This morning’s Dissertation House mini-lecture focuses on Overcoming Writer’s Block. This morning, Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale, Dissertation Coach, is discussing tips for moving past mere thoughts and blockages. The theme for the morning is to “start writing!” The founders of the PROMISE Dissertation House in Maryland have worked with many students over the years. It is important to note that thousands of lines of code, tons of great experiments, and hundreds of great ideas don’t mean anything to the dissertation completion process if you’re not writing. Remember that you will not graduate unless you complete the written document. Conference presentations, e.g. power point slides, are not enough! One alum told us that he used to transfer everything from his presentation power point slides to a word document. Other people go to a particular place to write where they know that they will be able to get right into their document without distractions. Find the process that works for you, but stop the excuses and just write.

Click photo to read the full article on Time.com

UMBC will host the annual Summer Horizons program for undergraduate students and others who are interested in learning more about graduate school admission, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The 1-day workshop will feature sessions on the GRE, Statement of Purpose, Recommendation Letters, and other topics related to preparing for graduate school.  The keynote speaker will be the President of UMBC, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

• Wednesday, July 18, 2012
• The program will begin at 9:30 AM and will end at 12:30 PM.
• Meyerhoff Chemistry Building, Room 120

This program is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about UMBC and the graduate admissions process.  The graduate school preparation material is applicable to most U.S. institutions.  Faculty and staff may invite prospective students to this event.  Visitors from out-of-town are welcome to attend.

As part of the PROMISE Pathways project, undergraduate and master’s students  from schools within the University System of Maryland have a special invitation to attend. We also invite students from all summer programs within the DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) region, and students who are either local or will travel the distance to learn more about graduate school.

Invitations are also extended to:

• All UMBC undergraduate students
• Students from NSF programs such as LSAMP, AGEP, NSF ERC, RDE etc., at any school
• McNair programs at any school.
• Students from organizations such as SHPE, SACNAS, NSBE, and AISES at any school in the country are welcome to attend.
• We also invite professionals who are considering returning to graduate school for an advanced degree.

Light refreshments and lunch will be provided. This program is free, but potential participants must register.

If you are interested in attending, or in registering a group, please RSVP by posting a comment here with name, school, and major.  Program directors who have a cohort of students may send an email with a list of students that provides names, undergraduate institutions, and majors to promisestaff@gmail.com. Students from UMBC may RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/12118

Summer Horizons is co-sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, The Meyerhoff Graduate Biomedical Fellows Program, and The Graduate School at UMBC.

_________________________________________________________________________

Directions and Parking (Updated, July 12, 2012): 

http://summerhorizons.wordpress.com/directions-and-parking/

_________________________________________________________________________

Related articles

• UMBC President Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• UMBC’s President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, celebrates graduate students this afternoon, April 4, 2012 (promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com)

Primary sponsorship for this program has been provided by the National Science Foundation, HRD grant #1111217 – “PROMISE Pathways.” PROMISE Pathways is a project of PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).  Read more about PROMISE: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/publications/

Click photo to read the full article on Time.com

UMBC will host the annual Summer Horizons program for undergraduate students and others who are interested in learning more about graduate school admission, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The 1-day workshop will feature sessions on the GRE, Statement of Purpose, Recommendation Letters, and other topics related to preparing for graduate school.  The keynote speaker will be the President of UMBC, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

• Wednesday, July 18, 2012
• The program will begin at 9:30 AM and will end at 12:30 PM.
• Meyerhoff Chemistry Building, Room 120

This program is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about UMBC and the graduate admissions process.  The graduate school preparation material is applicable to most U.S. institutions.  Faculty and staff may invite prospective students to this event.  Visitors from out-of-town are welcome to attend.

As part of the PROMISE Pathways project, undergraduate and master’s students  from schools within the University System of Maryland have a special invitation to attend. We also invite students from all summer programs within the DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) region, and students who are either local or will travel the distance to learn more about graduate school.

Invitations are also extended to:

• All UMBC undergraduate students
• Students from NSF programs such as LSAMP, AGEP, NSF ERC, RDE etc., at any school
• McNair programs at any school.
• Students from organizations such as SHPE, SACNAS, NSBE, and AISES at any school in the country are welcome to attend.
• We also invite professionals who are considering returning to graduate school for an advanced degree.

