U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work recently spoke about cyberwarfare and U.S. efforts to fight online security threats, leaving analysts wondering about the nature of today’s battles in cyberspace. UMBC’s Anupam Joshi and Rick Forno  shed light on this world in a new Scientific American article that explains how online tactics known as “cyberbombs” work to prevent potential attacks, or could potentially be directed at U.S. targets.

Joshi is director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity and professor and chair of the department of computer science and electrical engineering, and Forno serves as assistant director of the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity and director of UMBC’s graduate program in cybersecurity.

Cyberattacks can disrupt essential components of infrastructure people use every day, from cell phone networks to electric network generators, Joshi and Forno explain. They point out that “a ‘cyberbomb’ is not a single weapon,” but rather a collection of computer hardware and software that can be used to protect against cyber threats. This work might involve a broad range of professionals, including technological experts, military strategists, researchers, policy analysts, and lawyers, and as technology changes so do cyber weapons and tactics.

“We can analyze the underlying technologies and look at the global strategic considerations of those of those seeking to wage cyber warfare,” Joshi and Forno write. “That work allows us to offer ideas about cyber weapons and how they might be used.”

Read the full article, “America is ‘dropping cyberbombs’—but how do they work?” originally published in The Conversation. The original article was also mentioned in Tech Republic.

Images: Anupam Joshi presenting during cybersecurity forum hosted by the School of Public Policy. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Marc Olano, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, offered attendees of TEDxTowson 2016 a look into how technology has changed the way we perceive reality. “New technology has started blurring the lines between the real and the virtual,” he said at the May 5 event.

Olano walked his audience through the adoption of new technologies, from the “experimental stage” of their development, to being increasingly available but still very expensive and largely inaccessible, to becoming commonly available.

3D printers took center stage in Olano’s talk, and he began by showing the audience an item made by a 3D printer in the late 1980s, when the end product was much less important than the basic achievement of printing in 3D. “I have absolutely no idea what this thing is, but hey, it was made by a 3D printer,” he shared. “It is something that did not exist before, was a virtual object, and was 3D printed.”

The 3D printers available now are more durable and precise than those that existed a few decades ago, and much more common. Today, the fact that someone makes a 3D print is not tremendously exciting, Olano suggested, it’s all about what materials they are using, what they are making, and how that item can be used.

A tactile graph, developed at UMBC by Amy Hurst, assistant professor of information systems, is one example of a 3D-printed item that serves a interesting and important purpose, Olano explained, showing the graph to the audience. The object allows people without sight to understand how graphs are used to communicate information, as well as conveying the data in the graph itself.

In addition to exploring how 3D printers turn virtual objects into real, tangible objects, Olano discussed advances in virtual reality (VR) technologies. VR, he explained, allows a person to become immersed in a new world. VR goggles are a common way to create this experience and are becoming increasingly sophisticated and accessible. “It can give you that convincing sense of presence,” he said.

Watch Olano’s full TEDxTowson talk. (His talk begins around 44:30.)

Images: Marc Olano during the opening of the 3D Scanning Room at UMBC. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

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

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

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

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

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

Thousands of friends, family members, faculty and staff gathered to celebrate the tremendous achievements of UMBC’s Class of 2016, nearly 2,000 strong, at the university’s commencement ceremonies, held May 18-19, 2016. Moving remarks by each ceremony’s speaker served as a powerful reminder of the value and impact of a UMBC degree.

“Higher education can be a great equalizer in this country, and there is no further intervention as strong or as enduring as a college education for helping individuals and societies to thrive,” said Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust during the undergraduate ceremony. “But many colleges, most of the colleges, have not figured out how to do as good a job as UMBC at enabling all students to reach their highest potential.”

Clemson University President James Clements, a three-time alumnus of UMBC, shared a particularly personal reflection during graduate commencement. “It is actually difficult for me to put into words how much of an impact UMBC has had on my life,” said Clements.

President Clements described how his grandparents never graduated from high school and how he and his three siblings were the first in their family to attend college.

Between the four of us we earned eleven college degrees, and seven of those degrees came from this great university. And one of the happiest days in the lives of my parents was when my older brother and I graduated side-by-side with our Ph.D.s from UMBC. […] So this place not only gave my family a chance to receive a top-notch education, it literally transformed my entire family and gave us a path to a better life.

That experience also motivated President Clements to enter the field of higher education, to provide others with the opportunities he experienced. He told the graduating master’s and doctoral students:

With a degree from UMBC you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. You can even become the president of one of the top public universities in the country… But most importantly, use your degree and the knowledge you have acquired to have a positive impact on something that is important to you…to help tackle some of the most significant challenges facing society today. I know that you can, and will, make a difference.

President Faust echoed this thought in her remarks to UMBC’s undergraduates, telling them:

…you have the responsibility to pay it forward: to inspire others in their quest for knowledge just as you were inspired. To acknowledge the many people who invested in your journey by offering your help to others.

“So many of you are already embracing that responsibility,” said Faust, before honoring several UMBC graduates moving on to careers in public service. These students, she said, are “following in the footsteps of alumni like Shalonda Holt, the 2007 UMBC graduate who last month was named Washington Post’s 2016 Teacher of the Year. She is living the responsibility conferred by her UMBC education every day.”

