Doctoral students, postdocs and established researchers working in the intersection of technology and social systems might consider applying to the 2013 Digital Societies and Social Technologies Summer Institute, 7/28 to 8/1 at the University of Maryland College Park.

"MOOCs, Education and learning; personal health and well-being; open innovation, eScience, and citizen science; co-production, open source, and new forms of work; cultural heritage and information access; energy management and climate change; civic hacking, engagement and government; disaster response; cybersecurity and privacy – these are just a few problem domains where effective design and robust understanding of complex sociotechnical systems is critical. To meet these challenges a trans-disciplinary community of scholars has come together from fields as wide ranging as CSCW, HCI, social computing, organization studies, information visualization, social informatics, sociology, information systems, medical informatics, computer science, ICT for development, education, learning science, journalism, and political science."

Lodging, meals, and other onsite costs will be covered for all Summer Institute participants. Applications are due by April 5.

Summer/Fall Internship at the Franciscan Center of Baltimore

Track the Impact of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Shares on Economically Disadvantaged Populations at the Franciscan Center

The Franciscan Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing emergency assistance and supportive outreach to persons who are economically disadvantaged in an effort to assist them in realizing their self-worth and dignity as people of God.

The Franciscan Center is looking for a volunteer intern to assist with a CSA project in collaboration with the United Way of Central Maryland, University of Maryland Extension, and JHU’s Center for a Livable Future that focuses on the correlation between economically disadvantaged people and their desire for a healthier lifestyle. The intern will interview, track, and instruct participants who receive weekly CSA “shares” of fresh produce throughout the duration of the growing season (May through November 2013). The intern will provide administrative assistance to the Project Coordinator. Through weekly questionnaires, the student will collect data and measure the progress of every participant.

This internship requires a commitment of six to ten hours per week beginning in May and continuing through the summer semester with the possibility of extending through the fall semester. Interest in social services and/or healthy food initiatives required.

When applying, include a copy of your resume, cover letter and available times to discuss the project. Contact Christian Metzger at info@franciscancenterbaltimore.org  to apply with “Fresh Harvest Internship” and your name in the subject line.

UMBC will host a free two-day workshop April 11-12 for faculty, researchers, and students from all disciplines who are interested in learning how to incorporate high performance computing, advanced data analysis, modeling and simulation and data visualization into their teaching and research.

The workshop will be given by representatives from XSEDE, an NSF-sponsored distributed resource for high performance computing and data storage that is available for UMBC faculty and students to use for their research. The workshop will be held in room 120 of the Meyerhoff Building on the UMBC campus, starting at Noon on Thursday April 11 and ending at 4:00pm on Friday, April 12.

Workshop participants get information on gaining access to XSEDE resources and hands on training one a topics including computational thinking, parallel computing, scientific visualization, research data management, using Unix and adding computational science to curricula. The XSEDE resources are a natural "next step" for applications that have outgrown the cluster computing facilities available at UMBC, such as HPCF and MC2.

While the workshop is free, you must pre-register online — start by creating an account via the SIGN IN link. Registration closes on March 25 and space is limited, so if you are interested, register as soon as possible.

For more information about the workshop and XSEDE, see the workshop flier or contact Andrew Raim (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ), Linda Akli (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ) or Prof. Ian Thorpe (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ).

Teaching & Research with Mathematica 9 and Wolfram|Alpha Pro

2:30-3:45 Tuesday, 9 April 2013, 401 Math/Psyc Building, UMBC

This talk by staff from Wolfram will illustrate capabilities in Mathematica 9 that are directly applicable for use in teaching and research on campus. Topics include the folowing

• Free-form linguistic input & predictive interface features
• 2D and 3D visualization
• Dynamic interactivity & On-demand scientific data
• Example-driven course materials
• Symbolic interface construction
• Statistics & Data anaylsis
• Digital Image Processing, Parallelization, and Control Systems functionality

The new Wolfram|Alpha Pro website will be featured, demonstrating the following capabilities.

• built-in CDF interactivity
• automatic creation of interactive models
• ability to upload data (spreadsheets, data, text) for instant and
• thorough analysis
• step-by-step solution guide to many problems
• specialized keyboard for mathematical and scientific symbols
• export results to over 60 formats

Current Mathematica users will benefit from seeing improvements and new features of Mathematica 9 as well as Wolfram|Alpha Pro but prior knowledge of Mathematica is not required.

March is Women's History Month!

