A private matlab tutor is urgently required. Preference will be given to someone with Electrical or computer engineering background but it is open to everybody. Contact ug86132@umbc.edu for further details.

The London-based Times Higher Education (THE) has released subject-area listings for its World University Rankings 2020, recognizing UMBC as among the best in the life sciences, physical sciences, and psychology.

.@timeshighered World University Rankings 2020 name UMBC a top university in the life sciences, physical sciences + psychology. #UMBCproud pic.twitter.com/JHOhEY5Nt2

— UMBC (@UMBC) November 26, 2019

Earlier this fall, before the subject-area rankings were announced, UMBC was included in the broader 2020 THE World University Rankings. UMBC was named among the top 800 universities worldwide — #130 among U.S. universities on that global list.

In April, Times Higher Education also recognized UMBC as #3 as in the nation in achieving social and economic impact. Their University Impact Ranking measured how well universities deliver on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a blueprint for global peace and prosperity.

Featured image: Abby Cruz ‘18, biological sciences, a Meyerhoff affiliate and MARC U*STAR Scholar, works in Fernando Vonhoff’s biology lab.

If you’ve ever watched a movie with anything higher than a PG rating, chances are you’ve seen two actors perform an on-screen kiss. Perhaps at the time, you didn’t think much about what went into staging that kiss. But in reality, staging intimacy—which includes everything from holding hands to simulated sex—can be one of the most challenging parts of producing a play. 

“There seems to be a lot of opportunity for miscommunication, misunderstanding, and, in the very worst cases, abuses of power,” Chelsea Pace, assistant professor of theatre, explains. Pace is one of the founding members of Theatrical Intimacy Education, a consulting group that helps theatre and film companies develop their best practices for staging intimacy. TIE usually does this not by staging the intimacy themselves, but by conducting workshops and trainings to teach those who are already a part of the company how to direct intimacy.

“If we can make the people who are already in the room better at being in the room,” Pace says, “then we’re actually working towards a cultural change in our industry.”

Pace originally took an interest in how intimacy was directed when she noticed that directors shied away from staging intimate scenes, leaving it up to the actors to figure out for themselves. It seemed, to her, to be the only part of the creative process that didn’t have a designated designer or director. 

That lack of direction impacts the performance, says Pace. “Directors would just ask two actors, ‘okay, do the kiss, do the make-out,’” Pace says. “And if the actors didn’t know how to do that, or they did something weird, you were stuck with it.” 

Pace has studied theatrical intimacy for over 10 years and has been helping the UMBC Theatre Department develop their own best practices for staging intimacy since she began working here in 2017. Not only has she conducted trainings and workshops with theatre students and faculty, but she also worked with the department to develop their new Theatrical Intimacy and Instructional Touch Policy. 

Formed from the input of students, faculty, and staff in the department, the policy aims to set standards for touch in the classroom, including obtaining consent and making it clear that there are alternative practices for students who don’t want to be touched. “That’s a really large part of a lot of pedagogical systems for teaching theatre. There’s a lot of contact,” Pace says, explaining the need for such standards. “We have a lot of needs in this department because of what we do that you may not necessarily discover in a physics department.”

One of the four UMBC shows Pace worked on last year, She Like Girls, featured a young woman discovering her sexuality. The show handled both moments of intimacy as well as instances of sexual violence; in one scene, a character named Andre, played by Lloyd Ekpe ’20, acting, attempts to coerce his friend into having sex. 

According to Ekpe, Pace’s methods made staging such a dark moment infinitely easier. “The initial meeting with Chelsea at rehearsal is going through the best practices for touching and initiating contact, and with that comes the language of contact—the distance, the levels of touch, the lines and shapes,” he explains. When it came time to stage the assault, “one thing [Pace] kept hammering into my head was: It’s just choreography. It’s just choreography. You’re just closing the distance, you’re just lifting her up here, you’re just putting her down there.”

Divorcing the motions of the scene from the feelings of the actor are an important part of Pace’s practices for staging intimacy. “In stage combat, it’s very clear that I’m not punching my scene partner in the face. When you’re staging a kiss? Your faces actually go on each others faces,”  Pace says. “And that creates a lot of muddiness between what is real and what’s just real in the scene.” 

