A UMBC faculty member and a UMBC alumnus were recognized by the Maryland Science Center for their outstanding work in engineering and science. Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, was one of two people to receive the 2017 Outstanding Young Engineering Award, and Philip Graff ’08, physics, was awarded one of two 2017 Outstanding Young Scientist Awards. The ceremony, hosted annually by the Maryland Science Center and the Maryland Academy of Sciences, highlights the work being done by young scientists and engineers in Maryland to advance the fields.

In his work, Blaney develops technology used to recover nutrients, such as phosphorus, from poultry litter. The phosphorus found in poultry litter often saturates the soil on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, making the water that runs off into the Chesapeake Bay a hazard for aquatic life. The technology he is testing in his lab could reduce the amount of phosphorus that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay from manure by about 90 percent.

“I was extremely delighted to receive the 2017 Maryland Outstanding Young Engineer Award.  Of course, this award reflects a much larger team, and I would like to acknowledge my graduate and undergraduate research assistants for their hard work in the laboratory. This award is theirs as much as mine,” Blaney says. “Much of our research focuses on environmental issues in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and so it was a particular honor to be recognized by the Maryland Academy of Sciences. One of my mentors likes to say that every award comes with a great responsibility to live up to the associated expectations. So, we are looking forward to continuing our research to ensure environmental quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the coming decades.”

Earlier this year, Blaney received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to address contaminants of emerging concern, from personal care products and pharmaceuticals, found in the Gwynns Falls watershed.

“Dr. Blaney is a dedicated professor with unique and innovative research ideas. He is a great mentor who encourages his students to think about research problems from multiple angles and asks tough questions to push us to reach for the best solution,” says Mamatha Hopanna, Ph.D. ‘22, environmental engineering, who works in Blaney’s lab.

Blaney is the faculty advisor of the UMBC’s Engineers Without Borders student organization. He has led several trips to Kenya, where he and his students developed a clean-water supply for a village with a population of 500.

Graff currently works as a data scientist and astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore. He has industry experience in fields including cybersecurity. Previously, he worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and helped develop an algorithm for the Laser Interferometry Gravitational Wave Observatory. He has also developed algorithms to protect the nation’s computer networks for the Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Protection System.

The Outstanding Young Scientist Award and Outstanding Young Engineer Award have been presented each year since 1959 and 1988, respectively. To be eligible for the award, nominees must be 35 or younger if working in academic settings, or younger than 40, if working in industry.

Banner image: Lee Blaney. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

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Romans 8:26-29a (NIV) – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…

As Christians who are filled with the Spirit, it is the Spirit that is fully engaged and working in us to live out God’s will for our lives today, now, in this time and task for our lives. He is the one leading into the adventure of the Christian life. The decisions we make today to walk in the Spirit, to submit to His leading will profoundly affect our next year, our next steps in life, and the future to come. These affects will have Divine impact on our tomorrows, and that is the only true impact that will give us life – life to the full.

Romans 8:27 says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in ‘accordance’ with the will of God. Another way to see this is that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to come into the will of the God. That not only is there agreement with God’s will, but that we are living and being conformed to the image the One – Jesus Christ – who perfectly lived out God’s will. As the Spirit cries out, our heart and lives are brought into that reality. In some sense because of the Spirit’s cries and passion for us, we find our hearts agreeing and walking in step with this cry and passion.

As we learn to discern the Spirit’s voice, His desires, and His ways in our lives, we will be more and more able to follow Him into the right/best way, at the right time, for the right reason that will most glorify God, to enjoy Him, and enjoy his ways for our lives.

Let’s us spend time in prayer asking the Lord to teach us to listen to Spirit’s cries, promptings and ways in our lives. Let’s ask that we become all that the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

– TR

Baltimore is still an extremely segregated city. All of its problems – poverty, fatherlessness, gun violence, police brutality – come from the same patterns of segregation and discrimination from centuries ago. The eventual desegregation of Baltimore and all of its residents is inextricably linked to a high-functioning and reliable transit system. The system needs to be economically and environmentally friendly, and most importantly, user-friendly.

The current transit system is not user-friendly in the least. In 2014, when Larry Hogan was elected as Maryland’s Republican governor, there were two prospective transit lines in need of funding. The purple and red lines, which were both focused on service within the city, estimated costs standing at around $3.1 million each.

However, only the purple line ended up receiving funding. This raises the question of why the red line was cut. The red line was unique in that it was supposed to focus on service within the city, barely extending into the suburbs. It would have been an east-west light rail subway in Baltimore, serving black low-income neighborhoods.

The extension into the suburbs is where the controversy comes in. Hogan canceled the red line on the ground of cost. However, the lines were equal in cost. Therefore, Hogan clearly made his decision on some other grounds that would have been unflattering for him to admit to.

It is clear that racial discrimination fueled the cancellation of the red line and continuation of the purple line. In reaction to such discrimination, a Title VI civil rights lawsuit and a federal investigation under the Obama administration ensued. When pressed on the matter at a hearing, the state’s transportation secretary, Pete Rahn, could not give a clear answer on why the red line was not funded.