This year’s national theme is Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  This theme is meant to honor generations of women who throughout American history have used their intelligence, imagination, sense of wonder, and tenacity to make extraordinary contributions to the STEM fields.

As part of our Women’s History Month celebrations, the Women's Center and CWIT are partnering to showcase six talented women in engineering and IT fields at UMBC. The future of women’s history is being created as we speak and there is importance in sharing our lived stories now. We invite you to join us throughout the month of March to learn more about these women, their experiences, and their dreams.

Tabitha Haverkamp, CWIT Affiliate
Junior Information Systems major & ISCOM President

Describe what sparked your interest STEM and the journey to choosing your major.
My interest in technology spurred from encouragement from my parents, who are heavily involved in technical careers. As a teenager, stories about their projects and experiences generated my technical curiosity and inspired me to pursue a field that is forever changing.

Tell us about an internship, research experience or project that you are proud of.
In my work experience as a network technician on campus, I have the opportunity to directly impact my surroundings at UMBC as part of a great team who works to support the daily operations and long-term network infrastructure on campus. This position allows me to explore many aspects of UMBC that would be unknown as a regular student - but more importantly, I am able to give back to the University through my technical skills and experience.

Who are your role models in the engineering or IT field?
I admire women who actively strive to encourage girls to become involved in STEM fields. Some of these role models include Padmasree Warrior (CTO at Cisco Systems), Susan Crawford (Law professor and telecommunications advisor), Sheryl Sandberg (COO at Facebook), and Marissa Mayer (CEO at Yahoo Inc.). These women have faced countless challenges throughout their careers and continue to inspire the next generation of females in technology.

Explain your experience as a woman in a STEM major, including the challenges as well as the rewards.
Being a woman in a STEM major can be very challenging at times; but the existence of support systems such as CWIT and the Women’s Center provide resources to ensure success. There are many classes and labs where I am the only female in the room, which can often make me doubt my knowledge and skills, and feel as if I must prove my belonging in the course. While these times can be difficult, the environment at UMBC is generally very welcoming. When any doubt surfaces, I know how to find the people and resources I need to succeed.

The Center for Women In Technology (CWIT) is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in the creation of technology in the engineering and information technology fields. CWIT efforts begin with nurturing a strong group of Scholars, grow to building community resources for other women in these majors, extend to fostering a healthy gender climate and ITE pedagogy in College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) departments, and finally expand into outreach efforts to increase interest in technical careers. A successful program for female-friendly engineering and information technology education at UMBC will help make UMBC a destination for women (and men) interested in technical careers and serve as a national model for other universities.

Learn more about our community athttp://www.cwit.umbc.edu/

For more information about Women’s History events and happenings, visit: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/news/24724

The MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA for Cherry Hill Projects at Towson University supports academic and health programs for students and residents of Cherry Hill, an underserved community in Baltimore City. The MDCCC AmeriCorps VISTA member will work with university and community members to coordinate and support programs for K-8 students and a community gardening initiative, facilitate communication between TU and Cherry Hill, and develop program evaluation and sustainability models.

Duties:

·        Coordinate academic support programs for K-12 students in Cherry Hill

·        Recruit, screen, select, and supervise volunteer

·        Design and conduct volunteer training

·        Assist in the expansion of education, health, and other programs in Cherry Hill

·        Work with TU faculty and students to implement a marketing plan to increase Cherry Hill residents’ access to community gardens’ vegetable crop

·        Organize a trip for Cherry Hill students to Towson University’s campus

·        Facilitate communication about Cherry Hill projects

·        Maintain the university’s Cherry Hill webpage

·        Evaluate program impact and produce and end-of-year report

Qualifications:

·        College graduate

·        Eligible for AmeriCorps VISTA service

·        Experience in relevant fields/areas such as community outreach, community service, education, health and wellness, community gardening and food justice, working with at-risk youth, etc.

·        Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication and an ability to relate to a variety of populations including community residents of all ages, college students, faculty and stuff

·        Self-starter, ability to work independently and with a team

Benefits:

·        Stipend

·        Education award upon completion of term

Start and End Dates: 6/24/2013 – 6/23/2014

To apply: Submit an online application through MyAmeriCorps (https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do). Search for 'Towson University's Cherry Hill Learning Zone' and click 'Apply'.

Contact: Katelyn Victor, Coordinator of Community Outreach Programs, Towson University, 410-704-2806, kvictor@towson.edu