Runaway Black Hole

A team of researchers including UMBC’s Eileen Meyer and Markos Georganopoulos have found strong evidence of a striking astrophysical phenomenon: a supermassive black hole traveling away from the center of its galaxy at an incredibly rapid pace.

A scenario like this has been predicted for some time.

“The theory is great, but we’ve got to have some observations to see if our simulations are correct,” says Meyer, assistant professor of physics. Those observations are now in hand, with copious lines of evidence all supporting the team’s explanation.

“There have been previous cases of systems like this,” says Georganopoulos, associate professor of physics, “but ours is the most solid case.” Meyer adds, “It’s the only one I can think of where all the little pieces of evidence line up in favor of this scenario very specifically.”

When two galaxies with black holes at their centers merge, gravitational forces pull the black holes to the center of the newly-formed galaxy. The black holes spin around each other, gradually slowing down. This process releases gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of spacetime that travel outward at the speed of light. Depending on the relative rotational speeds of the two original black holes, once they merge, the new black hole may be kicked out of the galaxy’s center by the gravitational waves.

Data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope and other sources confirm that the black hole’s speed and position – approximately 4.8 million miles per hour, offset from the center of its galaxy – are consistent with the team’s explanation that the black hole has been powerfully ejected from the galaxy by the force of gravitational waves.

First author Marco Chiaberge, research scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, approached Meyer and Georganopoulos almost two years ago to help interpret the surprising data. Georganopoulos shares, “For me, the most exciting thing was to go from the raw data to building up a scenario – gradually realizing that the other scenarios are very implausible.”

Although alternative explanations are unlikely, the team still wants to collect additional observations to further confirm their interpretation. They’re submitting a proposal for time on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, a powerful telescope in Chile that could help them answer remaining questions.

“At the same time that it creates the opportunity to solidify our model, it’s also an opportunity to falsify it,” says Georganopoulos, of the possible opportunity to use the array in Chile and the importance of remaining open to new interpretations of the data.

Either way, it will be exciting research. “Even if it doesn’t turn out the way we’re expecting,” says Meyer, “this is still a strange and remarkable system that needs to be studied.”

— Sarah Hansen M.S. ’15

Image: NASA, ESA, and M. Chiaberge (STScI and JHU)

Read more about black holes at UMBC News.

Crossing the Digital Divide

U.S. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, former director of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, shared her thoughts on the expansion of digital access to libraries, “a treasure chest just waiting to be opened,” with audiences at UMBC in April.

Hayden recounted meeting with then-President Barack Obama before her nomination. Together, at the Library of Congress, they viewed personal letters that Rosa Parks wrote after her arrest in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat and discussed the immense potential of historical records to directly inform, affirm, and inspire. What was needed, he expressed, was someone to bring the library’s 160 million items directly to the public.

In her new role, Hayden resolved to open the “treasure chest” for the nation, taking to Twitter with an open invitation for people to discover the library’s offerings. After all, Hayden noted, “This wonderful treasure chest is just a mausoleum if people can’t read and see [what’s inside].”

Many know about Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten draft of the Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Fewer know about the personal correspondence between Jackie Robinson and scout Branch Rickey or the letters Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein wrote to one another. It’s these discoveries that affirm for her that digital access is a core part of her mission, and that of the library itself.

“This is America’s library. This is your library,” Hayden shared. “We want to be part of people’s lives.”

— Dinah Winnick

Read more about Hayden’s visit to UMBC at UMBC News.

Tech for All Seasons

At the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility (KPIF), a  team of undergraduates becomes the first to observe a new type of phage—a tiny virus that infects bacterial cells. Students view images of the robot-like virus formed by a high-powered microscope on a computer screen, bantering about what to name their discovery.

