Diseases such as polio, the common cold, and meningitis are all caused by closely related viruses and the way these viruses multiply in the body is poorly understood. Deepak Koirala, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UMBC, has already begun to unravel the mystery. Now, with a $786,000 NSF CAREER Award, his research group will be able to answer even more questions. In particular, they will investigate the RNA structures within the genetic material in these viruses and how those structures enable the viruses to multiply inside cells. The answers could eventually lead to drugs that attack specific mechanisms critical for viral replication, stopping these diseases in their tracks.

Koirala’s lab works on enteroviruses, a group of viruses that have a genome made of a single strand of RNA, rather than double-stranded DNA (like in humans). “RNA is a really versatile and dynamic molecule that functions in pretty much every aspect of cellular processes,” Koirala says. 

In viruses with RNA genomes, the genome must control both the process that copies (replicates) the genome and the process that converts the genetic code into proteins. Both processes involve coordination of numerous viral and host cell proteins. The RNA must also somehow continually “decide” between the two processes. In DNA genomes, the DNA is only responsible for replication.

With the new grant, Koirala’s group seeks to better understand how enteroviruses make the decision between copying their genome and building proteins. But before they can do that, they need to nail down the three-dimensional RNA structures within the enterovirus genome that are involved in those processes. 

Defining the target

Based on the way enterovirus genomes behave in biochemical studies, previous research has predicted that the beginning of an enterovirus’s genomic RNA strand folds up on itself, forming a shape resembling a cloverleaf. That structure builds a platform to assemble the viral and host proteins required for replication. This idea is widely accepted, but the precise three-dimensional structure of this region, the so-called “cloverleaf RNA domain,” and how it regulates viral replication is unknown. Figuring that out is the Koirala lab’s main task.

They are well on their way. Koirala’s group recently determined the cloverleaf structure from a coxsackievirus, which causes hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and is an important model system for studying many other human viruses. It will be published in a forthcoming paper in Nature Communications. “I think the field will be really excited to see this,” Koirala says. “It would be the first three-dimensional structure of the full-length cloverleaf domain for the entire enterovirus genus.”

Because the cloverleaf domain is so important for viral replication, the expectation is that its structure will be similar, if not identical, across all enteroviruses. With the new grant, Koirala hopes to determine the 3D structures of this region in several more enteroviruses. The structures the sequences form that are the same or similar across species are most likely to play similar key roles in the viral life cycle.

“That will create the opportunity to get a generic target that might be able to treat more than one of these viruses,” Koirala says. “If you really hit a structure in coxsackievirus, for example, that’s shared across many other enteroviruses, then that could be equally useful for, say, rhinovirus. In the long term, that could be really powerful.”

Crystals and X-rays

Determining the 3D structure of RNA is notoriously difficult. Koirala’s group uses a technique called X-ray crystallography, where one must first turn the RNA into a crystal through a laborious process. Then a machine directs X-rays through the crystal and then a detector records the reflections that come out. By examining those reflections, called diffraction patterns, the researchers can deduce the molecule’s shape in the crystal. Then, they map the known sequence of RNA bases onto the shape for a final 3D structure.

To make this a little easier, Koirala’s group uses a cutting-edge technique that results in successful crystallization more often than traditional methods. Koirala came to UMBC in 2020 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the research group at the University of Chicago that pioneered the technique. 

The technique involves attaching a fragment of a synthetic antibody to the RNA, which serves as a “chaperone” to help the RNA crystallize. RNA is coated with negative charges, which repel each other and make it harder to pack the molecules tightly together—a necessary part of crystal formation. When the RNA binds to the protein, those negative charges are neutralized. And, because the protein’s structure is known, that makes it easier to detect the unknown RNA structure in the crystal.

“Just the beginning”

But even after all that, “The structure is just the beginning,” Koirala says. 

RNA does not normally exist as crystals. Therefore, for one, it is important to know if the 3D structure of the protein-bound, crystallized RNA accurately represents what the RNA looks like in a biological context. But with the crystal structure in hand, “Now we have more idea about what to do next,” Koirala says, “to show what the important features of that particular structure are that dictate or define the function.” Follow-up biochemical experiments with deliberately modified versions of the RNA can help tease out which parts of the structure are critical for different functions.

And finally, Koirala says, “Now, with a well-characterized RNA structure, one has an opportunity to design a drug molecule, for example, that precisely targets that RNA structure and stops the genome replication.”

A strong team

With the new funding, Koirala will be able to grow his already sizable team. That way he can accomplish more in the lab—and also expose more students to research. Koirala is happy to bring on UMBC freshmen and sophomores as well as students with more research experience. Even local high school students have gotten involved.

“If you expose students to research early on, that gives them the opportunity to decide which career will work for them,” Koirala says. And by getting students involved right away, they are apt to stay in the lab for a few years—enough time to significantly grow their skills and even become authors on a scientific paper, he explains.