Valedictorian Katelyn Seale ’16, biochemistry and molecular biology, reflected on her own UMBC experience, including how she became committed to meeting the needs of medically underserved populations and sensitive to patients’ diverse perspectives and life experiences. She told her classmates, “I thank you all for contributing to the open, intelligent, and compassionate community we share at UMBC.”

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski offered special recognition to the highly accomplished scholar-athlete Tessa Seale ’16, biochemistry and molecular biology, Katelyn Seale’s twin sister, who will soon begin a Ph.D. in cellular molecular medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Tessa Seale competed as a sprinter on UMBC’s track team and was inducted into both the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

Several other graduates were honored for their academic achievement and dedication to public service throughout the ceremony, particularly in President Faust’s commencement remarks. A few include Gaurav Luthria ’16, bioinformatics, heading to a Ph.D. in bioinformatics and integrative biology at Harvard; CODE2040 alumnus Randi Williams ’16, computer engineering, who will begin a master’s in media, arts, and sciences at MIT; Cheyenne Smith ’16, psychology and biological sciences, who will work as an AmeriCorps Community Service Learning Fellow with The Choice Program at UMBC; and Sayre Posey ’16, history, who will soon begin teaching 9th grade U.S. history in Baltimore City.

The ceremony also recognized Jonathan “Shane” McNeil, who passed away prior to receiving his degree in psychology. President Hrabowski shared, “Our community feels a great sense of loss…To Shane’s family, I want to say, you will always be a part of the UMBC family.” Shane’s parents, Dr. John McNeil and Elizabeth Gordon-McNeil, received his degree in his honor as the full arena stood to recognize him.

Each graduate in UMBC’s Class of 2016 has a powerful story to tell, and departments across the university exuberantly congratulated their graduates on social media throughout the ceremony, from biological sciences to visual arts to American studies. The Women’s Center recognized graduating Newcombe Scholars including Carrie Cleveland ’16, social work, recently highlighted in The Baltimore Sun’s coverage of inspiring college graduates across greater Baltimore. Cleveland chose to complete a social work degree after her daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and a supportive social worker had a profound impact on her family’s experience. She told the Sun, “It took me finding what my passion was…to excel.”

Cleveland and her fellow graduates have already demonstrated exceptional personal achievement and made invaluable contributions to the UMBC community. Now they take their knowledge, experience, and passion to serve as leaders in graduate programs and careers across the globe.

As President Faust said, “Education challenges us with the obligation to be the best we can be for ourselves and for others every day. It shows us what we might be and it points the way.”

Full videos of UMBC’s Undergraduate and Graduate Commencement ceremonies are now available online, as well as remarks from a special dinner recognizing this year’s honorary degree recipients and the achievements of the Class of 2016:
 

Learn more about UMBC’s Spring 2016 Commencement speakers on UMBC News. The Baltimore Sun offers coverage of President Faust’s remarks and the undergraduate ceremony, and Harvard University has provided her remarks in full. Clemson University offers details on President Clement’s commencement speech.

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

On the eve of UMBC’s 50th anniversary, the university will welcome two prominent higher education leaders as commencement speakers whose words will have particular significance in this milestone year.

Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust will speak to the Class of 2016 at UMBC’s undergraduate commencement ceremony. For UMBC—an innovative, young institution now recognized nationwide for redefining excellence in higher education—this connection with the esteemed leader of the oldest higher education institution in the nation is quite meaningful. Faust will receive an honorary degree of doctor of public service during the ceremony on Thursday, May 19, 2016.

Faust is the 28th president of Harvard University and the Lincoln Professor of History in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. As president of Harvard, Faust has expanded financial aid to improve access to Harvard College for students of all economic backgrounds and advocated for increased federal funding for scientific research. She has broadened the University’s international reach; raised the profile of the arts on campus; embraced sustainability; launched edX, an online learning partnership with MIT; and promoted collaboration across academic disciplines and administrative units. She is also the author of six books, including This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (2008), which won the 2009 Bancroft Prize and was recognized by The New York Times as one of the “Ten Best Books of 2008.”

Numerous UMBC alumni have gone on to graduate studies and faculty and staff positions at Harvard. From UMBC’s newest class of graduates, Gaurav Luthria ’16, bioinformatics, will soon begin a Ph.D. in bioinformatics and integrative biology at Harvard. Graduating summa cum laude, Luthria previously interned at the Health Sciences and Technology Division, a joint initiative between MIT and Harvard, where he used social media data to study neurodevelopmental disorders.

Clemson University President James P. Clements, a three-time alumnus of UMBC, will speak at the graduate commencement ceremony on May 18, 2016, and will receive an honorary doctor of education degree. Clements ’85, computer science, and ’91 M.S. and ’93 Ph.D., operations analysis, has shared with UMBC Magazine how much he has enjoyed watching UMBC “skyrocket into one of the hottest universities in the country,” saying, “It has just continued to climb up and up and up.”