Meanwhile at Research Graphics (RG), a Ph.D. student produces an animation she’ll use during her thesis defense. Nearby at the Molecular Characterization and Analysis Complex (MCAC), staff from a Baltimore startup define the structure of a molecule they’ve synthesized, and at the Nano-Imaging Facility (NIF), electrical engineering faculty analyze a novel nanomaterial they’ve created. Down the lane, a 90-camera setup in a white room creates a 3D digital model of Baltimore City as it was in 1815 at the Imaging Research Center (IRC), and a curved wall plus a virtual reality headset allows visitors to immerse themselves in data visualizations at the π2 Hybrid Reality Lab.    

If this all sounds like a futuristic collection of high-tech labs, it is—except they exist right now at UMBC, and they’re here to support the scientific community on and off campus.

Tools in the labs “are all about the most fundamental aspect of science—observation,” says Dean Bill LaCourse, of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS). A project 20 years in the making, the four facilities housed within CNMS (KPIF, MCAC, RG, and NIF) allow researchers to “leverage and extend our capabilities so we can look at everything from the atom to the ends of the universe.”

“The leaders of these facilities bring their expertise to your problem and work with you to get somewhere you may not have known you could go,” says Karl Steiner, vice president for research at UMBC. “It’s not the newest and latest instrument that makes a facility successful—it’s the people who run it and work with you.”

One of those people is Tagide deCarvalho, manager of the KPIF, who stresses the teaching and learning aspects of the facilities. “I’m really interested in helping people at all levels,” she shares, “from sample prep, to instrument training, to experimental design.”

Joshua Wilhide, manager of the MCAC, emphasized that the goals of the facilities extend beyond generating results researchers can publish. “We are a university—at the end of the day we have to look at how we’re teaching the next generation,” he shared.

“The instrumentation available and expertise offered by the staff allowed me to take an idea and see it to completion,” shares Gregory Winter Ph.D. ‘16, chemistry, who completed the entirety of his doctoral research at the MCAC. He adds, “The interdisciplinary exposure really improved my skill set as an analytical chemist.” The MCAC can also contribute to personal growth. “The MCAC instills a sense of camaraderie, making it easier to persevere through any setbacks in the research or juggling a busy class schedule,” shares Chloe Kwon ‘16, biological sciences. “The MCAC is a tremendous learning environment.”  

But UMBC’s high-tech, interdisciplinary facilities aren’t confined to CNMS. At the π2 Hybrid Reality Lab, opened in 2016 and housed within the College of Engineering and Information Technology, it’s possible to walk around a model of neural networks in the brain or a 3D shape defined by mathematical equations. The π2 lab also creates opportunities to investigate virtual reality technology itself. It brings together tools “that will allow humans and the computer to augment each other,” says Jian Chen, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, who spearheaded development of the lab.

The IRC, housed within the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, develops and tests innovative ways to use media in research. Lee Boot, IRC director, says the IRC is dedicated to studying media itself, including how we interact with and are influenced by it. He shares, “We collaborate with media researchers to do a better job of bringing this topic to life in a new way.”

Every core facility at UMBC ultimately exists to serve the community. Jeffrey Gardner, assistant professor of biological sciences, is another beneficiary. He’s one of few faculty outside of chemistry who have taken significant advantage of the MCAC. “Josh [Wilhide] and his team have been very valuable and continue to contribute to the success of my lab,” he shares. “It is an excellent resource to have on the UMBC campus.”

— Sarah Hansen M.S. ’15

There’s something irresistible about our fair university’s unofficial mascot, the UMBC squirrel. Maybe it’s because we appreciate an animal with smarts enough to make a feast of our leftovers. Or perhaps it’s because it’s impossible not to wonder what the little jokers are thinking as they scamper by. Which is why a springtime social media caption contest tempted so many Retrieverland imaginations. Congratulations to winner Jill Marie Timmons ’94, English, for her classic take on the student experience. See more squirrels and such on Instagram at @UMBCLife. You’d be nuts to miss out.

Making a Case

Just six years after its founding, the UMBC Mock Trial team is already taking the nation by storm. Having outperformed hundreds of other college and university teams since September, the team made a historic trip to the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament in Los Angeles, California, in April, competing against a select group of only 48 teams from across the United States.