In addition to conducting their own research, the students “also get great experiences with mentoring,” Koirala says. With a group of 11 students (“Or 12, including me,” Koirala adds), a mentorship structure forms naturally among the lab members, with more experienced team members guiding and supporting newer team members. “And wherever they go, academia or industry, they will be the future scientists—they will mentor the younger ones.”

Koirala’s method seems to be working. Two high school students in the lab are headed to college next year, one to M.I.T. and one to Bowdoin College in Maine. Tasnia Sadat ’23, biochemistry and molecular biology, is headed to medical school at Georgetown. Jeff Vogt ’23, biochemistry and molecular biology, is on his way to Johns Hopkins for a Ph.D., and Senali Dansou ’23, biochemistry and molecular biology, will matriculate at University of Minnesota for an M.D.-Ph.D.

With such an engaged group of researchers, thoughtful research questions, and effective techniques, Koirala’s team is well prepared to reach its goals and further the understanding of enteroviruses, leading the way for life-changing treatments.

Meet Adeola Ojomo, a sophomore sociology major who started working on campus helping other students as an academic peer advocate (APA) after being inspired by another APA who helped her with some excellent advice. Take it away, Adeola!

Q: Tell us about yourself. What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?

A: My name is Adeola Ojomo and I work at the Academic Success Center as an academic peer advocate. Some activities I enjoy outside of school include Tai Chi and gardening. I’m also a music lover! I can vibe with music from any decade and genre.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?

A: The support is plentiful and there are people with different experiences who are relatable. UMBC is a loving community that enables students to strive for alignment with their goals and fulfillment.

Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in.

A: As an academic peer advocate (APA), I help students navigate campus resources. That involves me assisting students with study skills, time management, motivation, etc. It was a former APA (Rachael Joslow) who piqued my interest in becoming an APA when I spoke with her in the fall of 2021. When I planned to take two winter classes my first year, she recommended I only take one class at that time to avoid burnout and enjoy the learning process. I finished with a 4.0 winter GPA, and I’m so grateful for her advice because I realized that I could take my time with courses. 

I became an APA in fall 2022 and the experience has been amazing so far. Being an APA at the Academic Success Center gives me the confidence and reassurance that UMBC truly cares about academic and career success. The program values the overall well-being of others and has a welcoming atmosphere.

Q: What clubs, teams, or organizations are you a part of? What do you love about them?

A: I’m involved in meditation at UMBC and the Sociology Society as a general body member. I love the fact the organizations I’m in reflect my personality and bring me out of my comfort zone when it comes to conversing with other people.

Q: How has receiving a scholarship allowed you to embrace your time at UMBC?

A: I’m extremely grateful for the chance to have a scholarship because I can focus on academics and socializing. I would tell people to enjoy the journey and cherish every moment because these years go by fast, and it’s always beneficial to have friends who are willing to experience the highs and lows of college. Balance is attainable.

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals. Donate to the scholarship or program of your choice.

Written by Manil Suri, professor of mathematics and statistics, UMBC

March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day because the date, when written as 3/14, matches the start of the decimal expansion 3.14159… of the most famous mathematical constant.

By itself, pi is simply a number, one among countless others between 3 and 4. What makes it famous is that it’s built into every circle you see – circumference equals pi times diameter – not to mention a range of other, unrelated contexts in nature, from the bell curve distribution to general relativity.

The true reason to celebrate Pi Day is that mathematics, which is a purely abstract subject, turns out to describe our universe so well. My book “The Big Bang of Numbers” explores how remarkably hardwired into our reality math is. Perhaps the most striking evidence comes from mathematical constants: those rare numbers, including pi, that break out of the pack by appearing so frequently – and often, unexpectedly – in natural phenomena and related equations, that mathematicians like me exalt them with special names and symbols.

So, what other mathematical constants are worth celebrating? Here are my proposals to start filling out the rest of the calendar.

The Golden Ratio

For January, I nominate the Golden Ratio, phi. Two quantities are said to be in this ratio if dividing the larger by the smaller quantity gives the same answer as dividing the sum of the two quantities by the larger quantity. Phi equals 1.618…, and since there’s no Jan. 61, we could celebrate it on Jan. 6.

First calculated by Euclid, this ratio was popularized by Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli, who wrote a book in 1509 extravagantly extolling its aesthetic properties. Supposedly, Leonardo da Vinci, who drew 60 drawings for this book, incorporated it into the dimensions of Mona Lisa’s features, a choice some claim is responsible for her beauty.

The first inkling that phi occurs in nature came from another Italian, Fibonacci, while studying how rabbits multiply. A common reproductive assumption was that each pair of rabbits begets another pair every month. Start with a single rabbit pair, and successive populations will then follow the sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and so on – that is, get multiplied by a monthly “growth ratio” of 2.

