Tetracore is coming to campus!

Wednesday, February 13

12 noon -1 pm

UC 312

Tetracore, a leading biotechnology company whose mission is to create and develop highly innovative diagnostic reagents, assays, and instruments for the detection of infectious diseases and bio-terrorism threat agents is seeking 4 interns for Summer 2013. Tetracore's focus is on veterinary, domestic preparedness, clinical, antibody and ELISA products.  Positions are at the Tetracore headquarters in Rockville, MD.

Positions include:

Research and Development Science Intern

Seeking an R&D intern that will work in collaboration with the R&D team on various projects. He or she will make detailed observations, analyze data, and interpret results. The intern will help prepare technical reports, summaries, protocols, and quantitative analyses. The intern will be expected to maintain familiarity with current scientific literature and may also be responsible for conducting his or her own experiments.

Software / Bioinformatics Engineering Intern

Tetracore’s next generation diagnostic platform requires software development for embedded systems, graphical user interfaces, algorithms, and data analysis.  The Software Engineering Intern will assist the team in the planning, design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of software solutions in support of biotechnology R&D and Product Development.  Assist in the design and implementation of new products or enhance current designs of software modules and components that meet functional specifications and target due dates.  Support and/or participate in component, subsystem and system concept design to help the team in verifying key design parameters and evaluating design options.  Assist the team in setting up and maintaining infrastructure for the software development process including revision control, continuous integration, and testing. Participate on multi-functional product research and development teams.

The functions of the Software Engineering Intern will be performed under supervision, in a timely manner and with acceptable quality.

Electrical / Computer Engineering Intern

Tetracore’s next generation diagnostic platform requires the development of mechanical, electrical, and software systems for novel diagnostic instruments.  The Electrical Engineering Intern will assist the team in the planning, design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of device solutions in support of biotechnology R&D and Product Development.

The functions of the Electrical Engineering Intern will be performed under supervision, in a timely manner and with acceptable quality.

All positions are posted in UMBCworks - deadline to apply: February 28, 2013.

New to UMBCworks?  Visit http://www.shrivercenter.org/students/internco-opresearch/how-do-i-get-started/ to get started.

Ice Skating Bus Trip

 (seb)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Bus departs The Commons Circle @ 7:00pm

All Guests = $10

Ticket #: 16 of 48

Philly Bus Trip

(seb)

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Bus departs The Commons Circle @ 9:00am

All Guests = $20

Ticket #: 6 of 50

Kenan Thompson Comedy Show

(seb)

Sunday, February 24, 2013

7:00pm

Retriever Activity Center (RAC)

All Guests = $12

Ticket #: 1208 of 2700

New York City Bus Trip

(seb)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Bus departs The Commons Circle @ 8:00am

All Guests = $30

Ticket #: 8 of 103

OZ Midnight Premiere

(seb)

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Bus departs The Commons Circle @ 11:00pm

All Guests = $5

Ticket #: 2 of 260

Medieval Times Bus Trip

(seb)

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Bus departs The Commons Circle @ 6:00pm

All Guests = $35

Ticket #: 1 of 49

Journaling isn't just for angsty teenagers. A work diary can help entrepreneurs pinpoint problems and improve their professional performance.

Journaling may conjure connotations of angsty teenagers pouring their emotional ups and downs out while locked in their bedrooms, but keeping a daily diary is actually a tool used by many of the world's most successful people.

From Oprah Winfrey to General George S. Patton and artist Andy Warhol, many high achievers use their journals to reveal areas of their careers in need of amplification or improvement. Should you join them?

Yes, suggests Madeline Stilley recently on Business Insider. In the post, Stilley shares her experiences with a journaling assignment she was given in graduate school. The professor asked the students to take a few minutes each day to reflect on the following questions in writing:

• What events stand out in my mind from the workday, and how did they affect my inner work life?
• What progress did I make today, and how did it affect my inner work life?
• What nourishes and catalysts supported me and my work today? How can I sustain them tomorrow?
• What one thing can I do to make progress on my important work tomorrow?
• What setbacks did I have today, and how did they affect my inner work life? What can I learn from them?
• What toxins and inhibitors affected me and my work today? How can I weaken or avoid them tomorrow?

The journal may have started as a class requirement, but Stilley reports it soon became a useful career tool that helps her identify problems, notice patterns, and brainstorm solutions.

"During the last five to ten minutes of every work day, I would begin to reflect, and without fail, a few key events would stand out that I wanted to iron out on paper," she writes. "This tool assisted me in pinpointing communication errors, enhancing relationships with colleagues, and learning to be a better listener. After the term ended, I found myself opening up the Word document every afternoon to reflect because I thoroughly enjoyed the activity. I found that it improved my awareness and decision-making."