UMBC received team and individual honors in L.A., including an honorable mention for the Spirit of AMTA award, for best display collegiality and fair play, and two All-American awards—the highest individual honor in collegiate mock trial. Senior Brandon James, English, won UMBC’s first All-American attorney award, and sophomore Alex Ezigbo won the first All-American witness award.

The year has been a heady one for the team, spending weekends on the road to compete in – and win – invitational tournaments up and down the east coast. After finishing the Baltimore Regional Championship with a record of 5–3, both the A and B Teams advanced to the Opening Round Championship Series, held March 25–26, where the A Team secured one of only six bids to the national competition, and the B Team narrowly missed capturing a second.

Graduating seniors Dylan Rogers Elliott, history; Zuhair Riaz, political science; Kayla Smith, interdisciplinary studies; and James have earned a collective 14 individual mock trial awards, reflecting hundreds of hours spent writing and memorizing materials, in addition to the intense collaboration and team planning required to overcome more established teams.

“From my perspective, this is especially rewarding because of how this program has grown and evolved,” reflects coach Ben Garmoe ’13, political science. “I was on UMBC’s first-ever Mock Trial team, just six years ago,” he says. “It’s hard to believe sometimes how quickly things have grown since then.”

Reflecting on the historic trip, Elliott said, “As a senior, I can graduate happy knowing that I played a role, however small, in the team’s growth.”

While mock trial teams tend to attract students majoring in the humanities and social sciences, UMBC Mock Trial includes students from all three colleges, including a biochemistry major. Team members get experience honing their speaking, writing, and presentation skills, applicable to any career path. For some, like Smith, the team has also inspired future graduate school and career plans.

“Mock Trial has prepared me for a lifetime of experiences,” Smith says. “After my first round in a real courtroom, I thought to myself, ‘I wish I could do mock trial professionally,’ and I realized that was just called being an attorney. I’m now headed to law school in New York, and I wouldn’t have taken this path without Mock Trial.”

She’ll be following in the footsteps of UMBC Mock Trial alumni who have attended prestigious law programs at Georgetown University, UCLA, William & Mary, the University of Maryland, and the University of Baltimore.

As news of UMBC Mock Trial’s win at regionals spread during the height of the basketball postseason, the campus found itself cheering yet another UMBC team’s remarkable victory.

Some might be surprised at the rapid rise of such a young team, but coach Ben Garmoe isn’t. “I told them at the beginning of this season that Nationals was possible,” he says. “They went out and did the work to make it happen.”

— Dinah Winnick

Read more at UMBC News

Odom Honored for Coaching

UMBC men’s basketball coach Ryan Odom has been named 2017 recipient of the Joe B. Hall Award, CollegeInsider.com’s honor recognizing the top first-year Division I coach in the United States. Odom led the team to a record of 21-13, and its first winning season since 2007-08, when the Retrievers went to the NCAA Tournament. UMBC finished the year as the third most-improved team nationwide, and the team’s 21 wins represent the second most wins in a single year in the Division I history of UMBC men’s basketball.

“I would like to thank the committee for this prestigious award,” Odom said. “It is a testament to the work that our players and staff put in all year. I’m humbled by this recognition and I’m extremely blessed to coach such great young men.”

Prior to this season UMBC had never a won a post-season tournament game. Odom’s team posted three wins in the CIT and became the first America East team to win three games in a post-season tournament. UMBC also smashed single-season marks for points and three-point field goals.

“Ryan is an excellent coach, but a better person,” said UMBC Director of Athletics Tim Hall. “He has laid the foundation this year for sustained success. This award is confirmation that he is the right leader for Retriever men’s basketball.”

The award is named in the honor of Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp. In his first season at the University of Kentucky, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.

“Ryan Odom brought a new attitude and a new style to UMBC,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Angela Lento. “He changed the culture and won more games this season than the program had won in the previous three seasons combined.”

