Summer 2023 

Hennigan Lab

Developing new methods to measure atmospheric gas-phase ammonia

I am excited to deploy the instrumentation that we have been working on to collect data. It will be satisfying to see real tangible results come from something that I have worked on with other students!

The best part of my research is the people I work with, everybody in the lab is excited to be here and work on their respective projects.

Search for faculty and read about their research through their website or their department website. Then send an email to a professor who does research that speaks to you and/or aligns with your career goals.

AIChE ChemE Car Team Lead

Industry or M.S. in Chemical Engineering

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-welling-352602248/ 

BEYA STEM Career Fair (FREE --Both In-Person or Virtual)

Friday, February 16, 2024

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Registration Deadline: Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Open to ALL Students (undergraduate and graduate)

Jobs--full-time, part-time, internships and graduate admissions

This event is sponsored by Career Communications Group (CCG) and is part of their large annual conference, which will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center. Representatives from major corporations and universities will be available to meet with students pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields as well as Business, Finance, and Marketing. Why should you participate?

•       FREE Career Fair (in-person & virtual options)
•       Career seminar Options
•       On the spot job offers
•       Networking with recruiters
•       Learn and network with the country's best and brightest STEM minds

Registration is required. Your registration will give you access to the in-person and online Career Fairs. The UMBC Career Center will provide a free shuttle bus to the Career Fair on Friday. If you would like to take the free shuttle bus, you must register with both BEYA and the UMBC Career Center by Tuesday, February 13.

•      To register, please follow the instructions at: https://careers.umbc.edu/beya 

Please be sure to upload your resume at the time of registration.

 Contact Diane Crump-Fogle (crump@umbc.edu) or Chrisi Giannakaris (chrisig@umbc.edu) at the UMBC Career Center for additional information

Towards Democratizing AI: Scaling  and Learning (Fair) Graph Representations in an Implementation Agnostic Fashion

Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Ohio State University

Abstract: Recently there has been a surge of interest in designing graph embedding methods. Few, if any, can scale to a large-sized graph with millions of nodes due to both computational complexity and memory requirements. In this talk, I will present an approach to redress this limitation by introducing the MultI-Level Embedding (MILE) framework – a generic methodology allowing con-temporary graph embedding methods to scale to large graphs. MILE repeatedly coarsens the graph into smaller ones using a hybrid matching technique to maintain the backbone structure of the graph. It then applies existing embedding methods on the coarsest graph and refines the embeddings to the original graph through a graph convolution neural network that it learns. Time permitting, I will then describe one of several natural extensions to MILE  -  in a distributed setting (DistMILE) to further improve the scalability of graph embedding or mechanisms -  to learn fair graph representations (FairMILE).  

The proposed MILE framework and variants (DistMILE, FairMILE), are agnostic to the underlying graph embedding techniques and can be applied to many existing graph embedding methods without modifying them and is agnostic to their implementation language. Experimental results on five large-scale datasets demonstrate that MILE significantly boosts the speed (order of magnitude) of graph embedding while generating embeddings of better quality, for the task of node classification. MILE can comfortably scale to a graph with 9 million nodes and 40 million edges, on which existing methods run out of memory or take too long to compute on a modern workstation. Our experiments demonstrate that DistMILE learns representations of similar quality with respect to other baselines while reducing the time of learning embeddings even further (up to 40 x speedup over MILE). FairMILE similarly learns fair representations of the data while reducing the time of learning embeddings.

Dr. Menyuk is the winner of the 2024 G. G. Stokes Award in Optical Polarization. This award is made annually by SPIE the International Society for Optics and Photonics, and it honors exceptional contributions to the field of optical polarization.

Professor Menyuk's award is focused on his nearly forty years of contributions to the understanding of the interplay of polarization effects, nonlinearity, and noise in optical systems. Dr. Menyuk has carried out work that spanned the optical fiber revolution that started in the 1980s and continued through the early 2000s. At the beginning of this time, internet connections were slow and unreliable; but in the end, internet traffic became fast enough to enable the video streaming applications that we now take for granted. Equations and algorithms that Dr. Menyuk developed played an important role in this development. For the past twenty years, his work has focused on frequency combs - a technology that has revolutionized time and frequency evolution and will likely lead to a redefinition of the second. It has long been known that light comes in two polarizations. These polarizations can be separated by polarized lenses. Road glare or glare from the hood of the car is preferentially in a horizontal direction, and a polarized lens that lets through vertically polarized light eliminates a large amount of this glare. In optical fibers, the light in two different polarizations will move at two different speeds, which can lead to signal distortion.