What Fibonacci observed, though, was that rabbits spent the first cycle reaching sexual maturity and only began reproducing after that. A single pair now gives the new, slower progression 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34… instead. This is the famous sequence named after Fibonacci; notice that each population turns out to be the sum of its two predecessors.

How does phi show up amid all these randy rabbits? Well, progressing through the sequence, you see that each number is about 1.6 times the previous one. In fact, this growth ratio keeps getting closer and closer to 1.618…. For instance, 21 equals about 1.615 times 13, and 34 equals about 1.619 times 21. This means the rabbits settle down to reproducing with a growth ratio that is no longer 2, but rather, gets closer and closer to the Golden Ratio.

Actual rabbits are unlikely to follow this rule precisely. For one, they have the unfortunate tendency to get eaten by predators. But the Fibonacci numbers – like 5, 8, 13 and so on – show up extensively in nature, like in the number of spirals you might see in a typical pine cone. And yes, phi itself makes a few appearances as well, perhaps most notably in the way leaves arrange themselves around a stem to maximize exposure to sunlight.

The constant ‘e’

February offers another blockbuster constant, Euler’s number e, which has the value 2.718…. So mark next Feb. 7 for the shindig.

To understand e, consider “doubling” growth again, but now in terms of the “population” of dollars in your bank account. By some miracle, your money in this example is earning you 100% interest, compounded each year. Each $1 invested becomes $2 at year’s end.

Suppose, however, the interest is compounded semiannually. Then 50% of the interest is credited midyear, giving you $1.50. You get the remaining 50% interest on this $1.50 at the end of the year, which works out to $0.75, giving you $2.25 ($1.50 + $0.75). So your investment gets multiplied by 2.25, rather than 2.

What if a war broke out between banks, each offering to compound the same 100% interest over shorter and more frequent intervals? Would the sky be the limit in terms of your payout? The answer is no. You could raise your growth ratio from 2 to about 2.718 – more precisely, to e – but no higher. Although you get more frequent credits, they have progressively diminishing returns.

In the late 17th century, the discovery of calculus led to a quantum leap in people’s ability to grapple with the universe. Math could now analyze anything that changed – which extended its domain to most phenomena in nature. The constant e is famous because of its iconic role in calculus: It turns out to be the most natural growth factor to track change. Consequently, it shows up in laws describing many natural processes – from population growth to radioactive decay. The constant e is a big part of calculus – and turns up in all kinds of natural phenomena.

Next on our calendar of mathematical constants would come pi, of course, for March. My nominee for April is Feigenbaum’s constant delta, which equals 4.669… and measures how quickly growth processes spin off into chaos.

I’ll wait for my first batch to achieve official holiday status before going any further – happy to consider any candidates you want to nominate.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article and see more than 250 UMBC articles available in The Conversation.

Mammals are “all-in” on sexual reproduction, explains Mercedes Burns, assistant professor of biological sciences at UMBC. They even have “mechanisms that reinforce the maintenance of sex and make it so that asexual reproduction”—that is, without a mate—“isn’t possible anymore,” she adds. But why?

Even beyond mammals, most vertebrates require a mate to reproduce, but some organisms can reproduce on their own. Both modes of reproduction are relatively common throughout the tree of life. However, animals that are able to switch between the two modes of reproduction are incredibly rare, Burns says.

One example is an organism Burns studies—a member of a group of arachnids known as harvestmen, or more popularly as daddy-longlegs. The species Burns studies only exists on the two northernmost islands of Japan. Through a $987,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, she’ll soon travel there with a group of students to learn more about them.

“The questions I’m asking in this CAREER grant set the stage,” she says, for discovering how species that can reproduce both sexually (with a mate) and asexually (without a mate) “control whether it’s going to be one reproductive mode or the other,” Burns says. “Ultimately we want to understand what allows for this kind of reproductive strategy in these systems, which we don’t see commonly in animals.”

Different environments, different strategies

The NSF CAREER Award recognizes early-career faculty researchers who “have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” The award supports five years of work on a major research project.

Sexual coercion and harassment are widespread across the animal kingdom. Burns’s project will investigate how these kinds of sexual conflict may drive whether females in the species she is studying reproduce sexually or asexually in different situations. She has already found that populations in prime habitats tend to be dense and consist of a nearly equal number of males and females. However, in more remote, lower quality habitats, the populations are nearly exclusively female.

“We think that over evolutionary time, females are perhaps better able to persist away from these populations of high density, because they have this other (asexual) reproductive method,” Burns explains. She also expects the females that live in denser populations with more males to be more resistant to coercion, because they experience more of it and over time adapt to better avoid it.

To test her hypothesis, Burns and her students will travel to Japan to collect females from various harvestmen populations. In captivity, they will present the females with males and record their behavior. They expect females from populations with a large number of males to respond differently from females taken from populations made up almost exclusively of females. Burns and her students will also do genetic testing on eggs produced by the collected females, to see what portion of the eggs (if any) result from mating with the male they encountered in captivity.

