Congratulations are extended to all participants for their exceptional contributions and remarkable achievements of CBEE faculty and graduate students  during the 2023 ACS Conference in San Francisco, CA.

ACS BIOT TANK COMPETITION

Vikash Kumar, chemical and biochemical engineering Ph.D., who emerged victorious at the 2023 BIOT Tank competition, organized by ACS BIOT (Division of Biochemical Technology of the American Chemical Society)  at the 2023 ACS conference in San Francisco, CA. 

Kumar's company, Breathable Bioprocessing, showcased their groundbreaking solution: a breathable flask paired with a non-invasive sensor system designed for shake flask, t-flask, and G-Rex applications. His innovative solutions in bioprocessing captured the attention of both industry experts and peers, highlighting his commitment to advancing the field.

Watch Vikash’s video here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vikashk-as4711_bio-works-x-breathable-bioprocessing-at-acs-biot-activity-7097479059839811584-0t17/

POSTER & ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Hasib Hasan is an Electrical Engineering PhD student advised by Dr. Gary Carter with a research interest in biosensor development and prototyping. Hasib works in CAST under the guidance of Dr. Govind Rao.  He did a poster presentation at ACS Conference 2023 on "Machine Learning Techniques in Online Glucose Monitoring Using Glucose Binding Protein-Based Sensor: Application in Bioprocesses". 

Poster title: “Machine learning techniques in online glucose monitoring using glucose binding protein-based sensor: Application in bioprocesses”

Read here

Vida Rahmatnejad is a chemical and biochemical engineering Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Govind Rao with a research interest in noninvasive process monitoring for cell therapy applications. She presented a talk  at ACS Conference on her research titled “Noninvasive Bioprocess Monitoring for Cell Therapy Applications”

Talk Title: Noninvasive Bioprocess Monitoring for Cell Therapy Applications 

Watch Vida’s talk here

Tyler R. Josephson, an assistant professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, captivated the audience with his talk at the ACS Conference.

Talk Title: AI tools for discovering molecular interaction equations

Read here

Upal Ghosh,  professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, paid tribute to his former mentor Richard Luthy by organizing a special session at the conference. As a mark of respect and gratitude, Ghosh orchestrated an event that celebrated Luthy's invaluable contributions to the field. 

Dr. Blaney, professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, Dr. He, post doctoral research, '17 chemical and biochemical engineering Ph.D and Sahar Souizi, environmental engineering phd student gave oral presentations at  ACS Fall 2023 

Blaney, L.; Mangalgiri, K. Photodegradation of antibiotics in the presence of agriculturally-derived organic matter. Fall 2023 ACS National Meeting (San Francisco, CA), August 13-17, 2023.

Souizi, S.; Chen, H.; Stewart, K.; Blaney, L. Sustainable nutrient recovery with novel tube-in-tube Donnan dialysis reactors. Fall 2023 ACS National Meeting (San Francisco, CA), August 13-17, 2023.

He, K.; Liang, J.; Siao, M.; Ellington, M.; Chen, H.; Stewart, K.; Blaney, L. Development of anion-exchange membranes as passive samplers for diverse per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.   Fall 2023 ACS National Meeting (San Francisco, CA), August 13-17, 2023.

The UMBC LSAMP 2022-2023 Annual Report highlights involvement in the UMBC LOUIS STOKES ALLIANCE FOR MINORITY PARTICIPATION (LSAMP) program. LSAMP participants have access to individualized advising, campus workshops, funded research experiences, and national and international conferences to strengthen their STEM identity and promote entry into top graduate programs. 

We want to specifically celebrate the achievements of those pursuing their bachelors of science in chemical engineering and the departmental faculty supporting their efforts. 

ANNUAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE FOR MINORITIZED STUDENTS (ABRCMS) (Page 11)

Name| Major| Topic | Faculty Advisor

Evalynn Ellison | Chemical Engineering | Molecular Biotechnology | Dr. Brandon DeKosky

Ariel Wilson-Gray | Chemical Engineering | Bioengineering | Dr. Tamara Kinzer-Ursem 

SUMMER 2023 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (Page 27)

Name and Class | Major |Topic| Faculty Mentor | University

Nhyira Ghunney ‘24 | Biological Sciences | Tissue Engineering | Dr. Erin Lavik | UMBC 

Amaya Johnson ‘25 | Biological Sciences | Tissue Engineering | Dr. Erin Lavik | UMBC

CLASS OF 2023 GRADUATING FELLOWS AND POST-GRADUATION PLANS (Page 34-35)

Joana Hernandez Chemical Engineering Prospective Graduate Student

Diego Iglesias Vega Chemical Engineering Graduate Student at MIT

Rachel Myers Chemical Engineering PhD Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

UMBC is proud to host the 2024 America East Men's & Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th. This marks our return as hosts since 2018, and our student-athletes from Track & Field and Cross Country are thrilled to compete on home turf.

Invite family, friends, coaches, and student-athletes from all sports to come out and support our talented athletes!

Volunteers are needed to assist with setup on Friday, May 3rd, and to help run all championship events throughout the weekend. Your help and support are greatly appreciated in making this event a success!

Free Food will be provided for volunteers!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMDsUJwqLQFDP6Jmdt9hRnLggZBjil_I1ETgZALouf59AVcg/viewform?usp=sf_link

DoIT launched a new Help site, help.umbc.edu, the week after spring break. After sharing it with different stakeholders on campus and getting some feedback, we wanted to provide more context about why and how Getting Help is changing.

Why?

The way we work and learn has shifted, with students and staff demanding easy access to online support systems anytime. Given these new post-pandemic realities, as the campus began looking at new service management platforms, it became clear that a new campus-wide help experience was needed. myUMBC Help’s phone number and link-driven page was very helpful when most students were visiting offices in person or calling for support; post-pandemic, these services are expected to be online, searchable, and easy to find and use. This user-focused redesign began with engaging stakeholder offices around campus and students. DoIT employees and stakeholder offices changed their focus of help from what office you visit to what function you want to perform. The new help.umbc.edu prioritizes tasks over departments, offering comprehensive online support for all student, academic, administrative, and computing needs.

Pictured left -  myUMBC Help, prior to March 2024	Pictured right - help.umbc.edu, launched in March 2024.

How?

The new framework for help.umbc.edu allows us to tie together disparate systems, including the campus knowledge base at umbc.edu/faqs, many of the service request forms that are part of Request Tracker (RT), DocuSign forms, and direct links to PeopleSoft or cloud systems. The help categories use keywords to find the right support action, and context-sensitive search allows us to show FAQs that may match your search criteria. The use of knowledge and FAQs is being integrated on every level including search, the support category, and increasingly the support forms themselves. We’ve published an FAQ on navigating the new experience if you have any questions about using these new features.

A cross-functional team of employees within DoIT came together to make the vision a reality. This included staff experts on the programming, design, content, and stakeholder outreach necessary to make this project successful, including: 

• Ally Hepp, M.P.S ’22, technical management - IT Project Coordinator 
• Jacob Lutz ’17, computer science - IT Developer
• Andrea Mocko ’12, psychology, M.S. ’18, human-centered computing - Manager, Technology Support Center
• Ken Schreihofer, M.S. ’15, information systems - Director, Business Systems
• Vy Nguyen ’26, computer science - DoIT Student Employee

While we are excited to share the benefits of the new help.umbc.edu experience, we know that once users start using it they will have feedback to improve this. We welcome any questions or feedback that you may have. This is the first step, and future improvements will be coming soon. 

We also want to acknowledge the contributions of Asst. Vice President Joe Kirby ’85, information systems management, who led the original help system development that has served UMBC well. Joe’s involvement with the help system has a long history. His article “Beyond the IT Helpdesk” (2013) in the EDUCAUSE Review was one of the first explorations on delivering a holistic help system at scale across an institution. Joe served as a consultant and mentor to the help.umbc.edu project team. The campus may also want to revisit Joe’s 30th-anniversary service award and digital story here.