Stephanie Milani ‘17, Computer Science and Psychology, is the Researcher of the Week for her research in abstract Markov decision processes (AMDPs). Stephanie is a current member of the Honors College as well as being involved across campus. Read more about Stephanie's research by clicking the link below.

Congratulations again to Stephanie! You make us proud!

As part of DoIT's ongoing commitment to security, the Unix Infrastructure group will be conducting its quarterly system patching  for RT on Friday, March 17th from 5pm to 6pm.  

For more details please read the article posted on the DoIT website.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Joe Kirby ,  Assistant Vice President, Business Systems

Division of Information Technology (DoIT) 

Administration 627

Office - 410-455-3020 

Email - kirby@umbc.edu

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) - “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Read and reread this passage, out loud and prayerfully. God’s divine power has given us what?

Yes, that is right! EVERYTHING we need to live out this life we have in Christ and to express it in the love that He first loved us with. EVERYTHING. This is where we struggle most, believing that the Word and knowing the Lord in and through His Word will have everything we need to live for Him. We may say this and deep down inside know that it is true, but somewhere between the depths of our heart and the surface of day to day living, everything seems to become “some things.” But that is not the life that we have been saved into. “Some things” is not the Word we have received from Christ, and it is not the reality we have received. Slowly read and hear the Words of life, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Today, let’s confess the ’some things’ of our living and doubt, and bring the whole of our lives, concerns, desires, and habits to the Lord. Let’s bring them into the ‘everything’ of God’s transforming grace and power for us who believe. Once again, with renewed faith in this Word, pray about the areas and struggles that have been left out of God’s ‘everything’ power, and receive a renewed trust and reliance on Him in those areas. May he turn our ’some things’ into ‘everything’ according to His power and love.

-TR

“Being an activist is something that we can do everyday. It’s not something that only those people over there do.”

On the fourth floor of the Fine Arts Building, with a scenic view of the building’s ‘B’-wing, you can find Kate Drabinski typing away on her Mac preparing for her courses. As a senior lecturer in the Gender and Women’s Studies program, Drabinski fuses her love for activism with her passion for teaching.

As an undergraduate student, Drabinski attended Barner college and obtained her bachelor’s degree in political science and women’s studies; however, it was not until graduate school that Drabinski discovered her love for teaching.

“The most important lesson I learned from graduate school was that I loved to teach,” Drabinski said. “Teaching is my calling, and I get to develop and improve myself and my teaching style everyday at UMBC.”

While the only reason Drabinski chose UMBC was because it was where she was offered a job, she quickly fell in love with the teaching environment here on campus. “When UMBC says they are dedicated to their undergraduate teaching, they absolutely mean it,” Drabinski said.

“We’re paid to go to regular trainings on how to better our teaching and are exposed to different teaching styles, and we’re in constant contact with the Faculty Development Center on campus,” she said. 

Drabinski extends her teachings outside her classroom as she is the Director of Women Involved in Learning and Leadership (WILL), a Living and Learning Community (LLC) and student organization. The group is for students of all genders and aims to encourage critical thinking and active learning, as well as increase awareness of the obstacles women are facing.

While she enjoys teaching all of the courses she offers, introductory courses are Drabinski’s favorite. “I love teaching intro courses because I remember when I took my first Women’s Studies course, and it blew my mind. Everything was new and the world looked different,” Drabinski said.

“The things that look like a part of everyday life are really just products of history, cultural choices, media representation, religion, deep structures of racism and discrimination. The list goes on,” Drabinski said.

“These introductory courses allow me to see my students go through the same revelations and have the same excitement that I had. That’s what I love about these courses.”

Above all, Drabinski picked Gender and Women’s Studies 200: Studies in Feminist Activism as her favorite course to teach because of how student-fueled it is. Each semester, students create their own activist projects, which involves picking a cause, executing an action plan and reflecting on their experience. “Every year, my students exceed anything that I could have came up with,” Drabinski said.

For all those young activists out there who can’t take Drabinski’s course, she shared some simple advice: “Coalitions with preexisting groups, flexibility, patience, and raising the consciousness of yourself and those around you are your friend.”

Editor’s note: Rebecca Warns is currently a student in Kate Drabinski’s GWST 200 course.

The post Shaping the activists of tomorrow appeared first on The Retriever.

Carla Viviana Coleman, assistant professor of design, is one of five experts who contributed to a special feature on the best-designed products of all time, published by the The Conversation.

Coleman’s essay focuses on Microsoft HoloLens virtual reality glasses. “The product was designed with ergonomics in mind,” Coleman notes, distinguishing it from “heavy, cumbersome” predecessors and increasing its potential impact on our everyday lives.

