Marigold, a seventh grader at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, moved through the crowd with the poise and professionalism of a public relations veteran as she guided visitors through the Lakeland Community and STEAM Center on their first visit to the new space.

The South Baltimore center opened its doors on June 1, after a two-year, $1.6 million renovation supported by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in partnership with UMBC. Other contributors included the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. Students and their supporters quickly filled the fresh space, excited to view its state-of-the-art equipment and learn about the activities it will support.

“Marigold is a perfect example of a student who dives into not only school, but extension opportunities,” shared Lakeland Principal Najib Jammal. Her experience shows how “being involved” in enrichment activities “can accelerate learning and growth,” he said.

Just one year ago, Marigold arrived from Ghana, with a love of reading but limited spoken English skills. After a year of hard work in Lakeland’s ESOL program, her English language speaking skills have blossomed. In addition to volunteering as a guide in the STEAM Center (which stands for science, technology, engineering, art, athletics, and math), Marigold serves as captain of her school’s competitive cybersecurity team.

Supporting Baltimore Students

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski spoke at the June 1 event of the need to spotlight and support the future of Baltimore’s talented youth. He shared, “We believe in the need to be more deliberate and proactive in helping our children. We believe in Baltimore City and Baltimore City Public Schools.”

UMBC’s partnership with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School began in 2013. “The history of the Lakeland partnership has been wide-sweeping and centered on wraparound services to address the needs of the administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the community at large,” explained Rehana Shafi, director of UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program and partnership with Lakeland.

Started through the vision and support of George and Betsy Sherman and the Sherman Family Foundation, the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program prepares UMBC students to become both experts in teaching STEM subjects and civic-minded educators committed to social justice and community engagement in urban schools. Sherman Scholars provide support for in-classroom instruction and afterschool enrichment, and the program has been closely involved in developing the STEAM center.

The UMBC Peaceworker Fellows Program is also closely involved in the holistic partnership. Peaceworkers focus on community connections, which will grow dramatically now that the new center is open. This is particularly essential in a community without a library or other public meeting areas. The center will give residents access to computers and services like financial counseling, and the community association will soon begin meeting in the space.

Growing Together

Northrop Grumman reached out to offer support for this South Baltimore community three years ago. “After the unrest of 2015 we wanted to make a difference in Baltimore, but not just make a difference in that moment,” recalled Northrop Grumman President and COO Kathy J. Warden. “We wanted to make a lasting difference.”

Warden explained, “We had resources, we had dollars, and people that wanted to help, but we didn’t know how. We reached out to UMBC and joined a fantastic partnership that already existed.”

The opening of the new center represents the growth and lasting strength of this community partnership. Knowing that Lakeland students start walking through the center doors as early as 6:45 a.m., Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation, arrived at the center ahead of the launch event to share in the children’s excitement over their new space.

“The Lakeland Community and STEAM Center places a shining light on the stars that were already here and provides them with the resources and the platforms to get out and show how special they are,” said Evers-Manly. Looking out at the crowd that came to celebrate, she shared, “Our young people are so proud that so many across Baltimore took time out to say yes, you can, and yes, you will.”

Ripple Effect

The new space was created by renovating an existing Baltimore City Recreation and Parks building at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in an innovative way. “This new STEAM Center expands our notion of what recreation should be,” said Rec and Parks Director Reginald Moore. “It is more than just athletics. It is robotics, drones, music. The possibilities are endless.” And, most importantly, says Moore, it’s a place for students to “better prepare for their future.”

This shift is visible in the center’s new recording studio, computer lab, and makerspace. Students can now perform, record, and produce music and audio interviews on site, and the school will have room for robotics teams to develop their projects. The center will also host parenting classes, community fitness sessions, adult education, and mental health services thanks to additional collaborations with local agencies and organizations.

“The incredible transformation of the Lakeland Community and STEAM Center will provide a resource for people of all ages to acquire life-changing knowledge and skills,” said Senator Ben Cardin, at the launch event. “Large-scale, positive changes like these usually require a strong group of partners standing shoulder-to-shoulder.” Senator Chris Van Hollen and Mayor Catherine Pugh also spoke to the power of supporting Baltimore City youth through working together.