Best of both worlds

Burns finds it odd that the ability to use both sexual and asexual reproduction isn’t more common across the animal kingdom. Having the option to use either method “is kind of the ideal reproductive mode,” she says, because the balance of pros and cons for each method changes with the circumstances.

In sexual reproduction, “you’re able to mix your genes to produce offspring that are going to be different from you, and perhaps will be better adapted to future conditions,” Burns says, which is helpful if the environment is changing or the mother’s genetic traits aren’t well-suited to the current environment. “But when you have excellent genetic combinations, you’re well adapted to your environment, and the environment isn’t changing much, it’s better to not pay the costs associated with sex,” she says, which include breaking up that excellent genome, passing on fewer of your own genes, and even potentially suffering stress and physical harm from sexual encounters.

And yet, using a mix of reproductive strategies is extremely rare. “Because we don’t see it commonly in nature, we want to learn more,” says Burns. “ What are the forces and mechanisms that keep these reproductive modes separate in animals, except in these rare cases?”

Breaking down barriers

Alongside the research component of the CAREER Award is a teaching and mentoring component. Burns and colleagues in modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communications at UMBC will create an in-depth mentoring program for the students who will accompany Burns to Japan. A course on Japanese language and culture, introspective journaling exercises about their expectations and reflections, and more will help the students get the most out of their experience.

The CAREER Award will also support some of Burns’s work as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee chair for the American Arachnological Society.  This includes her efforts to add DEI material to the society’s website and to conduct a demographic survey of its membership. The survey would help the organization better understand its members and the kinds of DEI programming they might be interested in.

Burns has been pursuing this work for some time, but an experience in 2021 inspired her to go further. In April of that year, researchers named a newly discovered spider species Ummidia mercedesburnsae in honor of her contributions to the field, recognizing her as the first known female African American arachnologist. “That kind of spurred me to think, ‘I could do something to leave a legacy for the organization and for the field,’” Burns reflects. “After realizing you’re the first or only one, you want to make sure it isn’t like that forever.”

Learning to love arthropods

In addition to inspiring her own lab group and members of the American Arachnological Society through her research, Burns will bring her love of arachnids and beyond to UMBC students through developing an undergraduate course on arthropod biodiversity and applications.

Despite the immediate “eww” that frequently accompanies bug sightings, “Altogether, I think there are a lot of opportunities to kindle some sort of curiosity and familiarity around insects, arachnids, and crustaceans,” Burns says. “That way we can challenge some of those negative connotations and fears and develop an appreciation for this huge, evolutionarily successful group of organisms. It’s a group that is incredibly diverse and that touches our lives in so many ways.”

A new paper in Nature Communications illuminates how a previously poorly understood enzyme works in the cell. Many diseases are tied to chronic cellular stress, and UMBC’s Aaron T. Smith and colleagues discovered that this enzyme plays an important role in the cellular stress response. Better understanding how this enzyme functions and is controlled could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for these diseases.

The enzyme is named ATE1, and it belongs to a family of enzymes called arginyl-tRNA transferases. These enzymes add arginine (an amino acid) to proteins, which often flags the proteins for destruction in the cell. Destroying proteins that are misfolded, often as a result of cellular stress, is important to prevent those proteins from wreaking havoc with cellular function. An accumulation of malfunctioning proteins can cause serious problems in the body, leading to diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer, so being able to get rid of these proteins efficiently is key to long-term health.

Tantalizing implications

The new paper demonstrates that ATE1 binds to clusters of iron and sulfur ions, and that the enzyme’s activity increases two- to three-fold when it is bound to one of these iron-sulfur clusters. What’s more, when the researchers blocked cells’ ability to produce the clusters, ATE1 activity decreased dramatically. They also found that ATE1 is highly sensitive to oxygen, which they believe relates to its role in moderating the cell’s stress response through a process known as oxidative stress.

“We were very excited about that, because it has lots of very tantalizing downstream implications,” particularly related to the enzyme’s role in disease, says Smith, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

Smith’s lab works initially with the yeast protein but also showed that the mouse version of ATE1 behaves similarly. That’s important, Smith explains. “Since the yeast protein and the mouse protein behave the same way,” he says, “there’s reason to believe, that because the human protein is quite similar to the mouse protein, it likely behaves the same way as well.”

A new approach

Before they made their breakthrough discovery, Smith and then-graduate student Verna Van, Ph.D. ’22, biochemistry and molecular biology, had been attempting for quite some time to induce ATE1 to bind with heme, a compound that contains iron and is necessary to bind oxygen in blood, to confirm another group’s results. It wasn’t working, and they were getting frustrated, Smith admits. But one day, as Smith was preparing a lecture on proteins that bind with clusters of metal and sulfur atoms, he realized the proteins he was about to cover with his students looked similar to ATE1.

