Serious Students, Ancient Drama

While UMBC celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, a diverse group of talented students is doing its best to turn the clock back 2,500 years this weekend.

On May 11, 12 and 13, the grassy hillside between the Fine Arts and Chemistry buildings will be transformed to an ancient Greek natural theatre as student members of UMBC’s Ancient Studies Club and Theatre Council of Majors present a free performance of Frogs, the classical comedy by Aristophanes. (Information about the rain location is at the end of this story.)

The play, which starts at 4:30 p.m. each day, is open to the public and the entire UMBC community and comes complete with authentic costumes and free Greek food made by members of UMBC’s Hellenic Association.

Frogs began thanks to the vision of director/producer Steve Killen, a senior ancient studies major and president of the Ancient Studies Club. “I often walked by the hillside and thought how it would make a perfect natural theatre for an authentic Greek drama,” Killen said. “We’ve worked very hard to make the production as close as possible to how it was performed 2,500 years ago.”

Frogs tells the story of how the demigod Dionysus, having grown despondent at the state of the arts on Earth after the recent death of master poet Euripedes, takes a sometimes perilous and often hilarious journey to the underworld to find a good poet. There he encounters the two great Athenian poets, Euripides (senior biological sciences/psychology major Mark Hendricks) and Aeschylus (visiting lecturer of philosophy Greg Ealick) as the two get ready to square off in a poetic contest for the ages.

The producers of Frogs made one concession to modern technology by amplifying the actors’ voices. While the production includes some theatre majors like freshman Alexander Scally (Dionysus) and received advice from UMBC theatre faculty members, the idea behind Frogs was for it to be an independent, all-volunteer labor of love created entirely by students from a cross-section of majors.

The real labor came over winter break as many of the crew and cast spent their winter break making the play their own by working two hours a day, three days a week on a unique translation of the play from Greek to English with the help of Associate Professor of Ancient Studies Jay Freyman.

This type of dedication to academics is typical for the six Ancient Studies majors who worked on the translation, most of whom are seniors headed to prestigious graduate studies programs after completing undergraduate degrees at UMBC.

• Kristin Hulburt, stage manager/producer for Frogs, will attend the University of Chicago’s one-year intensive, interdisciplinary MA program in the humanities with future plans to pursue a Ph.D.
• Clare Ryan, who has several roles in the play, will attend Kings College London to read for M.A. in Classical Art and Archaeology.
• Rebecca Stephen, the play’s resident authentic Greek costume expert, earned a full scholarship for the combined M.A./Ph.D. program in Classical Archaeology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
• Joe Howley, co-salutatorian of the Class of 2006, was a finalist and alternate for the British Marshall Scholarship and UMBC’s nominee for the Rhodes Scholarship. He is editor-in-chief of The Retriever Weekly student newspaper. Howley will pursue a master’s of philosophy in classics at St. Andrews University in Scotland.
• Skylar Neil will spend her summer as an archeological intern with Anne Arundel County, Maryland’s Lost Towns Project, and will then pursue an M.A. in Classical Archaeology at Tufts University in the fall.
• Killen, who is not scheduled to graduate until fall 2006, will spend his summer narrowing down his graduate school application field and digging with an ongoing archaeological field research program excavation at Tel Beth Shemesh in Israel.

“In an age when so many of their generation are concerned with the immediate satisfaction of material wants, it is refreshing to find a group of students who pursue an intellectual exercise for its own sake, just because it is fun and intriguing to do and is healthy for the mind,” said Freyman. “The seriousness and depth of their analysis and discussion during these sessions would rival that of any graduate seminar.”

Important Note: The rain location for Frogs will be Lecture Hall 7, located in the UMBC Information Technology & Engineering (ITE) Building (building #21 on UMBC Campus Map).

For more information on the performance of Frogs, contact Kristin Hulburt at 240-460-7432 or Steve Killen at 443-851-3364.

