation. In response, she compiled a list of resources that people on probation can use to find jobs or advance their skills.

“It’s a very satisfying feeling to see someone turn their life around, and contribute to society,” she says. For his part, Ainsworth has tremendously valued the chance to see how such a firm commitment to supporting people’s growth, even in difficult circumstances, plays out in the courtroom.

Justyna Kurbiel ‘18, visual arts, spent the summer interning at Image Factory D.C. (IFDC), a full-service design and production agency in Silver Spring, Maryland. Kurbiel learned of IFDC through her work at UMBC’s Commonvision studio, and then connected with IFDC senior designer and animator Andy Hsu ‘06, visual arts, M.F.A. ‘10, imaging and visual arts, through a UMBC visual arts project class.

Kurbiel took advantage of the Career Center’s portfolio review services before reaching out to Hsu to submit her application materials. Her initiative and polished portfolio combined helped her land the IFDC’s first-ever student internship. She says that working alongside Hsu and two other UMBC alumni has helped her access valuable critiques of her work and has helped her learn about the design industry, workflow, and how to engage with clients.

“The project I’ve been working on has made an impact, which I think is the most important part of having a paid internship,” Kurbiel reflected. “I do feel like I am working here and that I’m part of the team because my contributions matter.”

For her mentors at IFDC, Kurbiel’s initiative, enthusiasm, and drive has made all the difference. “My advice to students is to try obtaining that internship and not be intimidated,” says Hsu. “You may get a few rejections but if you never try, you’ll never land one.”

At the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Norina McAuliffe ‘18, mathematics, worked with Christopher Truffer ‘00, mathematics, a deputy group director on a team that reviewed Medicare and Medicaid spending and budgets from individual states. Truffer works to project Medicaid spending, budget and enrollment, and predicts the impact that proposed legislation could have on the program. He also reviews rates that states and private insurance companies negotiate and establish to ensure that they are actuarially sound, and comply with CMS and federal policies.

McAuliffe was able to contribute substantively to this work thanks to rigorous math coursework at UMBC. It was also math and statistics faculty who connected her with the CMS internship in the first place, identifying it as a valuable opportunity for students interested in actuarial science. At CMS, “everyone wants you to do interesting work…They want you to learn something,” she says. “Everyone is really helpful. They care about your opinion.”

That’s all part of the mindset of CMS, Truffer explains, noting that it’s important to keep learning and remain open to fresh perspectives and approaches. Even in a midst of highly complex, technical project, says Truffer, “Be open to trying something new and different.”

Like McAuliffe, Evan Avila ‘19, economics, also spent the summer interning at a federal agency, supervised by Angela Delano ‘95, mathematics, at the U.S. Census Bureau. He learned of the opportunity through the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), a nonprofit organization that works with government agencies to increase diversity in the federal workforce, and, after applying, was selected for an internship by the head of the U.S. Census branch.

Avila worked with the Residential Construction office in the Economics Indicators division of the agency, which handles surveys and monthly reports about permits in cities across the country. Avila’s internship focused on big data—how to collect and process survey responses in the most efficient and precise way possible. Having more automated systems to collect, process, and display the data “would cut out the middleman,” he explains. Delano valued his novel perspective and fresh ideas and reflected, “He has taught me some shortcuts, so the knowledge flows both ways.”

Through HACU, Avila, a Sondheim Scholar, lived in Washington D.C. during his internship. He says that the experience of living in D.C. and working at the bureau—where he’s had the chance to connect with interns from across the country—emphasized for him the quality of his UMBC education. “I’ve met people who go to Ivy League schools, and I can say, unequivocally, that the education I have received at UMBC has been world-class, and been on par with the other people I have worked with at the Census Bureau,” he says.

Cyber Scholar Priyanka Ranade ‘18, information systems, spent the summer at Northrop Grumman as a cyber strategy intern, under the mentorship of Lauren Mazzoli ‘15, computer science, M.S. ‘17, computer science. Mazzoli herself was mentored by Chris Valentino ‘02, information systems management, M.S. ‘06, information systems management, as an intern during her undergraduate days, and is now on his team at Northrop Grumman.