In 1981, a team of scientists at AT&T Bell Labs found that nonlinear effects in optical fibers will lead to the creation of solitons. In an optical fiber, light at different frequencies will move with different speeds. Any optical signal is made up of multiple frequencies, which will spread and distort the signal. This effect is called dispersion. However, in an optical pulse with sufficient energy, the frequencies begin to interact, which is referred to as a nonlinear interaction, and can become bound to each other. With the right energy, dispersion and nonlinearity exactly compensate, and the pulse travels without distortion. This pulse is called a soliton. Dr. Menyuk showed that the same nonlinearity that compensates for dispersion can compensate for the difference in speed between the two polarizations, referred to as birefringence, if this difference is not too large. In most practical cases, this difference is too large, and Dr. Menyuk working with many collaborators showed that randomly varying the birefringence in the fiber, which can be done by spinning the fiber, will then eliminate the distortion.

In more recent work, Dr. Menyuk has focused on micro resonators (tiny optical resonators) where, once again, solitons can be created and minimizing the interaction between different polarizations is important. This work is ongoing and has already led to important results that has been accomplished in collaboration with researchers at NIST and will be published in part in a forthcoming Nature article, 'Kerr-Induced Synchronization of a Cavity Soliton to an Optical Reference'. Most recently, Dr. Menyuk has been named the director of a new research center at UMBC, The Center for Navigation, Timing, and Frequency Research (CeNTaVR).

Read more about Curtis R. Menyuk and the 2024 SPIE G.G. Stokes Award in Optical Polarization: https://spie.org/news/curtis-r-menyuk-the-2024-spie-gg-stokes-award-in-optical-polarization

By Carrington Cline

Positionality Statement:

This post is written by Carrington Cline, a junior and student staff intern at the Women’s Center. This blog post articulates my encounters with the media’s portrayals of Black women, as it relates to the internal and external pressures that pushed me towards an unwavering focus on academic and career success. It also explores the epiphanies that were crucial for feeling more complete in life without relying on external validation. I’m sharing this blog for all the over-achieving women of color, aiming to encourage them to realize that their existence is inherently good enough.

If you grow up believing you’re nothing, you have to prove that you’re everything.

I’ve started to realize there is an aspect of my life that I’ve failed to recognize, something that has grown just as I have throughout college, a need for external validation. Though this need is something I have recently recognized, is it not a foreign feeling. I feel as though this need for validation comes from the fact that women of color aren’t allowed to feel confident about or secure in themselves. There is something to be said about the way perceptions of Black women, and all women of color, impact their confidence in academic or professional spaces. From as young as first grade I vividly remember the representations of Black women and girls in the media fundamentally altering my perception of self-worth. Mainstream media paints a narrow and limited picture of Black women, communicating to Black girls that their options are limited, and that success is reserved for others who don’t look like us. This distorted narrative evolved into my reality and as a result, I became an overachiever. Stretching myself thin by taking every opportunity that came my way, fostering a belief that my value relied solely on my ability to exceed expectations and challenge stereotypes. But I still found myself anxious, self-conscious, and unhappy with the way I viewed myself.

I am valuable, even when inactive.

My turning point was when I started to value myself in other ways. Fashion and music, among other things, became unprecedented avenues of self-love that started to impact my confidence more than my achievements. Above all else though, I realized that my intrinsic worth wasn’t dictated by any external factor. I needed to learn that I am valuable even when I’m not productive, that my pride shouldn’t come from my achievements, but from simply embracing myself as I am. Notions of ‘exceeding expectations’ are man-made concepts used to keep those in subordinate positions working, in the hopes that they may one day rise through the ranks and find themselves in the dominant position. Existing beyond the lens of expectations, whether it be personal or societal, is integral to embracing the human experience. 

Most importantly, enjoying the smaller things in life, the ones that are easy to disregard, helped me exist fully most of all. My identity as a Black woman is fluid and ever-expanding, and the fundamental multifacetedness of the Black experience operates far beyond any confine or limitation.

This blog is dedicated to all the hard workers, all the women of color who feel they need to take on every opportunity that comes their way, as though their existence alone isn’t enough. For those who relate, I implore you to take a step back and look at where you are now from the perspective of your younger self. 

You do not need to be productive to be proud, just existing is more than good enough!

If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is grass in the beginning.

– Vincent Van Gogh

By Abby Claytor

Our progress will depend on strong foundational concepts grounded in being self-reflective, deliberate, and evaluative. Taking time to develop and strengthen our foundations—individually and institutionally—is essential, no matter how progressive or rudimentary we may be in our thinking and actions.

Jane Larsson, Executive Director, CIS

What started as a quest for me to understand myself and others has turned into a deep dive into the complexities of identity and diversity. Subtle influences have molded my existence, the nuance of culture, and the invisible forces guiding my thoughts and actions became apparent. Growing up specific influences strongly shaped my beliefs. Unmasking my true self-involved questioning those ingrained ideas to align with my evolving morals and values. Here is a portion of my personal exploration in terms of my racial identity and values associated with working towards racial justice.

