It has been a wonderful week for the CBEE department, celebrating both the achievements of our past and present graduates!

On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, we had the pleasure of welcoming back alumni Jincai (Jimmy) Li (PhD, 2001), who is now the CEO of WuXi XDC, a $10 billion subsidiary of WuXi Biologics. Jimmy's journey through CBEE is a remarkable one — arriving at UMBC in 1996, he began his graduate research under the late Janice Lumpkin, and following her tragic passing in 1997, transitioned to the research group of Govind Rao, where he completed his PhD in 2001. Jimmy went on to build an impressive career at Diversa, Tanox, and Genentech before returning to China to lead WuXi XDC to its current standing as a global powerhouse in the biochemical industry. During his visit, Jimmy sat down with Dr. Rao and Doug Frey — who served as departmental chair during Jimmy's time at UMBC — to reminisce about the past and discuss the exciting future of the biochemical and chemical engineering field. Learn more about Jimmy and his work here.

This visit comes on the heels of our 2026 graduation celebrations, where we proudly watched the next generation of CBEE engineers and scientists take their next steps. Jimmy's story is a powerful reminder of the incredible impact an engineering degree can have — and an inspiration to all of our current students as they begin their own journeys.

Congratulations to all of our 2026 graduates, and thank you to Jimmy for taking the time to visit and share his story with our community. We look forward to seeing what the next chapter holds for all of our alumni and graduating students!

Dear UMBC Community,

Congratulations to our graduates and we are so excited that summer is finally here! This is a reminder to the entire UMBC community that phishing emails don’t take a vacation. Stay aware of those phishing campaigns and look out for the following signs:

🚩Urgent Language: You are relaxing on a cruise and get an email with the subject: “You will lose access to your account NOW if you don’t click this link!” Enjoy the sunshine and don’t fall for the attacker’s message.

🚩Questionable Context and Legitimacy of the Sender: The email seems to be coming from an authority figure, but either you don’t usually communicate with them, or they usually don’t have requests of that nature.

🚩Asking for Passwords in Google Forms: If you clicked on a link and it immediately asked for your password, check the full URL first. If the URL in the address bar does not match the webauth URL, or if you landed on a Google Form, then do not enter your password!

🚩Requests to copy commands into the Run or Terminal prompts: If you get presented with a CAPTCHA challenge and are asked to copy a command to proceed, please don’t take the bait. Copying commands into a command prompt can infect your machine with malware or an information stealer. (Example below)

How to stay safe: 

1. Don’t click on links that look phishy.

2. Don’t open any attachments you were not expecting.

3. Don’t accept push notifications when you did not initiate them.

4. Don’t paste any commands into the terminal.

5. Forward any suspicious emails to Security at security@umbc.edu and check out our Traveling with UMBC Equipment FAQ!

6. Enjoy your summer!

For more information, please refer to our Cybersecurity Newsletter. Thank you all for your continued awareness and assistance in keeping our community secure!

Cybersecurity Assurance and Digital Trust
UMBC Division of Information Technology (DoIT)

Hi all,

The high temperature hot water outage will begin tomorrow and last through June 8th. There will be no hot water in the restrooms and temperatures will most likely be chilly in the offices and laboratories. Please bring a sweater or a jacket to work for the duration.

The 3rd floor autoclave will be operational, but with a single unit in the building during the outage, I ask everyone to be prompt retrieveing their supplies and or hazardous waste.

Thank you and have a nice memorial day weekend!

SUMMER HOURS

From May 26 – August 14, Parking Services will be open Monday thru Thursday from 8 AM to 4 PM (Closed from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM for Lunch). We will be open on Fridays from 9 AM to 3 PM. 

*We will follow UMBC’s holiday schedule and will be closed on Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day, Friday, June 19 for Juneteenth, and Friday, July 3 for Independence Day.* 

SERVICES

Monday to Thursday – Standard Parking Services will be available. 

