Dogs…carnival rides…dogs…ribbon cutting ceremonies…dogs…Alumni Awards…did we mention dogs? All that means Homecoming season at UMBC!

So grab your pumpkin spiced latte and a nice warm blanket as we dive into the events that make October such a fun month for current, past, and future Retrievers. Since we promised you dogs, we’ll start off with the evergreen puppy parade! 

Homecoming is the obvious place for different graduating classes to meet up, but it’s so much more special when that fellow Retriever is your relative! We also love the dedication future Retrievers have years before they even apply.

At UMBC, Homecoming isn’t confined to one weekend, we celebrate the festivities with as many events as possible, including our 31st annual Alumni Award ceremony, complete with the Surgeon General, Jerome Adams ’97, M4, biochemistry & molecular biology and psychology,  lifting his daughter onto the stage in this magical photo.

Another special guest on campus meant that students and alumni spent an evening with Trevor Noah, who brought his usual wit along with a more serious side to talk about about his personal narrative and give advice on how students can best tackle college before taking their next steps.

And some more good dogs and other animals, because we know why you’re really here.

The carnival rides Retrievers have come to love and expect took up most of Erickson field, and nearby, alumni-owned businesses set up their wares.

Other notable events we celebrated as a community included the ribbon cutting for the new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building, attended by a few familiar faces. After the DNA double helix was cut, people gathered to listen to Grit-X, three engaging talks by some of UMBC’s brightest minds.

The alumni community gathered across campus to reconnect and make new memories. A small collection of photos below showcase the spirit filled days of UMBC Homecoming. See a more comprehensive look at all the events here.

And to close it out, the annual bonfire lit up the night. Rendered here by UMBC’s Commonvision.

 

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Happy Motion Monday! Check out this piece from Noah. Be sure to attend the Bonfire THIS Friday! See all the great Homecoming events at homecoming.umbc.edu #UMBC #UMBCart #cvmotionmondays #UMBCLife

A post shared by commonvision (@commonvision) on Sep 30, 2019 at 8:47am PDT

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All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 and Arionna Gonsalves ’19.

Since its groundbreaking two years ago, the UMBC community has watched the new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building rise next to The Commons. Students and faculty wondered what it would look like on the inside, and what it would be like to study, take classes, do research, or just hang out in the new space. 

Well, the time has come! As the ILSB opens its doors for the fall semester, Retrievers are eagerly trying to figure out how the ILSB will fit into their routines. Grabbing a seat in the atrium for a quick break with friends before class? Conducting experiments in an open lab with floor-to-ceiling windows? Learning about any number of topics in classrooms designed from the ground up for active learning? Taking your lunch to a patio adjacent to the green roof? However you use the ILSB, here are nine features you shouldn’t miss:

1) Stunning staircases 

Science isn’t just what happens inside the ILSB, it’s built into the building itself. Two staircases in the building exemplify the designers’ dedication to detail: this bright orange spiral staircase has an uncanny resemblance to a DNA helix, don’t you think? And the stairs in the building’s atrium are cantilevered to appear to float in thin air—reminding us all that anything is possible.

2) Sundial 

As you ascend the stairs or peer over the building’s inner balconies, don’t be nervous about the spot of red light slowly migrating across the floor. It’s not a laser experiment gone rogue—it’s a sundial. On the solstice, it traces a special line on the floor. Old and new technologies come together in the ILSB, reminding us all that we’re standing on the shoulders of giants.

3) Green roof

There’s life bursting from every corner of this building, including UMBC’s fifth green roof. Green roofs provide insulation that reduces heating and cooling energy requirements, plus they help purify the air and water. Unfortunately, the roof is off limits to games of ultimate frisbee or other activities, but the adjacent patio is a great spot to enjoy lunch or just take a breather between classes.

4) Environmental systems lab

This lab allows researchers to get their hands dirty conducting environmental experiments in a way never before possible at UMBC. A controlled trial looking at how insects respond to different water chemistry? Sure. An experiment to determine how plants respond to different temperatures? Go for it. Risk of contaminating molecular experiments that could be ruined by a stray speck of dirt? Nada. Have fun, ecologists!

5) Innovative classrooms

UMBC is consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally for undergraduate teaching for many reasons. One of them is our commitment to teaching in an active-learning and flipped-classroom format. This is when students first encounter material traditionally presented in lectures at home via readings or short instructor-produced videos. That way, class time is saved for team-based problem solving. Implementing this practice has often meant completely revamping core classes such as introductory biology and chemistry. The ILSB adds to UMBC’s capacity to offer this kind of educational experience.