Clements is the 15th president of Clemson University. Under his leadership Clemson has reached several key milestones, including a record number of student applications and a record-breaking year in private fundraising. A nationally recognized leader in higher education, Clements previously served as the president of West Virginia University for nearly five years, and he is past chair of the board of directors for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). He serves on the board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) and on the executive committee of the APLU’s Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity. He also chairs the ACE Commission on Leadership and co-chairs the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

UMBC community members who aren’t able to attend the ceremonies can view them live through the commencement webcast, or follow them on Twitter @UMBC and through #UMBCgrad. Videos of the remarks will also be available online after the ceremonies.

Images: Spring 2015 UMBC commencement, photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC; Harvard President Drew Faust is pictured in the Harvard Art Museums at Harvard University, photo courtesy of Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer; Clemson President James Clements, photo courtesy of Clemson University.

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.

On May 3, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski joined WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show for a discussion about the state of diversity in STEM fields and the importance of connecting STEM with work in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Pres. Hrabowski was joined by Brian Kelly, editor of U.S. News & World Report, and James Maiden, assistant dean of student affairs at University of the District of Columbia and principal investigator of the Minority Male Makers Program. The wide-ranging discussion covered several issues, including how studying the arts, humanities, and social sciences can help students develop the skills and knowledge needed to address some of society’s most pressing challenges.

“One of the ways we can get students to appreciate what STEM can do for our country is through the humanities, not only through reading skills, but understanding many of the ethical issues involved in the achievement gap, in health disparities, and in the environmental issues that we face,” Dr. Hrabowski said.

Pres. Hrabowski highlighted UMBC’s national leadership and strengths in inclusive excellence and focus on under-representation in STEM. Mentioning centers and programs like the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT), Meyerhoff Scholars Program, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, and Humanities Scholars Program, Pres. Hrabowski shared how many students are combining majors in the arts and humanities with taking courses in STEM disciplines to pursue careers in a range of professions.

“We need many solutions that will connect disciplines that will solve the problems we find in society,” Dr. Hrabowski explained.

Later in the program, President Hrabowski also described UMBC’s partnership with Northrop Grumman and Baltimore City Public Schools to support students, teachers, and communities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education.

Listen to the full segment “Local D.C. STEM careers are soaring-but for whom?” on the WAMU website.

Image: Pres. Hrabowski speaks at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, Jan. 2016. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Mechanical engineering majors Andrew Wallace ‘16, Michael Torres ‘16, Stefan Wroblewski ‘16, Jezron Basbas ‘16, and Baruch Weiner ‘16 have won top prize in the 2016 Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition (CBIC) for Preventing Injuries, Trauma and Cracks to the Head (PITCH), a lightweight protective device designed to reduce head trauma and skull fractures in baseball players.

The competition, hosted by the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, is supported by Greg Cangialosi ‘96, English, a leading Baltimore entrepreneur. “My goal in creating this competition was to connect our students with mentors who are off campus, actively running companies, or investing in startups,” he says. “It is important for them to know, while they are still in school, that the Baltimore region is thriving as an innovation ecosystem and here to develop and support the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

The CBIC allows students to experience and plan a start-up company, explains Vivian Armor ‘73, American studies, director of the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. “The CBIC targets students who are serious about starting a business in the near future, and the goal is to provide them with mentors, potential seed funding and networking opportunities to help them take their idea to the next level,” she says.

This year, 30 ideas were submitted, and seven of those ideas were selected for the final competition by a panel of judges from various Baltimore-area employers. Business mentors worked with each team to help develop and refine their idea before the final competition was held.

Second place went to an app called SupplySense, which uses sensors to track product inventory in a way that can help business function more strategically and efficiently. The idea was created by Filip Dabek ‘13, ‘14 M.S., and ‘21 Ph.D., computer science.

Third place was awarded to Aerwell, a device that extracts clean, pure water from humidity in the air to provide fresh water and sustainable energy. The Aerwell team includes Alexis Walmsley ‘16, music; Marios Levi ‘19, mechanical engineering; Bedford Boylston ‘16, interdisciplinary studies; Terry Wasserleben ‘17, computer engineering; and Arthur Schorr ‘17, media and communications studies and visual arts.

The top three teams were given cash awards, and membership in Betamore, a Baltimore-based incubator and educational facility, which Cangialosi cofounded.

The prizes themselves are designed to help students explore what it would mean to take their business ideas to the next level. Armor explains that the competition is “meant to be a real world experience to get them thinking about what is involved in planning and launching a business.”

“The CBIC was designed for those students who are truly going to go after the dream of entrepreneurship,” says Cangialosi. “Now, in its third year, it’s exciting to see how alive and vibrant entrepreneurship is at UMBC.”

Image: The PITCH team with Greg Cangialosi, left to right: Michael Torres, Jezron Basbas, Greg Cangialosi, Stefan Wroblewski and Andrew Wallace; missing Baruch Weiner; top. Vivian Armor, director of the Alex. Brown Center of Entrepreneurship; middle. Greg Cangialosi at a UMBC event, bottom. Photos courtesy of the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship (top), and Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC (middle and bottom).