Tangible Impact

For the students, these partnerships have already had a major impact. The Baltimore Sun recently highlighted Lakeland students’ major gains in PARCC test scores, thanks to strong collaboration between Lakeland teachers and UMBC math coaches. “This is not your average partnership,” math teacher Carly Harkins told the Sun. “This is my 16th year teaching, and I’ve never seen anything where the schools are so connected in so many ways.”

Kenniyah, a rising 8th grader at Lakeland, learned journalism and media skills through the Media and Rhythm Institute, a hip hop youth program the STEAM center and Sherman Scholars brought to Lakeland as the new space was still in development. In the past two years, she has interviewed the mayor, helped create podcasts, and assisted in producing educational DVDs. With the recording studio officially open, she looks forward to expanding her broadcast skills to recording music.

Now planning her applications for the BARD High School Early College program and Baltimore School for the Arts, Kenniyah shared, “My journalism skills and video production skills will make me stand out.”

For Betsy Sherman, herself a retired teacher, Marigold and Kenniyah show what the Sherman Scholars and the new Lakeland Community and STEAM Center are all about. At the launch, she shared, “It is time we stop talking about ‘at risk’ and start talking about possibility.”

Banner image: UMBC Sherman Scholar leads Lakeland students in a hands-on learning activity. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Times Higher Education has again recognized UMBC as one of the world’s top young universities through the Golden Age University Rankings. The goal of the ranking, which specifically includes institutions established 1945 – 1967 is to focus on visionary institutions that have quickly risen to prominence on the world stage—over decades rather than centuries. This year, UMBC comes in at an impressive #70 globally and #10 among U.S. universities featured.

The Times Higher Education ranking comes just weeks after the Center for World University Rankings recognized UMBC as one of the top 3.5 percent of all universities worldwide. This latest list features 200 universities from 44 countries. Universities were featured based on the caliber of their teaching environment, research environment, citation impact, international outlook, and knowledge transfer (see methodology, shared with THE’s standard World University Rankings).

Also featuring UMBC is a new list of Top Universities for International Students from U.S. News & World Report. This list focuses on U.S. universities that have a particularly strong commitment to supporting international students throughout their academic journey, providing them with the resources they need to achieve their goals and become a part of the university community.

“We are excited and honored to be included in this new special ranking. This is a testament not only to UMBC’s increasing global presence, but also our deep and continued commitment to the success of our international students,” said Yvette Mozie-Ross, vice provost of enrollment management and planning.

UMBC students and alumni from around the globe have remarked on the warm welcome and high level of support the UMBC community provides. Soheila Escobar ’18, information systems, originally from Colombia, came to UMBC with some uncertainties about completing an undergraduate degree abroad, and in English. She shares, “UMBC has helped me in achieving my goals by promoting a very diverse environment where I do not feel excluded, and I, more than anything, feel welcome.”

Of her UMBC experience, Escobar says, “I have taken classes with professors from different cultural backgrounds, professors whose first language is not English, and I have felt very supported and encouraged by them to continue the challenge of finishing my education in a second language.” She carried through that focus on support in her own work, presenting at Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day an online tool to help students connect with peers for academic support.

UMBC’s international graduate students also reflect on how a high level of faculty and staff support encourages their success.. Ke He, Ph.D. ‘18, chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering (CBEE), originally from Zhejiang, China, has worked closely with faculty advisor Lee Blaney, CBEE, to advance his research on contaminants that impact water safety.

He shares, “As an international student, the diverse and friendly circumstances in UMBC really helped me to settle down in this completely new environment.” With his Ph.D. now complete, He will continue his research through a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

To determine their list of Top Universities for International Students, U.S. News drew from their Best Colleges ranking and assessed those institutions on specific indicators particularly geared toward international students. These included factors like the availability of international student organizations, housing and dining accommodations during holidays, and institutional need-based or merit aid for international students.

U.S. News including three Maryland universities on the list, recognizing Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, College Park in addition to UMBC.

“UMBC is a world-class research university that welcomes and supports talented students from more than 100 countries,” says David Di Maria, associate vice provost for international education. “Our highly regarded academic programs, attractive location, and campus-wide commitment to inclusive excellence make UMBC the institution of choice for globally-minded future leaders.”

He reflected, “As we aspire to increase UMBC’s engagement with the world, it is an honor to be recognized as a top university for international students.