After that realization, Smith and Van took a new approach. In the lab, they added the raw materials for creating iron-sulfur clusters to a solution with ATE1, and the results showed that ATE1 did indeed bind the clusters. “This looks promising,” Smith remembers thinking. “We were super excited about it.”

The fact that the enzyme binds the clusters at all was interesting and new, “but then we also asked if that’s affecting the enzyme’s ability to do what it does,” Smith says. The answer, after more than a year of additional experiments, was a resounding yes. In the process, Smith’s group also determined the structure of ATE1 in yeast (without the cluster bound to it), which they published in the Journal of Molecular Biology in November 2022.

Subtle but significant

Around the same time, another group also published a slightly different ATE1 structure. The other group’s structure had a zinc ion (another metal) bound in place of the iron-sulfur cluster. With the zinc in place, one key amino acid is rotated about 60 degrees. It might seem inconsequential, but Smith believes that rotation, which he presumes is similar with the cluster, is the key to the cluster’s role in ATE1’s function.

The rotated amino acid is directly adjacent to where a protein would interact with ATE1 to be modified, ultimately flagging it for degradation. Changing the angle of that amino acid changes the shape of the location the protein would bind “very subtly,” but changes its activity “more than subtly,” Smith says. 

Looking ahead and looking back

Smith would also like to explore how other metals, beyond zinc and the iron-sulfur cluster, may affect the enzyme’s activity. Additionally, his lab is working to determine the structure of ATE1 in an organism other than yeast and to confirm the ATE1 structure with an iron-sulfur cluster bound.

All these steps will build up a clearer picture of how ATE1 functions and is regulated in the cell. Smith also says he believes proteins that so far have not been shown to bind iron-sulfur clusters may indeed rely on them.

This new paper actually harks back to Smith’s first days at UMBC. He has always been interested in protein modifications, and adding arginine is a more unusual one. “It’s always something that I had filed back in my mind, and thought, ‘Oh, it would be really interesting to get a better understanding of how that works,’” he says. 

Several years later, his group is now on the leading edge of discovering how arginine modifications influence cellular function and disease.

The biotech industry—or technology-based business that harnesses the power of biology—is booming in Maryland. And with more than 3,000 biotech companies currently operating in the state (with more on the way) and an economic impact estimated at around 17 billion dollars, according to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, there’s never been a greater demand for highly-skilled workers to fill specialized roles as researchers, biomedical engineers, and technicians. 

With its presence expanding beyond the home campus in Catonsville at The Universities at Shady Grove campus in Montgomery County, a hotspot for biotech growth, and its commitment to inclusive excellence, UMBC is uniquely positioned to prepare students for fulfilling jobs in this industry, both at entry and advanced levels. 

We sat down with William R. LaCourse, dean of UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and Annica Wayman ’99, mechanical engineering, associate dean for Shady Grove Affairs in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, to hear more about what makes UMBC’s programs distinctive, and why it’s so important to make this type of education and training accessible to as many types of students as possible. 

UMBC Magazine: Dr. Wayman, you came back to UMBC in 2018 after a career in the biotech industry, at least in part because of UMBC’s emerging work in the translational life sciences. Can you tell us about what drew you here?

Dr. Wayman:  When I saw the Translational Life Science Technology (TLST) degree program that UMBC was launching at the Shady Grove site in Rockville, it got me really excited. Because for me, this space of translational science, biotech, and the ability to have a high-impact career where you can help people with their healthcare challenges, is really exciting. The other exciting piece was the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum—how many types of work can be brought together in new ways—and so it really spoke to those things that I’ve always been interested in. Being able to train students for careers in this space is exciting to me, and I have enjoyed being a part of this community so far. 

Dean LaCourse:  And speaking of a community, Maryland has such a growing and vibrant biotechnology industry, and it really is all about responding to this great need in the workforce for biotechnology. It’s a tremendous opportunity for students to be trained for really good-paying jobs in the applied sciences. This is something where you can roll your sleeves up and get working. 

UMBC Magazine: So, what does the journey look like for a student interested in this sort of work?

Dr. Wayman: The idea is to train students for critical jobs that are needed in the biotechnology industry primarily in the private sector at companies like AstraZeneca, Catalent or Kite Pharma. About 70 percent of our students in the TLST bachelor of science degree program come to us after getting their associate’s degree from Montgomery College. We’re seeing a big workforce gap in a number of areas, including cell and gene therapy.  So we have this program that increases the pipeline but also trains students in an interdisciplinary way. Students are not just getting the biology, biochemistry, and chemistry. They get bioinformatics, but they also get engineering classes, so biochemical engineering and biomanufacturing. We have a lot of faculty members who are from the industry teaching these courses on a part-time basis, and a lot of guest lecturers from companies who can share what, for example, bioprocess design really looks like in the field and how highly regulated the environment is. And so students really get the skills that they need to hit the ground running in the industry. It really is exciting to see students get all of this out of one degree.