(5/11/06)

 

Men’s Lacrosse Wins America East Title

The UMBC men’s lacrosse program achieved what most lacrosse observers believed was impossible at the beginning of the 2006 season. They went through the regular season unscathed (5-0), and then the top-seeded Retrievers won their first America East Conference Tournament by defeating third-seeded University of Albany 19-10 at UMBC Stadium on Sunday. The winner of the America East Conference tournament earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I tournament. It is UMBC’s first berth in the tournament since 1999, when they made their second of back-to-back appearances in the championships.

The top-seeded Retrievers defeated third-seeded University of Albany 19-10. The winner of the America East Conference tournament earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I tournament. This is UMBC’s third NCAA tournament berth overall since moving to Division I in 1981.

“These guys just came ready to play,” said Head Coach Don Zimmerman, who led the Retrievers to their first-ever NCAA Division I tournament appearance in 1998. “They believe in themselves…what you saw is a combination of some good talent, but great chemistry and a great attitude. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys.”

Lacrosse success at UMBC this spring was not limited to the men’s program. The UMBC women’s lacrosse team finished the season with a 12-10 record. They earned the right to host the America East tourney as the conference No. 1 seed but lost on May 5 in the America East semifinal to New Hampshire. Two UMBC seniors, Julie Libertini (Mount de Sales) and Kelly Fiorani (Liberty High School in Eldersburg, Md.) were named to the 2006 America East Women’s Lacrosse All-Championship Team, the conference announced on May 7.

On May 13, the men’s team will travel to Princeton University. The game time for this opening-round meeting with Princeton will be announced later in the week.

If the Retrievers upset Princeton, the No. 7 seed, they will advance to the quarterfinals on May 21 against the winner of an opening-round game between the University of Maryland and Denver. The quarterfinal will be played at a neutral site, Towson University.

The 16-team tournament concludes with the Final Four championships on Memorial Day weekend at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The University of Virginia is the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed. The other top four seeds are, in descending order, Maryland, Hofstra and Johns Hopkins.

The Retrievers enter the 2006 tournament on a six-game winning streak. In winning eight of their past nine, they have erased some of the bitter memory of losing at home each of the past two years in the America East tournament.

Defense has been a foundation of the 2006 team. Before defeating Albany to clinch the America East title, the Retrievers had held nine straight opponents, including Maryland, to single digits.

However, UMBC carries several outstanding players on offense, including Brendan Mundorf. The senior from Baltimore ( Mt. St. Joseph’s) is a two-time America East Conference Player of the Year. Against Albany in the America East title game, Mundorf had five goals and one assist and was named the tournament most valuable player.

Indeed, Mundorf is central to a “strength-against-strength” matchup that should be central to the May 13 opening-round game at Princeton. While Mundorf is one of the top attackmen in Division I, he will have to contend with Princeton’s standout goaltender, sophomore Alex Hewit, who has led Division I goaltenders in save percentage throughout the season.

Zimmerman has succeeded in recruiting standout lacrosse talent from the greater Baltimore-Annapolis region. Of the 35 players on the UMBC roster, 17 are from the Baltimore-Annapolis area. Among the seniors, those players are Mundorf, defenseman Justin Berdeguez (Annapolis High School), defenseman James Hyland (St. Mary’s of Annapolis) and transfer student and midfielder P.J. Kimener (Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville).

(5/8/06)

UMBC Students, Alumna Receive Fulbrights

Three UMBC students and an alumna have received international recognition as Fulbright Scholars for their exceptional research and academic achievements. This latest honor marks a UMBC first, with the largest number of students receiving Fulbright awards since the University’s first Fulbright Scholar in 2002. (Tim Nohe, associate professor of visual arts, also received a Fulbright and will be profiled at a later date.)

Administered by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program was created by Congress in 1946 as an educational and cultural exchange program. Each year, approximately 1,000 one-year grants are awarded to U.S. students (recent bachelor’s degree recipients and graduate students) to use for pursuing research or teaching English in one of about 150 nations.

Asynith Palmer, a double major in English and modern languages and linguistics, is the recipient of a full grant, allowing her to design her own research project. Palmer’s grant will send her to France, where she will conduct a more in-depth study of the French admiration of William Faulkner’s literary work.

When I found out the French loved Faulkner, I wondered how the Faulknerian novel could possibly be translated into such a structured language as French,” said Palmer. “This topic fascinated me, so I dug right in.”