She's not alone, according to Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, co-authors of The Progress Principle. On the HBR Blog Network, they have argued that professional journaling is an effective tool for self-reflection, helping professionals improve their focus, patience, planning, and personal growth. "We asked over 200 knowledge workers to send us a daily diary report every day throughout," they report.

"Keeping regular work diaries, which took no more than ten minutes a day, gave many of our research participants a new perspective on themselves as professionals and what they needed to improve," they conclude.

Would keeping a work journal be a good use of 10 minutes of your busy day?

This Valentine’s Day the UMBC Bookstore is offering free on campus delivery on 3 special Valentines:

The founder of LocalVox offers a few choice words of wisdom for ambitious self-starters hunting for a mentor.

Start-up founders and employees have raw talent, but need real mentorship to thrive. Trevor Sumner offers his best career wisdom to would-be entrepreneurs.

Before processing any opinion from an "expert," you have to be cognizant of the biases that "expert" might have. So let me state mine outright: I am not a career coach, I'm a serial entrepreneur. I graduated Princeton in 1998 in an age where you seemingly had to be an idiot not to get caught up in the Internet craze. We were all going to be millionaires, you see.

But in the false promise of our irrational exuberance, I found where I did belong: start-ups. I have always worked for start-ups, eventually founding my own company, LocalVox. But they're not for everyone--they are exciting, challenging, dynamic, interesting and emotional. They breed tremendous bonds among team members.

Perhaps more than anything else, they are driven by great and often young people looking to build a career and able to take a risk early on. These are often people with tremendous raw talent in need of mentorship and career advice.

Ultimately, I believe you will excel at what you are driven by--your passions. When the gas tank is empty and it is 1 in the morning, you need to want to be there, wherever that may be. You need to make others want to be there too. So you better love what you do. A lot. So above all else, as an important litmus test, never take a job or start a company you are not excited to tell your friends about--period.

Here are three pieces of advice I've learned to take to heart:

1. It's about people.

Although it feels like every job is the crucial next step in your career, in hindsight, it's often just one of many. That's not to say you should take it lightly, just that every gig is part of a much longer journey. It's important to be at least a little over your head in any new role. Don't worry, you'll grow into it. If you are not in over your head, over-perform and look up the organization for a better fit and start positioning yourself now.

One of the most valuable ways to accelerate your learning is to find a great mentor. Nothing substitutes for having a seasoned guide to help you understand and navigate issues above your pay grade, give you context for what you are doing and be thoughtful about what skills you need to acquire.

If you can't find a mentor where you work, find someone outside of the organization. You will find asking for help to be surprisingly effective. Be open, honest and thankful and listen for the nuggets of wisdom that will change your life.

Unfortunately, the converse of the mentorship rule also holds true: a bad boss or mentor trumps all. Be careful of bozos, psychos and those who don't really care about you. There are more of them than anyone would like, and it's too easy to pick up bad habits or, worse, accept a bad situation. Don't get trapped by inertia.

Lastly, remember that what you bring to the table in any job is more than just skills. No (wo)man is an island. You can only scale to a party of one, and the connections you bring are just as, if not more valuable than your skills. If you can connect to an ecosystem of people to better answer questions, learn best practices and drive partnerships, you are much more valuable than your skillset alone.

2. Act like an owner--become a founder.

There is a vast difference between being a part of an initiative and driving it. Are you driving forward or waiting for instructions? Are you proactive or reactive? Don't wait to be "caught" when mistakes are made. It builds much more trust to be the first to explain when mistakes are made and how to correct them.

Understand what drives the business and why what you are doing is important in that overall context. Think about what could be exponentially better for the company. Experiment. Throw around ideas. Ask. Listen.

Every business is looking for leaders. Leaders try to find creative solutions, challenge the current thinking and find ways to innovate. So should you, on your own initiative.

Being an owner also means being a positive teammate. Avoid negativity when communicating horizontally and below. Lead by example and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Over the long term, strive to become a founder--the ultimate driver. It's the richest, most challenging and most rewarding thing you can do.

3. Be really smart with your money.

Being a founder or following a career that you are passionate about may involve risk, and you need a certain amount of freedom to take it on. This is not career advice per se, but it is important to manage your spending. Your freedom is a simple equation:

(Dollars in the bank) / (Expenses per month)

And it's harder to move the numerator than the denominator. So keep your costs low, save your pennies. Stay resilient. Don't make a bad decision and end up in a passionless career because of the money. Find happiness in what you do by having the freedom to make the right choice for you over the long term.

These sage pieces of advice were collected from multiple mentors; others were lessons from challenging environments. Hopefully they lead you on a path of happiness, fulfillment and a career full of rewarding memories and accomplishments.

Trevor Sumner is the founder of LocalVox, a rapidly growing start-up in New York City that provides a software platform to help local businesses market themselves online. @TrevorSumner @LocalVox