“…[God] has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.” (2 Corinthians 1:22)

“…H.A. Ironside was preaching on a busy street corner…when a well-dressed man walked up and began to ridicule and jeer. Ironside recognized the heckler as a university professor and a well-known and vocal atheist… He criticized the Bible and labeled Christians as ignorant fools… Finally, the man shouted, ‘I challenge you to a debate! Are you afraid to debate me?’

…’I accept your challenge sir… but on one condition! When you come to the debate…bring with you ten men and women whose lives have been changed for the better by the message of atheism! …And when I come, I will gladly bring with me two hundred men and women…whose lives have been transformed…by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ!’

As the professor heard Ironside’s challenge, he stopped his jeering, turned and walked away…

In my church today, I can point out person after person who has been hopeless, rebellious and immoral …alcoholics and drug addicts; women who have had abortions; [people who were] enslaved by pornography…ensnared in witchcraft and the occult…so full of despair… Yet as you look at these people today, they are godly, responsible individuals …and every one of them will tell you that what changed their lives was a relationship with Jesus Christ… And He does it through the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus living in the hearts of His people, sent to give them new hope, new love, new peace, new joy and new direction.” (R. Heidler, Experiencing the Spirit, pp. 45 ff)

“Fall Afresh” by Kari Jobe - Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rat7zO4ofA

- JP

In order to get a job, students need experience. In order to get experience, they need a job.

Students can often find themselves stuck in this trap. How do they get a job in their field when they do not even know where to start? Christine Routzahn has a simple answer. Come to the Career Center.

UMBC’s Career Center, located on the second floor of the Math/Psychology building, offers several services to students related to professional development. Students can meet with Career Specialists to discuss their options for future internships and research projects, review their resume or simply explore what different paths are open to them.

According to Routzahn, Director of the Career Center, they seek to “empower all students and alumni to create their own success story. We want to meet you where you are. Everything that we do centers around helping students understand what their career options are.”

Kacie Lawrence, the Associate Director of Internships and Employment, stated that what makes the UMBC Career Center unique is that “We do our best to personalize our services . … you get to form a relationship with somebody over the years.”

The Career Center offers drop-in hours from 2-4p.m. every weekday during which students can come in without an appointment and get their resume reviewed or meet one-on-one with a counselor.

“I wish [students] knew how important it is to come in here early-on in their college career,” Lawrence said. When students come in early-on, the Career Center can help them map out their plan for success.

One of the main goals of the Career Center is to connect students with internships. Routzahn advises that internships not only help students decide what they enjoy doing, but that most companies are hiring their full-time employees from their pool of interns.

Over the last year, the Career Center connected students with over 600 employers. They also encourage students to use multiple networks and resources.  Routzahn noted that the Career Center “works in unison with faculty” to connect students with internships for which they can receive academic credit.

Routzahn explained that there’s a reason that companies like Amazon come to recruit at UMBC: “UMBC students have a strong reputation out in the work force [and] we value making sure that we get [students] in front of important people and decision makers,” she said. “UMBC students are in high demand.”

Ray Fox, a staffing lead for the National Security Agency, has been recruiting UMBC students for several years. Fox’s own three sons graduated from UMBC and he said that the agency keeps coming back because “UMBC produces outstanding students.”

Fox explained that NSA has a “really good partnership with UMBC, people from the agency come to [the campus] almost 20-30 times a year.” He noted that the agency focuses on applicants’ skills and work experience as well as academic background.

Routzahn encourages students to view the calendar of upcoming events on the Career Center website, notably the Fall Career Fair and Internship Fair on Sept. 27. The fair will have over 130 different organizations to recruit students for upcoming summer internship programs.

One unique feature of this career fair is its freshman-friendly component. Employers can designate themselves as freshman-friendly, meaning that they have opportunities available for underclassmen students. According to Routzahn, “There’s a perception that it’s just for juniors and seniors, but career fairs are for everyone.”

The overarching message of the Career Center is that it is never too soon to start considering your future. As Routzahn put it, “This is your time to look.”

Correction: A previous version of this article inaccurately named the event on Sept. 27. It is the Fall Career and Internship Fair.

HackUMBC hackathon, Saturday-Sunday 7-8 October 2017

HackUMBC is a 24-hour tech innovation marathon where students across the East Coast collaborate on new ideas to build mobile, web and hardware projects. HackUMBC invites diverse groups of students to enjoy a weekend of hacking, workshops, tech talks, networking, and other fun activities. At the end of 24 hours, projects are presented and judged for different prize categories from sponsors and other organizations.

