Rescheduled from last week's snow, there are two interesting events happening on Monday, March 10th:

"Critical Social Justice 101" includes a fantastic group of panelists to discuss and engage with participants. The event is taking place in the University Center's Ballroom, 4-5:30 pm.  More info at http://my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/events/23209

"Just Kids" explores the issue of kids who are 14 years old who are charged with certain crimes that can be automatically sent to the adult criminal justice system.  This event will be held in UC 310 at 7 pm. More info at http://critsocjustice.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/end-the-automatic-prosecution-of-youth-as-adults/

Share these opportunities with your friends and colleagues!

Name: Dominick DiMercurio

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: UMBC Review

Major(s)/Minor(s): Biological Sciences

Expected Graduation Year: May 2015

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

My work with the UMBC Review involves a variety of tasks from contacting off-campus reviewers to editing student research papers. I meet with the other editors and our faculty advisor weekly in order to discuss the many tasks that we have ahead of us so that we can eventually publish the journal in time.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I have enjoyed meeting new people through this organization. I never knew how many people it took to create a student research journal. First, you have the hard-working student authors and their experienced faculty mentors. Then you have the Office of Undergraduate Education whose support makes the journal possible, in particular Janet McGlynn, her assistant Devon Fick, and Michael Mower, the website technician. On the editing team, our faculty advisor Dr. McDonough has been an invaluable guide to the other editors (Gagan Singh and Vanessa Rueda) and myself. Past editors like Morgan Madeira and future editor hirees also play a pivotal role in our success, as they provide their own perspectives. Meanwhile, the graphics design team has two student designers (Morgan Mantell and Daniel Grove) and Dr. Abrahams is their mentor. When you add in the anonymous contribution of the off-campus Reviewers, the financial contributions from the Vice Provost and up, and the countless contacts of professors who encourage their students to submit to the Review, you have a long, long list of names who are all linked to just one year's edition of the Review. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their superb support and excellent efforts.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I have gained an immense appreciation for the publishing process. First, a student author works diligently with their faculty mentor to create a worthy research paper. Those papers that we select then get sent to professional researchers in the field who critique it on a more technical level. We then spend countless hours working with the authors and the graphic designers to make appropriate edits, format figures, and perfect the overall journal. A year's worth of hard work on everyone's end goes to making it possible for students, faculty, and even President Hrabowski himself can hold in their hands a book that represents a showcase of the amazing research performed on our campus. It is both humbling and intimidating.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Com. Mun. I. Ca. Tion. That cannot be stressed enough. Many simple mistakes could have been avoided if there were ample communication between all parties involved and if no one was left uncertain about how to proceed next. Ask many questions or else you will never have any answers. Don't be afraid to divulge your problems to your co-workers or else you will never know if they have possible solutions. Make sure there are as many channels of communication open as possible. Otherwise everyone might spend an overwhelming amount of time trying to reinvent the wheel when there was already an easier but unspoken solution all along.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

I will one day be a professional researcher myself, and knowing the process that papers must go through to be published will certainly provide me an insight on how to create noteworthy research papers and how to help others avoid the problems that I have encountered during this internship. Beyond that, I have gained many important useful experiences, such as learning how to advertise effectively, working with various groups of people, and fostering connections to research professors on campus who I might have not otherwise met.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Over the years, UMBC has offered me many research opportunities, both in the lab and behind the scenes, and for this I am very grateful.

Apply Now!

ID: 9261407–Summer 2014 - Marketing Intern -Chrysalis Analytics/NewDay Financial

ID: 9264187 - Software Developer Interns Hillis-Carnes Engineering Associates, Inc.

ID: 9264325 & 9264324
– Summer 2014 - Technical Internships -Agora Incorporated

ID:9264365 – PayPal Payments Intern- eBay

ID:9263068–Summer Engineering Intern- Lakota Technical Solutions, Inc.

