The Baltimore Sun special section on education recently featured UMBC’s Honors College in an article on the rich educational experiences honors programs provide. The article discusses requirements and opportunities for Honors College students, and describes UMBC’s program as “respected and known for producing well-rounded intellectuals.”

Simon Stacey, director of the Honors College, comments, “interdisciplinary, highly collaborative and discussion based classes” allow Honors College students to study, in greater depth, topics that interest them.

This article is not yet available online.

We salute our Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Robert Deluty on the publication of his 45th book: "Gifts in Disguise." 

Door to the World

Meet UMBC’s 2014 Fulbright Scholars.

Mitchell Donovan describes his study abroad in New Zealand as an incredibly valuable, eye-opening experience, but it didn’t quench his thirst for cross-cultural knowledge. It left him with an even greater appetite for learning. After receiving an M.S. in geography and environmental systems, Donovan is now preparing to study abroad again, this time as a Fulbright scholar in Finland.

Donovan is among four UMBC students who were awarded 2014 Fulbright grants. Two earned English teaching assistantships for Indonesia: Joshua Gehret ’14, English and ancient studies, and Lauren Raubaugh ’11, English and history, and ’13, M.A., TESOL. Two others won Fulbright research grants: Ke “Coco” Tang ’14, political science, history and visual arts, and Donovan ’11, geography and environmental systems, and ’14 M.S., geography and environmental systems.

The prestigious Fulbright Student Program was established by the U.S. government in 1946 as the country’s flagship international educational exchange program. The program offers opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to conduct teaching and advanced research in more than 155 countries worldwide.

“They all had very specific research agendas that they really wanted to dive into,” observes Brian Souders, associate director of international education services and Fulbright program advisor, describing this year’s scholars.

Building on research completed through a previous Boren Scholarship and UMBC Undergraduate Research Award, Coco Tang is returning to Jordan to explore the politics of water access among Jordan’s Syrian refugee population. “This is tremendously meaningful,” Tang says. “I feel extremely honored, and this is a great privilege that not many people get to experience.”

Donovan plans to research river water quality and sedimentation in Finland through the University of Turku. Specifically, he will examine agricultural sources of sediment and how they’re affecting the Baltic Sea – a similar system to the Chesapeake Bay, which he studied as a graduate student.

“I’m excited to pursue environmental science in a new culture and mindset, with scientists who might have completely different beliefs on how to approach a scientific question,” says Donovan. “I think that diversity of perspectives will strengthen my work.”

Through teaching assistantships, Gehret and Raubaugh will offer English language instruction in Indonesian villages and small towns where residents have little to no exposure to Americans. “I look forward to meeting the other teachers and students, and to learning how they see themselves and Indonesia’s place in the world,” says Gehret. “It’s a country with great global importance in the 21st century.”

“I can’t describe how meaningful and powerful it is, and will continue to be, to apply the education I received at UMBC to an entirely different culture and part of the world,” Raubaugh shares. “I want the students to learn from me, but I also want to learn from them – their cultures, their languages, anything I can. The mission of the Fulbright program is cultural exchange on both sides, so that is what I am looking forward to the most.”

Fulbright recipients are selected based on their academic and professional achievement and demonstrated leadership within their fields. At UMBC, the application process for the Fulbright program begins several months before the October application deadline. Students develop research ideas, write essays and statements of purpose, gather letters of support, and receive advice throughout the process from mentors like Souders.

As UMBC begins to recruit applicants for the 2015 Fulbright Student Program, Souders has a powerful message for any student who is considering applying: “The Fulbright experience can open doors for you that you never knew existed, and can dramatically shape your career and outlook on the world. With hard work, students have been very successful in applying for these competitive grants. We are so proud of all of UMBC’s Fulbright applicants and recipients, who go on to act as cultural ambassadors, researchers and teachers, and take those experiences with them throughout their lives.”

(06/24/2014)

Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today we’re talking with software engineer Akshay Java M.S. ‘03, computer science, Ph.D. ‘08, computer science, about his career and work for Google.

Name: Akshay Java
Job Title: Software Engineer for Google
Grad year: M.S. ‘03, computer science, Ph.D. ‘08, computer science

Q: Why was UMBC your university of choice?
UMBC has an excellent CSEE program that emphasizes on both research and core curriculum. During my undergraduate studies I had a keen interest in artificial intelligence and information retrieval. The opportunity to learn from the very best minds in the field is what made UMBC my top choice.

Q: What did you like most about UMBC during your time studying here?
During almost seven years at UMBC, I always felt a part of the close knit community. It is where I found close friendships that have lasted through the years and made strong connections both personally and professionally. The sense of community and the support system that UMBC provides to all its students, faculty, and staff is truly what makes it unique.

Q: Was there a professor or specific class that sticks out in your mind as particularly influential?
The classes that had been the most challenging are also the ones that I learned the most from. The very first semester at UMBC, I took artificial intelligence with Dr. Marie desJardins, operating systems with Dr. Anupam Joshi, and data mining with Dr. Hillol Kargupta. It was a combination that kept me busy juggling between assignments, mid-terms, and project deadlines. All three professors pushed us to really learn the core concepts and to this day I find myself going back to these fundamental topics. The first semester was really the foundation for the later courses and help me significantly.

My advisor, Dr. Tim Finin, has been the most influential figure in my education. Working with ebiquity research group at UMBC, I had the opportunity to focus on cutting-edge research topics and collaborated with several professors in the department. Dr. Finin always encouraged us to think out of the box and pursue challenging computer science problems with an eye for practical application.

Q: How did you create your startup?
I started Percept Labs with my co-founder Amir Padovitz, who was also my colleague at Microsoft. We started our company with the goal of building something that we felt is missing in our experience. Both of us are travel junkies and data enthusiasts, so we figured that we could combine the two and build something that would harness the power of the web and wisdom of the crowd to help us discover new travel content. Using large-scale data mining and machine learning techniques we built the technology that provides a personalized travel discovery engine.

Q: Did UMBC provide you with any tools that helped you pursue your own startup?
There were two key resources that UMBC provided and were the stepping stones to giving me the knowledge to pursue my own startup: First, I took an excellent class on entrepreneurship at the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship and I would highly recommend this class to anyone planning to create or work at a startup in future. It is a great course that covers every aspect of business and brought in guest speakers and CEOs who shared their knowledge and experiences.

The second important resource was the research lab I worked at while pursuing my Ph.D. While at ebiquity research group, faculty members encouraged us to think of practical application our research. We often collaborated with industry leaders like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and many others. Through various academic publications, grant applications, internships, fellowships, etc. we were given the skills necessary to learn how to present and communicate our work to others. This comes in handy in every phase of your professional life, be it in the industry or pitching to a venture capitalist or an angel investor.

Q: What led to your startup being acquired by Google?
Once we had launched a beta version of our product, we shared it with a close circle of friends for their feedback. In time, interest grew and we had more sign ups and our user base expanded. Throughout the process we iterated based on the feedback and suggestions we received from our users. We also actively engaged with industry experts and investors for advice and funding and were receiving interest from different companies on different aspects of the technology and experience we built. During this time, we were connected with Google and after a few discussions with them we strongly felt that this was a right fit.

Q: What is your favorite part about your job at Google?
I think the best part of my job is the opportunity to work with amazing people. The culture at Google is to think about how everything you do can make things 10 times better. From day one, everyone on your team and in the company supports you in working towards this goal. Collaborating with some of the best folks in the industry and working on hard technical problems is what makes every day fun and exciting.

Q: Are there any tips you might give to a person considering creating their own startup?
The most important factor is the team. Work with the best people you can find and the teamwork will keep you motivated when things are tough and help you face any challenge – be it technical or business related. The team also includes your advisors, lawyers, and business partners. The right team members will challenge you and support you in this incredible adventure.

With the right team in place, focus on the users with relentless dedication. Make sure your product addresses a real need and help people do something in a way that is better than anything else that exists out there. A differentiating product that provides value to a user is ultimately what will define your startup’s success.

Doing a startup will be a roller coaster ride – but remember to enjoy it! There will be days that will be exciting and others where you will feel like nothing is working out. No matter what remember to enjoy this incredible journey as it will be one that you will not forget for a long time to come.

Finally, a startup comes to life not just through your individual efforts but from a collective belief in your vision and passion. Your family, investors, advisors, and friends are all cheering for your success. Value and thank their contributions and support.

Q: Are there any words of caution you might give?
Don’t eat too many pizzas.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  

The deadline to submit your application of interest is Friday, July 25th.

As industry’s leading technology research and advisory publication, Network Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping decision makers informed of the choices they can make in information technology. You will discover a wealth of information and tools in this guide including the best products and services, roadmaps, industry directions, technology advancements and independent product evaluations that facilitate in making the most pertinent technology decisions impacting business and personal goals. The guide follows conscientious research methodologies developed and enhanced by industry experts. To learn more, visit http://www.networkproductsguide.com.

About DB Networks

DB Networks® is innovating behavioral analysis technology in the field of database security. Developed for organizations that need to protect their data from advanced attacks, including Zero-Day attacks, DB Networks offers effective countermeasures against SQL injection attacks. Database attacks happen rapidly -- in a matter of minutes -- and bypass traditional perimeter security measures. DB Networks’ unique approach uses behavioral analysis technology to automatically learn each application’s proper SQL statement behavior. Any SQL statement dispatched from the application that deviates from the established behavioral model immediately raises an alarm as a possible attack. DB Networks is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information, see http://www.dbnetworks.com, or call (800) 598-0450

This morning, Dr. Wendy Carter-Veale opened the Summer 2014 Dissertation House at UMBC with a story about her own dissertation process. She said that part of the motivation for her current passion as a “Dissertation Coach” is that the research content should be the challenge; the dissertation PROCESS should not be the challenge. The PROMISE Dissertation Houses help graduate students through the process. We do not write students’ dissertations, we do not edit students’ dissertations. We do provide coaching and advice, and we do eliminate the mystery behind the process of PhD completion. You still have to work with your advisor and your committee. You still have to work within the rules and regulations of your academic department. However, the Dissertation House can help you with interpreting some of those nuances that accompany the dissertation process.

We understand that everyone can’t join us in person, but we invite you to join us online:

http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/summer-2014-challenge/