Palmer spent last summer at the University of Rennes researching the height of Faulkner’s popularity in France. Last semester, with the help of UMBC’s Study Abroad program, she studied at the International School at the University of Nice. For the Fulbright program, Palmer will return to the University of Rennes to continue her research and sharpen her French skills in reading, writing and speaking.  

Palmer formerly worked as a research assistant for Christoph Irmscher, professor and chair of English, and Elaine Rusinko, professor of Russian studies. Palmer is a Humanities Scholar and a member of the English Honors Program. She is co-editor of the UMBC Review, a journal of undergraduate research and creative works, and founder of UMBC’s Running Club. According to Palmer’s professors, she speaks French better than natives. Palmer is a budding scholar of American literature and has been accepted by prestigious graduate programs. She plans to enter a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan after completing her Fulbright year. Palmer will graduate in the spring with summa cum laude honors.  

Pamela Greenlee, a political science major with a minor in French, will travel on a full grant to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Under the Islamic Civilization Initiative, a component of the Fulbright program which seeks to build an understanding between America and Islamic countries, Greenlee plans to examine human rights issues, particularly the rights of Islamic women. She will look at how civic participation has influenced changes in Islamic family law. In preparation, she will spend this summer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies ( SAIS), where she interned last year. SAIS is helping Greenlee acquire resources for the trip such as contact information for experts in her interest field and scholarly data. She is fluent in French, has also studied German and is learning Arabic.  

In spring 2005, she participated in the Washington Semester program at American University where she studied American foreign policy. Greenlee, an intern for the Shriver Center’s Choice Program, graduates in spring 2006. After she completes her Fulbright year, she will conduct seminars for SAIS. She hopes to attend a graduate school with a strong international relations program and eventually become a foreign service officer.  

Leonard Salter , a biochemistry and molecular biology major, sees his Fulbright opportunity as a chance to learn more about the world.   “Graduating from college and being 21 means you have to be a responsible person,” said Salter. “The more I read the news, I realize I don’t know about the world.”

Salter will use his teaching grant to teach English in Malaysian high schools and universities. Though he’s not required to speak Malay, he would like to enroll in a class where he can learn the language. Salter has worked for Pfizer for three summers conducting immunology research. At his suggestion, Salter worked with one of his chemistry professors to create a chemistry assistant position. He has held this position for three semesters, researching experiments, collecting the materials and demonstrating the experiments to his peers. Active on campus, Salter serves as president of Phi Kappa Sigma and is a member of the Honors College and National Society of Collegiate Scholars. Though his post-Fulbright plans are still under development, Salter, who graduates this spring with cum laude honors, is contemplating a career as a professor and researcher.

When Jessica Lewis ’05, psychology, goes to Baden-Wüerttemberg, Germany for her Fulbright year, she won’t be going to an unfamiliar place. Lewis was born in Germany and lived there for several years when she was a small child. With her teaching grant, she will work as an assistant to German instructors teaching English.

“Though most Germans know how to speak English, I hope to bring them a real representation of America,” said Lewis, who will use this summer collecting items from her life such as personal photos and pop culture items to use as teaching aids for her students.

Lewis, a December 2005 summa cum laude graduate, has taken advanced courses in German language and literature. Although she has not participated in an official study abroad program, Lewis took a month-long camping trip of Western Europe visiting London, Paris, Andorra, Barcelona, Nice and Cannes, Monte Carlo, Pisa, Rome, Sorrento and Capri, Corfu, Venice, Vienna, Munich, Lucerne, Heidelberg and Amsterdam. Since graduating, she has worked in the Albin O. Kuhn Library’s Circulation/Reserves department. She expects to pursue a graduate degree when she returns from her Fulbright year or begin work as a foreign service officer.

Information on prestigious scholarships is available at http://www.umbc.edu/prestige/ or contact Nancy Miller, coordinator of special projects and prestigious fellowships advisor, at 410-455-6865 or nmiller@umbc.edu.  

