Learn about degree and certificate options, course overviews, admission processes and credit requirements at an information session for the UMBC Engineering Management and Systems Engineering graduate programs. The session will be held 10:00-11:30am on Saturday, March 12 in Lecture hall 7 of the ITE building. Ted Foster, Assistant Dean of the UMBC College of Engineering and IT and Graduate Program Director of both programs, will be there to answer questions. RSVP by sending email to professionals at umbc.edu.

The Engineering Management Program at UMBC combines a practical business approach with an in-depth technical concentration and emphasizes how to manage people and complex projects. Courses are developed and taught by industry experts, and are designed to address real-world problems in the workplace. Both a Master’s Degree a Graduate Certificate program are offered.

The Systems Engineering program couples the experiences of the region’s top engineers with the expertise of UMBC’s world-class engineering faculty. This program designed in colloboration with some of the leading employers in this field balances practical application and theoretical understanding. Systems Engineering students experience a rich curriculum that covers all aspects of a system’s life cycle using state-of-the-art principles, practices, and technologies. Our Systems Engineering graduate programs are designed for working engineers, taught by the region’s top systems engineers from leading defense contractors and overseen by a board of faculty and industry leaders. Both a Master’s Degree a Graduate Certificate program are offered.

Classes in both Engineering Management and Systems Engineering are conveniently offered in the evening on the UMBC campus, located just five minutes from BWI Airport, with easy access from I-95 and the 695 Beltway.

The quickly unfolding events in Egypt are both a source of cautious optimism.

We are finding this blog is a good source of up to date info…  Let us know what you are reading and watching…

Hey everyone!

This will be our central website from now on, and is guaranteed to have the most up-to-date information!

We also have a brand-new Formspring, Twitter, and ProBoard!

Feel free to email me at romig1@umbc.edu with any suggestions!

After several weeks of editing text and updating code, and countless discussions with Technical Advisors, AASHE launched STARS 1.1 on February 9th. This version of STARS includes what we call “minor substantive changes.” This means that a few credits have been restructured (OP credit 6: Food and Beverage Purchasing, for example), but we have not added or deleted credits or changed the points allocated to specific credits. We have also attempted to clarify many of the credits and corrected grammar, mechanics, and formatting issues.

The release of 1.1 highlights two of the fundamental principles of STARS that I think are extraordinary strengths of the program. One is a belief in a process of continuous improvement, with a willingness to seek out feedback. We recognize that STARS is not perfect and even if it was perfect, it would become imperfect over time with changes in technology, values and beliefs. Many of the changes we have made to STARS come from concerns, questions, and suggestions that were raised by STARS Participants, Technical Advisors and our Steering Committee. Thanks to everyone that has participated in the process. As a bit of encouragement to those who haven’t participated thus far, please feel free to share your thoughts about STARS by emailing us at stars@aashe.org.

The other principle that seems to make STARS stand out is transparency. Not only can you look at a record of the changes we have made to the system, you can also download the complete STARS Technical Manual and a Credit Checklist and determine how many points you would earn in STARS – without paying a dime. Of course, to earn a STARS Rating and gain access to the Reporting Tool (which, by the way, is an awesome way to track your data) an institution would need to first register for STARS. However, the resources that are available to anyone with an interest and an internet connection are impressive. (You might also want to check out the STARS Reports of the institutions that have already submitted for a Rating.)

As excited as we are about the changes we’ve made for STARS 1.1, we know we still have a lot of work to do! In the STARS Technical Development Process (which is, of course available online), “major revisions” are the next level of change after “minor revisions.” If you have made a suggestion for credit improvements and haven’t seen it implemented, it may be that the change was deemed too significant for the minor revisions in STARS 1.1 and that we are working to include your suggestion in STARS 2.0. Although we will likely make administrative changes and possibly even another set of minor changes before we are ready for “major” change, we are thinking about what those major changes might look like. In fact, less than 24 hours after we released STARS 1.1, we were brainstorming for STARS 2.0. (Don’t worry. We don’t expect to release this version of STARS for quite some time.)

I would like to congratulate AASHE and the STARS Team for the progress we have made so far and the exciting changes to come. Good work!

The 11th Annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing has opened its Call for Participation. The annual conference, presented by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, is the world's largest gathering of women in computing. The 2011 CHC will take place from 9-12 November 9-12 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. This year's theme "What if?" recognizes that innovation in technology arises from the question What if a culture of technology that encourages participation and inquiry from a diverse workforce leads to greater levels of innovation.

The GHC is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering. The technical conference features well known keynote speakers and invited technical speakers, panels, workshops, new investigator technical papers, PhD forums, technical posters, birds of a feather sessions, the ACM Student Research Competition and an Awards Celebration.

Submissions on both technical and professional topics are encouraged. The GHC committee requests submissions reflecting the conference theme "What if?" in the areas of innovation within a company, from academia, or from individual contributors. Technical submissions that cross disciplines and other boundaries are encouraged. The submission deadline is March 15, 2011.

Thanks to Wikicommons.

Smokers need not apply. Hospitals refusing to hire smokers.

If you won’t we’ll make you. Arizona sues the Federal Government for failure to stop illegal immigration.

It’s not only Egypt. Bolivian President Evo Morales abandons public event in the face of violent protests.

But Thursday was a little crazier than usual.

Stories leaked to the world media that the country’s despised president, Hosni Mubarak was ready to resign.

The hundreds of thousands of protesters waited in the streets ready to celebrate their triumph when the 80 year old took to the airwaves to make his monumental announcement:

Heck No! I Won’t Go!!!

Graeme Wood, reporting for the Atlantic from Egypt, described the protesters reaction:

the crowd hushed and was ready to hear him out. They wanted celebration, not blood. They seemed ready to cheer and exult, and would surely have done so even if all Mubarak said was that he intended to resign immediately.

…Instead the crowd murmured in disbelief as Mubarak droned on, defiantly granting no substantive concession whatsoever.

In Mubarak’s own words he plans to continue his

commitment to carrying out my responsibility in protecting the constitution and the people’s interests until power and responsibility are handed over to whoever is elected in next September

In other words, BACK OFF !!!!

Surprised? So were the Egyptian protesters and the US government.

Why did Mubarak do the unexpected? Silawa, of the Arabist, suspects it could be due to him being “tone-deaf” to the people, “calling the bluff” of the opposition, or perhaps wishing to make matters worse so that he can crack down hard.

What ever reason he did it for it definitely was not to end news coverage.  Stay tuned as this situation continues to change.

UPDATE: President Mubarak has stepped down handing over all power to the military. It appears his bluff was called…