In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Kafui Dzirasa ’01, M8, chemical engineering, associate professor at the Duke University School of Medicine and this year’s Outstanding Alumnus in Engineering and Information Technology.

As an associate professor of psychiatry, behavioral science, neurobiology, and neurosurgery at the Duke University School of Medicine, Kafui Dzirasa ’01, M8, chemical engineering, has dedicated his career to creating a kind of “pacemaker for the brain,” a device that can effectively rewire neurological signals in patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other illnesses. His research has earned him, among other accolades, the 2013 Sidney R. Baer Prize for Innovative and Promising Schizophrenia Research, as well as a 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest award given to young scientists by the U.S. government. According to Dalton Hughes ’14, M21, chemical engineering, now an M.D./Ph.D. student working in Dzirasa’s lab at Duke, he is not only “a powerhouse in the fields of engineering, neuroscience, and medicine,” but a “phenomenal research mentor, captivating speaker, compassionate physician, and exceptional educator.”

“[Dr. Dzirasa’s] demonstrated commitment to UMBC and its students is truly special,” writes Keith Harmon, director of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, “is truly special, and an inspiring example of a selfless spirit determined to ‘pay forward’ all that was poured into him at UMBC.”

Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

Dr. Dzirasa will also be giving a Grit-X Talk on Saturday, October 14…sign up to reserve your seat today!

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Marc Zupan, associate professor and graduate program director of UMBC’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, and this year’s Outstanding Faculty Award winner.

In just over 14 years at UMBC, Marc Zupan, associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has become known as a connection-maker. He connects students with internships, job opportunities, and graduate programs. He’s made international connections with Portugal’s Universidade do Porto through the Global Engineering Program. And he’s made connections across disciplines, bridging the gap between STEM and the humanities by incorporating elements of both into his own teaching.  Asynith Palmer ’06, English, a writer who worked with Zupan to secure funding and design the curriculum for the Global Engineering Program, says it’s his genuine interest in his students’ lives and experiences that makes him the kind of teacher and mentor that he is. “Marc…trains his creativity on helping his students,” she writes. “In fact, he feels energized by meeting with them, learning their interests, suggesting — or creating — possibilities for internships and research, and watching them thrive.” As a researcher, Dr. Zupan focuses on characterizing the behavior of and modeling materials across length scales. He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in solid mechanics of materials and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Dayton. He came to UMBC after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge MicroMechanics Centre in the U.K., he is a visiting professor at the Universidade do Porto, Portugal and was an active abroad Fulbright Scholar from 2012 to 2013 at the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto.

Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. ’06, public policy, the current Deputy Surgeon General of the United States and our Outstanding Alumna in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. ’06, public policy, currently serves as the Deputy Surgeon General of the Unites States. She is a Rear Admiral (RADM) in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps. In her role as Deputy Surgeon General she advises and supports the Surgeon General regarding operations of the USPHS Commissioned Corps and in communicating the best available scientific information to advance the health of the nation. She served as Acting Surgeon General from April 2017 through September 2017.

RADM Trent-Adams has held various positions in the Department of Health & Human Services, working to improve access to care for poor and underserved communities. As a clinician and administrator, she has had direct impact on building systems of care to improve public health for marginalized populations globally. She states, “The greatest success of my career has been the opportunity to assist in building programs both domestically and internationally, to serve the underserved.”

RADM Trent-Adams career spans 30 years of public service. She has served on commissions for the United Nations and the World Health Organization, worked to develop HIV/AIDS treatment plans in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa, and presented her research on HIV, healthcare delivery, public health, nursing and emergency preparedness worldwide. Prior to joining the USPHS, RADM Trent-Adams was a nurse officer in the U.S. Army.

Trent-Adams holds a bachelor’s in nursing from Hampton University and a master’s in nursing and health policy from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She was inspired to pursue her doctorate at UMBC by its “outstanding academic programs” and “the caliber of the policy faculty,” including Dr. Nancy Miller, Dr. Marvin Mandell, Dr. Kevin Eckert, Dr. Chris Hewitt, and Dr. Cheryl Miller. She often returns to campus to speak to classes and participate in panel discussions, and maintains a mentoring relationship with several undergraduate and graduate students.

As for life outside of work, she says, “I am blessed with a husband who is supportive of my career…[and] we have two amazing daughters who keep life interesting! My extended family keeps me grounded by accepting me for who I am, and constantly remind me that I am still a country girl from Virginia.”

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Dennis Williams II ’14, American studies, head of content marketing at Skillshare and this year’s Outstanding Alumnus in the Humanities.

Near the end of his time at UMBC, Dennis Williams II ’14, American studies, had already begun to break into online media, writing professionally for Funny or Die and the Huffington Post. And in the few short years since he graduated, he’s made a name for himself in the tech industry, heading up a global content marketing team at the startup Augment, receiving an Oculus fellowship, and, most significantly, being named one of LinkedIn’s 2016 Top Voices in marketing. Williams, now head of content marketing at the online learning platform Skillshare, says the community and support he had at UMBC helped him to build his thriving career. “There were many months that I was sleeping out of my car during my time at UMBC, or pressing financially to secure all of the classes that I needed,” he writes. “It was more convenient for me to drop out, but the fortitude that I had then has essentially defined my career moving forward.” He credits fellow Alumni Award winner Dr. Kimberly Moffitt for being “a relentless support system, pushing me to persevere in class and in life,” and Dr. Ken Baron for setting him up for success as a transfer student: “He hadn’t known me beforehand, but treated me as if he had known me for the last 10 years.” In addition to his work in writing and marketing strategy, Williams is also a filmmaker: his short Note to Self, which he wrote and directed, has won three awards and was recently selected for the HollyShorts Film Festival.

Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Lauren Mazzoli ’15, mathematics and computer science, and M.S. ’17, computer science, systems engineer at Northrop Grumman and this year’s recipient of the Rising Star award for outstanding graduates of the last decade.

As a young woman studying in a traditionally male-dominated field, Lauren Mazzoli ’15, mathematics and computer science, and M.S. ’17, computer science, has faced her share of challenges. “There were numerous times where I could have felt overwhelmed or defeated” by the gender ratio in STEM, she writes, “but instead, I was driven to change it.” That drive has led her into a promising career as a cyber software engineer at Northrop Grumman, as well as an advocate and mentor to female engineers at both her workplace and her alma mater. A former Cyber Scholar, Mazzoli has remained involved with both that program and the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT), helping to organize career development and educational opportunities for students interested in cybersecurity. At Northrop Grumman, Mazzoli earned early accolades for her support of a time-sensitive, mission-critical project. She was recently accepted into the company’s 3-year Future Technical Leaders rotational program, and is also Vice Chair of the Women’s Employee Resource Group. Mazzoli was inspired to attend UMBC by its “friendly campus, diversity of thought, and students hungry to learn,” and she credits Dr. Marie desJardins, Dr. Penny Rheingans, and Dr. Anupam Joshi for their inspiration and support on her path through the cybersecurity field.

Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Alejandro Cremaschi ’93, music, associate professor of piano pedagogy and chair of keyboard studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, and this year’s Outstanding Alumnus in Visual and Performing Arts.

As a musician, an academic, and a native of Argentina, Alejandro Cremaschi ’93, music, has dedicated much of his life and career to the research and performance of the music of Latin America. In addition to his post as an associate professor of piano pedagogy and chair of keyboard studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, Cremaschi has recorded five albums, both solo and with the string ensemble Trio Cordilleras, that showcase the works of such composers as Alberto Ginastera, Luis Jorge Gonzalez, and Luis Gianneo. Cremaschi enrolled at UMBC as an international student in 1991, and says that his time here had an immense impact on both his musicianship and scholarship. In addition to his study of piano with Dr. Nancy Roldan — “a revelation for me,” he writes — Cremaschi also sang in UMBC’s Camerata, and performed with the group at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. After graduating, Cremaschi earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota, and taught at Ohio State University for several years before joining the faculty at CU Boulder in 2004. Cremaschi is a past president of the Colorado Music Teachers Association, and has earned accolades for his diversity and community outreach work both on- and off-campus. He says that his greatest success is being able to do what he loves: play, teach, and introduce the music of his homeland to wider audiences. In his personal life, he is proudest of his wife, Marcela, and their two daughters, Carla and Erica.

Alejandro Cremaschi performs live at UMBC on Thursday, September 21. Click here for more information!
Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

In the weeks leading up to the Alumni Awards Ceremony, we’ll be profiling each honoree in more detail here on our blog. Today, meet Kate Laskowski ’06, biological sciences and chemistry, scientist at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, and this year’s Outstanding Alumna in the Natural and Mathematical Sciences.

Kate Laskowski ’06, biological sciences and chemistry, had plans for veterinary school when she enrolled at UMBC, and figured that experience as an undergraduate researcher could only help with the application process. When she got to the lab, however, she realized what she “really wanted to keep doing — which was more research!” As an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Jeff Leips’ lab, Laskowski helped research genetic aging patterns in the Drosophila species of fruit fly, and kicked off the lab’s work with parasitoid wasps, picking up an Undergraduate Research Award and presenting at an international conference in Wales along the way. In her doctoral program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she studied the evolutionary origins of animal personality traits in the threespine stickleback. Now, as a scientist at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany, she’s continuing her research into behavior and social interactions among fish species. “It turns out competition and cooperation among group members is a key driver for animal personalities,” she writes, “which I think resonates quite nicely with our own human experience.” In her own human experience, Laskowski, who has been living in Germany for four years with the help of a grant from the German Science Foundation, credits adjusting to life in another country and learning a new language as some of her biggest personal accomplishments.

Join us for the 2017 Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5!

Each year, the UMBC Alumni Association celebrates alumni and faculty who have made outstanding contributions to their fields, their communities, and the University. Join us for the Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, October 5, at the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall, as we honor the following individuals:

Outstanding Alumnus, Engineering and Information Technology
Dr. Kafui Dzirasa ’01, Chemical Engineering
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University

Outstanding Alumnus, Humanities
Dennis Williams ’14, American Studies
Head of Content Marketing, Skillshare; Oculus Content Fellow; LinkedIn Top Voice 2016

Outstanding Alumna, Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Kate Laskowski ’06, Biological Sciences and Chemistry
Scientist, Department of Biology & Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology & Inland Fisheries

Outstanding Alumnus, Visual and Performing Arts
Dr. Alejandro Cremaschi ’93, Music
Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Chair of Keyboard Studies, College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder

Outstanding Alumna, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. ’06, Public Policy
Deputy Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human Services

Distinguished Service
Dr. Steven Storck ’08, Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics, M.S. ’09, Mechanical Engineering, and Ph.D. ’14, Mechanical Engineering
Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Rising Star
Lauren Mazzoli ’15, Computer Science and Mathematics, and M.S. ’17, Computer Science
Systems Engineer, Future Technical Leaders Program, Northrop Grumman

Outstanding Faculty
Dr. Marc Zupan
Associate Professor and Program Director, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UMBC

Learn more about our past award winners