6) Art installation

It’s a bird! It’s a neuron! It’s…whatever you want it to be. Volkan Alkanoglu’s brightly-colored artwork INFLIGHT, which seemingly floats from three large walls in the ILSB’s atrium, is striking no matter how you look at it. But did you know the artist carefully incorporated elements from UMBC research into the design, from brain cells to flying orioles? Now that’s interdisciplinary. What do you see? 

7) Multi-user all-gender restrooms

Although UMBC is currently in the middle of remodeling many of the restrooms on campus for all-gender use, the ILSB is the first building at UMBC designed with all-gender multi-use in mind from the beginning. These restrooms pave the way for a more inclusive and convenient bathroom experience for our students, faculty, and staff of all gender identities. Learn more about the university’s plan for the addition of all-gender restrooms on campus. 

8) Etched windows

Look closely at the windows—what do you see? The pattern etched on the glass, created especially for UMBC, was designed to symbolize reeds and grasses on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The “fritting,” as it’s called, serves to deter bird strikes and reduces the energy required for heating and cooling. It’s a subtle way to honor our unique location and continue to protect it.

9) Brick pathway

As further homage to UMBC’s geography, the curving brick pathway around the ILSB imitates a stream that once flowed across campus (it now runs underground), and all the plants you see are native to the region. So take a stroll, or simply sit on a bench and take it all in, from buzzing pollinators to bright flowers.

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All photos, including header, by Marlayna Demond ’11.

Tucked away in the basement of the Meyerhoff Chemistry Building lies a hidden gem. The Molecular Characterization and Analysis Complex (MCAC) houses a group of self-proclaimed nerds analyzing chemical compounds on instruments that cost upward of a million dollars. Their manager, mentor, and friend, UMBC alumnus Joshua Wilhide M.S. ’10, chemistry, watches over the students—nudging them in the right direction when they need guidance and cracking a joke when they need a mental break. 

By the time lunch rolls around, the group grabs a deck of cards and gathers at a table in the front of the lab to play a round of rummy. Before returning to the humming machines that are separating and sorting complicated chemical mixtures, the students swap stories of any ghost sightings in recent days.

“There’s a running joke that our lab is haunted by a very friendly ghost,” Wilhide chuckles. “Whenever we get new people in the lab we always ask if they believe in ghosts. Whether or not you believe, it’s a fascinating subject that we can always go back to, and we are able to bond over it.”

The profoundly welcoming work atmosphere is a feeling that Wilhide has been working to create for nearly a decade. When he started there full-time, in 2010, the MCAC was just a basement with gritty tile floors, worn down infrastructure, and three mass spectrometers. In 2019, it’s an inspirational learning environment with over 20 pieces of analytical instrumentation, and Wilhide’s home away from home. 

Maryland Born and Bred

Wilhide was first introduced to what would become the MCAC in 2006, when he was an undergraduate at Stevenson University. Knowing that he wanted to become an analytical chemist, he sought out an instrumental lab for his senior capstone project and found one at UMBC. The lab allowed nearly anyone to come in and be trained on any piece of equipment, something that still holds true today at the MCAC.

“I came to UMBC and fell in love with the aspect of figuring out the unknown. It was fascinating to me that you can take a mixture of chemicals and inject it into an instrument and it will give you a unique profile of all the compounds in the chemical,” Wilhide says.

His first few years of research at UMBC included working with DNA and RNA samples and discovering how each interacted with the HIV virus. Those crucial early years gave Wilhide an in depth understanding of how to operate each instrument in the lab and taught him how to modify different instruments so that they interacted properly with the unique chemical makeup of RNA. 

“I came to UMBC and fell in love with the aspect of figuring out the unknown.”
– Joshua Wilhide M.S. ’10, chemistry

After Stevenson, Wilhide was working toward his Ph.D. at UMBC when his mentor, Dan Fabris, decided to move his research to the University at Albany. Wilhide initially followed Fabris to upstate New York, but after two months, decided to return home and graduate with his master’s in chemistry at UMBC.

“The decision was difficult, but I was born and raised in Maryland, and I love my Old Bay and my crabs,” he admits. “I’m truly a Maryland boy at heart.” 

Shortly after Wilhide’s graduation in 2010, the dean of UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, William LaCourse, offered Wilhide a managerial position at the MCAC. Having worked intimately with the equipment for several years, LaCourse believed that Wilhide was the perfect candidate for the job. 

Unique Approach to Learning

Wilhide describes the MCAC as a unique “jack of all trades” facility that works on general analytics. Other universities have core facilities that specialize in a certain subsection of analytical chemistry, which he says limits their ability to solve certain problems. On the other hand, the MCAC has more than 20 pieces of instrumentation that allow samples to be run through an instrument specially formulated for their specific molecular make-up. 

