Over the past few months we have experienced some challenges with UMBC student led start-ups submitting proposals to sponsors who require UMBC institutional approval.  The Office of Sponsored Programs is the only office on campus with the authority to approve sponsored proposals for UMBC. 

While many sponsors from which our startups seek funding do not require UMBC to approve, when a sponsor does, we remind our students to reach out to their faculty advisors early in the process to allow sufficient time to have the appropriate and required institutional review.  The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is very supportive of our student entrepreneurs, however, we are not able to institutionally approve proposals which have not been appropriately reviewed and approved.  

One example is a sponsor called VentureWell.  VentureWell has multiple funding opportunities which require a UMBC faculty PI, Department Chair, as well as institutional/OSP approval.  Below is a quote from one of their funding application guidelines: 

“Applicants will need to confirm multiple items with your institution PRIOR​ to applying. We recommend you begin these steps up to eight weeks​ before the application deadline and no later than two weeks before the deadline. The most common mistake applicants make is underestimating the time it takes to navigate their institution’s administrative structure—make sure you give yourself plenty of time to compile the required materials.”

This message simply serves to iterate that if a student wishes to apply to such an opportunity, the student MUST follow the UMBC proposal submission policies and procedures. This includes following the standard proposal routing procedures and providing any and all relevant information, documentation, and signature approvals associated with the routing process.  Furthermore, the student is also responsible for satisfying any additional provisions that his/her particular Department/College might require. The student who wishes to apply should readily work with their Department Chairs, Associate Deans for Research, and/or Advisors to properly prepare for success in both the proposal submission and award process.

We wish all of our student entrepreneurs the greatest success.  If you are having trouble identifying the appropriate department or unit to assist you with your application, please feel free to reach out to the Office of Sponsored Programs.

The Career Services Office of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health invites students to attend their 36^th Annual Public Health Career Fair. There will be several representatives from non-profit, government, private, and international public health organizations.

Come and discuss job opportunities, internships, fellowships, organizational functions, and career information!

 

 

Registration: No pre-registration is required. This event is open to all JHU and non-JHU undergraduate and graduate students.

 

Sign-In: Non-JHU students will need a photo ID to enter the building. You will not be admitted into the building without it. Sign-in for fair is located at the East Monument St. entrance.  

 

Employer Information: Check our website periodically for an updated list of employers we are expecting. We have also attached a PDF flyer that we would like you to kindly post in a prominent area and a jpeg file that can be used in an email blast.

 

Student Information: Additional information for students is available on our website located at http://www.jhsph.edu/careerfair. Business attire is strongly recommended.

Brookings Institution will be on campus hosting an Information Table this Thursday, February 20th from 12 Noon to 2 PM in The Commons Main Street.  Summer 2020 Internships are available plus full-time positions.  Brookings has a partnership with UMBC for summer 2020 interns and will be on campus to promote those internships and other full-time roles.

Students should apply to the intern positions by this coming Monday, February 24th.

Intern at a Think Tank this Summer

Brookings Institution is Seeking Undergrads & Grad Students

The Brookings Institution is looking to hire UMBC Research Interns for this summer.  The positions are full-time, paid ($15 per/hr) and are open to undergraduates and graduate students.

Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2020
5-6 November 2020 | Vancouver, Canada  

We'd like to invite you to submit your papers/posters/demo proposals for the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2020 to be held from 5-6 November 2020 in Vancouver, Canada's most ethnically diverse city.

FTC attracts researchers, scientists and technologists from some of the top companies, universities, research firms and government agencies from around the world. Each paper will be reviewed by at least three regular PC members or two senior PC members. The acceptance decisions will take into account paper novelty, technical depth, elegance, practical or theoretic impact, and presentation.

The conference programme will include paper presentations, poster sessions and project demonstrations, along with prominent keynote speakers and industrial workshops. It is a very-well attended conference by industry, government, and academia to share information, network, explore ideas, and learn about emerging trends and today's hottest and most provocative technology topics.

Important Dates:
Paper Submission Due : 01 March 2020
Acceptance Notification : 15 April 2020
Author Registration : 15 May 2020
Camera Ready Submission : 01 June 2020
Conference Dates : 5-6 November 2020

Complete details are available on the conference website: http://saiconference.com/FTC

FTC 2020 papers will be will be published in Springer series "Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing" and submitted for indexing to ISI Proceedings, EI-Compendex, DBLP, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Springerlink. The publications within "Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing" are primarily proceedings of important conferences, symposia and congresses. They cover significant recent developments in the field, both of a foundational and applicable character.

FTC 2020 promises to provide the perfect setting for researchers and practitioners to reflect on the substantial progress made by the academic community over the last few years as well as to anticipate where we might head throughout the next few. 