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

INDS 430 Kinetic Sculpture Design Fall 2018 Mondays 7:10pm - 9:40pm

Instructor:        Steven McAlpine

Phone:             410-455-5885

Email:              mcalpine@umbc.edu

Office:              Fine Arts 002

A Brief Design History

Version 1.0, The Kraken Upcycle, won the Grand Prize at the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race in 2015, qualifying the team to race in the national race in California.

Version 2.0, The Kraken Upcycle, partnered with Zipcar in 2016 to upcycle their operator manuals into a beautiful sail and bribes. Kraken 2.0 won the “Golden Flipper Award” in Lowell MA for best water entry.

Version 3.0, Kraken Calamari, was a redesign based on this year’s “food” theme, including a checkered tablecloth, a kraken ketchup bottle, and giant onion rings. Kraken 3.0 won “Best Design based on this year’s theme” aka The Wiener Award (the 2017 race was called “The Best of the Wurst).”

Version 4.0 will build a new kinetic sculpture from upcycled components that could withstand the rigors of the Baltimore Race AND Kinetic Grand Championship.

What is “upcycling”?

We will read The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability--Designing for Abundance by McDonough&Braungart (2013) to find out.

UMBC’s Weihong Lin is helping to close a major gap in knowledge about e-cigarettes, with a focus on flavorings. The National Institute for Drug Abuse has awarded Lin, associate professor of biological sciences, a two-year, approximately $400,000 grant to supply much-needed objective data that can help inform regulation of flavorings in electronic cigarettes and protect the consumers of today and tomorrow, especially children and teens.

The dangers of nicotine are fairly well understood, but today’s e-cigarettes also include ingredients that are not well known. “A primary concern about e-cigarettes right now is that they use a huge number of flavoring components,” says Lin. A 2014 study found that 460 e-cigarette brands used 7,760 different flavorings. It also connected “e-juice” flavors—from “cotton candy” to “double chocolate”—to a rise in e-cigarette use by young people.

Scents and flavorings “tap into our mood and our motivation,” Lin explains. She also notes that the feelings that come along with scents and flavors can actually pose challenges to doing research on the safety of e-cigarettes.

The positive emotional associations people have with certain aromas and tastes, like eating cotton candy at an amusement park or coming home to the smell of chocolate brownies in the oven, can override the warning sensations caused by high levels of artificial flavorings or nicotine, says Lin. This means that asking people about irritation levels in their mouths and throats after using e-cigarette products with familiar or pleasant tastes may not provide an accurate picture of e-cigarettes’ actual negative effects.

E-cigarettes usually include a heating coil, solvents, nicotine, and flavoring components, all of which reach extremely high temperatures during the device’s vaporization process. Even if flavorings are considered safe for food products, they can be irritating when inhaled at higher levels. Plus, the extreme heat could change the components’ chemical make-up and convert benign substances into toxic ones. “But if you have the flavoring to mask physical irritation,” says Lin, “it becomes a more tolerable or pleasurable experience.”

To push past that mask, Lin will go to a deeper sensory level, with the help of sensory systems in mice’s nasal passages, which are responsible for the sense of smell and detecting airway irritation.

Lin’s lab will explore how specific sensory systems that detect irritation respond in the presence of e-cigarette flavorings. “It’s an objective way to measure to what degree the e-juice will activate this system,” explains Lin. “We’re asking, ‘At what level will these flavorings cause an acute, irritating sensation?’”

Lin’s group will study popular flavors used in various electronic cigarette liquid brands. The results could inform future regulations on chemicals used as e-cigarette flavorings. Lin hopes to eventually extend this work to also explore the longer-term effects of low-dose exposure to these chemicals.

As a neurobiologist, Lin says, “I’ve always been curious about how chemicals affect humans’ daily choices,” from the foods we eat to the people we choose to date. But this current research project is also personally meaningful for her, as a teacher of young people.

“You see so many young kids experimenting with e-cigarettes, and they don’t necessarily know the harm,” says Lin. “If we can give them a science-based warning and help protect them from respiratory illnesses and nicotine addition, it’s going to be good for science and for society.”