— Steve Levy ’85
Image: Gail Burton

Read more at UMBCRetrievers.com.

Fine Dining

Complaining about campus dining is a time-honored college tradition, and even with options as varied as Chick-Fil-A, Indian cuisine, and kosher dining, UMBC is no exception – until recently. A new satisfaction survey by campus caterer Chartwells of more than 200 universities coast to coast lists UMBC fifth overall among students and faculty.

“I actually do find it surprising that it made it that high,” says Karlo Begazo, a junior English major.

Even though the high ratings may surprise some students, the dining program takes them seriously. According to Tom DeLuca, resident district manager of Chartwells, UMBC’s dining is always looking to improve. “We make changes year on year based on our surveys,” he says, such as switching chicken vendors because of student concerns.

Dining options can also factor into prospective students’ choice of schools.

“It is reassuring to know how highly our students think of the quality of dining services on campus,” said Dale Bittinger M.P.P. ’16, Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Admissions, Orientation, and School Partnerships. “This is an important factor, among many others, that prospective students consider when conducting their college search.”

It’s a far cry from UMBC’s earliest days. In the early 1970s, alumnus James Milani ’73, political science, director of administrative affairs in the College of Engineering and Information Technology, recalls a sandwich vending machine containing pre-packaged subs; his favorite was the Italian, which he heated in a microwave oven. The cafeteria also sold sandwiches, pizza, burgers, fries, and more.

One of Milani’s other favorites was a cinnamon bread available in the dining hall once a week. But the cinnamon bread “came to a sad conclusion when we all started to gain weight,” he recalls.

UMBC’s dining has indeed come a long way from vending machine lunches with a push toward better quality and health. The dining hall’s food theme nights have also contributed to these positive changes. By partnering with different student groups, the dining hall hosts various theme nights each year, one of the most popular being Indian food night. The success of the Indian dinner theme sparked the idea to open Masala, which serves Indian cuisine, in The Commons.

“We have come a long way from a sandwich vending machine and commuter cafeteria to the many options that exist today,” notes Milani.

— Allison Cruz ’18

What do Retrievers eat? Find out here.

Retriever Round-Up

UMBC’s winter sports teams all found success in different ways. Here are some highlights.

Men’s Basketball

New coach Ryan Odom turned the team around in his first year, installing a fast-paced offense that took UMBC from a 7-25 team last season to a 21-13 squad that reached the College Insider Tournament semifinals and racked up the second most victories in UMBC’s 30-year Division I history.

“It was an amazing year; it was a lot of fun,” Odom said. “It was a great ride. I’m really proud of each and every one of them. It was truly an unselfish basketball club… and there’s a lot of room for growth.”

UMBC started fast, passing last year’s victory total by mid-December and going on to finish fifth in the America East with a 9-7 conference record. Odom’s new offensive style helped UMBC average 81.1 points per game, ranking them among the top 30 Division I schools in the nation.

The Retrievers lost to New Hampshire in the first round of the America East tournament before earning a CIT bid, where UMBC scored home victories over Fairfield, St. Francis, and Liberty before falling to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 79-61, in the semifinal round.

Swimming and Diving

Both men’s and women’s teams won their third straight team championships. The men captured the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association title while the women won the America East crown.

Coach Chad Cradock ’97 and his staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors from their conference while Lauren Day ’17 won the Elite 17 Award for the top GPA at the meet.

Senior Emily Escobedo ’17 truly had a memorable season, making the America East All-Academic team and winning her fourth America East Swimmer of the Year award plus the Dave Alexander Coaches Award, given to the person with most points scored in the meet. However, Escobedo’s biggest moments came later, when she qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time. There, she took third in the 200 breaststroke, setting a new school record and earning All-American status. She also set a new UMBC records in the 100 breaststroke and 200 Individual Medley, in which she finished ninth and twelfth, respectively.