Dean LaCourse: We’re also thinking a lot about the continuum of education. So we have the undergraduate TLST program and then, after students get some work experience and want to build into more of a managerial or technical leadership track, they can come and do the professional master’s in biotechnology to get those leadership and technical skills. I love how UMBC is thinking about this continuum of education where people can come on and off as they see fit, for certain skills or knowledge that they need to gain and move their careers forward. 

UMBC Magazine: Why is it so important to you to make this education accessible to students of all backgrounds? And why is it so important for the industry itself?

Dr. Wayman: These are well-paying jobs with high earning potential where you can leverage your scientific interest and skill to have enormous societal impact.  Our TLST and MPS Biotech students are contributing to life-saving solutions. Some students may think that being a doctor or nurse is the only pathway if they are good in science, but these biotech jobs are other possibilities where you’re enabling thousands of doctors and nurses in helping patients – and impacting even more lives. And it’s important that those who work on these life-saving solutions come from diverse backgrounds to bring unique perspectives that reflect the diverse populations being served.

Dean LaCourse: That’s why we create our education systems for everyone. You’re admitted to UMBC, so we owe you the best education possible. No matter what path you took to get here, what disadvantages you have. And that’s why we emphasize professional advising, mentorship, applied learning experiences, compassion, and fairness. Inclusive excellence is what we’re all about. 

Learn more about UMBC’s TLST program, the M.P.S. in Biotechnology, and other exciting pathways here.

You know why your goals matter, and UMBC knows how to get you there. Apply to UMBC today!

Deepa Madan, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UMBC, has received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award for research on materials that could improve wearable medical devices, reduce energy waste, and power sensors to monitor everything from the safety of infrastructure to the paths pollutants travel.

The roughly $500,000 grant, given over five years, will further Madan’s research on materials called thermoelectrics, which can turn a temperature difference into electricity, or vice versa.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to be recognized with this award, but I know that it is just the beginning,” says Madan. “The coming years will be an opportunity not only to meet the research goals, but also to contribute to public outreach and to give diverse students opportunities to connect to the research.”

“CAREER awards are one of the most significant awards at NSF for researchers,” says Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering. As associate dean for research and faculty development in the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT), she helped COEIT researchers hone their NSF CAREER award applications to access more support and visibility for their high-impact work.

“Dr. Madan is absolutely brilliant, and I was so excited to hear that she got this award,” Lavik says. “It will allow her to build out her research and educational program in a way that aligns beautifully with where the next generation of materials needs to move to address environmental and sustainability concerns.”

Heat into electricity

Heat is all around us. It radiates from sweaty skin, pours out of hot car engines, and seeps out of sunbaked sidewalks at night. Thermoelectric materials tap into this ubiquitous form of energy, turning temperature differences into electrical current. (The materials can also run in reverse, using electricity to heat or cool.)

Thermoelectric materials can already be found in niche applications—such as chilling wine and powering spacecraft—but their more widespread adoption has been held back by their limited efficiency and rigid nature.

Madan’s research tackles both these challenges. She mixes grains of thermoelectric material with a pliable glue-like substance called a binder. The resulting composite material can be twisted and bent, making it more versatile. It’s also more affordable.

Adding the binder normally makes a thermoelectric material less efficient. In addition, when making a composite, researchers have historically baked the material at extremely high temperatures to harden the binder, which takes a lot of energy.

Madan is striving to keep her process efficient, low-energy, and environmentally friendly. At the same time, she is answering fundamental questions about the relationship between structure, process, and properties of her materials. That knowledge will help illuminate the best path toward further improving the materials’ properties.

Furthering fundamental science

Generally, when materials conduct electricity well, they also conduct heat well (think of the feel of a metal bench in winter). However, thermoelectrics require the opposite—they work best when they conduct electricity well, but conduct heat poorly. That way they can maintain the temperature difference that drives the electrons.

Madan’s research group aims to make materials optimized with high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity by studying the underlying science.

To start, they mix a small amount of a binder made from the shells of crustaceans with grains of a thermoelectric material called bismuth antimony telluride. Some of the thermoelectric grains are about the size of pollen grains, while others are thousands of times smaller. They form the mixture into the desired shape using a 3D printer, and then squeeze it together while applying gentle heat.

The researchers then study how each step affects the microscopic structure of the material and, consequently, its properties.  

So far, they have found that the relatively large grains squeezed together provide a path for electrons to travel through the material, boosting its electrical conductivity. Meanwhile the super tiny grains and small defects where the grains meet the binder disrupt the waves of molecular vibrations that transport heat, keeping the thermal conductivity low.

Powering outreach

Ultimately, Madan hopes her thermoelectrics will power environmentally friendly devices of the future, but also drive students to become interested in the world of materials science. As part of her project, she will create a new class on flexible electronics and recruit high school and community college student researchers to work in her lab, in addition to her current UMBC students. She will also create an outreach kit for middle and high school students to make their own thermoelectrically-powered devices.