Banner image from left to right: Kayla Lemons; Avantika Krishna ’21, biological sciences, and a UMBC STEM BUILD Trainee; Abdullah Al-Matrouk; Ashley Majekodunmi; Tatsuya Ogura, research assistant professor in biological sciences; Weihong Lin; Rishit Patel; and Mark Gabriana ’19, biological sciences. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

With 25 years of hindsight, “Jurassic Park” marks a pivotal point in the history of visual effects in film. It came 11 years after 1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” debuted computer-generated imagery for a visual effect with a particle system developed by George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic to animate a demonstration of a life-creating technology called Genesis. And “Tron,” also in 1982, included 15 minutes of fully computer-generated imagery, including the notable light cycle race sequence.

Yet “Jurassic Park” stands out historically because it was the first time computer-generated graphics, and even characters, shared the screen with human actors, drawing the audience into the illusion that the dinosaurs’ world was real. Even back then, upon seeing the initial digital test shots, George Lucas was stunned: He’s often quoted as saying “it was like one of those moments in history, like the invention of the light bulb or the first telephone call … A major gap had been crossed and things were never going to be the same.”

Since then, computer graphics researchers have been working to constantly improve the realism of visual effects and have achieved great success, scholarly, commercial and artistic. Today, nearly every film contains computer-generated imagery: Explosions, tsunamis and even the wholesale destruction of cities are simulated, virtual characters replace human actors and detailed 3D models and green-screen backgrounds have replaced traditional sets.

Years of progress

I have been researching computer animation for nearly two decades and witnessed the transition from practical to virtual effects; it didn’t happen overnight. In 1993, the film industry didn’t really trust computer graphics. For decades, filmmakers had relied on physical models, stop motion and practical special effects, many of them provided by ILM, which was founded to create the effects in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and, notably, provided effects for the “Indiana Jones” movie series. When he made “Jurassic Park,” therefore, director Steven Spielberg approached computer-generated sequences with caution.

By some counts, computer-generated dinosaurs were on screen for only six minutes of the two-hour movie. They were supplemented with physical models and animatronics. This juxtaposition of computer-generated and real-world imagery gave audiences the illusion of realism because the computer-generated images were on screen along with real footage.

The 3D animated movies that followed in the late 1990s – like “Toy Story” series and “Antz” – were stylized, cartoonish films limited even by the era’s best computing power, lighting models, and geometric modeling and animation packages.

The bar for realism is much higher when computer-generated images are mixed with live-action footage: Audiences and critics complained that mapping an actor’s face onto a younger virtual body didn’t work well in 2010’s “Tron: Legacy.” (Even the director admitted the effect wasn’t perfect.) In fact, small infidelities can be especially jarring when they look quite close but just a little bit off.

Early successes of computer special effects – such as “Starship Troopers,” “Armageddon” and “Pearl Harbor” – focused on adding events like explosions and other large-scale destruction. Those can be less true to real life because most of the audience hasn’t experienced similar events in person. Over the years, though, computer graphics researchers and practitioners tackled cloth, water, crowds, hair and faces.

Learning to use the innovations

There were important practical advances as well. Consider the evolution of performance capture for virtual characters. In the early days, live actors would have to imagine their interactions with computer-generated characters. The people playing the computer-generated characters would stand nearby, describing their actions out loud, as the human actors pretended to see it happening. Then the virtual-characters’ actors would record their performance in a motion capture lab, supplying data to 3D animators, who would refine the performance and render it to be incorporated in the scene.

The process was painstaking and especially difficult for the live-action actors, who couldn’t interact with the virtual characters during filming. Now, more advanced performance capture systems allow virtual characters to be interactive on the set, even on locations, and provide much richer data to the animators.

With all this technological ability, directors have to make big choices. Michael Bay is famous – among fans and critics – for extensive use of computer-generated special effects. True masters remember Spielberg’s lesson and skillfully combine the virtual and real worlds. In the “Lord of the Rings” movies, for example, it would have been easy to use computer graphics techniques to make the hobbit characters seem smaller than their human counterparts. Instead director Peter Jackson used carefully chosen camera locations and staging to achieve this effect. Similarly, the barrel escape scene from “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” combined footage from real river rapids with computer-generated liquids.

More recently, makeup and computer magic were combined to create a merman lead actor in much-lauded “The Shape of Water.” Looking toward the future, as synthetic images and video become ever more realistic and easy to produce, people will need to be on guard that those techniques can be used not just for entertainment but to mislead and misinform the public.