Looking forward to your submissions.

Regards,
Kohei Arai
Program Chair
Future Technologies Conference - FTC

Our observation and conclusion is that the proposed bill does not carry more benefits for GAs at UMBC in comparison to the risks it could incur. Therefore, we do not support the bill as it is proposed.

We encourage you to read through the bill HB214/SB0658 and UMBC GSA's overview of it to get a deeper understanding of this important legislature. We welcome any questions you have and are very interested in any feedback you have to offer. GAAC is here to represent the GA body as a whole, and the best way to have your voice heard is to reach out and connect with us!

Hope to hear from you soon,

The Graduate Student Advisory Council

gaac@umbc.edu

Kenneth Harris II caught the engineering bug early.

Beneath the desk of his father, NASA engineer Kenneth Harris, was a slice of foam left over from the Mars Pathfinder. After school, Kenneth the younger would curl up on the foam and nap or color Pokemon pictures while his dad worked. 

Perhaps he became an engineer by osmosis, but that makes it sound too easy.

Harris ’14, mechanical engineering, labored doggedly to become a senior satellite engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where his father still works. Recently named to the Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 List, Harris helped build the NASA telescope set for launch in 2021, and flies satellites that spot wildfires and hurricanes, and tends to the data that can predict weather to save lives. 

High Expectations

But at UMBC, a worried academic advisor once suggested Harris change majors. “It was not an option to change my future goals,” Harris remembered, shaking his head. He talked to his father and friends, then buckled down. “I saw it as adversity to be overcome.”

Anne Spence, a former engineering professor at UMBC now at Baylor University, remembered Harris struggling. 

“There was one course, in particular, that seemed to be his nemesis. Yet he persevered,” Spence recalled. Harris tried the class a third time, with tutoring and faculty support, she said, and passed. “The effort required to be an engineer is high and individuals rise to the occasion at different points in their career. UMBC places high expectations on their students. Kenneth has certainly achieved the dreams that we hoped for him.”

Harris started working at NASA in high school, graduated from UMBC, then finished a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. Now, he strolls through the vast NASA building where space telescopes and satellites are built. He peers into cleanroom prep areas stacked with white “bunny suits,” peeks in the vibration chamber that tests whether machines will withstand the rattle of launch, and wistfully motions to a pair of massive venting towers, the last remaining pieces of the James Webb Space Telescope left at Goddard. 

Standing in front of a color-coded schematic, Harris points to connections that he ensured would deliver data and power to each piece of the massive telescope. Set to launch in 2021, the Webb telescope will see back in time to when the universe first began, even farther than its predecessor, the Hubble. 

Pondering the deep questions about time and space, not to mention the engineering steps to reach those nebulous answers, was difficult, Harris admitted. Terrific mentors guided him, he said, but didn’t give him the answers. 

“That’s something I’ve adopted,” Harris said. “I never give my mentees the full answer. It may be frustrating, but you learn more when you come up with the answer on your own.”

Paying it Forward

Passionate about mentorship, Harris has done a TEDx Talk on it and speaks at schools and conferences to promote mentorship and STEM studies. 

“Mentors are the foundation I was built on,” Harris said, and he hopes to “pay it forward.”  

Harris worked as a UMBC resident assistant, and closely with Nancy Young, vice president of student affairs. 

“Ken is making a mark in science, but as a resident assistant, he had great compassion for others,” Young said. “He would be in my office lobbying me about Greek organizations — he would argue up a good storm — but he was always willing to take on another’s perspective to solve problems. People in research are often intensely focused. But Ken is also passionate about leadership, passionate about cultural organizations. He had passion and focus in everything he did. He’s the quintessential UMBC Retriever.”

Driven to Explore 

At NASA, Harris strides into the observation room overlooking the cleanroom, a space large enough to house two Space Shuttle payloads, where he helped build the Webb telescope high up on ladders. Harris is joined by his best friend, Reginald McNeill, also a Meyerhoff Scholar, a planning and facilities project manager at NASA who just finished his masters’ degree at UMBC. They each married UMBC classmates, and all four remain close; Harris often cooks for Taco Tuesdays. 

Harris nodded over his shoulder to a Hubble Space Telescope photograph, a blue and gold marvel of cloud that shows the Eagle Nebula. Exploration drives him, he said. He wants to be an astronaut and excitedly talks about astronauts he knows who are rooting for him. 

“My belief is that as scientists, as engineers, we have the opportunity, no, the responsibility, to be open to the unexpected,” Harris said. “Our goal is to make it more plausible for the next generation to explore with a different definition.” 

– Susan Thornton Hobby

* * * * *

Header image by Christopher Gunn.

Learn more about Harris here.