Light refreshments and lunch will be provided. This program is free, but potential participants must register.

If you are interested in attending, or in registering a group, please RSVP by posting a comment here with name, school, and major.  Program directors who have a cohort of students may send an email with a list of students that provides names, undergraduate institutions, and majors to promisestaff@gmail.com. Students from UMBC may RSVP on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/12118

Summer Horizons is co-sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, The Meyerhoff Graduate Biomedical Fellows Program, and The Graduate School at UMBC.

_________________________________________________________________________

Directions and Parking (Updated, July 12, 2012): 

http://summerhorizons.wordpress.com/directions-and-parking/

_________________________________________________________________________

Related articles

• UMBC President Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• UMBC’s President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, celebrates graduate students this afternoon, April 4, 2012 (promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com)

Primary sponsorship for this program has been provided by the National Science Foundation, HRD grant #1111217 – “PROMISE Pathways.” PROMISE Pathways is a project of PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).  Read more about PROMISE: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/publications/

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of UMBC, one of Time Magazines “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and one of the “10 Best College Presidents,” talks about PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and ways that developing community facilitates success.

Related articles

• UMBC President Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• UMBC’s President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, celebrates graduate students this afternoon, April 4, 2012 (promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com)

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of UMBC, one of Time Magazines “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and one of the “10 Best College Presidents,” talks about PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP and ways that developing community facilitates success.

Related articles

• UMBC President Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• UMBC’s President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, celebrates graduate students this afternoon, April 4, 2012 (promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com)

The PROMISE Dissertation House is committed to helping students to finish their dissertations.  Therefore, we invite all students who have participated in a past Dissertation House or one of the “How to Complete Your Thesis or Dissertation” to participate in the Summer Dissertation House weekend rooms. You may come to work on proposals, dissertations, grant applications, teaching portfolios, or any writing project that will move you closer to graduation.

Time and Location: 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM, nearly every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the summer; Math/Psychology Building, Room 103, UMBC Campus.

Parking: Parking on UMBC’s campus requires a permit Monday 7:00 AM through Friday 3:30 PM. Parking in open spaces and lots without gates will be free on weekends, starting on Fridays at 3:30 PM, and ending Mondays at 7:00 AM. Visitor parking is available in metered lots. Meters are enforced year round Monday-Friday from 7:30 am – 9:00 pm. Meter fees are $.25 for each 15 minutes, quarters only, maximum time of 5 hours.

JUNE 

June 1, 2, 3;  June 8, 9, 10;  June 15, 16, 17;  June 22, 23, 24;  June 29, 30, & July 1

JULY

Jul 20, 21, 22; July 27, 28, 29

AUGUST

August 3, 4, 5; August 10, 11, 12, August 24, 25, 26

Friday August 17 – Dissertation House at the PROMISE Summer Success Institute with Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale (Application Required)

Weekend requirement: Post your goals  to the blog daily. The “Winter Challenge 2012″ blog will be used until June 30. The “Summer Challenge 2012″ blog will begin on July 1. 

Students from all campuses (UMBC, UMB, UMCP, UMES, Morgan, GW, CMU, UPitt, etc.) who have participated in a DH activity or workshop in the past are invited to utilize this room for the summer. We will have short motivational sessions with PhD alumni or coaches on select Fridays.

The PROMISE Dissertation House is committed to helping students to finish their dissertations.  Therefore, we invite all students who have participated in a past Dissertation House or one of the “How to Complete Your Thesis or Dissertation” to participate in the Summer Dissertation House weekend rooms. You may come to work on proposals, dissertations, grant applications, teaching portfolios, or any writing project that will move you closer to graduation.

Time and Location: 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM, nearly every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the summer; Math/Psychology Building, Room 103, UMBC Campus.

Parking: Parking on UMBC’s campus requires a permit Monday 7:00 AM through Friday 3:30 PM. Parking in open spaces and lots without gates will be free on weekends, starting on Fridays at 3:30 PM, and ending Mondays at 7:00 AM. Visitor parking is available in metered lots. Meters are enforced year round Monday-Friday from 7:30 am – 9:00 pm. Meter fees are $.25 for each 15 minutes, quarters only, maximum time of 5 hours.