Adam Bargteil, Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

In 2003, “SUCCESS 2003” (later named the PROMISE Summer Success Institute or “SSI”) brought together graduate students in STEM from underrepresented groups in Maryland for a conference and series of workshops with the goal of building a community of scholars who would finish graduate degrees and go on to be professors and leaders in their respective fields.

We started with three schools: UMBC, the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), and the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB). Currently, PROMISE is led by these primary partners, and operates under the imprimatur of the University System of Maryland (USM: 12 institutions, 2 regional centers), and has partnered with the Maryland Independent College and University Association (MICUA) to include students from their 15 member and affiliate institutions) to serve graduate students throughout the state of Maryland.  PROMISE alumni are tenured professors, department chairs, NSF and NIH grantees, and leaders in government, corporate, and non-profit sectors. Our alumni are now sending their students to PROMISE, and PROMISE is pleased to be connected to the AGEP community at-large.

Link to PROMISE SSI archive: https://promiseagep.com/promise/the-promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/

We will be using Whova (you can download it from Google Play or the App Store) for our event’s agenda, so please make sure to download the app and create a profile using the same email address you will be using to register at the following link when requesting your ticket:

Download Whova app:

Get Whova Now

Sneak peek of our event’s agenda: Whova agenda

If you are prompted to input an invitation code, use the following: PROMISE2018

UPDATE: 10:00 AM EST, Weds. 8/15/18: 

Our ticketing process has ended, but we have made space for you at the conference! Since you plan to come, we will need you to register onsite on Saturday. However, let us know that you are coming and send an email asap to promisestaff@gmail.com with the subject “PROMISE SSI 2018 On-site.” Within the message, please give us the following information (a quick 3-minute exercise): 1) Name, 2) Institution, 3) Academic discipline, 4) Department, 5) Current level (MS, PhD, Postdoc, etc.), 6) Long-term degree goal, and 7) Career goals (short-term, and long-term). We also encourage you to open or fire up your Twitter account and tweet using the hashtag #ThinkBigDiversity to let us know that you will be with us on Saturday, 8/18/18!

FAMILIES ARE INVITED TO ATTEND. We are honoring “The Jessica Effect.”

$$ This conference is free.

 The conference is sponsored by the National Foundation and our partners. We encourage you to support our speakers through purchasing their books and engaging with them on social media.

Join us for SUCCESS 2018, a Maryland Pipeline Professional Development Conference, which will include activities for undergraduate students through the USM’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) on August 17, and the PROMISE SSI on Saturday, August 18.

Attire: Business and business casual. We are asking that all guest plan to wear colors that represent our cohesion as an alliance. All of the logos for the University System of Maryland’s institutions and schools that are partners in the PROMISE Engineering Institute have combinations and variations of these colors.

Social Media: #ThinkBigDiversity

Our hashtag for @PROMISE_AGEP is #ThinkBigDiversity is most prominent on Twitter, however, we also post on our PROMISE Instagram (#ThinkBigDiversity on Instagram) and PROMISE Facebook (#ThinkBigDiversity on Facebook) pages. Please join us in the #ThinkBigDiversity movement.  (ASEE paper: Hashtag #ThinkBigDiversity: Social Media Hacking Activities as Hybridized Mentoring Mechanisms for Underrepresented Minorities in STEM; Computing Research Newspaper: Expanding the Pipeline: PROMISE Brings a New Phase of #ThinkBigDiversity to Maryland Grad Students).

PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) 2018:

8/18/18

Saturday, August 18, 2018

(Pre-conference LSAMP-sponsored activities for undergraduate students Aug. 17, 2018.)

For Sponsorship Package options to support the 2018 SSI please click on the following link: Sponsorship packages for the PROMISE AGEP Summer Success Institute 2018.

PROMISE

#ThinkBigDiversity

Global. STEM. Inclusive.