I have spent the past couple months working at the Women’s Center at UMBC. I learned more about myself and others than I expected to, especially demographic similarities and differences individuals share.  Individuals’ differences are often highlighted rather than their similarities, especially when most similarities happen to be invisible to the eye. I am a female; I am white; I am middle class. While these aspects certainly hold relevance, they do not encapsulate the entirety of my life’s narrative. What is not seen impacts me more than the visual appearance I hold. Because of this, I feel strongly that issues surrounding race, gender, and culture are inherent in the research questions I wish to pursue. But to what extent does my identity as a white middle class woman preclude me from writing critically about these issues? Who am I to write about race?  

Troubled by how my “savior” approach has patronized so many parents, students, and friends, I felt paralyzed. Cancel culture anxiety had taken my inquiries and buried them behind the fear associated with this. I have been unable to find the words that best fit my intentions. 

I understand now that I was lacking in my approach – the realization that race and racism are not things that occur outside of me. Working toward racial justice by “helping” others ignores the ways in which I, as a white person, continually benefit from systems of oppression and privilege. Asking who am I to write about race, implies that I have no racial identity and that I am somehow outside institutionally racist systems. Writing this blog has provided space for me to reconsider what it means for a white person to engage in anti-racist work. I do have a role to play in the fight against racial injustice. The first step in assuming that role is to engage in self-education and self-reflection about systems of race in America and my place in them. 

I would also like to mention that the concept of white people talking about race can seem wrong or threatening. Because of this inherent fear, white people often wait to talk about race until interracial dialogues. This is problematic as many white people are frequently hindered in such conversations by inexperience discussing race, ignorance about the legacy of racial injustice in the US, and underdeveloped racial identities. Many people of color, on the other hand, arrive at interracial dialogues with an intimate understanding of racial dynamics and experience talking about race with friends and family. From a personal account I can attest that this was a taboo topic with my friends and family.

Starting at the Women’s Center was part of what forced me to confront my fears associated with my ignorance. In staff meetings or one-on-ones with my field instructor, topics associated with race have come up. My prior approach of avoidance was not effective.  It is impossible to deny that white privilege has impacted my life and the lives of others daily. However, I have now learned that continually examining one’s race and its role can be described as reflection as a form of action. (Indeed, avoiding this path is part of the dangerous lethargy of white privilege). While it may occasionally prompt discomfort, I do recognize the validity of this reality. This recognition is not found upon personal gain in any specific circumstance but rather on an awareness of systematic predispositions within society.

Being forced to confront my fears shattered barriers of avoidance. Now with my newfound insights and commitment to continual self-examination, I can embrace the uncomfortable but imperative journey towards unraveling the knots of racial injustice.

By Tanzila Malik

Growing up as a second-generation Pakistani-American, I never had a strong connection to my culture. My dad’s family immigrated to Nebraska from Pakistan in the early 1970s when he was just a year old. My mom lived in Pakistan until the age of eight. Then she moved to England, and then later to Germany. Neither had many memories from their time in Pakistan, so I was never exposed to my culture or in touch with that side of me the same way as other Pakistanis I know.

I grew up around my dad’s family, who had spent their whole lives in the US, chasing the American dream, and leaving behind their lives in Pakistan. They assimilated themselves into American culture, including religiously watching Sunday night football like most other American families I know. But I’ve always felt too Pakistani for the Americans, and too American for the Pakistanis.

I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, and my elementary school was the same. Although I made really good friends throughout my years there, I was still always made to feel like the “other.” Whether it was the fact that none of my teachers looked like me, constantly having to correct peoples’ pronunciation of my name, or that people would automatically assume I was related to one of the few brown kids in the school. The list is endless. Because of this, I always felt ashamed of my background, and like I had to prove that I was a “normal American” like my peers. The one attempt my school made to be culturally inclusive, was the annual “Family Heritage Night.” During this, people set up tables with artifacts from their cultures including clothes, food, games, etc. Despite my opposition, my mom insisted that we set up a table to showcase our Pakistani culture. She tried to make me wear our traditional clothing, but I refused and tried my best to be anywhere but where our table was.

These feelings continued throughout my years in elementary school but shifted once I got to high school, where the population was significantly more diverse. I met so many people from different cultural backgrounds, including my own, and felt empowered enough to begin reclaiming my cultural identity. This feeling didn’t last long though. Soon, I began to realize that I didn’t fit in with my South Asian friends either. People would poke fun at me for not knowing their references to Bollywood movies or other aspects of Pakistani popular culture. I began to feel like an outsider again, even among people from my own culture and I projected their perception of me onto myself. In my head, I thought that since I couldn’t always relate to my culture the same way as my Pakistani friends, that must mean I’m not really Pakistani.

As I’ve gotten older, and have been exposed to different cultures and ways of thinking in college, I’ve realized that there is no “right” way to “do” culture. Culture is constantly changing, and is whatever we make it. This is still something I work through every day, through my interactions with other people, experiences at school, work, etc. But I’m learning that I don’t need to force myself to fit in with one group or the other and that how I perceive my identity is the only thing that matters.