Deepa Madan talks with a student in her lab. The student is working on a related project on flexible batteries. (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC)

“I’m very passionate about education and outreach and UMBC gives us immense opportunities to connect with diverse populations,” says Madan. “I’m hoping with this award I can involve more students, especially women, who will get passionate about changing the world through STEM.”

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is all over the news these days. For those who aren’t working in this sphere, it might feel mysterious or even like a science fiction film. However, for researchers at UMBC, AI is just another tool in a growing collection of instruments that can make life better for their fellow human beings. AI-driven thinking opens up possibilities for improvements and problem solving in health care, the environment, civil engineering, and beyond. It can make previously unthinkable amounts of data easy to analyze. But work of this magnitude also calls for an ethical approach, both in how it’s taught and applied.

We sat down with Keith J Bowman, dean of UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT), and Vandana Janeja, professor and chair, Information Systems, to talk about why taking a humanistic route to research and teaching AI is such an important way of making a positive difference in our community and the world, and why UMBC is the perfect place for students with an interest in this emerging field.

UMBC Magazine: With UMBC’s “public research for public good” approach in mind, what are a few examples of creative ways our researchers are breaking boundaries with AI? 

If we can curate good data, there’s lots of good stuff we can do with AI. One NSF funded project example at UMBC was done by Dr. Nirmalya Roy in the Information Systems (IS) department, who combines sensor data with social media. The sensors read the water levels, and the water levels are shared with the community over tweets,  tweets on flood severity can be quantified/measured and confirmed by water level sensors as well, so this is a very good example of how you can actually make an impact in the community right where you are. It actually impacted our neighborhood. 

And then there are other things like studying deep fakes. That’s an NSF funded project that’s happening in my lab along with Dr. Christine Mallinson in the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3). We are trying to understand how to better educate our students in understanding deep fakes. On the one side, these audio files are created as fakes through AI, but then we are also trying to work with our colleagues to see how we can improve the detection and discernment of it, either through training the students or making algorithms aware of the human side of things—introducing humanistic aspects to AI. 

There are ways by which we can train our algorithms to be really, really precise in tasks that may be difficult for humans to see, but then we also have to be careful how to balance it with well-curated, well-trained data.

Keith Bowman: Often people think about AI only in relation to computing topics. But Tyler Josephson in chemical engineering at UMBC is working on trying to develop and use machine learning (where a machine learns to imitate human intelligence) and artificial intelligence tools in order to assess complex properties of some materials. These computational tools can be applied to chemical reactions, phase changes, statistical variability, or even human factors involved in chemical processing and materials manufacturing. They can also be used to foster improvements in theoretical understanding. The artificial intelligence can work through all of the cases and all of the examples that may be there.

Almost every engineering field has people working on how to apply AI and AI tools to work on things that have been challenges for many years, or trying to find faster ways to come to a resolution or a solution in areas as varied as the x-ray or ultrasound imaging used in human healthcare or the health of aging bridges and buildings. 

There’s health monitoring that is useful for infrastructure for public safety, for instance. Radiography and ultrasound can be used to look for flaws or potential failures in bridges buildings or even aircraft components. But then human beings end up interpreting the images.  Increasingly, we are able to collect massive amounts of information and artificial intelligence tools can help with quantifying information used in predicting outcomes. For instances with a high degree of complexity, having computational tools assist in the analysis can enhance the quality of the result. And also any place as a real backup to where humans might drop the ball in some cases.

UMBC Magazine: It’s amazing to think about just how broad the use of AI could be. 

Vandana Janeja: I want to emphasize one of the things that Keith said, and I think that’s really the crux of it where AI can be helpful, is literally the massive amounts of data we have, the terms of scalability and complexity we are talking about, that we literally cannot compute at the current capacity of our minds. And you’re talking about decision making that a human has to make. But now if you augment it with AI, it does so much better. 

And another NSFfunded project I should mention, iHarp—which focuses on climate data in polar regions—where there’s so many different systems and subsystems, just to put all of that data together and make these complex connections, even thousands of scientists may not be able to do it. But if you start making those connections across even some of those subsystems, it advances the science by leaps, tens of years. So that’s the kind of impact that AI can have. Now the trick is, can we make those connections well? Can we train and have well curated data? Because all data is not good data. 

UMBC Magazine: That’s a great segue into the human piece of all this. Can you talk to us about why UMBC takes such a humanistic approach to AI?

Vandana Janeja: You can look at it from multiple perspectives. And we are also impacting our students on how they are thinking. It’s very important to see who’s at the center of the AI application. You can ask, who are we impacting? Who are we working with? And who’s helping us create these connections? And then finally, are we able to produce algorithms that don’t harm individuals? So the positive impact, making sure it’s in ethical bounds, and then also making sure who we are working with. In all of the project examples we mentioned, there is a community impact. If you go onto the IS department research website you see that almost every project has a community partner. And then most importantly, it’s hard, but you really have to work with different disciplines.