Agenda (To be updated):

Friday: 8/17/18 (Pre-conference)

• 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM: LSAMP Bridging Conference for New/Incoming Undergraduate and Transfer Students

  • 2nd Floor Ballroom

• 6:00 PM: Speakers’ Orientation Welcome Dinner

  • Washington Room, 2nd Floor

Saturday: 8/18/18

• 7:45 AM – Registration – Coffee & Networking

  • 2nd Floor Atrium

• 8:18 AM – Welcome & Opening Session

  • Opening Statement: Yarazeth Medina, Program Coordinator, University System of Maryland (USM) PROMISE AGEP & USM Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP); Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs, UMBC
  • Introduction to the SSI: Renetta G. Tull, Founding Director, PROMISE AGEP & the PROMISE Engineering Institute, Professor of the Practice (College of Engineering & IT, UMBC)

• Career & Leadership Development Breakfast Program 

  • Dr. Talitha Hampton-Mayo: Branding Yourself for Academic and Professional Success
  • Dr. David Mayo, Project, Engineer, Aerospace Corporation (UM College Park Alum)
  • Dr. Sandra M. Quezada, Assistant Dean for Admissions, Assistant Dean for Academic and Multicultural Affairs, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Course Director for Medical Spanish, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)
  • Dr. M. Antonio Silas, Director of Off-campus Student Services, UMBC
  • Maria Lund Dahlberg, Program Officer with the Board on Higher Education and Workforce focused on the Science of Effective mentoring in STEMM. She has worked with a number of groups across the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, including the Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Policy, the central Office of Communications, and the National Academy of Medicine.
• 
  •  World Wildlife Fund: Global Careers in Conservation
    • 1. Mary Ta, Program Officer, Sustainability Research and Development2. Dawn Deskins, Senior Program Officer, Business Services3. Annisah Smith, Business Services Intern4. Megan McDaniels, Program Associate, Resilient Coastal Ecosystems
      5. Grace Lee, Associate Specialist, Activism and Outreach

• 8:45 “Your Social Media Presence on the World Stage and Claiming your Place as a Global Change Agent”

  • Speaker:  Dr. Renetta G. Tull, Founding Director of PROMISE,  Engineering Report II team for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Global Engineering Deans Council/Airbus Diversity Finalist, VP for Initiatives for the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI). Twitter @Renetta_Tull.
  • Interactive Breakfast Round Tables with Hosts continue with the keynote.
  • 2nd Floor Ballroom

• 9:30 AM – “The James West LEGENDS Panel: Transferring the Wisdom”

• This panel honors Professor James West: Inventor, Professor, Diversity Champion.  US News and World Report states, “ANY MODERN PHONE CALL placed, voice recording captured, karaoke song belted or conversation amplified via hearing aid would not be possible without James West.” Read more here: https://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2018-01-24/scientist-james-west-on-finding-passion-inventing-the-electret-microphone-and-pushing-through-adversity

• • Moderator: PROMISE Co-Founder, Dr. Janet C. Rutledge, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, UMBC, Associate Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
  • Dr. James E. West, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University.
  • Dr. Eugene M. DeLoatch, Dean Emeritus, School of Engineering, Morgan State University.
  • Dr. Johnetta G. Davis, PROMISE Co-Founder, Former Associate Dean of the Graduate School – University of Maryland College Park, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland College Park
  • Via Twitter – Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Co-Founding Team Member of SACNAS – the Society for Advancing Chicano/Hispanic & Native American Scientists.
  • Closing Tribute: Dr. Darryll Pines, Dean, A. James Clark School of Engineering, and Nariman Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering.

Panel Sponsor: 

• 10:20 AM Circle of Doctorates & Embracing “The Pact”

  • Setting the Stage with Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, Associate Professor, Loyola University, and Host of Radio Program, “Today with Dr. Kaye” – WEAA 88.9FM (NPR affiliate), @KayeWhitehead

• Dr. Daniel Jean, Executive Director of EOF and Academic Development, EOF and Academic Success, Montclair State University, @WordsTravel

• 11:00 AM #ThinkBigDiversity Group Tweets, Part I 

• 11:10 AM Networking Break

  • #ThinkBigDiversity Memories
    • Make sure to come by and say “hi” to Jamie Lybarger.
      • Find her set-up on a table near the ballroom entrance.
      • She will help you make a sign that you can use for the photo contest.
    • Whova #ThinkBigDiversity Photo Shoot & Contest
    • Networking with Speakers

• 11:30 AM #ThinkBigDiversity Breakout Sessions

11:30 CONCURRENT SESSION #1: Advanced Undergraduate Students and New/Incoming students:  Preparing for your First Year in Graduate School and Preparing for the NSF GRFP Fellowship