Purposefully, carefully choreographed intimacy helps to clear up that muddiness by creating what she calls a “container of technique” that separates the movements of the scene from real-life emotions.

All of the best practices Pace has developed with TIE and as part of her own research will soon be catalogued for other educators, students, and professionals in her upcoming book, Staging Sex, which is forthcoming from Routledge Publishing. Like TIE’s workshops or the theatre department’s new Theatrical Intimacy and Instructional Touch Policy, Staging Sex is yet just another step in changing the theatre industry to be a more ethical and consent-driven space. 

“We can do a lot [of] good if every undergraduate coming out of a BFA program across the country comes out knowing how to establish their boundaries with a scene partner…and every student director coming out of these programs starts asking actors questions about their boundaries,” Pace says. “That’s going to create a cultural change a lot faster than just insisting every production needs an intimacy choreographer.”

*****

Header image: UMBC Alumnae Sanjana Taskar ’19, acting and sociology, and Hannah Kelly ’17, acting, pose for the cover of Staging Sex. Photo courtesy of Shealyn Jae.

Thanksgiving Break Closing Information

Eight-month communities close for Thanksgiving Break on Wednesday, November 27, 2019 at 8:00 PM and reopen on Sunday, December 1, 2019 at Noon. Students in 8-month communities are expected to vacate and complete the below checklist to help ensure the overall health & safety of your room and personal belongings:

• Clean your bathroom and personal spaces well. 

• Remove and dispose of all trash in a trash room or a dumpster.

• Turn the heat to a low setting.

• Unplug all appliances and extension cords from the wall, with the exception of refrigerators and fish tanks.

• Feed your fish and water your plants.

• Pack medications and other necessities you might need during break.

• Turn off water. 

• Turn off lights and bathroom exhaust fans.

• Close and lock all windows and doors.

• Close blinds on ground floor rooms; leave blinds up on all other floors.

• Report facilities concerns to your RA or FIXIT (x53948).

Necessity can inspire innovation and sometimes, UMBC’s Emma Neubert will tell you, that innovation comes in the form of a cuddly critter with eight limbs that makes silly sounds. Neubert ‘21, biochemistry, earned first prize in UMBC’s annual Idea Competition, hosted this month by the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. She was one of eight students selected to participate in the pitch competition, where students present their innovative ideas to a panel of judges.

Participants spend hours refining their presentations and receiving feedback from their mentors, as well as faculty, staff, family, and friends, says George Karabatis, associate professor of information systems and director of UMBC’s entrepreneurship and innovation minor. Their goal: to gain the funding and professional advice needed to make their ideas a reality. 

Leading up to the competition, Neil Rothman, professor of practice in mechanical engineering and faculty fellow through the Alex. Brown Center, always reminds students that their presentations are stories. “Being able to frame the story and present it in a concise way is the most important part of the competition,” Rothman explains. 

Helping kids communicate

Neubert’s story begins with babysitting a young child who was frustrated with not being able to communicate his feelings and needs. In response, she developed the concept for Octotalk, a knit octopus that makes noises to help young children share their emotions. 

Hoping to avoid future stress and tears, Neubert began brainstorming on ways to help the child she babysits to express his thoughts and feelings. “He loves soft toys and really likes watching me knit,” Neubert says. “When I learned to knit the octopus, I thought, it has eight arms that could be used to cue different responses.” 

In Neubert’s design, each arm is associated with a specific emoji and a unique sound that will help a child “answer simple questions and share how they are feeling.” 

When it came time to present Octotalk to the judges, Neubert was confident in her vision. “This project is near and dear to me, and I knew what I wanted people to know about it,” she says.

More efficient hair styling

The Braid Saver is an automatic braiding and twisting tool that styles hair and eliminates the need to intertwine sections of hair by hand, explains second-prize winner Elyssa Ferguson ‘20, mechanical engineering. Ferguson was inspired by her desire to spend less time styling her naturally curly hair without using chemical straighteners. 

“With little time to spare, I have turned to braids as my go-to low-maintenance style during the semesters. Although braids do not require as much time as other styles, doing them still takes up time that could be used to study or do other things,” Ferguson says. “After continually becoming frustrated with the time I had to set aside to braid my hair, I was inspired to create a braiding and twisting device that would make hair styling more efficient.”

