• We have developed a scope of work for an outside expert or firm to review all aspects of our sexual misconduct prevention and response policies and training and awareness programs to help determine where we can learn from other institutions’ best practices and evidence-based research. We are also reaching out to national experts to identify potential consultants. Student, faculty, and staff advisory committees will guide this work.
  
  
• Student leaders led a two-hour tour through UMBC’s main campus with President Hrabowski, members of the accountability team, and representatives from Facilities Management and UMBC Police to see where lighting needs to be improved. The Facilities Management team and police have repaired over 50 fixtures in areas of concern to students. Facilities Management will also add lighting around the Performing Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB), and from the PAHB to the main campus entrance circle, with construction due to begin in January and completion expected by June.
  
  
• UMBC will issue new campus ID cards that include emergency contact information for quick access by students, faculty, and staff. We anticipate the new cards will be available in the spring.
  
  
• Mandatory Title IX and sexual misconduct training and education will be required of all faculty, staff, and students, to expand on training efforts already underway. The resources required have been allocated for face-to-face training to complement online education, and we are working with faculty, staff and students to ensure that the training focuses not only on Title IX, but also more broadly on how each of us can support and appropriately care for our fellow community members.
  
  
• UMBC Police are working with the Division of Information Technology to develop a safety feature on myUMBC that will allow students, faculty, and staff to quickly access emergency contacts and alert Facilities Management about campus lighting or building security problems.
  
  
• New student resource guides are now posted in residence halls, and we are working with the community to develop additional posters, signs, and other resources for all areas of campus.

Busy teams of students clustered around laptops in a room overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Tuesday, focused on solving as many challenges as possible during a “capture-the-flag” style competition. After hours of intense competition in cyberspace, UMBC’s team emerged victorious, named champions of the college division of the 2018 Maryland Cyber Challenge.

Started in 2011, the competition is part of the annual CyberMaryland Conference. UMBC’s team included Niara Richards ‘22, computer science; Nithya Prakash ‘22, information systems; Josh Mpere ‘19, computer science; Seamus Burke ‘20 computer science; and Swathi Krithivasan ‘22, computer science. They worked together to test their skills in a series of real-world cybersecurity challenges over the course of two virtual qualifying rounds and then the final competition, beating talented teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Maryland, University College.

“It was my first time competing in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, although I have a pretty extensive competition background,” said Burke. “I am especially proud of my freshman teammates who put in a ton of effort, solved challenges, and didn’t get discouraged when the challenges got more difficult.”

Burke is a Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholar and Mpere is a Cyber affiliate. Richards, Prakash, and Krithivasan all participate in UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program, which works to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

All five members of the winning team will receive a monetary award and an offer to complete a summer internship to continue growing their experience and skills. Additionally, the university will receive new technologies (including software) to support more UMBC students in developing their cybersecurity skills.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and gave me a lot of exposure into topics that I otherwise would not have gained, especially as a freshman,” said Krithivasan. “We had a mix of both upper and underclassmen on our team, which really enabled us to learn and grow from working with each other.”

Banner image: Niara Richards, left, Josh Mpere, and Nithya Prakash. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Three days before announcing the release of his EP, “On the Rvn,” rapper Young Thug was charged with eight felonies rooting from an arrest in his home state of Georgia last September. Seven of these charges were drug related, and Young Thug was most recently arrested for firearm possession at his album release party at a Dave & Busters in Los Angeles.

Thugger’s six track project kicks off with “On the Run,” a solid song with a feature by Offset, whose verse was added in on Oct. 6, nearly two weeks after the EP’s release. In the song, Thug may be alluding to evading his drug charges down south. He raps, “If the opp come, I get to squeezin’ on the mop / I’m on the run, bitch, I just took off on the cops.”

On “Icey,” Young Thug keeps the focus on his diamonds and jewelry. It resembles songs such as “Audemar” and “Chanel (Go Get It)” off his album “Slime Language,” which was released this past August and was chock full of features from his Young Stoner Life Records crew. Although the track holds up as a party trap song, it doesn’t do much justice to Thug’s unique voice.

Atlanta-artist 6LACK teams up with Young Thug on “Climax,” a love song about betrayal. 6LACK’s ability to write and perform these kinds of angsty songs balances with Thug’s ability to energize a track while keeping it real.

In the song’s hook, the two sing about a girl who chooses a man who can please her better and provide her with luxury. “You said no interest, said you found a better climax/ You said he’s swagged out, you leave/ It’s like a shot to the back through the nose of a barrel/ For you don’t want to go, but leave, like it’s nothing.”

On “Sin,” YT collabs with Jaden Smith. The two rappers recently appeared together on J. Cole’s KOD Tour. The song’s purpose serves more as a filler, as both artists loosely touch subjects of money, sex, fashion, and power.

The most interesting song on Young Thug’s EP, “High,” is saved for last. The track is a beautiful remix of Elton John’s 1972 hit, “Rocket Man.” Thugger surprises listeners with his dynamic singing voice, hitting plenty of high notes as well as completely reimagining the classic rock song.