Baltimore Room – 2nd Floor

Part 1: Preparing for your First Year in Graduate School

• Dr. Levon Esters, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication, Purdue University.
• Dr. Marquita Qualls, Leadership Coach/Founder, Entropia Consulting, Inc.
• Dr. Hiro Okahana, Council of Graduate Schools.
• Miryam Gerdine, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Panel Sponsors:

Part II: Preparing for the NSF GRFP Fellowship

• • Dr. Frances Carter-Johnson, Data Scientist, National Science Foundation

  • Dr. Lola Brown, Assistant Dean for Research, Weill Cornell Medicine

• 11:30 CONCURRENT SESSION #2: Continuing Students: Squad Goals! Learn how to find your squad, avoid isolation, and work together to finish your degree 

Washington Room, 2nd Floor

Perhaps you have friends from childhood, undergrad, cousins, or people who were in some of your classes in grad school, or connections that you made through PROMISE. You can make a pact and a plan with your “squad” to meet your goals, and complete that graduate degree.

• • • Squad Goals Moderator: Dr. Yaihara Fortis-Santiago with online video guest: Dr. Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer, Program Manager, University of California San Francisco.
    • Special Guest Stories and Advice From:
      • The Dream Girls – Jacqueline Ladd, MS, Washington Bible College & Loyola University Maryland, Gaye Stokes, Liberty University & Loyola University Maryland, Schonette Jones-Walker, Esq., Wesleyan University & Howard University. “From Jersey to Japan, between them, these women have experience as military veterans, wives, mothers, grad school, but most importantly — friends. They are “The Dream Girls” and they keep each others’ dreams alive. They will inspire you too!” (Schools: Washington Bible College, Loyola, Georgetown, and Howard U.)

• • • The Sorors – Dr. Silvia L. Mazzula, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, City University of New York, and Dr. Cynthia Guzmán – Founder and President of Owl Springs Consulting, LLC. (Online participation)
      • Two sorors, different colleges, different states, different times, become PhDs, mental health experts, and on a social justice mission

Dr. Guzmán is Founder and President of Owl Springs Consulting, LLC (OSC), which aims to build culturally competent care and capacity within healthcare facilities that serve the American Indian/Alaskan Native community. Owl Springs Consulting, LLC (OSC) is a firm supporting tribal sovereignty, self-governance and self-determination efforts through the assumption of eligible programs via Self-Governance compacts or Self-Determination contracts authorized under the 1975 Indian Self Determination & Education Assistance Act.

• • • The #HU7 – Seven former engineering undergraduates from Howard University decide that they will all get PhDs. More than 20 years later, they are among leaders in areas of education, non-profit, government, and industry.

The #HU7: Full Story

1. Dr. Jaret C. Riddick (Mechanical Engineering): Dr. Riddick on LinkedIn, Director, Vehicle Technology Directorate (VTD) at the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

2. Dr. John S. Davis, II (Electrical Engineering): Senior Information Scientist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School; Co-Director, Center for Scalable Computing and Analysis, The RAND Corporation.

3. Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull (Electrical Engineering): Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives at UMBC, Professor of the Practice in the College of Engineering and IT.

4. Dr. Makola M. Abdullah (Civil Engineering): Dr. Abdullah is the 14th president of Virginia State University.

5. Dr. Carl A. Moore (Mechanical Engineering): Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Florida A&M University- Florida State University College of Engineering.

6. Dr. Kimberly L. Jones (Civil Engineering): Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Howard with profile pages here, and here.

7. Dr. Fred Ware (Electrical Engineering): Dr. Ware specializes in hardware platforms for video and digital imaging. He has worked for several companies including Raytheon and CISCO.

