Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and director of the Asian studies program, will give a series of lectures onboard the Orion II, an Australian-operated cruise ship, during  a ten-day tour around the islands of Japan and Korea. The cruise will begin in Hokkaido in the far north, travel along the Sea of Japan to Busan, Korea, and then through the Inland Sea. The ship stops in a number of cities, including Otaru, Kanazawa, Matsue, Busan, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Kobe.

During the cruise, Vaporis will deliver lectures entitled “A Maritime View of the Japanese Archipelago,” “The Samurai in History” and “Popular Culture and The Atomic Bombs in Japanese History and Popular Culture.”

This video is a short documentary about the LEGO Turing Machine built by Jeroen van den Bos and Davy Landman at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in Amsterdam.  They built the device for CWI's exposition "Turings Erfenis" in honor of Alan Turings one hundredth birthday this year and to demonstrate how simple a "universal computing device" can be.

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician who helped define the theoretical model of the computer as we know it today. He also made many other significant contributions to cryptology, artificial intelligence and computer sceince. He was a visionary, one of the few people of his time who recognized the role the computer would play for humanity.

The Turing Machine was defined in 1936 as an abstract model for a simple device that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Turing Machines are not intended to be practical, but can be used to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm and to define the limits of what can be computed by real computers. You can learn more about the abstraction and why it is important by taking CMSC 451, Automata Theory and Formal Languages.

There have been many physical models built in the past, but this one is interesting because it was built with a single Lego Mindstorms NXT set. One unfortunate limitation of this Turing Machine is that it has a finite 'tape'. See the Lego Turing Machine site for more information.

The Washington Post published an article by Steven Overly on June 11 detailing the recent partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park and the aerospace and defense technology corporation Northrop Grumman. The article noted the recent trend of corporations engaging more directly with universities via donations and partnerships, and cited specifically UMBC’s own collaboration with Northrop Grumman and other firms in the development of both a master’s program and an incubator program in cybersecurity.

Read Overly’s original article for Washington Post here.

UMBC is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. William LaCourse as Dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) beginning July 1st, 2012, according a press release by Provost Designate and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Philip Rous. Holding a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry obtained at Northeastern University in 1987, Dr. LaCourse had been serving as Interim Dean since August of last year, and had previously served as Acting Dean, as well.

He had previously served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as Scientist at the Ames Laboratory of Iowa State University before joining UMBC in 1992. Dr. LaCourse was also crucial in the creation of the Chemistry Discovery Center, which was a model for the CNMS Active Science Teaching and Learning Environment (CASTLE) program at the university, which has in turn served as a model for other universities in the nation.

According to the release, Dr. LaCourse’s responsibilities will include “the strategic advancement of the College’s research and educational mission; the long-term financial stability of the college; and strategic budgeting and planning to strengthen the faculty, improve student success at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and support and enhance research activity,” among others.

Congratulations to Dr. LaCourse on his past, present, and future success with CNMS.

The Economist recently spoke with Leonid Yurganov, senior research scientist for the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), among other scientists for a special report entitled “Uncovering an ocean,” detailing the melting of ice in the Arctic region.

Yurganov weighed in on the issue of permafrost covered in the article, saying that “there are a lot of white spots in our knowledge,” when it comes to the matter. This is characterized in the report as “extraordinary” given the possible dangers of permafrost thaw due to climate change, as methane hydrates which are contained in permafrost are 25 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide could be released into the atmosphere as a result, though in fairness these particular hydrates have a relatively short-life of 6-10 years before oxidation in the atmosphere.

You can read more of the original article and its coverage of Arctic ice issues here.

Adrian Rosebrock ’14, a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science, was featured in a June 6th article for the online local news site Catonsville Patch. The article focused on Rosebrock’s development of a website and an application for iPhones called Chic Engine, which is supposed to help consumers locate clothing online and helps compare which colors and designs are available at which stores. Images can be uploaded to the site and compared with others available on Chic Engine, and features men’s and women’s shirts along with dresses, currently.

Speaking with Patch‘s Penny Riordan, Rosebrock described his motivation for starting the venture, saying, “I always hear people saying, ‘Where did you get that shirt?’ … This is the answer to that.”

Read the original article for the Catonsville Patch here for more details.