The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday, October 7-8 at several locations on the UMBC campus. Visit the HackUMBC site for complete details and to register.

The post HackUMBC hackathon, Saturday-Sunday 7-8 October 2017 appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

On the third floor of the UMBC Physics Building, a glass sign with crisp white lettering announces UMBC’s newest research center: the Earth and Space Institute (ESI).

The institute includes a prototyping lab, operations center, and offices, but it is also much more than a collection of rooms, explains Karl Steiner, UMBC’s vice president for research. The ESI is a physical home for the interdisciplinary earth and space science UMBC researchers do with support from NASA, NOAA, and other federal agencies as well as collaborators around the world. It’s a hub where scientists, engineers, and students will take UMBC’s earth and space research to the next level.

The ESI, administered by UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), joins a set of other distinguished UMBC research centers, including the Center for Space Science and Technology (CSST), Goddard Planetary and Heliophysics Institute (GPHI), and Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), all of which are collaborations with the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

CNMS Dean Bill LaCourse believes NASA has served as “a role model and inspirational force,” that has led people to reach for the stars for generations, and he is excited to expand UMBC’s collaborative work with NASA. “The Earth and Space Institute is our opportunity to reach for new heights,” he shares. “To take that chance in the name of science, commitment, passion, and basic human curiosity.”

At a ribbon cutting for the new space, leaders from the three other centers, as well as the director of NASA Goddard, gathered to discuss current projects and ideas for future collaborations. They emphasized the strong and ongoing relationship between UMBC and NASA, which is only expected to deepen with the dedication of the new institute.

“It’s great to be here. The partnership with UMBC is just fantastic,” said NASA Goddard director Christopher Scolese. “All this happens because of the strength of your work, and we should say thank you to all of you,” added UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski, speaking to the scientists in the room. “It takes researchers to produce researchers.”

Vanderlei Martins, professor of physics and director of the new institute, describes the ESI as a place “to develop new technologies and new science in earth and space fields.” Martins is currently working on HARP, a CubeSat mission intended to launch within the next year. But he and other UMBC scientists have their eyes on an ever bigger goal: a full-blown NASA mission with their equipment on it. The ESI will make planning and successfully proposing such a mission a real possibility.

Another important aspect of the institute is its role as a platform to boost collaboration across disciplines. “We want to collaborate even more with Goddard on the engineering side, on the science side, on the education side,” says Martins, noting that this could mean pulling in faculty and students at all levels and from a broad range of focus areas.

Jane Turner, director of CSST, shares that “one of our important roles is to connect our graduate and undergraduate students to mentors and project opportunities at Goddard”—a goal the new ESI shares. Lorraine Remer, a JCET research professor, adds that recruiting UMBC students to careers at NASA or other federal agencies via experiences with UMBC collaborative centers could also play a role in diversifying the federal workforce, because of UMBC’s strong track record for supporting the success of students from all backgrounds in STEM fields.

Alan Yeakley, chair of geography and environmental systems, also envisions opportunities for the ESI to utilize the social sciences in its work. “I see geography and environmental science as the connective tissue between the natural sciences and the social sciences,” he shares. Data collected by NOAA satellites, for example, can contribute to public health research on air quality, urbanization, and the effects of climate change.

The ESI is intended to bring the UMBC community together in new ways, just as it came together to support the institute’s creation. “It takes a community—a wide spectrum of people giving support from all kinds of directions—to bring something like this together,” LaCourse says. From the crews that renovated the space to university administrators at the highest level, “There has been cross-campus support… This is a university facility that was a feat to get off the ground, and now it’s here.”

“The Earth and Space Institute leverages our resources and expands our potential,” LaCourse says. Inspired by NASA, “it allows UMBC to dream bigger and reach higher.”

Banner image: Dean LaCourse addresses guests just before they cut a ribbon at the entrance of the new Earth and Space Institute to dedicate the space. From left to right: Felicia Jones Selden ’81, biological sciences, director of applied engineering and technology at NASA Goddard; UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski; Chris Scolese, director of NASA Goddard; Colleen Hartman, director of sciences and exploration at NASA Goddard; Michael Hayden, UMBC professor and chair of physics; Bill LaCourse, dean of UMBC College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences; UMBC Provost Philip Rous (behind Dean LaCourse); Vanderlei Martins, ESI director and UMBC professor of physics; Karl Steiner, UMBC vice president for research.

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The Collaborative Theatre is accepting resumes and portfolios for the following design positions:

Sound Design

Set Design

Costume Design

Lighting Design

Properties Design

Please submit your work to steven@collaborativetheatre.org and include your availability through June 2018. All designers receive a stipend.