Women’s Basketball

Coach Phil Stern’s team battled numerous injuries but still finished with a 15-16 record, with the Retrievers earning a second consecutive postseason bid. UMBC lost to Brown in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) tournament.

“This season was up and down due to the injuries suffered by 13 different players,” Stern said. “Once we were healthy in mid-January, we played the way I knew we could and won 10 of 11. Earning our second straight post-season bid is something to build on for next year.”

The Retrievers finished 10-6 in the America East and earned the No. 3 seed heading into the conference tournament but sixth-seeded Hartford upset UMBC in the first round. After that, the Retrievers fell to Brown (81-75) in the WBI’s opening round.

Senior Taylor McCarley ’17 led the team in scoring and earned first-team All-America East honors and also made the conference’s All-Defensive team. She ended her career ranked fourth all-time in scoring (1,449 points). Junior guard Laura Castaldo ’18 was a third-team All-America East pick while senior forward Pandora Wilson ’17 made the All-Academic team.

Indoor Track and Field

The UMBC men finished fourth, and the women ended up seventh at the America East championship meet.

For the men, the 4×400 meter relay team set a new school record with its victory in the championship meet. Jamal Cody ’19, Erick Soetje ’17, James Oakley ’18, and Darrius Oxley ’17 combined to win in a time of 3 minutes, 14.88 seconds. Cody set a UMBC record in the 400 meters at that championship meet. His time of 48.69 seconds was good enough for a third-place finish in that event. Soetje broke the school mark in the 500 meters at the IC4A championships, finishing second in 1:03.10 to earn a spot on the America East All-Academic team.

For the women, Tori Johnson ’20 was picked as the America East Most Outstanding Female Rookie.

— Jeff Seidel ’85

Grand Master

There can be only one – national women’s chess champ, that is. In April, Sabina Fiosor ’12, modern languages and linguistics, bested former UMBC player (and reigning national champ) Nazi Paikidze to be crowned U.S. Women’s Champion International master. Fellow alumnus Alexander Onischuk ’07, MLL, came in second for the men the same day. Photo courtesy of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, Lennart Ootes.

Present to the Future

Fifty years from now, what will UMBC look like? Will students float around campus on Jetsons-esque jet packs? Will we all plug into teaching modules to download lessons straight into our brains, a la Asimov?

While we may not be able to predict the future, students in 2066 will be able to understand UMBC’s past thanks to a time capsule filled with artifacts from the 50th anniversary year, including a letter written by UMBC’s first graduate, Robin Mayne ’69, to the students of UMBC’s freshman class of 2016; an Election Night Extravaganza t-shirt; copies of the Retriever Weekly, including a copy of the April Fool’s Day “Deceiver” issue, and more.

“We’re hoping that in 2066, members of the UMBC community will be able to open the time capsule and learn a little about what it’s like to be a Retriever in 2016,” said Craig Berger, coordinator of student life for campus and civic engagement, who hopes to make the capsule’s burial a part of fall’s Homecoming.

Berger has been working with UMBC Special Collections to figure out the best ways of keeping items in the capsule safe while also investigating digital options to accompany the project.

While the capsule is more for fun than academic purposes, archivist Lindsey Loeper ’04 agrees that it “can generate a lot of excitement and interest about the history of the university, which is a great thing.”

— Jenny O’Grady

Please read this important message from Parking Services and share it with staff that may be impacted.  Any employee in your department that receives a parking deduction from their pay check may have been impacted.

The UMBC parking deduction was not taken from some employee paychecks dated 9/22/17. There was an issue with the transfer of data from the parking software to the Central Payroll Bureau. We are currently working on identifying and correcting the error.  The check for 10/6/17 is a health premium holiday and we are currently working on a solution that will allow us to collect the correct parking deduction in this pay check along with the deduction that was missed on the 9/22/17 pay check.  Your parking access will not be impacted by this. 

Please contact Chuck Boddy at 5-2776 with any questions relating to this issue.

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