On a pleasant Saturday in early May, nearly 30 teams gathered in Baltimore to pedal elaborate all-terrain sculptures 15 miles through a course featuring pavement, water, sand, and mud. The 25th year of the Kinetic Sculpture Race, organized by the American Visionary Art Museum, brought out Baltimore residents to cheer on the wacky sculptures, such as a kilt-wearing platypus and a BLT sandwich, and their human pedalers. This year UMBC, which has regularly gathered a team to compete in the race, partnered with The IMAGE Center of Maryland, a non-profit organization dedicated to “new thinking about disability,” to build and race a sculpture named IMAGE Man. The larger-than-life teal superhero sits in a wheelchair and wears an orange cape—The IMAGE Center’s branded colors. With football in hand, he flies over some of Baltimore’s iconic buildings, such as the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower and the Baltimore World Trade Center.

IMAGE Man successfully navigated the hazardous terrain of the race—including a floating lap around a dock in the Baltimore Harbor—and was also recognized with a best art award, a category that, according to the race organizers “includes consideration of color, costumes, two and three dimensional ‘artistic designs,’ kinetic motion, humor, theatrical appeal, and mass crowd- and media glory-seeking.” The team also won second place in the overall standings. 

It took many months, and hundreds of volunteer hours, to bring the kinetic sculpture to life from foam, wood and paint and mount it on a recycled quadricycle in a workspace at the 900 Walker Ave building on the UMBC campus. Volunteers from UMBC pitched in alongside partners from Volunteers for Medical Engineering (VME) Program Services, a part of The IMAGE Center that provides innovative custom devices to empower people with disabilities to live life more fully. 

The partnership between The IMAGE Center and UMBC on the Kinetic Sculpture Race was a spinoff of a long-term collaboration, says Angela Tyler, the director of VME. In that partnership, UMBC engineering students collaborate with VME to design and build the custom devices. Many graduating students return to volunteer on other VME projects. This year, four UMBC mechanical engineering students participated in a project to design and build a fishing rod holder and casting device for a disabled client. All four also volunteered their time on the kinetic sculpture project.

Alex Brunkhorst was one of those students. He participated in the race as a member of the pit crew, pedaling alongside the sculpture and offering technical (and emotional) support as needed. “The race was a lot of fun and challenged all of us physically, mentally, and mechanically,” he says. “We did run into some difficulty with our kinetic sculpture’s braking system, but with some quick thinking and a little luck, the pit crew was able to rig something together and keep IMAGE Man in the race.”

Tyler says the collaboration for this year’s race was a win-win. “We’d like to thank UMBC for providing the space, thanks to UMBC faculty Steve McAlpine and Dr. Jamie Gurganus for help leading the volunteer team, and many thanks to all the volunteers! It was a natural fit, and a great partnership.”

Gurganus, who has nurtured the partnership with VME for many years, says the expansion of the collaboration to the Kinetic Sculpture Race this year made the race-day experience much more than just a fun and wacky day. “The race became a moving stage to amplify VME’s mission, and their presence was unforgettable,” she says. “It became a celebration of purpose, empathy, and community.”

On Wednesday, May 21, more than 300 high school students from the high school Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly), family members, teachers, and faculty and staff from area universities filled a hall at Loyola University Maryland for the Ingenuity Project’s 2025 STEM Student Research Symposium. Poly students presented research they had completed as part of the Ingenuity Project, UMBC mathematics and statistics majors presented educational workshops, and UMBC faculty and staff were on site to discuss their research and opportunities at UMBC. 

The Ingenuity Project is a premier STEM program at Poly, a top-tier, STEM-focused high school in Baltimore City. Ingenuity prepares highly motivated students for success in college and beyond with a rigorous STEM curriculum, including independent research. Ingenuity students have earned over $27 million in scholarships since the program’s launch in 1997. 

Two years ago, UMBC’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics recognized a unique opportunity to engage with these talented students, sparking a partnership that has flourished through shared goals and hands-on collaboration. UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Summer Enrichment Academy, College of Engineering and IT, and Meyerhoff Scholars Program also participated in the research symposium, either in person or through financial support.

Ingenuity and commitment to student success

“Our partnership with Ingenuity has allowed us to interact with some truly exceptional students and share the wonder of higher mathematics,” says Justin Webster, associate professor of mathematics and a lead liaison between UMBC and Poly. “The diverse collection of mathematically gifted students at Ingenuity is truly amazing.”

Those interactions go well beyond the research symposium. This semester alone, UMBC faculty visited the Ingenuity program at Poly three times, engaging with students through the Math Modeling Club and offering guidance in Poly’s Research Methods course. The department hosted 21 Ingenuity students at UMBC for the first-ever Math and Stat Visitation Day. They toured the campus, shared lunch with faculty and undergraduates, and sat in on mathematics lectures, gaining a firsthand look at college-level STEM education. 

“Our partnership with UMBC is an invaluable asset to the Ingenuity Project, and we are so grateful for their ongoing collaboration and support,” shared Lisette Morris, executive director for the Ingenuity Project. “Their generous sponsorship and support of both the Leadership Conference and the Research Symposium truly helped make this year’s events a tremendous success, empowering nearly 300 young scholars to explore and showcase their passion for STEM.”

For Webster, who lives less than a mile from Poly, the partnership is also personal. 

“As a Baltimore City resident, getting to share the beauty of higher math with these students—both at Poly and on UMBC’s campus—has been a privilege,” he says. “It’s just deeply rewarding to work with such talented young minds.”

This collaboration strengthens ties with the local community, creating a pipeline for future STEM leaders. By fostering these connections, UMBC and Poly are building a future full of opportunity for Baltimore’s brightest.