Friday – We will have reduced in-office staffing and our office will be open from 9 AM to 3 PM. Remaining staff will be working remotely.  Phone calls and emails will be returned as quickly as possible. 

General questions should be directed to Parking Services at parking@umbc.edu. If you have a question, please include your name, phone number, email address, campus ID (if applicable) and reason for emailing, and we will respond as quickly as possible. 

STUDENT PARKING - SUMMER

From May 26 – August 14, all student permits are valid for any legal space in either the A, B or C Zone. Faculty and staff are expected to park in their assigned zone. 

FALL PERMITS
Student Permits for the fall semester will be available on the parking portal beginning on August 15. You must be registered for the fall semester to acquire your permit. 

QUESTIONS
Visit the Parking Services website for more information.

We will close Thursday, May 21 at 8:00 PM, and reopen August 20. Exact times will be shared later in the summer.

The following prayer spaces will be available according to their respective building hours:

• Commons 326
• AOK 367
• ITE 234

We hope you have the summer you need, with the opportunity to rest, recharge, get ahead, and adventure in the correct proportions. 

Staff will be available Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The best way to reach us is through email & Webex. 

Hello everyone!

Due to the undergraduate graduation, Retriever Essentials will not have our Free Farmers Market today. 

Congratulations to all of our graduates and undergraduates who are graduating! 

Friendly reminder that our next OSP Coffee Chat training is Tuesday 5/27, 11:30 am-12:00 pm. Sign up can be found HERE. 

Thank you!

OSP training team

The Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering congratulates the Class of 2026! Through hard work, dedication, and perseverance, you have achieved an incredible milestone. We can’t wait to see the impact that you will make on the world!

We would also like to highlight and celebrate the following award-winning students.

Outstanding Seniors in Chemical Engineering

Highest academic achievement of seniors majoring in chemical engineering

• Afrah Ahmed
• Mikayla M. Bryant
• Elliot H. Clark
• Trevor Gibson
• Brendan J. Hanlon
• Jasmine D. Ives
• James I. Margulies
• Tyler A. Moody
• Danielle T. Romanowski
• Maaike Swaters
• Miffy Yost

Student Leadership Award

• Diana C. Valencia

Dr. Mariajosé Castellanos, AIChE Faculty Co-advisor, adds, "Diana currently serves as the President of the UMBC AIChE chapter, where she leads with both clarity and collaboration. She works closely with her entire executive board to ensure the organization runs smoothly, fostering a culture of teamwork and shared purpose."

Dr. Neha Raikar, AIChE Faculty Co-advisor, shares, "Diana has been highly impactful as a teaching fellow in ENES 101 and was promoted to the head teaching fellow position. She oversaw the smooth running of the discussion sessions and project hours. She was also involved in creating a new project for 101, particularly the fuel cell component. Having a strong representation of chemical engineering in 101 was much needed. She has motivated a few pre-ChemE students and helped build connections with the department."

Undergraduate Research Award

• Maaike Swaters

Sahar Souizi, Maaike's graduate student mentor in BlaneyLab, shares, "As her mentor, I have been impressed by her initiative, critical thinking, and insightful questions, which have helped our team advance both the fundamental and applied understanding of Donnan dialysis. She is highly motivated and driven to complete tasks efficiently, often going beyond expectations to satisfy her curiosity and deepen her understanding of the project. Maaike has also demonstrated strong collaboration skills and has actively participated in presenting our research at several academic events and conferences. Beyond her technical contributions, she has been a supportive and collaborative member of our research team. Based on her commitment to research, work ethic, and intellectual curiosity, I strongly believe Maaike is deserving of recognition for her research accomplishments."

Dr. Lee Blaney, Principal Investigator of BlaneyLab, adds, "I have been quite impressed with her group meeting presentations due to her (i) expert data analysis and interpretation and (ii) creative ownership of her work."

Has been taken to the Lost and Found at the Commons Information Center on the 2nd floor of the Commons.

Image credit TEDxMidAtlantic, Chris Suspect