On March 27th, Dominick Tolli of the American Red Cross visited UMBC to discuss four revolutionary mobile apps his team created to better serve people impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies. When Superstorm Sandy hit, tens of thousands of people accessed the apps for information on storm conditions, available shelters, first aid and even gasoline pick-up sites.

The Baltimore Sun reported on the event, organized by Richard Bissell of the Emergency Health Services Dept., who serves on the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Red Cross. Bissell commented that the app developers “are helping move the Red Cross into the public in a way that has never been done before.”

In an emergency situation, standard forms of communications are often unavailable, making it difficult for public health groups to serve those most in need of help. Bissell says using mobile devices is “actually a pretty robust way of getting information to the people,” because cell phone signals generally remain intact during power outages.

1. As of 2/25 anyone needing to access the WT2013 Bb server from off campus needs to log in to the VPN first.
2. The WT2013 Bb server will be taken completely offline on Friday, 3/15.
3. WT2013 courses will be restored on the UMBC Bb production server by Friday, March 29.  Please note that there will be approximately two weeks when WT2013 courses will be completely unavailable to faculty and students.  We encourage you to download a copy of your grade center, and any other content that you might need to your local machine. If instructors have students finishing incomplete grades, and students must have continuing access to their WT2013 course over spring break, the instructors should put in an RT ticket request prior to Thursday, March 14.

Thank you for your patience during this transition.

On Monday at the RSA Conference 2013 in San Francisco, ten start-ups, a group that was whittled down following a call for entries several months ago, presented their ideas to a panel of judges to win the top spot in the annual “Innovation Sandbox” contest.

Continue reading at . . . http://www.scmagazine.com/consumer-driven-security-inspires-entrepreneurial-spirit-at-rsa-conference-2013/article/281688/

Calling all of our STEM graduate students!! YOU have ideas … we’ve heard many of them. You’ve shared them with us in meetings, at conferences like the PROMISE SSI, on the walkways of our campuses, and in our offices. Now it’s time to get those ideas out to a national audience, and receive money if your submission is chosen!  You have to be in it to win it!

Deadline Apr. 15, 2013

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The following message comes from Dr. Jessie DeAro, national Program Director at the National Science Foundation for all of the AGEPs in the US.  (PROMISE is Maryland’s AGEP, one of more than 20 AGEPs nation-wide.)

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Calling Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Graduate Students:

Have you ever thought of ways to improve STEM graduate education? Do you have a creative idea regarding graduate training? If so, NSF wants to hear from you!

The National Science Foundation Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge is calling for entries from currently enrolled STEM graduate students and teams. They are invited to submit innovative ideas to prepare today’s graduate students for tomorrow’s opportunities and challenges. Entries are solicited for ideas with the potential to improve graduate education and professional development. Ideas can be directed toward students, faculty, departments, institutions, professional societies, and/or federal agencies. Winning ideas will be shared widely and winners will receive prizes between $1000 and $3000.

FROM THE WEBSITE:

Be sure to include the following elements in your submission:

1. The title of your submission (150 characters or less)
2. The issue in graduate education you wish to address
3. Your solution or idea
4. How your idea will change graduate education

 DETAILS:

• Who: Currently enrolled STEM graduate students (see additional eligibility criteria) [PROMISE note: YES, Social Sciences and STEM Education research areas are eligible. Students must be U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents. See pages 6-11 in the guide for eligible disciplines.]
• What: A 1000 to 1500 word submission responding to this challenge
• Where: Submission made to https://production.skild.com/skild2/NSF-EdChallenge/loginPage.action
• When: Entries must be submitted by 11:59PM Pacific Time on April 15, 2013

• For more information and to enter the challenge, go to www.nsf.gov/gradchallenge/
• Entry deadline is April 15^th! Make your voice heard on STEM graduate education!
• Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter  @GradEdChallenge
• Send questions to GradChallenge@NSF.gov