Ranade heard about the internship opportunity through a Cyber Practicum course offered at UMBC, and embraced the chance to learn more about the varied facets of the cybersecurity field. “When people think about cybersecurity, they usually think about tools and cyber warfare, but a lot of times people fail to think about the business,” she says. As an intern, Ranade had a chance to build, review, and update business briefings, examine corporate policy and goals, and review white papers.

“[Lauren] always encourages me to connect with different people and take up different opportunities, so I have kind of built my own rotation,” she explains. “I do strategy, but I also get to work in the Cyber Operations Center, and I also get to work on different business projects and engineering-related tasks.”

As her internship supervisor, Mazzoli values Ranade’s drive and curiosity. “Priyanka exemplifies a UMBC student—the fire in the belly, willing to work hard, never taking anything for granted,” says Mazzoli. “When she started on our team, I had no doubt in my mind that she wasn’t going to succeed. She went in there, she worked hard, she proved herself, and kept taking on more and more tasks…[Colleagues] recognized her as a natural leader. That is something that I keep seeing time and time again with UMBC students.”

Zach Dzielinski ‘19, information systems, interned with Dan Hood ‘01, computer science, at ClearEdge IT after learning about the company at a UMBC career fair. He focused on setting up software used by in-house developers to perform various analytical tasks, and he particularly valued the chance to gain experience with industry-specific tools. “The amount of resources available at ClearEdge IT gives me the opportunity to work with a lot of things that I might not be able to [work with] somewhere else,” he said.

Hood has supervised several interns from UMBC during his time with the company. He focuses on getting a sense of “the particular skills they are coming in with, and where the gaps might be,” to make sure he provides an internship experience that will “leverage the strengths and close the weaknesses as much as possible.” Dzielinski is keen to continue using the new skills he has developed as he grows his expertise.

Geeta Shanbhag ‘18, media and communications, initially connected with the National Family Resiliency Center in Columbia, Maryland, as a volunteer, supporting their mission to provide programs and counseling services to children and adults who are working through divorce and other changes within their families. As an intern, she gained an opportunity to boost the organization’s visibility through marketing, outreach, and social media. “A lot of times people know about NFRC through smaller networks, but those networks don’t quite intersect in a way that would be beneficial to getting the word out about the Center,” Shanbhag explains.

Kathy Helt ‘87, health science and policy, associate director at the NFRC, supervised Shanbhag and says that she aims to give interns comprehensive overview of the Center and have them “experience as much hands-on work as possible.” By getting a broader sense of the supports the NFRC offers, Shanbhag was able create more effective communications to reflect the experiences of families at the Center in a relatable way.

CWIT Scholar Theodora Martin ‘18, chemical engineering, interned in the hydroprocessing unit of the W.R. Grace chemical plant in Baltimore, where she frequently collaborated with processing engineer Mike Dzingeleski ‘91, chemical engineering. The company makes silica gels and catalysts that are incorporated into toothpastes, plastic gallon containers, paints, medicine, and spices. In toothpastes, the silicas are the abrasive agents that clean teeth, and in spices and herbs, silicas prevent caking.

Martin first connect with W.R. Grace through a tour of their Columbia, Maryland, headquarters, coordinated through UMBC’s Career Center. She chose to pursue an internship to gain industry experience that would complement her previous work in the classroom and academic labs, sharing, “I just finished my third year of chemical engineering, and my past experiences were research, research, research. I wanted to see what it would be like to work in an industry.”

One of rewards an internship can offer a student, Dzingeleski reflects, is a chance to get a sense of what type of job is a good match for their interests and strengths. “It’s just as important to find out what’s not a good fit as what is a good fit,” he says. For her part, Martin tremendously enjoyed the chance to see what she learned in class be put into action at the W.R. Grace plant. The experience is helping her reimagine her possible career paths in new ways, and with fresh enthusiasm.

For more information on how to prepare and apply for internships, and to connect with employers, visit the UMBC Career Center. Find photos of more student summer internship experiences—from Apple, Microsoft, and Cisco to law offices, chemistry labs, and construction sites—on Twitter with #UMBCintern.

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Banner image: Randall Ainsworth, and Hon. Wanda Keyes Heard. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.