(5/1/06)

Advanced Research in Mid-Infrared Spectrum Could Yield Sensor Breakthroughs for Medicine, Environment, Military, Homeland Security

UMBC and The Johns Hopkins University are part of a newly announced multimillion-dollar National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center based at Princeton University that is expected to revolutionize sensor technology, yielding supersensitive devices that can detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the atmosphere, emitted from factories or exhaled in human breath.

The goal of the Center’s research is to produce devices that are so low in cost and easy to use that they transform the way physicians monitor patients, states track air quality, governments guard against terror attacks and scientists understand the evolution of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Other partner institutions with Princeton, Johns Hopkins and UMBC are Rice University, Texas A&M University and City College of New York. NSF and industrial funding for the Center could exceed $40 million over 10 years. NSF funding started May 1 with $2.97 million for the first year.

The center – named MIRTHE, for Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment – will combine the work of about 40 faculty members, 30 graduate students and 30 undergraduates from the six universities. The center also is collaborating with dozens of industrial partners on technology commercialization and is partnering with several educational outreach partners to apply MIRTHE research in improving science and engineering education.

“The sensors we are creating will be portable and easy to use,” said Claire Gmachl, associate professor of electrical engineering at Princeton and MIRTHE’s director. “Today’s state-of-the-art sensors are very sensitive, but require an expert to operate and are bulky and expensive. Our vision is to make sensors with the same or better level of sensitivity at a fraction of the size and cost.”

Sensor technologies developed by MIRTHE team members are expected to have a variety of commercial, military and educational applications. UMBC is home to several NASA-Goddard related atmospheric, environmental and earth science research centers and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, where MIRTHE technologies should improve monitoring of pollution in the soil, water and air. Another potential application is an “invisible fence” sensor system that can vastly improve detection of chemical and biological hazards for military troops in the battlefield and homeland security first responders.

MIRTHE is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, one of several interdisciplinary centers located at universities across the United States. The centers are among the foundation’s largest and most prestigious grants.

MIRTHE team members’ expertise ranges from fundamental science to applied technology. Work on MIRTHE at UMBC will be led by MIRTHE deputy director Anthony Johnson, a past president of the Optical Society of America and director of UMBC’s Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR).

“This is an exciting day for engineering research in the Baltimore-Washington region” Johnson said. “With seven faculty researchers each from The Johns Hopkins University and UMBC, this is incredible news for science in the state of Maryland.”

As deputy director of MIRTHE, Johnson brings a wealth of knowledge on the design, workings and manufacture of next-generation sensors based on novel optoelectronic materials. These sensors will be capable of detecting chemical and biological molecular markers in the mid-infrared portion of the spectrum.

Other UMBC researchers on the MIRTHE team include: L. Michael Hayden, chair of physics; Yanhua Shih, professor of physics; Joel Morris, Curtis Menyuk and Fow-Sen Choa, professors of computer science and electrical engineering; and Claire Welty, director of the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education.

Johns Hopkins researchers involved in MIRTHE include: Terence H. Risby of the Bloomberg School of Public Health; Katalin Szlavecz, a geologist and lecturer at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Robert Brown of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine in the School of Medicine; Jacob Khurgin of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering; Charles Lowenstein and Steven Solga of the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine; and Michael Trush of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

MIRTHE’s other key mission is in education – working to train a new and diverse generation of engineering students in the U.S. The center will incorporate extensive efforts to engage college and K-12 students in hands-on science and engineering projects, with major outreach programs taking place at UMBC, City College of New York and Princeton.

At UMBC, MIRTHE will link with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which is recognized nationally as a model for preparing high-achieving undergraduate students, particularly African-Americans, for research careers in science and engineering. Johnson also has extensive experience with K-12 optical science education outreach to under-represented minority students through his work with the Optical Society of America’s Hands-On Optics (HOO) program.

“PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), which is also sponsored by the NSF, will focus on the cultivation, retention and successful graduation of graduate students from populations that are underrepresented in MIRTHE’s core disciplines,” said UMBC’s PROMISE Director Renetta Tull.

The work of creating the successful proposal to the NSF already has established a sense of community among the participants. “We are delighted to be partnering with Princeton and the other fine institutions in the Engineering Research Center’s critical work,” said Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC.

