Back by popular demand from our 50th Anniversary weekend, it’s
Grit-X! Head to UMBC’s Black Box Theatre on Saturday, October 14, from
10 a.m. to noon, and be enlightened by some of the most intriguing
alumni and faculty minds. Stay tuned for more information including links to video presentations.
The full lineup of time slots, speakers, and topics is as follows:
SESSION 1: 10 — 10:30 a.m.
Welcome: Karl V. Steiner, Vice President for Research
Moderator: William LaCourse, Dean, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Kafui Dzirasa ’01, M8, Chemical Engineering — Associate Professor, Duke School of Medicine
Next Generation Psychiatric Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Scientists at the cutting edge of neurobiology are
beginning to unravel the causes of mental illness by studying the
patterns of electrical activity within the brain. Kafui Dzirasa is one
of these pioneers; he has a particular focus on building a “pacemaker
for the brain” to treat diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. Dzirasa’s work draws on new technologies that allow
researchers to regulate brain activity and observe the consequences, in
hopes of revealing the electrical pathways that underlie complex social
behaviors.
Christine Mallinson — Professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture
The Social Life of Speech
Language is one of our most basic human
characteristics—using language is something we all do, all the time,
every day. But there isn’t just one linguistic code that we use. Rather,
language is a nuanced, complex social tool, naturally evolving over
time and changing for different circumstances. Research on the English
language examines how various segments of society use words, usages, and
pronunciations in ways that reflect the cultures and identities of
their speakers. In Baltimore, the language we hear tells us about our
history as a city and reflects the diversity of the people who live
here.
Nilanjan Banerjee — Associate Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
When What You Wear Understands You
How can cutting-edge research on textile sensors and
wearable radar sensors help us recognize gestures, monitor sleep
fragmentation, and diagnose sleep disorders? The Banerjee lab has
developed and applied sensors to users with upper extremity mobility
impairments, adults suffering from insomnia and restless leg syndrome,
and kids with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, with the intent
to begin answering that question.
SESSION 2: 10:45 — 11:15 a.m.
Moderator: Scott Casper, Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Sean Pang ’09, English, and M.A. ’11, Teaching — English Teacher, Montgomery County Public Schools
The Fortune of Misfortunes: Finding Passion and What to Do With It
It has been said that the purpose of education is to find your passion.
But how? More importantly, what do you do once you’ve found it? Sean
Pang, the Washington Post’s 2017 Teacher of
the Year, will focus on the lengthy journey of finding his passion
despite the obstacles he faced, including financial challenges at home,
recent health problems, and discrimination based on his Asian heritage
and immigrant status. Peng will instill in the audience the importance
of not only having hope, but also spreading it so others can find the
silver lining in even their darkest times.
Gymama Slaughter — Associate Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
The Art of Powering Implantable Electronics
The number of smart implantable devices is on the rise,
especially as we approach the ramping up of the “internet of things.” A
key challenge for implantable electronic devices has been keeping these
devices properly and conveniently powered. Current battery technologies
are sealed within these devices, thereby forcing the surgical
replacement of the device once the battery is depleted. We need an
inconspicuous means of powering implantable electronics with
imperceptible methods that moves us toward new innovative solutions to
the power challenge in implantable devices. A lightweight bio-solution
that leverages the biochemical energy from human biological fluids is a
step forward for powering these smart implantable technologies.
Kate Brown — Professor, History
The Great Chernobyl Mystery: How Ignorance Became Policy and Politics
U.N. websites say that 33 people died from the 1986
Chernobyl catastrophe and 6,000 children got cancer. Is that the extent
of the damage? Working through newly disclosed Soviet health archives,
historian Kate Brown discovered that Soviet doctors reported a public
health disaster in the Chernobyl-contaminated territories in the late
1980s. What happened to that story? Brown explores international
archives to show how that news of radiation-related health problems
disappeared from the scientific consensus.
SESSION 3: 11:30 a.m. — 12 p.m.
Moderator: Keith J. Bowman, Dean, College of Engineering and Information Technology
Corey Fleischer ’08, Mechanical Engineering — Co-Founder and General Manager, The Foundery
Building Founders the Old Fashioned Way
Makerspaces are the newest tool fueling the next
generation of entrepreneurs and product developers. The makerspace
community provides opportunities to grow synergies among engineers,
software developers and artists, leveraging their varied skill sets as
they work alongside each other. Inside, product developers can operate
advanced computer-controlled tools to create industrial grade prototypes
without waiting on turn-around from outside suppliers. Iterative design
cycles are reduced from months to hours, so inventors can quickly reach
viable solutions.
T. Jane Turner — Professor, Physics & Director, Center for Space Science and Technology
Here Be Dragons: Investigating Black Holes in Galaxy Nuclei
Astronomers have discovered that every galaxy has a huge
black hole at its core, millions to billions of times the mass of our
Sun. In most galaxies, these black holes are only revealed by their
gravitational influence. However, in a few percent of galaxies gas and
dust are actively falling on to the central black hole, resulting in
large amounts of radiation being produced from close to the event
horizon. Turner will discuss what we can learn by studying these exotic
systems.
Doug Hamby — Associate Professor, Dance & Director, Linehan Artist Scholars Program
Making Dance: Let the Body Show the Way
How does a dance take shape? Often it begins with dancers
experimenting with simple gestures of the arms and body, followed by the
choreographer sculpting the dancers’ creative experiments in space and
time. Choreographer Doug Hamby will demonstrate the process of creating a
new dance work with a group of three dancers, with the goal of building
a short dance of dynamic interaction and complexity right before the
audience’s eyes.