One area of expertise that the lab has developed over the last several years is ambient ionization mass spectrometry. In layman’s terms, this involves Wilhide and other MCAC members building and designing a platform to test a range of unique samples (some examples of what they have tested include ink on paper, a piece of fruit, art from various museums) and determining their molecular make-up in a matter of seconds. Wilhide explains that the technology can be used to determine pesticides on foods, discover groups of chemicals in plastics, and was once even used to uncover the chemical differences between Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

“We are processing analytical problems that other core facilities can’t analyze because they don’t have the instrumentation nor the proper analytical techniques. Because the MCAC is so diversified in personal backgrounds as well as instruments,” Wilhide explains, “we can usually find a way to solve these issues, and that’s what makes us so unique.”

And students directly benefit from the MCAC’s diverse instrumentation. Wilhide personally trains all of his undergraduates on all of the instruments, even the $2 million mass spectrometer. If a trainee breaks any instrument, Wilhide sees this as an opportunity to show them how to fix it. 

Open Access Advantage

Most analytic chemistry facilities have equipment behind closed doors where samples are put in a dropbox, tested by the lab’s staff, and results are emailed to the recipient weeks later. But Wilhide takes pride in the open access aspect of the MCAC, noting that anyone can come into the lab and be trained on any instrument. Another unique feature of the lab is the opportunity for undergraduates to run samples. Not only are the students learning how to analyze the data, but they are learning to run the instrumentation, thereby increasing their skill sets and marketability in the workforce. 

“That’s how we feed back into that loop of a university education,” Wilhide says. “The students have access to equipment that many people don’t have and because of that will be able to get a job almost anywhere. It’s a unique opportunity to train students from the ground up.”

Chemistry major, Maddie Schuch ’21, currently works in the MCAC studying water quality analysis. She uses the lab’s instrumentation to detect and determine how much of a certain ion or compound is in a specific water sample, thus revealing the water quality. Her time working at the MCAC solidified her plans to pursue a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry when she graduates. Schuch notes that the fun work environment Wilhide creates has led to her ongoing success as an undergrad. 

“It’s almost like having a little family here at the lab,” she says. “Josh truly cares for everyone and is very supportive—he never puts you down for not understanding something. Not only do I love the science that I get to do here, but I love the people.”

Keeping Alumni Close to Home

Wilhide is grateful that his professional odyssey brought him back to where he started: UMBC. Dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, William LaCourse, understands the importance of keeping alumni like Wilhide on campus. 

“There’s no better feeling than the joy of making room for one more member of the UMBC family,” LaCourse says. “In doing so, we are better equipped to meet our challenges and celebrate success as we deepen the inclusive excellence and community of our UMBC.” 

LaCourse is impressed by how Wilhide has breathed life into the MCAC over the years. Wilhide’s commitment to growth and discovery on both a scientific and a personal level leaves a lasting impact on his students and is something that LaCourse wants to keep at UMBC.

“Alums on campus bring with them an insight into the culture of UMBC and a devotion to its mission and ethos—all of which enriches the student experience and working environment. Their loyalty and love for UMBC and all we do shines through as a beacon of inspiration for others to follow,” he says.

UMBC as a Cornerstone

The Maryland boy continues to stay loyal to UMBC and acknowledges how much he has grown throughout his many years working in the MCAC. 

“UMBC has been an anchoring point for me. Every stage of my life, from being a rookie grad student at 21, all the way to now being married with a stable career, the university has been there for me. I see it as a home and a place to grow, all while standing on the shoulders of giants and utilizing the connections I’ve made,” Wilhide says. 

Wilhide emphasized that he has grown alongside his students, too. He recalls when he was dating his future wife, students would offer him advice on proposals and engagement rings around the lunch table. Now, conversations revolve around raising his toddler. 

“UMBC is a place to grow, and the MCAC is always growing… I’m always growing,” he says. “If you would’ve told me nine years ago that we were going to set up this facility, I would’ve laughed. But we took it one day at a time and look where we are now.”

The MCAC will continue expanding when the new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) opens in fall 2019. The university recently purchased a $1.3 million multiple instrument package for the ILSB, designed to expand the university’s ability to study the function of proteins and peptides. Wilhide says that these new instruments will help bring back UMBC faculty who had to use other facilities to complete their lab work. He notes that this new equipment is a big step out of their comfort zone and will bring many new challenges, but will certainly be worth it. 

“That’s the thing about Josh, he loves a good challenge,” LaCourse says. “He is a brilliant scientist and an overachiever. He cares about the students and is always ready to help build the university as a whole.” 

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Header image: Wilhide showing students a piece of a mass spectrometer

Students pictured: Shirley Wolz ’20, biochemistry, and Sanaa Jones, an incoming first year student getting a jump start on research.

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11.