John seems to be a big fan of Young Thug. During his Beats1 radio show, he said, “This is so cool and so good. These things are the great surprises in what I do. Sometimes you hear something that you never knew was going to happen or never thought was going to happen in a million years.”

Young Thug’s “On the Rvn” puts a couple more hits under the rapper’s belt. He is due to appear in court on October 9, where fans will find out if Thug may need to be on the run — for good.

**from Dr. Deepa Madan**

To all ME undergraduates but all ME students are welcome:

Dear ME students,

Are you interested in ongoing research projects in the research labs in the ME department? Would you like to explore the research opportunity in ME department?  

On Friday, October 12, during the free hour time (12-1 pm), a lab visit is scheduled to ME undergraduate students to show some research projects in the ME department.  The visit will be in Room ENGR113 (Flexible Energy Harvesting and Storage Devices research lab). 

You will get the opportunity to learn about long lasting power supplies and rechargeable batteries.

If interested, please gather outside the lab tomorrow Friday 10/12 at 12 pm.  We are looking forward to seeing you then.

Many Thanks,

Deepa Madan

Assistant Professor

ENGR221

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, Maryland 21250

Phone: 410-455-3307

Busy teams of students clustered around laptops in a room overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Tuesday, focused on solving as many challenges as possible during a “capture-the-flag” style competition. After hours of intense competition in cyberspace, UMBC’s team emerged victorious, named champions of the college division of the 2018 Maryland Cyber Challenge.

Started in 2011, the competition is part of the annual CyberMaryland Conference. UMBC’s team included Niara Richards ‘22, computer science; Nithya Prakash ‘22, information systems; Josh Mpere ‘19, computer science; Seamus Burke ‘20 computer science; and Swathi Krithivasan ‘22, computer science. They worked together to test their skills in a series of real-world cybersecurity challenges over the course of two virtual qualifying rounds and then the final competition, beating talented teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Maryland, University College.

“It was my first time competing in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, although I have a pretty extensive competition background,” said Burke. “I am especially proud of my freshman teammates who put in a ton of effort, solved challenges, and didn’t get discouraged when the challenges got more difficult.”

Burke is a Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholar and Mpere is a Cyber affiliate. Richards, Prakash, and Krithivasan all participate in UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program, which works to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

All five members of the winning team will receive a monetary award and an offer to complete a summer internship to continue growing their experience and skills. Additionally, the university will receive new technologies (including software) to support more UMBC students in developing their cybersecurity skills.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and gave me a lot of exposure into topics that I otherwise would not have gained, especially as a freshman,” said Krithivasan. “We had a mix of both upper and underclassmen on our team, which really enabled us to learn and grow from working with each other.”

Adapted from a UMBC News article by Megan Hanks. Banner image: Nithya Prakash, Swathi Krithivasan, and Josh Mpere being recognized at the award ceremony. Photo by Mike Lackner, computer science and informatics, and technology instructor at Loyola Blakefield High School.

The post UMBC students win top prize at Maryland Cyber Challenge appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Busy teams of students clustered around laptops in a room overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Tuesday, focused on solving as many challenges as possible during a “capture-the-flag” style competition. After hours of intense competition in cyberspace, UMBC’s team emerged victorious, named champions of the college division of the 2018 Maryland Cyber Challenge.

Started in 2011, the competition is part of the annual CyberMaryland Conference. UMBC’s team included Niara Richards ‘22, computer science; Nithya Prakash ‘22, information systems; Josh Mpere ‘19, computer science; Seamus Burke ‘20 computer science; and Swathi Krithivasan ‘22, computer science. They worked together to test their skills in a series of real-world cybersecurity challenges over the course of two virtual qualifying rounds and then the final competition, beating talented teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Maryland, University College.

“It was my first time competing in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, although I have a pretty extensive competition background,” said Burke. “I am especially proud of my freshman teammates who put in a ton of effort, solved challenges, and didn’t get discouraged when the challenges got more difficult.”

Burke is a Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholar and Mpere is a Cyber affiliate. Richards, Prakash, and Krithivasan all participate in UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program, which works to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

All five members of the winning team will receive a monetary award and an offer to complete a summer internship to continue growing their experience and skills. Additionally, the university will receive new technologies (including software) to support more UMBC students in developing their cybersecurity skills.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and gave me a lot of exposure into topics that I otherwise would not have gained, especially as a freshman,” said Krithivasan. “We had a mix of both upper and underclassmen on our team, which really enabled us to learn and grow from working with each other.”

Adapted from a UMBC News article by Megan Hanks. Banner image: Nithya Prakash, Swathi Krithivasan, and Josh Mpere being recognized at the award ceremony. Photo by Mike Lackner, computer science and informatics, and technology instructor at Loyola Blakefield High School.

The post UMBC students win top prize at Maryland Cyber Challenge appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.