(by Meghan Carpenter)

A Computational Biologist and Dartmouth professor, Alumnus Gevorg Grigoryan says his undergraduate research at UMBC was crucial to his success.

Kids typically see college as a chance to get away from their parents. That wasn’t the case with alumnus Gevorg Grigoryan ’02, Computer Science and Biochemistry, who did research with his dad in UMBC’s Computational Photonics Lab as an undergraduate. In 2000, the pair co-authored a paper proposing a new visualization technique for wave transmissions that uses color to represent amplitude and phase information.

Now an assistant professor of Computer Science and an adjunct assistant professor of Biology at Dartmouth College, Grigoryan stresses the importance of doing research early on. As an undergraduate, he worked in not one, but three, different research labs at UMBC: the Computational Photonics Lab, the VANGOGH Lab, and Dr. Daniel Fabris’ Mass Spectrometry lab.

“It was very easy for an undergrad to get involved in research [at UMBC],” says Grigoryan. “It’s not like that everywhere.”

Working in labs gave Grigoryan essential experience that shaped his career path. When it was time to pick a major, he knew that he wanted to do research like his dad, Vladimir Grigoryan, a Physicist who was working as a Research Scientist at UMBC at the time.

Grigoryan switched from Physics to an ambitious double major in Computer Science and Biochemistry when a professor told him about the emerging, interdisciplinary field of Computational Biology. Combining the principles of biology with computing techniques, the new field dealt with simulating and studying biological systems on the computer.

After graduating from UMBC in 2002, Grigoryan went to MIT for his Ph.D. in Computational Biology under Dr. Amy E. Keating. Later he completed his Post Doc at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School under William DeGrado. His research has focused on examining proteins in order to 1) understand their structure, and to 2) use that understanding to design new proteins that can do things like cure disease.

The analysis and design of proteins is what’s being done in Grigoryan’s research lab at Dartmouth. Specifically, Grigoryan and his students are looking at how protein structure dictates protein-protein recognition and the structural mechanisms of information transformation by allostery. In an interesting twist, Grigoryan now has undergraduate research assistants of his own.

As for collaborations with his dad, Grigoryan says that these days, formal collaborations are hard because of distance; Grigoryan works on molding minds in New Hampshire while his dad works at Ciena Corporation in Maryland. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop them from having heated scientific discussions over the phone, he says.

This story first appeared on UMBC’s Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department website.

A Computational Biologist and Dartmouth professor, Alumnus Gevorg Grigoryan says his undergraduate research at UMBC was crucial to his success.

Kids typically see college as a chance to get away from their parents. That wasn’t the case with alumnus Gevorg Grigoryan ’02, Computer Science and Biochemistry, who did research with his dad in UMBC’s Computational Photonics Lab as an undergraduate. In 2000, the pair co-authored a paper proposing a new visualization technique for wave transmissions that uses color to represent amplitude and phase information.

Now an assistant professor of Computer Science and an adjunct assistant professor of Biology at Dartmouth College, Grigoryan stresses the importance of doing research early on. As an undergraduate, he worked in not one, but three, different research labs at UMBC: the Computational Photonics Lab, the VANGOGH Lab, and Dr. Daniel Fabris’ Mass Spectrometry lab.

“It was very easy for an undergrad to get involved in research [at UMBC],” says Grigoryan. “It’s not like that everywhere.”

Working in labs gave Grigoryan essential experience that shaped his career path. When it was time to pick a major, he knew that he wanted to do research like his dad, Vladimir Grigoryan, a Physicist who was working as a Research Scientist at UMBC at the time.

Grigoryan switched from Physics to an ambitious double major in Computer Science and Biochemistry when a professor told him about the emerging, interdisciplinary field of Computational Biology. Combining the principles of biology with computing techniques, the new field dealt with simulating and studying biological systems on the computer.

After graduating from UMBC in 2002, Grigoryan went to MIT for his Ph.D. in Computational Biology under Dr. Amy E. Keating. Later he completed his Post Doc at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School under William DeGrado. His research has focused on examining proteins in order to 1) understand their structure, and to 2) use that understanding to design new proteins that can do things like cure disease.