• 11:30 CONCURRENT SESSION #3: Postdocs, Professors, and Professionals – PP&P: Advancing Your Professional Life

Severn Room – 2nd Floor (Ballroom, Far right)

Moderators: Dr. Autumn M. Reed,  Director of UMBC STRIDE, Coordinator, Faculty Diversity Initiatives ADVANCE Program, UMBC Office of the Provost

Dr. Blessing Enekwe, Program Director, Postdoctoral Affairs, University of Maryland College Park

Round Table Leaders:

• Improving your LinkedIn Profile: Dr. Elisse Wright Barnes, LinkedIn Trainer
• How to Win a Center Grant: Dr. Maria Tamargo – City University of New York.
• Pursuing Faculty Excellence Without Going to “The Sunken Place” – A look at the B-Index: Dr. Beronda Montgomery – Michigan State University, Lead for “mentorWELL” – Follow @BerondaM
• How I became a Department Chair: Dr. Leona Harris, Chair, Division of Sciences and Mathematics, Associate Professor of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences,University of the District of Columbia
• Writing a Career Award: Dr. Brian Burt, Iowa State University
• How I became a “Queen Maker” – Examples from developing women leaders: Dr. Gilda Barabino,  Berg Professor and Dean of The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering.
• How to Publish without Perishing: Dr. Ramon Goings, Loyola University [via Twitter @RamonGoings].
• Tips for preparing strong research funding proposals to the intelligence community: Dr. Carl McCants, Technical Director at Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Counterintelligence and Security Center (ODNI-NCSC).
• Developing a global reputation through excellence in teaching: Dr. Spencer Benson, Founder and Director of Education Innovations Intl. Consulting/University of Macau, former Director, of the Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement, University of Macau SAR, PRC, (2013-2017), and former director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Maryland, College Park MD, US (2003-2013).

Panel Sponsors:

NSF Career Award #1651808 – PI: Dr. Brian Burt

• • • Evaluations: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FDM6SSL

• 1:00 Luncheon: “Invitation to Engage”

  • Welcome: PROMISE AGEP Co-PI, Jeffrey Franke, Assistant Dean and Chief of Staff, The Graduate School, University of Maryland College Park
• 
  • Ballroom – 2nd Floor

  • Table Hosts – Administrators, Faculty, and Staff from the University System of Maryland.

• 1:45 Luncheon Program

  • Welcome from the University System of Maryland – Dr. Joann Boughman, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

• Recognition of Doctoral Candidates 

  • All doctoral candidates will be invited to come to the front to share their name, school, department, dissertation topic, and expected year of graduation.
  • Moderators:
    • Dr. Erin Golembewski, Senior Associate Dean, Graduate School, University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB)
    • Dr. TaShara C. Bailey, Senior Program Specialist and PROMISE Director, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)
    • 

      

• 2:00 Special Guest Speaker:

Astrophysicist Dr. Keivan Stassun, 2018 AAAS Mentor Awardee, Stevenson Professor, Physics & Astronomy, Vanderbilt University

Professor
Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research, College of Arts and Science
National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2004)
Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar (2006)
Ford Foundation Fellow (2007)
Fletcher Foundation Fellow (2009)
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (2012)

Article: Astrophysicist Keivan Stassun Wins 2018 AAAS Mentor Award

Sponsor: American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS)

• 2:30 #ThinkBigDiversity Dessert “Tweet” Reception

  • Hotel Ballroom
  • Renew the Pacts
  • Meet speakers and mentors
  • Solidify connections
  • Make new friends!

MUSIC by: Dr. Damon Bradley/DJ, Creator of TechnoFist – NASA Engineering Leader & International DJ, brings his music to the PROMISE SSI. Dr. Bradley was the DJ for another PROMISE event in May. Read more here, regarding his commitment to STEM and to music. We are pleased to have him join us. He is a rocket scientist and a DJ. Guests can chat with him about pursuing passions.

Social Media Stars:

Tweeting Live from SSI 2018:

Dr. Stephani Page, Founder of #BlackAndSTEM, @The PurplePage

Dr. Patti Lopez, Latinas in Computing @LatinasInC

• 4:00 Speakers’ Networking Reception

  • Hotel – Upper Floor (by invitation)

Sunday: 8/19/18 (Post-conference)

• • • 9:00 AM “Annual Graduate Student Breakfast & Chat”

      • Breakfast with Dr. Renetta Tull, PROMISE Director. Each year, following the SSI, Dr. Tull meets with grad students over breakfast and coffee for a casual chat. Discussions can include anything related to work, career, or life.
      • Location: Bagels ‘N’ Grinds Restaurant (across the street from the Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7791 Arundel Mills Boulevard
        Hanover, MD 21076) – Cost: On your own – typical cost of bagel sandwich and coffee will be less than $10.

Photographers: