• Register to vote in Maryland: Maryland’s voter registration deadline for the 2022 general election is October 18. UMBC’s voter registration portal will help you take the first steps to registering to vote regardless of where you live. If you are a Maryland resident, you also can go straight to the state’s online portal.

• Request a mail ballot, then vote in The Commons: Registered Maryland voters can complete an online request for a mail-in ballot here. Once you have received and completed your ballot, you can submit it by placing it in the official Board of Elections dropoff box in the lobby of The Commons (near the Campus Information Center desk). No postage is necessary. The Board of Elections will pick up ballots placed in the box daily.

• Make a pledge to vote: Every election year, ALL IN to Vote hosts a Pledge to Vote leaderboard for university students across the country. UMBC placed #9 in the nation on the leaderboard in 2020. This year, let's reach #1! Take the pledge, and spread the word.

• Access Maryland and out-of-state voter resources: Find the latest information, including dates for early voting and deadlines to request mailed and electronic ballots, on the UMBC Center for Democracy and Civic Life website.

• Serve as election judge: The Baltimore County Board of Elections is recruiting election judges to work at polling stations during the 2022 general election. These are paid positions and an important public service.

• Participate in Election 2022 programs: Follow the Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s myUMBC page for information about upcoming programs.

Baltimore Field School 2.0 creates a framework for UMBC graduate students, staff, and faculty to collaborate with community partners in building ethical and sustainable research and teaching projects focused on public humanities. The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has awarded a public engagement grant of over $150,000 to support Baltimore Field School (BFS) 2.0: Undoing & Doing Anew in Public Humanities. The award will further develop a planning intensive that moves away from extractive research models and helps build ongoing Baltimore-based humanities projects. The grant will fund collaborative projects developed with community fellows and will focus on food and land justice, racial equity, and journalism/public information. As part of UMBC's Public Humanities program, the innovative field school and community fellows project is led by Sarah Fouts (principal investigator), Nicole King (co-investigator), Jasmine Braswell (project coordinator), and Tahira Mahdi (evaluator). The award will broaden the reach of the Baltimore Field School (BFS), launched through a $125,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2020. 

Today we proudly announce our new cohort of eight Community Fellows:

• Betty Bland-Thomas of South Baltimore Partnership. Bland-Thomas will work with Courtney Hobson.

• Yesenia Mejia of Creative Alliance. Yesenia will work with Tania Lizarazo. 

• Curtis Eaddy II of Presidential Brands. Curtis will work with Bill Shewbridge. 

• Eddie Conway and Cameron Granadino of Real News Network. Eddie and Cameron will work with Beth Saunders. 

• Tisha Guthrie of Poppleton Now and Baltimore's Renters United. Tisha will work with Nicole King.

• Lisa Snowden of Baltimore Beat. Lisa will work with Jasmine Braswell.

• Aishah Alfadhalah of Mera Kitchen Collective. Aishah will work with Sarah Fouts.

• Eric Jackson of the Black Yield Institute. Brother Eric will work with Charlotte Keniston. 

Eleven UMBC graduate students, staff, and junior faculty in the social sciences and humanities will receive a $3,000 stipend for their participation in the Baltimore Field School 2.0 in Summer 2023. Applications for this workshop will open in December 2022.

Full descriptions of the Community Fellows, their projects, and our BFS 2.0 team are included on the BFS website: http://baltimorefieldschool.org/ Inquiries and questions can be directed to Sarah Fouts: sfouts@umbc.edu.

Full press release is attached.

Prof. Irene Chan: The Thomas Project and Other Recent Work - Weds, Oct 5, noon

Irene Chan, Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Affiliate Associate Professor of Asian Studies at UMBC, will present and discuss recent work including The Thomas Project (2022), a six part, multimedia work exploring the life of Thomas Sylvanus (aka Ching Lee, Ye Way Lee, Ah Yee Way), a 19th-century Chinese man who lived in the U.S. East Coast, was enslaved in Baltimore, and ran away to join the Union Army. 

The talk will take place in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB), Room 216, and lunch will be provided for registered attendees! Learn more about Prof. Chan's work and this event by visiting CIRCA's website. 

UMBC Fall 2022 Career Fair - Weds, Sept 21 (tomorrow!)

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

FY23 Request for Proposals

Announcement Date – September 1, 2022

Background: The UMBC Office of Technology Development (OTD), under the Office of the Vice President for Research, is continually seeking ways to help bridge the funding gap – support that can be difficult to obtain from traditional funding sources. With support provided by the State of Maryland, we are happy to announce our annual Request for Proposals for the UMBC Technology Catalyst Fund, a source designed to advance innovations originating from UMBC research to more commercially viable technologies. Additional proof-of-concept studies, extending data collection and prototype development are examples of the essential steps needed to demonstrate commercial potential.

A total of $100,000 is available annually for this initiative. UMBC plans to make several awards up to $25,000. Projects will be funded at the level deemed necessary to achieve the goals outlined in the proposal. Awards will be for a six- to twelve- month period and only proposals that can demonstrate achievable milestones within that time period will be selected for funding.  One-time, no-cost extensions may be granted, subject to approval by the review committee. No overhead will apply.

Requirements: All UMBC members with Principal Investigator status are eligible to apply as long as the technology to be developed has been previously disclosed to OTD. We welcome projects from all disciplines and encourage interdisciplinary collaborations.

Criteria:  All proposals will be reviewed by a committee comprised of internal and outside reviewers from the business community, and will be held confidential. PI’s whose proposals are selected to continue onto the final round of evaluation will be notified, and the PI will be invited to give a presentation to the Review Committee.

The evaluation criteria will include factors such as:

·         Significance of the market need and opportunity to impact the public.

·         Competitive advantage the technology presents over current solutions.

·         Probability that the project will result in additional funding or licensing.

·         Probability that the research results will strengthen the patent position.

·         Probability of reaching milestones within the time frame and budget.

Deadlines: OTD must be notified of your intent to submit a proposal by Friday, September 23, 2022.  The final deadline for proposal submissions is Friday, October 15, 2022. Please be advised that several preliminary steps must be completed prior to final submission. Finalists must be available to present their proposals to the review committee on Friday, November 4, 2022. Awardees will be notified by the end of the year, with an anticipated starting date of January 9, 2023.

Interweave Cognitive Radio for 4G Long Term Evolution and 5G New Radio Self-Reliant Networks

Brian Stevens, Computer Engineering

1-3 pm ET Tuesday, 20 September 2022, Zoom