by Jazmin Simmons

For the past 10 years, the Imaging Research Center has been home to a vibrant artist in residence, Kevin “Kal” Kallaugher, a world-renown political cartoonist. While in residence, Kal not only continued to work on his own practice and career, but helped to cultivate those of UMBC faculty, staff, and students. This past Tuesday, Kal kicked off his own farewell party with a lecture titled, “Where to Draw the Line: Cartooning in the Shadow of Charlie,” which spoke about the challenges of being a political cartoonist and how it specifically relates to the freedom of speech. A reception followed in the IRC, which included past and present members of the UMBC community.

Some sentiments that were shared about Kal…

“He always pushed me to give 10%, 20%, 30% more, and now that is the expectation that I have for myself–and my students.”

“I asked if I could contribute [to Democrazy], and for some reason you said ‘yes’!”

From digital 3D puppets to the development of the student-driven blog, USDemocrazy, Kal has implemented the interdisciplinary nature of UMBC and left his very signature mark on this campus.

You might be thinking, if he’s leaving why are you telling us this?

Simply because this is yet another example of how UMBC excels at bringing the very best into its community and we have no intention of stopping.

A portrait series from Women’s Center student staff member Yoo-Jin Kang. These photos were originally presented at the showcase event for the Telling Our Stories project. 

Crystal Ogar

Jamie Imperial

Pauline Xu

Vanessa Hall

Sayeda Khan

Bria Hamlet

Narges Ershad

Mae McDowell

Yoo-Jin Kang

SmartCEO article highlights President Hrabowski's leadership, describing UMBC as "an innovation hub and national education powerhouse."

On April 30, V-LINC honored UMBC’s department of mechanical engineering at their annual volunteer recognition event at the Cylburn Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. V-LINC is a Baltimore-based non-profit organization that connects engineers and people with disabilities to create technological solutions to improve participants’ independence and quality of life.

The mechanical engineering department received V-LINC’s “Partnership of the Year” honor. Professor of the Practice Neil Rothman, mechanical engineering, accepted the award on behalf of the department. Rothman has worked with student teams to design innovative solutions for V-LINC clients, including an adaptive swing, interchangeable tool, squeeze machine, and elliptical machine.

UMBC was one of several organizations honored by V-LINC at their volunteer recognition event. Other awardees included Johns Hopkins University’s department of bio-medical engineering and the Baltimore chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. UMBC has enjoyed a long history of partnership with V-LINC. Dean Drake, associate vice-president for research, serves on V-LINC’s board of directors and David Salkever, public policy, was one of the co-founders of LINC, a predecessor organization.