Fashion Designer Cynthia Rowley to Link High-Tech, High Fashion
For 100’s of Middle School Girls Saturday

State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Grasmick will be honored for her contributions to fighting the gender gap in information technology this Saturday at UMBC’s fourth annual Computer Mania Day event. Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley headlines the day of free, fun, hands-on activities which brings hundreds of middle school girls from across Maryland for tech career path inspiration by women role models from industry and academia.

The Center for Woman and Information Technology (CWIT) at UMBC, which addresses and rectifies women's under-representation in information technology and enhances the understanding of the relationship between gender and IT, will present the Joan Korenman Award to Grasmick during the start of the day’s activities at 10:10 AM in UMBC’s Retriever Activities Center.

The Joan Korenman Award is named for the founder of CWIT and honors an individual or group of individuals who have supported, promoted, and encouraged girls and women to strive to achieve personal and professional growth through the use of, employment in, or leadership in information technology or a related field, where women are traditionally underrepresented.

“I’m thrilled to be a recipient of the Joan Korenman Award this year,” said Grasmick. “I continue to encourage women to persevere in their efforts to achieve their objectives. We must strive to have equity in all fields, including those that are technology based. I truly believe that we should continue to create and sustain pathways for all individuals to enter and remain in Information Technology or a related technology field.”

Many Baltimore-Washington area technology firms give financial and volunteer support to Computer Mania Day, which they see as an effective way to increase gender diversity in high-tech industries.

Research shows that the information technology (IT) gender gap opens as early as the middle school years, when girls are most image-conscious and do not want to be labeled as “geeks” or “nerds.” Girls also make up only 14 percent of Advanced Placement students in computer science, a key to success in IT-related fields at the college level.

"We are thrilled to continue our support of CWIT and its goal to encourage students', especially girls', interest and involvement in information technology," said Jennifer Jones, Sales Vice President for AT&T, who will present the award to Grasmick.

"Computer Mania Day demonstrates that science and computer skills not only facilitate our fast-paced, 24/7 connected lives, these skills enhance job performance and improve efficiencies across all industries,” said Jones. “This message is especially important to share with our nation's young people so that the U.S. will not continue to lose its competitive advantage in the global marketplace." The AT&T Foundation is a sponsor of Computer Mania Day.

"There is no greater imperative for protecting the future technological strength and security of our nation than getting today's primary and secondary-school children interested in math, science and engineering-related disciplines,” said James F. Pitts, Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector. “That's why we at Northrop Grumman strongly support activities such as Computer Mania Day at UMBC." Katherine A. Gray, VP of F16 Sensor Systems at Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems, will give the welcoming address to Computer Mania attendees.

Rowley, whose signature designs are found in Cynthia Rowley boutiques, better department stores and specialty stores across the U.S. and globe, has won multiple awards from The Council of Fashion Designers of America. Her creations have been featured in Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times. She is also the co-author of a best-selling series of books on personal and home style and an entrepreneur.

At Computer Mania Day, kids will get the chance to meet Rowley and participate in workshops led by positive female role models from UMBC along with business, government and education leaders. Girls’ events highlights include “Hardware Rocks,” “Google of Opportunities,” digital art and imaging, and the physics of do-it-yourself hot air balloons. Adult workshop highlights include how to prepare your kids for college, “Computers 101,” and “Cyber Safety: Keeping Your Child Protected Online.” All attendees will have the chance to win great giveaways like the HP iPAQ, Dell USB Memory Key and Cisco Routers.

Celebrating Undergraduate & Graduate Research

 

From opera to organic chemistry, this week puts UMBC’s core commitment to student research and creative activity on center stage for two full days.

The Carnegie Foundation ranks UMBC in the category of Research Universities with high research activity, and this week 120 undergraduates and 95 graduate students will prove that as they share their original, interdisciplinary research findings through oral and poster presentations and free arts performances and exhibits open to the campus community and public.

UMBC’s Tenth Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) on Wednesday, April 26, is the biggest in the event’s nine-year history, having doubled the number of student presenters from last year.

On Friday, April 28, the UMBC and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)Graduate Student Associations jointly host the 28th annual 2006 Graduate Research Conference (GRC) at the University Center (U.C.).