UMBC Magazine: So for a student who’s interested in this kind of work, what would you give them in terms of advice?

Keith Bowman: To me, the thing that we need more of is students from other disciplines who do coursework in some of these related topics. That includes completing certificates and minors. A lot of COEIT students will do a second major or do a minor in other places on campus, and I think that’s fine. But I also think you need more students from other areas who can and are willing to do the reverse and establish some technical backgrounds. We need a broader range of people, including those from arts, humanities, social sciences, and life sciences, who also have enough of the technical background to even ask better questions regarding AI.

Vandana Janeja: People will come at data from different angles. I had a student talk about social justice in one of my classes, about the data and use of data, how it is empowering or disempowering people. And I encourage this. 

At the end of the day, I say to my students: keep asking questions. Can you connect what you are doing to the big picture? You want to use your own inner compass as a guide, think how are you contributing? Not everything has to be this big life-shattering thing, but at the same time, are you chipping away at it? Are you contributing to society as such? The UMBC education and the ecosystem we have at UMBC really empowers students to do that. 

Learn more about UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology and other exciting pathways here.

You know why your goals matter, and UMBC knows how to get you there. Apply to UMBC today!

UMBC’s art galleries are already in full bloom for the spring. With exhibits showcasing historic and innovative 20^th century photography, interactive hip-hop data visualization, and the legacies of political resistance as seen through Black hair, the university’s exhibition spaces are bountiful with thought-provoking work.

Hip-Hop and Data at CADVC

Tahir Hemphill: Rap Research Lab runs at the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture (CADVC) through March 18. In this exhibition, Tahir Hemphill, the inaugural Fellow for Faculty Diversity in the Visual Arts at UMBC, presents a collection of interactive works that explore what he calls “the hybrid area between art, technology, social engagement, and interdisciplinary research.”

Visitors are invited to participate in Hemphill’s design and research process through evolving artworks, including “Visualisation of Authority,” a kinetic sculpture drawing on Library of Congress research data, and “Mapper’s Delight,” an interactive augmented reality-based middle-school curriculum Hemphill designed in collaboration with Verizon Innovative Learning.

Hemphill is using the exhibition space for teaching as well. In a course offered in collaboration between Visual Arts and the UMBC Image Research Center (IRC) students have the opportunity to mine the “Rap Almanac,” Hemphill’s expansive dataset of rap lyrics, to produce work in an internship-based research practicum.

“CADVC operates as an art gallery and research center dedicated to scholarship and experimentation in art and culture,” says CADVC Director Rebecca Uchill. “This exhibition demonstrates a terrific range of scholarly inquiries, by Hemphill and his collaborators, into many facets of cultural history and the power of creative data visualization strategies. It is very exciting to watch this research develop in a public-facing presentation!”

Additional programming for the exhibition will include a series of public events such as a choreographed activation of a programmable robot arm, a partnership project with assistant professor Foad Hamidi from the Human-Centered Computing program in Information Systems, and a series of pop-up events.

Historic Hair and Formative Photography at AOK

The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery currently features two shows—Aaron Siskind: Formations and Sonya Clark: Hair/Craft—both on view through March 12.

Multidisciplinary artist Sonya Clark presents five works made with human hair and fiber art techniques to explore Black visibility and identity, and to examine the ways Black hair has been employed as an instrument of political resistance across the African diaspora. Clark, whose work explores issues of identity, race, cultural heritage, and collective memory, engages everyday objects and craft traditions to examine narrative threads connecting modern issues with historical origins, including the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and the biography of Madam C. J. Walker, who became the first female self-made millionaire by selling hair care products to Black women.

Influential photographer Aaron Siskind is celebrated through 55 works spanning his prolific career, all part of UMBC’s Photography Collections. Beginning with early documentary works Siskind made as part of the New York Film and Photo League in the 1930s and his groundbreaking abstract works of the 1940s and 1950s, the exhibition continues through phases of architectural studies, travel photography, and Siskind’s famous series focused on divers suspended in mid-air, “Terrors and Pleasures of Levitation.”

Mind’s Eye in Toronto

With Mind’s Eye: The Psychic Photographs of Ted Serios, UMBC’s Special Collections has gone international. The Image Centre of Toronto Metropolitan University invited UMBC’s Curator of Exhibitions Emily Cullen to curate a show featuring one of AOK’s more fascinating collections, the Jule Eisenbud Collection on Ted Serios and Thoughtographic Photography.

Serios claimed to have the ability to psychically transfer his thoughts onto Polaroid film, a process called “thoughtography.” Chicago psychiatrist Jule Eisenbud investigated these claims, experimenting with Serios for several years in the mid-1960s, and the archive of those results is now part of UMBC’s permanent collection.