The analysis and design of proteins is what’s being done in Grigoryan’s research lab at Dartmouth. Specifically, Grigoryan and his students are looking at how protein structure dictates protein-protein recognition and the structural mechanisms of information transformation by allostery. In an interesting twist, Grigoryan now has undergraduate research assistants of his own.

As for collaborations with his dad, Grigoryan says that these days, formal collaborations are hard because of distance; Grigoryan works on molding minds in New Hampshire while his dad works at Ciena Corporation in Maryland. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop them from having heated scientific discussions over the phone, he says.

This story first appeared on UMBC’s Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department website.

STATE OF MARYLAND

Department of Business and Economic Development, Office of Policy and Government Affairs

TO APPLY TO THE INTERN POSITION BELOW, visit UMBCworks.  If you do not have a resume on UMBCworks, call The Shriver Center at UMBC at 410-455-2493 for an appointment with an intern coordinator to get your resume reviewed- directions can be found here.

Available: Winter/Spring Semester - January – May 2013

Location: Baltimore, MD and Annapolis, MD (during 90-day legislative session)

Title: Policy/Legislative Intern

Salary: $9.25 - $11.25/hr. (depending on academic experience and available funds) or credit in lieu of salary

The Policy/Legislative Intern will work closely with the Director and Assistant Director for Policy and Government Affairs and assist in supporting the Department’s government relations and business outreach activities. The Intern will gain experience in the areas of advocacy, communication and policy and fiscal analysis. The Intern will have the opportunity to observe the management/operations of a principal unit of State government, adding to their public administration experience.

Primary Duties: The Intern will be responsible for or assisting with tasks including:

Conducting research on economic development issues/policies and preparing policy briefs.

Tracking Federal budget items supporting economic development.

Organizing business outreach events.

During the 90-day legislative session (January – April), the Intern will be responsible for:  

Responding to legislators’ requests for information.

Reviewing and analyzing legislation and preparing written analysis.

Conducting research on issues impacting Maryland’s business community.

Monitoring bill/budget hearings and other briefings and preparing summary documents for senior staff.

Assisting operations of the Legislative Office during the session such as preparing testimony, coordinating fiscal estimate responses and preparing briefing materials.

Assisting with Session wrap up summaries and presentations.

Course Background: The ideal candidate is a graduate or undergraduate student majoring in Political Science, Economics, Finance or Public Administration/Policy with a working knowledge of state government and legislative process or an interest in public administration, policy or legal studies. Candidates must possess excellent oral and written communication skills and strong organizational skills.

Additional Skills: The Intern must be able to work well under pressure and with minimal supervision, should possess the ability to identify, analyze and resolve problems; and work well in a team environment. Experience with Excel, Power Point, databases and Internet research is preferred but not required.

National Guard troops dispense gasoline in Queens on Saturday.
Justin Lane / EPA
NBC News

Sandy’s unprecedented devastation, particularly for the North East, shocks Americans as the city that never sleeps and the old Jersey Shore continue to struggle. Is this Al Gore’s inconvenient truth? Think again.

Union heroes saved new-borns from NYU Hospital when its generators went down.

The New York City Marathon, which brought runners from around the world was cancelled. The generators for the event were not donated to disaster victims. Some runners took to the streets to relieve New Yorkers.

McGee was on a rented bike, wearing her orange, long-sleeved official marathon jersey, pushing the pedals in her bright running shoes. She was part of a group of volunteers that had left Brooklyn’s Prospect Park a half-hour ago, on their way to assist any way they could. There were several marathoners among them, their official race numbers taped to Windbreakers and backpacks, months of training now being channeled into something urgent. McGee had witnessed firsthand the efforts after crises before. Katrina. Joplin, Mo. Pitching in on Sunday seemed like an obvious choice. “My frustration is nothing compared to what other people are feeling,” she said.

Volunteers and charities are at work, but there’s still red tape

The Red Cross doesn’t accept individual donations of household goods—these things, it says, need to be cleaned, sorted, and repackaged, and all that takes up more time than they’re worth. It asks for financial donations only. New York Cares requires its volunteers to go through orientation sessions, all of which are full till late November.

Gas tanks from the U.S. military fill the streets this weekend. Getting gas last week was met with long lines, 2-hour waits, and empty stations.

As for November 6th, word came out that New Jersey will be voting via email. Anybody got 3G?