Encouraged to enter the Idea Competition by entrepreneurship instructor Aaron Altscher, Ferguson began sketching iterations of her ideal solution to visualize how the components would look and work. “I hope to develop this tool and sell it in salons and to anyone who wants an easier way to braid or twist hair,” she says. “Inclusivity is very important, so the Braid Saver will be designed to intertwine all textures of hair.” 

Low-cost alternatives to fast food 

Third place prize winner Laura Holland ‘22, computer science, wants to use her passion for technology to connect people with low-cost alternatives to fast food. Holland’s awareness of food deserts in Baltimore City led her to the idea for MyPlateAwaits, an app to connect local businesses, community gardens, and markets with people in the community who are looking for healthy, affordable food options. 

She explains that the goal of MyPlateAwaits is to offer food that is as inexpensive as fast food, but that is healthier. The app will allow people to purchase meal plans, such as five or ten meals a week, to accommodate their schedules and needs. The more meals people buy, the lower their cost per meal. “My goal is to facilitate growth in these communities,” Holland says.

Holland is the secretary for the new UMBC Entrepreneurs student group, which works to create opportunities for students to develop ideas and get feedback from each other in an informal setting. “You can’t do it alone, so it’s great to collaborate,” Holland says. 

Taking the leap

Niky Sicilia ‘21, business technology administration, received “best presentation” recognition at the Idea Competition for InPulse, software that would collect data related to concerts and other performances, from both performers and audience members, to help shape future experiences.

Sicilia’s goal is to eventually start and own a company. He was eager to get connected with the Alex. Brown Center after transferring to UMBC from Howard Community College, and he’s already looking ahead to UMBC’s Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition in the spring. 

“The resources at UMBC are unlimited,” Sicilia says. “You just have to be willing to talk to people. Coming to UMBC has been the best thing for my career.” 

Green buildings

One competitor, Randy Deinlein ‘20, mechanical engineering, has already presented his ideas on an international stage. Deinlein is a Grand Challenge Scholar with an interest in sustainability who is pursuing a minor in entrepreneurship. He represented UMBC at the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London this past summer, and seeing London’s dense cityscape gave him fresh ideas about the potential of green rooftops. At this month’s competition, Deinlein shared his concept for Roof Roots, a green roof project. 

Deinlein says that attending Alex. Brown Center seminars and having the opportunity to do a practice presentation and receive feedback allowed him to refine his pitch before the competition. As he’s developed his presentation skills over the past several months he’s learned, “Don’t be scared to share your ideas. It’s okay to take risks.”

The Alex. Brown Center offers a wide variety of initiatives, competitions and resources to assist students in developing their entrepreneurial skills and interests, explains Vivian Armor ‘73, American studies, director of the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. “The annual Idea Competition is a wonderful way for us to showcase the incredible creativity of our students and to help them flesh out their ideas,” she says.

Banner image: Campus at dusk. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

ALEXANDRIA, VA (November 2019) – Alexis McKittrick, Ph.D., a research staff member in the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) has been named a recipient of the 2019 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Emerging Leader Award in recognition of her STEM achievements and community contributions. 

According to SWE Conference 2019 issue of SWE Magazine, McKittrick is recognized “for demonstrating technical expertise and insight in shaping science policy; for consistent leadership and technical excellence across varied research environments and scientific topics; and for leadership in cultivating an inclusive environment.” 

“I extend my congratulations to Alexis on her outstanding achievement, commitment, and leadership in the engineering community,” said Acting STPI Director Mark Taylor, Ph.D. “I look forward to her ongoing contributions here at STPI and impact in the community she serves.” 

McKittrick was recognized at WE19, the world’s largest conference and career fair for women engineers, November 7-9, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The conference gathered more than 16,000 professional and collegiate men and women in engineering and technology for professional development, education, and networking. She accepted the award at the WE Awards banquet on November 8, 2019. 

“The men and women recognized have lived and learned through significant contributions to the engineering community, and they continue to lead in their careers and personal lives,” said Cindy Hoover, president of SWE. “They are leaders paving the way to empower and inspire future women engineers across the globe.” 

McKittrick (Hillock) earned her bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2001 and her doctor of philosophy degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. She currently serves as the Speaker of the Senate on the SWE Board of Directors. 

About the Institute for Defense Analyses 

IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical, and analytic expertise.