JUNE 

June 1, 2, 3;  June 8, 9, 10;  June 15, 16, 17;  June 22, 23, 24;  June 29, 30, & July 1

JULY

Jul 20, 21, 22; July 27, 28, 29

AUGUST

August 3, 4, 5; August 10, 11, 12, August 24, 25, 26

Friday August 17 – Dissertation House at the PROMISE Summer Success Institute with Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale (Application Required)

Weekend requirement: Post your goals  to the blog daily. The “Winter Challenge 2012″ blog will be used until June 30. The “Summer Challenge 2012″ blog will begin on July 1. 

Students from all campuses (UMBC, UMB, UMCP, UMES, Morgan, GW, CMU, UPitt, etc.) who have participated in a DH activity or workshop in the past are invited to utilize this room for the summer. We will have short motivational sessions with PhD alumni or coaches on select Fridays.

With the uncertainty present in today’s job market, technical college graduates are under increasing pressure to choose a career path that not only fits their personal strengths and interests. but is sustainable. Jobs and employees are becoming more transient and it is seemingly more difficult to establish a career with longevity. In this talk, we will discuss what a recent graduate can look forward to in various technical career paths, specifically a career in research versus a career in development. I will draw upon personal experience to provide an overview of what a student may expect when entering these careers. Lastly, we will discuss how one can prepare to make the most out of their career choice and handle the volatility of the industry.

Seminar @ UMBC

11:30am-12:45pm, Friday, 4 May 2012
ITE Information Technology Building, Room 237

Seminar Title:  Research vs. Development: Building A Career in the Modern Tech Industry

Guest Speaker: Christopher Morris, Fellow Engineer, Northrop Grumman Corp

PhD (CS) Student, CSEE Dept/UMBC

Short Bio:  Christopher (Chris) Morris is currently a Fellow Engineer at the Northrop Grumman Corporation where he is a member of the Teton Project team. The team is charged with research and development of Open Architecture (OA) Processing solutions for distributed, real-time, embedded (DRE) systems. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2009, Chris was an Advisory Staff Engineer in the Visualization Systems Group at IBM Research in Westchester County, New York, where he researched and developed distributed rendering and visualization systems.  He holds a BSME from UMBC (`96), a MSME in from Stanford University (`98), and a MSCS from UMBC (`01). Currently, he is a PhD (CS) Candidate at UMBC. His research interests are computer graphics and scientific visualization.

With the uncertainty present in today’s job market, technical college graduates are under increasing pressure to choose a career path that not only fits their personal strengths and interests. but is sustainable. Jobs and employees are becoming more transient and it is seemingly more difficult to establish a career with longevity. In this talk, we will discuss what a recent graduate can look forward to in various technical career paths, specifically a career in research versus a career in development. I will draw upon personal experience to provide an overview of what a student may expect when entering these careers. Lastly, we will discuss how one can prepare to make the most out of their career choice and handle the volatility of the industry.

Seminar @ UMBC

11:30am-12:45pm, Friday, 4 May 2012
ITE Information Technology Building, Room 237

Seminar Title:  Research vs. Development: Building A Career in the Modern Tech Industry

Guest Speaker: Christopher Morris, Fellow Engineer, Northrop Grumman Corp

PhD (CS) Student, CSEE Dept/UMBC

Short Bio:  Christopher (Chris) Morris is currently a Fellow Engineer at the Northrop Grumman Corporation where he is a member of the Teton Project team. The team is charged with research and development of Open Architecture (OA) Processing solutions for distributed, real-time, embedded (DRE) systems. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2009, Chris was an Advisory Staff Engineer in the Visualization Systems Group at IBM Research in Westchester County, New York, where he researched and developed distributed rendering and visualization systems.  He holds a BSME from UMBC (`96), a MSME in from Stanford University (`98), and a MSCS from UMBC (`01). Currently, he is a PhD (CS) Candidate at UMBC. His research interests are computer graphics and scientific visualization.

The Summer Dissertation House is coming to UMBC, July 10-13.  Graduate students who plan to participate should follow the application procedures on the application webpage for the Dissertation House.

Open application period: April 30, 2012 – May 14, 2012.

Applications received after May 14, 2012 will be considered for the DH waiting list. More information about the Dissertation House: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/about/

Announcement on MyUMBC: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/11683

Related articles

• Join the PROMISE blogs and websites for up-to-date information. 55,000 hits & 2,300 comments strong on the DH! (promiseagep.wordpress.com)