ID:9264103–IT Application Developer-Maryland State Archives

ID: 9264366– PayPal Payments Recent College Grad- Ebay

ID: 9264293 – AT&T MATREX, NETDP and NETREX Programs- AT&T

ID: 9263689 – Java Programmer Analyst (Telligen)

ID: 9264212- Software Developer- Symplicity Corporation

ID: 9264136 – IA Engineer/Systems Administrator-NACON Consulting, LLC

ID: 9264067- Virtualization/Storage/System/Network- VIRTU TECH USA LLC

UMBC Eminent Scholar Program

Smart Distribution Systems

Dr. Karen Butler-Purry
Texas A&M University

11:00-12:00 Thursday, 13 March 2014, ITE 325B

Smart Grid refers to the computerizing of the grid via the addition of monitoring, analysis, control, and communication capabilities to improve its reliability, efficiency, and security. Smart meter devices, that include sensors to gather data and two-way digital communication between the smart meters in the field and the utility’s grid operations center, are associated with the grid. The smart grid can take advantage of new technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, various forms of renewable and conventional distributed generation, lighting management systems, automation technology that lets the utility adjust and control each individual device or millions of devices from a central location, and many more. This presentation will discuss some of the current research projects being investigated by Butler-Purry’s group on smart distributions systems, in grid or island operation. One project investigates the impact of cyber attacks on the operation of smart distribution systems. The second project developed two new approaches to enhance the protection of smart distribution systems. One approach uses smart meters during distribution planning to improve selectivity of protection, and the other approach uses smart meters during operation to improve the sensitivity of protection.

Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD, PE, is Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University where she has served on the faculty since 1994. She received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was awarded a M.S. degree in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in the areas of protection and control of distribution systems and isolated power systems such as all electric power systems for ships, mobile grids, and microgrids; cybersecurity protection; and intelligent systems for equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis.

Host: Prof. Gymama Slaughter, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

UMBC Eminent Scholar Program

Smart Distribution Systems

Dr. Karen Butler-Purry
Texas A&M University

11:00-12:00 Thursday, 13 March 2014, ITE 325B

Smart Grid refers to the computerizing of the grid via the addition of monitoring, analysis, control, and communication capabilities to improve its reliability, efficiency, and security. Smart meter devices, that include sensors to gather data and two-way digital communication between the smart meters in the field and the utility’s grid operations center, are associated with the grid. The smart grid can take advantage of new technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, various forms of renewable and conventional distributed generation, lighting management systems, automation technology that lets the utility adjust and control each individual device or millions of devices from a central location, and many more. This presentation will discuss some of the current research projects being investigated by Butler-Purry’s group on smart distributions systems, in grid or island operation. One project investigates the impact of cyber attacks on the operation of smart distribution systems. The second project developed two new approaches to enhance the protection of smart distribution systems. One approach uses smart meters during distribution planning to improve selectivity of protection, and the other approach uses smart meters during operation to improve the sensitivity of protection.

Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD, PE, is Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University where she has served on the faculty since 1994. She received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was awarded a M.S. degree in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in the areas of protection and control of distribution systems and isolated power systems such as all electric power systems for ships, mobile grids, and microgrids; cybersecurity protection; and intelligent systems for equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis.

Host: Prof. Gymama Slaughter, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Critical Social Justice scoffs in the face of snow delays — we are unstoppable. Two of the CSJ events that were postponed on Monday have been rescheduled for next Monday, March 10th. Read on for more details and we hope to see everyone there to continue engaging with these important social justice issues!

Critical Social Justice 101 – 4-5:30pm in UC Ballroom Lounge – What is critical social justice? What challenges and possibilities exist for social justice activism? And what does that mean within an academic setting? Find out more at this roundtable led by Dr. Kate Drabinski (Gender + Women’s Studies), Lisa Gray (the Mosaic Center), student and activist Crystal Ogar, and Dr. Joby Taylor (Shriver Center). (Event sponsored by: Critical Social Justice) Facebook myUMBC 

Just Kids: The Automatic Prosecution of Youth as Adults in Maryland – 7-9pm in UC 310 – Following a screening of the new documentary The Truth About Our Youth, Just Kids Youth Leaders Kevin J. and Richard R. and Assistant Youth Organizer Jabriera H. will share their personal stories to bring statistics to life and dispel misconceptions about youth who are charged as adults. Learn more about this important issue here. (Event sponsored by: The Just Kids Partnership, a collaboration between Community Law in Action and the Public Justice Center) Facebook myUMBC

Every year the President of the United States of America creates presidential proclamation to officially announce March as Irish-American Heritage Month. In the proclamation the President calls upon Americans to "observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs." On February 28, 2014, President Barack Obama released the presidential proclamation for Irish-American Month, 2014. In it, he touched on the shared heritage and ideals of Ireland and America shown through the "many threads of green woven into red, white and blue." Irish-American Heritage month coincides with the well-known Irish national holiday, St. Patrick's Day, which is on March 17. 

Image source: http://deannelson.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Irish_Flag12-300x225.jpg