“While one could easily imagine a new generation of video games being designed for the HoloLens, a number of employers have realized the glasses can improve workplace productivity and ease the burdens of certain jobs,” Coleman writes. She describes how the glasses are being used to improve efficiency and create new opportunities in technical and medical workplaces:

For example, the company ThyssenKrupp, which manufactures elevators and escalators, has begun giving HoloLenses to its elevator technicians, with the idea that the glasses will allow them to access data much more efficiently. The employees can multitask, choosing either to lift up the spherical visor or to keep it in front of their eyes as needed – all while working in a cramped elevator shaft.

Coleman also highlights how some medical schools are using the HoloLens to train doctors in anatomy without using cadavers, and Volvo is using it as a tool in car design.

The article originally appeared in The Conversation, and has also been published in Scientific American, Salon, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Header image: Microsoft HoloLens, by Ramadhanakbr Wikimedia (CC BY-SA)

Ahead of the Trump administration formally outlining its spending priorities through a federal budget proposal, Roy T. Meyers has published a primer explaining how the budget process works and significant hurdles ahead for President Trump’s anticipated proposal. The article, originally published in The Conversation, has appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Government Executive, and the National Business Review, and been read nearly 50,000 times.

Meyers, professor of political science at UMBC and former Congressional Budget Office analyst, describes how budgets in times of presidential transition come together, typically being released in April or May, rather than February, as it takes some time for incoming presidents to staff key positions.

The past three presidents have initially submitted a “skinny budget”—light on details, as they flesh out their vision for the country. “Trump’s skinny budget, expected to come out around March 16, will be a lot skinnier than usual,” Meyers writes.

Early announcements suggest Trump’s budget will focus on discretionary spending, which includes the military, education, and environmental protection. Meyers notes, “Most notably, Trump reportedly wants to increase defense spending by $54 billion and fully offset that amount by cutting other discretionary programs.” Leaked elements of the plan suggest large cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, which have met strong opposition.

In terms of process, Meyers suggests that Trump’s budget proposals may differ from those of previous presidents in the amount of vetting they receive from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) prior to being formally announced. Writes Meyers:

The bottom line is that the White House publicized a target of $54 billion (11 percent of 2017 discretionary spending) in cuts without receiving any feedback from agencies about the feasibility of making them. Further, because the administration and Congress have also already called for increases in spending in certain areas – such as veterans health programs, doubling the number of border patrol agents and infrastructure investments – that means the $54 billion hammer will fall even harder on everything else.

Meyers notes, “There are also large differences between Trump and Republican lawmakers on how to change the tax code, how to replace the Affordable Care Act and whether to subsidize corporations for creating jobs.” Moving forward, he argues, Congressional Republicans and President Trump will need to have a “meeting of the minds” around highly complex issues to enact a full budget for 2018.

Read the full article in The Conversation.

Header image: The White House. Photo by Angela N., CC by 2.0.

More than 500 kids, ages 9-14, on 72 teams gathered at UMBC on Saturday, February 25 to participate in the Maryland State FIRST LEGO League Championship tournament, completing a set of challenges designed to showcase their innovation and creativity. The event also drew hundreds of spectators and volunteers, including UMBC faculty, staff, and students, particularly from the mechanical engineering department, Center for Women in Technology, and Meyerhoff Scholars Program.

During the morning portion of the tournament, the teams presented solutions that they began working on in August to the judges. Each team was tasked with developing an innovative solution related to the overarching tournament theme: animal allies. The teams also continued to modify and practice with their robots, in preparation for the championship’s signature event, held in the afternoon. Before long, the Robot Challenge matches were underway, with teams guiding their robots through a series of missions with different difficulty levels and point values.

The White Tailed Paradox team from Chapelgate Christian Academy in Marriottsville, MD, took home the top prize at the championship and reflected, “Once you are a team, anything is possible if you work hard and believe in what you are doing.” The also shared how much they enjoyed the opportunity to meet teams from across Maryland—kids from different parts of the state who share their interest in robotics.

Both of these values—believing in the power and tenacity of teamwork, and appreciating every chance to connect with like-minded friends of different backgrounds—are central to UMBC’s vision and reputation, and, organizers suggest, reflect what draws participants and spectators to the event at UMBC each year.

“UMBC is known for its exceptional STEM programs,” said Jamie Gurganus, associate director of engineering education initiatives, and instructor of mechanical engineering. “This event represents our commitment to increase STEM diversity bringing together the university’s partnerships in K-12 and industry.”

“UMBC has always considered community involvement to be a cornerstone of the institution,” Gurganus explained. “This is a wonderful opportunity for UMBC community members to build relationships with each other, give back, and help encourage the next generation of students.”

The White Tailed Paradox team will compete in the world championship in St. Louis next month, against teams from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Northrop Grumman has sponsored the FIRST Lego League since 2007.

Banner image: Participants working on their project during the tournament. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.