Maryland has a long history of using transportation policy to isolate black people in Baltimore. Until the city’s representatives want to end this cycle of discrimination, black people in the city will always have a hard time getting where they need to go for work and school.

Dr. Kate Drabinski is a lecturer in Gender and Women’s Studies and the Director of the Women Involved in Learning and Leadership (WILL) program at UMBC. She also gives an annual walking tour of Baltimore city and gives students an insight into its rich history. Dr. Drabinski says, “I think the biggest problem with transit in Baltimore city is that it’s built and planned by people who don’t use it. So what seems reasonable for wait times, for transfer points for someone who doesn’t ride the bus, is very different for someone who does ride.” Therefore, representatives of the state need to be people who really use the transit system and know its problems inside and out.

State elections are just as important as national elections in order to invoke this kind of change. Register to vote early for the next state elections in 2018.

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY
IN MATHEMATICS, THE NATURAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING

Students interested in a research career in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering are invited to apply to the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program. Established by Congress in 1986, Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation operates an educational scholarship program designed to provide opportunities for outstanding U.S. students with excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in, and potential for, research careers in STEM fields.

Scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit to students who are sophomores or juniors during the current academic year and who have excellent academic records and demonstrated interest in and potential for research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The scholarship covers undergraduate eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books, and room and board to a maximum of $7,500 per academic year.

ELIGIBILITY

To be considered for nomination, a student must:

• Have one or two years of undergraduate
• study left and be pursuing a bachelor’s degree on a full-time basis. (A current sophomore student in a two-year college who plans to transfer to a baccalaureate program may be nominated.)
• Have an average of at least B or the equivalent.
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Have a demonstrated interest in a research career in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.
• Be nominated by his or her college or university on the official online nomination application provided by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Scholarship recipients nominated as sophomores can expect to receive a maximum of two years of scholarship support.

Scholarship recipients nominated as juniors are eligible for a maximum of one year of scholarship support.

HOW TO APPLY

Colleges and universities nominate students for Goldwater Scholarships. Information may be obtained from the designated Goldwater Scholarship Campus Representative* (Dr. April Householder) at your institution.

SELECTION

A distinguished committee of educators; deans; and mathematics, natural science, and engineering faculty members will review the nominee’s credentials and recommend a pool of qualified individuals to the Board of Trustees of the Goldwater Foundation. The Trustees will make the final approval.

Interested students should contact Dr. April Householder, Director of Undergraduate Research and Nationally Competitive Scholarships.

Attend the Goldwater application workshop on: Wednesday, 11/22 at 12:00pm in 003 Sherman Hall (Meyerhoff Conference Room).

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen following the successful tests of long range nuclear missiles by North Korea and the following response by the American and allied militaries. To many, this is just the latest instance of a diplomatic holdover from the Cold War. American media also treats the tension this way, describing North Koreans more along the lines of comic book villains, rather than actual people. This disregard not only for the motives and experiences, but even the very humanity of Koreans is the cause and symptom of the further existence of this conflict.

To start, American media and educational systems do not grasp or properly convey the weight of the conflict. There is a reason that the Korean War is often called the “Forgotten” or “Unknown” war: coverage of the Korean War was eclipsed by the Second World War before it and the Vietnam War after it. Yet, for North Korea this war is a major part of their history and modern culture.

Why is this? Most likely because during the war, American and United Nations forces not only killed over 600,000 Communist soldiers, but also exterminated nearly 2.8 million civilians. This is a larger figure than the number of civilians killed in every American conflict since Korea combined. At the time this constituted 20 percent of the population of North Korea.

With the specter of the Korean War casualties still weighing heavily on the North Korean psyche, is it any wonder why they hate America? It certainly seems justified given the continued war games played every year by the American military, simulating a nuclear strike on the North Korean city of Pyongyang, a city of over three million people. It is arguable that these tests are not “serious”, but frankly, how is sincerity measured?

In Korea today, there are 30,000 American soldiers stationed. In Japan, there are 50,000 soldiers stationed. At sea, off the shores of Korea, roams the American Seventh Fleet, one of the most powerful naval detachments in human history. Why should North Korea see this as anything but an invasive force?

Talks of peace in the Korean peninsula can come to nothing while American discourse is dominated by headlines that demand the military “Take Them Out!” as was published in the New York Post this September by pundit Ralph Peters. “Better a million dead North Koreans than a thousand dead Americans,” reads Peters’ opening line, and that perfectly sums up the historical illiteracy that plagues diplomatic efforts.

The fact of the matter is that there are already millions of dead Koreans, dead by American bombs and aggression. The fear of a repeat of the Korean War drives the hostile stance from North Korea.

Unless American policy recognizes and addresses this, there can be no lasting peace. For years American policy has demanded escalation. It is time to now try backing down and honestly and truly offer an olive branch. Recognizing North Koreans as more than nameless and faceless enemies, as a people driven to desperation by half a century of aggression, is necessary to enacting change.

Please join the faculty and staff in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Health Administration and Policy department as we celebrate our Fall 2017 graduates!  

Wednesday, December 13th
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Public Policy Atrium

ALL SAHAP students are encouraged to attend.

Refreshments will be provided!