Founded in 1997 by the Office of the Provost, URCAD has grown steadily since then and is now a project of the Office of Undergraduate Education. The URCAD experience gives students valuable experience preparing for graduate school or future careers.

“Research experience is part of the distinctive undergraduate education offered at UMBC,” said Diane Lee, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education. “The 120 students presenting during URCAD are representative of hundreds of students, across all disciplines, conducting research or bringing into existence a new artistic expression or interpretation. Our students and their faculty mentors are to be congratulated on the quality and creativity of these efforts.”

Another key component of UMBC’s commitment to student research is the Undergraduate Research Awards (URA). Each year, students apply during February for these competitive grants of up to $1,500 to support research during the following year. 26 URA scholars from 2005 – 2006 will be presenting their research results at URCAD this week. During the noon session, 36 newly selected URA scholars for 2006 – 2007 will be introduced along with their mentors.

URA scholars will present and perform from a broad spectrum of knowledge on Wednesday.

• Junior environmental science major Ramya Ambikapathi (pictured on homepage, right) studies the impact of the invasive tree species ‘Tree of Heaven’ on eastern U.S. deciduous forests. Her URCAD project helped prepare her for work this summer with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Western Ecological Facility in Oregon.
• Junior music major Christina Finn (pictured on homepage, center) explores both the business and artistic side of her passion for classical opera singing. Her project, “The Art of Auditioning,” will help her prepare for auditions for apprentice programs at three major American opera companies in the fall.
• Sophomore biological sciences major Rasheeda Johnson (pictured on homepage, left) examines the structure and replication of the bovine leukemia virus, which could yield new approaches to fighting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Johnson does her research in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) lab at UMBC, under the mentorship of HHMI Investigator Michael Summers.

For graduate students, the GRC is a chance to network with peers and mentors while getting a practice run at the rigors of presenting at research conferences in their fields and defending dissertations.

“The GRC provides graduate students with the opportunity to present the results of their ongoing research to peers, faculty members, the University of Maryland community at large and other interested parties,” said Naresh Sunkara, co-chair of the GRC and president of the Chemistry Graduate Student Association.

Like URCAD, the GRC allows graduate students from across disciplines to shine.

• Computer science Ph.D. student Alark Joshi’swork focuses on better visualization of the structure and evolution of hurricanes.
• Chemistry Ph.D. student John Kiser is working on a new type of spectroscopy that could help improve outcomes for one of the most difficult-to-remove forms of brain tumor.
• Language, literacy and culture Ph.D. student Joan Kang Shin studies how online learning environments can provide a unique space for the growth of global communities for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL).

“We are also excited to have UMBC graduate student alumni attending and judging the conference for the first time, and a big highlight is our keynote speaker Jorge Cham,” said Sunkara.

Cham, an instructor at the California Institute of Technology, is the creator of Piled Higher and Deeper, a highly successful comic strip about graduate school life. In his keynote address, Cham will recount tales of bringing humor into the lives of stressed out academics and explore the guilt, myth and power of procrastination.

URCAD will be held on Wednesday, April 26 from 9 am to 4 pm at the University Center and Fine Arts Building. A full morning session will be devoted to dance and film presentations. The plenary session at noon in U.C. 312 will feature President Hrabowski and two UMBC/URCAD alumni. The complete schedule is available online.

The 2006 Graduate Research Conference will be held on Friday, April 28, from 9 am to 5 pm. Oral presentations will take place in the U.C. Ballroom and ITE building. Posters will be displayed in the Engineering and Computer Science building atrium. The complete schedule is online.

(5/22/06)

 

 

 

 

When someone tells Ray Hoff, professor of physics and director of two of UMBC’s NASA-Goddard related collaborative research centers, that he and his graduate students have their heads in the clouds, it’s taken as a compliment.

This spring has seen two big events for Hoff and his team of faculty and graduate student researchers at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) and Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center (GEST).

On April 28, Hoff and his students celebrated the successful launch
of NASA’s CALIPSO and Cloudsat satellites. Hoff, a member of the NASA science team for CALIPSO, will join JCET/GEST researchers at UMBC for research using spaceborne lidar (an acronym for light detection and ranging -- using laser beams aimed down from space or up from the earth to collect scientific data) analysis from CALIPSO for years to come.

Throughout April, they worked with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin to track some of the biggest dust storms the Asian continent has seen in decades. The dust storms, which sent large clouds of dust as high as 20,000 feet, were tracked on the “Smog Blog” a web journal devoted to tracking manmade and natural pollution events in the atmosphere.

UMBC, which is ranked 16th nationally in NASA research funding, is also home to a third major NASA-related research center, the Joint Center for Astrophysics (JCA).

“Yawning,” an essay for the Nov./Dec. 2005 issue of American Scientist magazine written by Robert Provine, professor of psychology and an internationally renowned expert on the science of laughter and other contagious behavior, has been selected for inclusion in the “Best American Science Writing 2006.” The latest in the series of annual compilations of top scientific writing in the nation will be published on September 1 by Ecco/Harper Perennial.

110,000 Square-Foot Building to be Multi-Tenant Facility

UMBC's on-campus research and technology park, bwtech@UMBC, and Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) announced today that COPT will build and own a second building at the park.

The 110,000 square foot, four-story office building will located at 5520 Research Park Drive on ground leased from UMBC Research Park Corporation and will target large and small technology companies as tenants. The total construction cost of the project is projected to be approximately $22 million.

“We are very pleased to further our relationship with UMBC by being given the opportunity to develop a second building for their expanding research and technology park and to create more critical mass for COPT within the park,” said Randall M. Griffin, President and CEO of Corporate Office Properties Trust.

This building will be adjacent to a development project recently announced within bwtech@UMBC which is the 23,500 square foot new home for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center located at 5522 Research Park Drive. This would bring COPT’s total square foot ownership in the park to 133,900 square feet.

bwtech@UMBC was Maryland's first university research park and is the only research and development park in Baltimore County. The 41-acre park's first building, completed in 2001, is occupied by RWD Technologies. A second building, completed in 2004, is fully leased.

About COPT:
Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) is a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on the ownership, management, leasing, acquisition and development of suburban office properties located primarily in submarkets within the Greater Washington, DC region. As of December 31, 2005, the Company owned 183 office properties totaling 14.6 million rentable square feet, which included 18 properties totaling 885,000 square feet held through joint ventures. The Company has implemented a core customer expansion strategy that is built around meeting, through acquisitions and development, the multi-location requirements of the Company’s existing strategic tenants. The Company’s property management services team provides comprehensive property and asset management to company owned properties and select third party clients.

COPT’s development and construction services team provides a wide range of development and construction management services for company owned properties, as well as land planning, design/build services, consulting, and merchant development to select third party clients. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OFC. More information on Corporate Office Properties Trust can be found on the Internet at www.copt.com.

About bwtech@UMBC:
bwtech@UMBC is a 41-acre research and technology community at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). bwtech@UMBC has a total development capacity of up to 330,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. The USGS building will be the third of five planned state-of-the-art buildings containing over 300,000 square feet of office and wet lab space. The park’s 62,000 square-foot first building has been leased by the information technology firm RWD Technologies since 2001. The second building, a 60,000-square-foot multi-tenant building, is fully leased with tenants including The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, software maker BD Metrics Inc., healthcare media and education firm Med-IQ, the Erickson School of Aging Studies at UMBC, the engineering/design firm Edwards & Kelcey, and UMBC’s Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship.

UMBC began planning for a new research and technology park in the early 1990s, based on the success of other U.S. parks and the vision of the late Michael Hooker, UMBC president from 1986-1992. To date, UMBC’s research park and technology incubator have received public and private sector funding from the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO), the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, Baltimore County, the U.S. Department of Commerce, The Abell Foundation, and the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO.) bwtech@UMBC is part of Baltimore County's Southwest Enterprise Zone, making companies moving to the park eligible for credits on real property and income taxes, as well as credits for job creation.

Two UMBC Students Named 2006 Goldwater Scholars

 

Two UMBC students are among the 323 sophomores and juniors who have been named 2006 Goldwater Scholars. The prestigious scholarship program honors outstanding students majoring in science, mathematics and engineering who are committed to pursuing careers as research scientists.

Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, a junior with a 3.95 cumulative GPA, is one of several UMBC students conducting research in UMBC’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Smalls-Mantey, from Upper Marlboro, Md., has worked in the lab since her freshman year. Her research involves improving the mechanics of gene therapy by focusing on the Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MMLV). She has participated in the Gene Search Program at Catholic University where she first learned basic lab principles. She also conducted research at Howard University and participated in the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Gateways to the Laboratory Program, the first in the country designed exclusively to train undergraduate students to become successful MD-Ph.D applicants.

“This award will help support my goal not only financially, but it also provides me with the resources and networking opportunities as a scholar and researcher,” said Smalls-Mantey.

Smalls-Mantey is a trainee for the M inority Access to Research Careers (MARC), Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research Program, UMBC’s preeminent undergraduate scholarship program that aims to increase the number of persons from underrepresented groups who pursue Ph.D. degrees and careers in biomedical research or mathematics. A Meyerhoff and HHMI Scholar, Smalls-Mantey is a member of the Honors College and Golden Key International Honor Society. This year, she helped establish Fellowship Under God’s Influence, a student organization based on Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. Off campus, she is the deputy director of Pathfinder, a Christian scouting organization for children at her church.

Smalls-Mantey expects to graduate in spring 2007 and plans to pursue a M.D./Ph.D degree, specializing in immunology.

Devin Burns, Mechanical Engineering

Devin Burns, a sophomore with a 4.0 cumulative GPA, has great aspirations of obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with a focus on renewable energy systems and starting his own research lab.

For several years, Burns has worked as a research intern in the College Qualified Science and Engineering Apprentice Program at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. There he investigated mathematical tools to help detect and analyze deceptive activities by opposing forces. He also taught science and math to students in grades 8-11 as part of an outreach program at ARL.

Currently, Burns conducts research in the lab of Marc Zupan, UMBC assistant professor of mechanical engineering. He is studying the advanced materials of mechanical properties. Burns, from Smithsburg, Md., studied abroad in China and Vietnam during Winter Session 2006. He is a Meyerhoff Scholar, a member of the Golden Key International Honors Society and will soon be inducted in Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society. He also enjoys intramural sports at UMBC and is a member of the Running Club.

For additional information about the types of prestigious scholarships available, how to apply for them or to read about previous winners, visit www.umbc.edu/prestige.

Below are updates on UMBC’s 2005 Goldwater Scholars. All three students have maintained a 4.0 cumulative GPA.

Michael Aaron is a junior pursuing dual degrees in mechanical engineering and biological sciences with a minor in writing. Aaron recently went on his first international rugby tour. He accompanied the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Rugby Team to Paris, France where they faced off against Institut National d’Agronomie de Paris Grignon and won 24-7.  He met the team this past summer while conducting cellular mechanics research as part of the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) in biology.  He has worked in labs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and at Case Western Reserve University.  A MARC, Meyerhoff and McNair Scholar, Aaron is the captain of UMBC’s Rugby Team, an active member in Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, and a Learning Resource  Center tutor. 

Andrew Kohlway is a senior MARC and Meyerhoff Scholar who has had outstanding summer lab experiences at a consortium of research universities in Pittsburgh and at Yale University. He is majoring in bioinformatics with a minor in mathematics. After graduating from UMBC in May, he will enter Yale University’s Ph.D. program in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. He recently received an honorable mention from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship competition. He will present some of the research that he has conducted in the lab of Daniele Fabris, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, at the UMBC Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day on April 26.

Stephanie Nunez is a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major with a minor in modern languages and linguistics. In January 2006, she studied abroad in Granada, Spain. She currently interns with Anandarup Gupta, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Dental School. She will present her research at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. Nunez is a MARC, Meyerhoff and HHMI Schoar. She recently was awarded the Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award in Biochemistry. A member of UMBC’s Honors College, Nunez also serves as an officer in the Golden Key International Honor Society. For the past three years, she has played the bass clarinet for the UMBC Chamber Players. This summer she will be interning at Stanford University for the second time.

(4/17/06)