Members of UMBC’s Student Alumni Association (SAA) hit Main Street in the Commons Tuesday to share their love of philanthropy with the passing campus community. Thanks to every Retriever, near and far, who supported UMBC on this day of giving.

“Giving Tuesday really makes you think about the people who have helped you at this point whether it is at home, in school, at work, etc. It really makes you appreciate what others do for you and what actions you can take to pay that service forward to others,” said SAA member Karndeep Singh, a senior biochemistry and molecular biology major.

“Here at UMBC, we have a strong community built on providing service to others. Even though we are a young university, we have great support from our alumni who devote a lot of time and effort to supporting the current student body by offering scholarships, internship opportunities, and career opportunities!”

Did you miss #GivingTuesday? It’s never too late to support the great things happening here at UMBC.

Throughout his career, Philip Graff ’08, mathematics and physics, has conducted research at Cambridge University on a prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, developed an algorithm that enabled experiments confirming the existence of gravitational waves, and worked to improve cybersecurity measures for the U.S. armed forces and Department of Homeland Security.

This fall, the Maryland Science Center named Graff their 2017 Outstanding Young Scientist – Non-academic Track. At a ceremony held November 15, the center honored two scientists and two engineers, including UMBC’s Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering. Researchers younger than 35 in academia and younger than 40 in other sectors who have distinguished themselves with accomplishments in science and engineering are eligible for the awards.

Graff’s research career began at UMBC in the lab of Markos Georganopoulos, associate professor of physics, who noted his potential early on. “Once I gave Philip a suggestion on how to solve a key issue with the stability of our code, but my suggestion was wrong in a subtle way,” Georganopoulos remembers. “Philip found my error by himself, modified my suggestion, and fixed the code in two days.”

Yet, Graff maintained his humility as a new researcher. “When you’re starting out in research, there’s a lot to learn in the beginning,” he says, “and [Georganopoulos] definitely put in the time to help me work through that,” especially pertaining to scientific writing. Graff and Georganopoulos published a paper with Graff as first author—a rare accomplishment for an undergraduate—and Graff presented the findings at an academic conference. The paper dealt with modeling blazars, a variety of quasar that Graff describes as “bright and energetic beams of radiation coming from black holes at the centers of galaxies.”

“As an undergrad, Philip took on and completed a computational astrophysics project that was practically at the level of a heavy Ph.D. thesis,” shared Georganopoulos. “Many astrophysicists at conferences had a hard time believing that the problem we worked on was solved by an undergraduate student.”

Graff’s research experience at UMBC catapulted him to a summer internship at CalTech’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab, a leading center for gravitational wave research. After that, he received the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, a younger version of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, to pursue a Ph.D. at Cambridge University. Nancy Lloyd Miller ’74, political science, M.P.R. ’85, policy sciences, and the recently-retired associate director of academic and pre-professional advising, provided significant support throughout Graff’s application process, he says.

Graff’s work at Cambridge continued to focus on LIGO, this time developing software tools to analyze data from LIGO and beyond. “We were very focused on making sure any new software we developed for data analysis would be generally applicable,” Graff says, “and that other people would be able to take it and use it to solve their problems as well.”

After completing a Ph.D. in physics at Cambridge, Graff continued his LIGO work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In 2015, he transitioned to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he is working primarily on projects for the U.S. government.

Graff’s years at UMBC, which also included involvement in student government and Greek life, provided the foundation for his success. “UMBC prepared me for the Gates [Scholarship] to get me to Cambridge, and […] set me on the path that I’m on now,” he shares. “It was one of the important steps on the way.”

The award, Graff says, “is a real honor. I hadn’t expected it. Now I just hope I can continue to live up to it, so that I’m not just an outstanding young scientist, but can continue to do good work in the future.”

Each fall, student entrepreneurs at UMBC pitch their big ideas – Shark Tank-style, no less – for potential funding.  And each year, their ideas span disciplines, including everything from a comic book series featuring a new brand of hero, to hydro-powered water bottles designed to track water consumption.

Now in its eighth year, the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship Idea Competition is just one of several ways UMBC is helping to turn students’ ideas into reality, providing monetary prizes for startup funds, and advice from alums and others who can help them along the route to success.

“I think this competition is an amazing opportunity to help young adults have the confidence and ambition to go beyond just spitballing ideas,” said Karla Negrete ’19, mechanical engineering. Negrete and her partner Nathan Eschbach ’19, mechanical engineering, took home first place and a $750 prize for their Puncture Perfect concept, a patch that lights up veins to aid medical professionals in drawing blood.

“I think with the emergence of ultrasonic and infrared technology our idea was really overlooked. We intend for the venipuncture assistance patch to be a tool utilized in hospitals as large as Johns Hopkins to overseas military bases to third world developing countries. For a procedure as simple as the venipuncture, there should be a simple solution that is universally available,” explained Negrete.

Three UMBC alumni returned to campus to pose questions to the young entrepreneurs and act as judges for the competition –  Alexander Chizhik ’97, economics; Paul Mangus ’86, information systems management; and Angela Singleton ’95, interdisciplinary studies. When addressing the audience, all three focused on the importance of idea generation and perseverance. Singleton, inventor of footwear technology for women’s high heels, stressed the value of networking and relationship building, “so when you have your big idea, you know who to come to to make it happen.”

“Most people will tell you they have an idea but they don’t take steps to put it in action. If you don’t take that first step, there is no success,” said Chizhik, COO and general counsel for VIMRO, LLC. “It’s an incredible adventure to be part of something.”

Mustafa Al-Adhami M.S. ’15 and current Ph.D. student, mechanical engineering, and his partner Ben Pushon-Smith M.S. ’17, electrical engineering, were awarded second place for their Neuro-Stablyzer concept. Utilizing virtual reality technology, the Neuro-Stablyzer would combat the symptoms of PTSD through game play by directly targeting the areas of the brain most affected. Their goal is to offer an alternative solution to those suffering from PTSD that wouldn’t be as traumatic as traditional treatment or require medication.

Pushon-Smith elaborated, saying, “We believe that our idea could revolutionize how we treat mood disorders, and could be tailored to treat a broad range of mood disorders such as anxiety, ADHD, depression, and even enhanced learning. We plan to better research the localized effect of VR on specific networks of the brain, and to work with commercial partners to develop prototype games for the Neuro-Stablyzer program.”

Third place winner Vincent Celebrado-Royer ’18, business technology administration, brought his idea to the table with the Skanaroo app he developed. Skanaroo buttons are designed to be affixed to an easily visible accessory like a backpack. Each button is customized with a QR code that leads to a student organization’s landing page, with the idea that passersby will scan to learn more. Celebrado-Royer has already developed a fully functional product and website and has found success in marketing his invention to various clubs on the UMBC campus.

In addition to this fall event, the Center for Entrepreneurship’s annual Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition (CBIC) is another opportunity for students to showcase their entrepreneurial prowess. This spring event awards $3,000 to the first place winner who devises the most effective startup business plan. Both of these events serve as a foundational stepping stone for students interested in making a career as an entrepreneur. Al-Adhami won third place in last year’s CBIC competition and has received confirmation for a provisional patent. He reflected on his experiences saying, “It was great to share our idea with a panel of entrepreneurs; hopefully one day we will be on the other side of the discussion.”

Banner image: Participants in the 2017 Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship Idea Competition. All photos by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC.