On Saturday, November 26^th, Facilities Management will be performing tree care work, with the assistance of tree surgeons, to existing trees located at the south west corner of the Biology building.

The work will take place starting at 8 AM and conclude about 6 PM. Although not anticipated at this time, work may commence again the following day, Sunday November 27^th at 8 AM. Access to this area will be limited during this time. The exterior stair between the Biology and Math/Psychology Buildings and the walkway between the Biology and Meyerhoff Chemistry Building will be closed to pedestrian traffic during operations.

Occupants of adjacent buildings can anticipate the presence of machinery noise during these work hours. Adjacent building facades will be protected from soil and debris created by the work. The area will be restored to existing conditions after completion of the work.

Facilities Management thanks you for your cooperation and patience as we address these maintenance items during these off hours.

Facilities Management 

Dealing with Dubious Facts in Knowledge Graphs

Ankur Padia

Knowledge graphs are used to represent real-world facts and events with entities as nodes and relations as labeled edges. Generally, a knowledge graph is automatically constructed by extracting facts from text corpus using information extraction (IE) techniques. Such IE techniques are scalable but often extract low quality (or dubious) facts due to errors caused by NLP libraries, internal components of an extraction system, choice of learning techniques, heuristics and syntactic complexity of underlying text. We wish to explore techniques to process such dubious facts and improve the quality of a knowledge graph.

The Sports Zone was packed Thursday night, November 17, for the 7th annual UMBC Idea Competition. Seven ideas were pitched to a crowd of UMBC’s own, and a panel of three judges.  Stakes were high – awards ranged from $250 to $750 and all the ideas were original and innovative.

Both first place and best presentation were awarded to Erin Patterson and Brendon Thach from Senko Skipper. Their polished pitch and fabulous performance skills won the hearts—and votes—of the crowd. They took home a hefty $1,000 win, $750 for first place, and $250 for best presentation.

Senko Skipper is a YouTube channel dedicated to inspiring people behind their screens to go out and experience fun and quirky things in nature, by sharing their fish-related experiences from around the states.  Reflecting on her involvement in the competition Erin said, "Participating in the Idea Competition was a great way for us to really examine and define our business idea. We didn't have the latest technology or the coolest app, just an idea for a show that sparks discussion and engagement and encourages building relationships with nature. We would like to encourage anyone thinking about entering the Idea Competition to do so! We're so grateful to have such a supportive community at UMBC". With 2,570 subscribers and growing, Senko Skipper plans to organize events, meet and greets and tournaments to get people outside and fishing.

Second place was awarded to Jay McIntyre, who proposed an app called PLASMA (Personal Anxiety and Stress Management). She took home $500 in prize money and some serious admiration from the judges who told her, “There needs to be more people like you in this world”. PLASMA seeks to gather everyone’s favorite de-stressing apps on one platform where they can go to wind-down and gather themselves. While not only targeted to people with anxiety disorders, the app is meant to help all people take a breather from daily stress and anxiety from their fast-paced lives.

Finally, Solar Wind won third place with a $250 prize. The team was comprised of Mechanical Engineering students Alex Sanchez, Andrew Bowling, Joshua Piccoli, and Daniel Corteville. Solar Wind seeks to revolutionize both solar and wind energy by combining the two to optimize resources. With swivel technology, the team has designed a windmill with solar panels integrated into the blades, so when it is very sunny but not as windy, the windmill can turn to face the sun and vice versa.

Winners were chosen by a combination of scores from the voting audience and the judging panel consisting of three entrepreneurial alums: Neil Beller, President of Kit and Kaboodle Productions and The Beller Group, Danielle Burnett, President of Applied Technology Services, and Arsham Mirshah, Co-founder of Webmechanix.

A special thanks to our participants, alumni judges, and to all the students who came out to listen and help select the winners! Congratulations to all the Idea Competition participants!

The Broader Engagement (BE) program at the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics 2017 Computational Science and Engineering (SIAM CSE17) conference is now accepting applications!  Deadline to apply is December 16, 2016. SIAM CSE17 will be held in Atlanta, GA on February 27-March 3, 2017.  SIAM CSE17 BE will engage undergraduate and graduate students in conference activities, the CSE community, and provide special programming to enhance their experience as well as impact their career trajectory. BE participants are recruited from underrepresented groups, such as women, minorities, people with disabilities, first generation scholars, and people from under-privileged backgrounds.

The BE program will provide a rich scientific program, mentoring, and career and professional development to students who aspire to broaden their experience in research-based professional activities.

CSE is indispensable for leading edge investigation and engineering design in a vast number of industrial sectors that all rely increasingly on advanced modeling and simulation, including:

• aerospace
• automotive
• biological
• chemical
• semiconductor technologies

Special themes for this year’s conference include:

• applications in science, engineering, and industry
• biomathematics
• data analytics and visualization
• data-driven modeling and prediction
• multiphysics and multiscale computations
• novel discretization and fast solvers
• numerical linear/multilinear algebra
• scientific software and high-performance computing
• simulations on emerging architectures, and many more

Come and join the community, advance your career, and explore your future possibilities.

First time conference attendees welcome.

In addition to the full conference program BE will be organizing

• STEAM (STEM+Art)  Workshop and a Discussion about Multidisciplinary Research, Diversity, and Inclusion
• High Performance Computing (HPC) Workshop
• An Introduction to Parallel Computing on the Raspberry Pi Workshop
• Guided affinity groups to increase learning while attending conference technical sessions
• Mentor Protégé Program
• Professional, career, and leadership development activities
• Community activities
• Opportunities to present your research
• Tour of Google Fibre Academy facilities and other activities

Jump start your career and explore the possibilities!

Applications are due: Friday, December, 16, 2016.

Information about the program can be found here: http://shinstitute.org/siam-cse17-broader-engagement-program-2/

To apply visit: https://ssl.linklings.net/conferences/SHInstitute/

 
— ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The Sports Zone was packed Thursday night, November 17, for the 7th annual UMBC Idea Competition. Seven ideas were pitched to a crowd of UMBC’s own, and a panel of three judges.  Stakes were high – awards ranged from $250 to $750 and all the ideas were original and innovative.

Both first place and best presentation were awarded to Erin Patterson and Brendon Thach from Senko Skipper. Their polished pitch and fabulous performance skills won the hearts—and votes—of the crowd. They took home a hefty $1,000 win, $750 for first place, and $250 for best presentation.

Senko Skipper is a YouTube channel dedicated to inspiring people behind their screens to go out and experience fun and quirky things in nature, by sharing their fish-related experiences from around the states.  Reflecting on her involvement in the competition Erin said, "Participating in the Idea Competition was a great way for us to really examine and define our business idea. We didn't have the latest technology or the coolest app, just an idea for a show that sparks discussion and engagement and encourages building relationships with nature. We would like to encourage anyone thinking about entering the Idea Competition to do so! We're so grateful to have such a supportive community at UMBC". With 2,570 subscribers and growing, Senko Skipper plans to organize events, meet and greets and tournaments to get people outside and fishing.

Second place was awarded to Jay McIntyre, who proposed an app called PLASMA (Personal Anxiety and Stress Management). She took home $500 in prize money and some serious admiration from the judges who told her, “There needs to be more people like you in this world”. PLASMA seeks to gather everyone’s favorite de-stressing apps on one platform where they can go to wind-down and gather themselves. While not only targeted to people with anxiety disorders, the app is meant to help all people take a breather from daily stress and anxiety from their fast-paced lives.

Finally, Solar Wind won third place with a $250 prize. The team was comprised of Alex Sanchez, Andrew Bowling, Joshua Piccoli, and Daniel Corteville. Solar Wind seeks to revolutionize both solar and wind energy by combining the two to optimize resources. With swivel technology, the team has designed a windmill with solar panels integrated into the blades, so when it is very sunny but not as windy, the windmill can turn to face the sun and vice versa.

Winners were chosen by a combination of scores from the voting audience and the judging panel consisting of three entrepreneurial alums: Neil Beller, President of Kit and Kaboodle Productions and The Beller Group, Danielle Burnett, President of Applied Technology Services, and Arsham Mirshah, Co-founder of Webmechanix.

A special thanks to our participants, alumni judges, and to all the students who came out to listen and help select the winners! Congratulations to all the Idea Competition participants!

The Sports Zone was packed Thursday night, November 17, for the 7th annual UMBC Idea Competition. Seven ideas were pitched to a crowd of UMBC’s own, and a panel of three judges.  Stakes were high – awards ranged from $250 to $750 and all the ideas were original and innovative.

Both first place and best presentation were awarded to Erin Patterson and Brendon Thach from Senko Skipper. Their polished pitch and fabulous performance skills won the hearts—and votes—of the crowd. They took home a hefty $1,000 win, $750 for first place, and $250 for best presentation.

Senko Skipper is a YouTube channel dedicated to inspiring people behind their screens to go out and experience fun and quirky things in nature, by sharing their fish-related experiences from around the states.  Reflecting on her involvement in the competition Erin said, "Participating in the Idea Competition was a great way for us to really examine and define our business idea. We didn't have the latest technology or the coolest app, just an idea for a show that sparks discussion and engagement and encourages building relationships with nature. We would like to encourage anyone thinking about entering the Idea Competition to do so! We're so grateful to have such a supportive community at UMBC". With 2,570 subscribers and growing, Senko Skipper plans to organize events, meet and greets and tournaments to get people outside and fishing.

Second place was awarded to Jay McIntyre, who proposed an app called PLASMA (Personal Anxiety and Stress Management). She took home $500 in prize money and some serious admiration from the judges who told her, “There needs to be more people like you in this world”. PLASMA seeks to gather everyone’s favorite de-stressing apps on one platform where they can go to wind-down and gather themselves. While not only targeted to people with anxiety disorders, the app is meant to help all people take a breather from daily stress and anxiety from their fast-paced lives.

Finally, Solar Wind won third place with a $250 prize. The team was comprised of Alex Sanchez, Andrew Bowling, Joshua Piccoli, and Daniel Corteville. Solar Wind seeks to revolutionize both solar and wind energy by combining the two to optimize resources. With swivel technology, the team has designed a windmill with solar panels integrated into the blades, so when it is very sunny but not as windy, the windmill can turn to face the sun and vice versa.

Winners were chosen by a combination of scores from the voting audience and the judging panel consisting of three entrepreneurial alums: Neil Beller, President of Kit and Kaboodle Productions and The Beller Group, Danielle Burnett, President of Applied Technology Services, and Arsham Mirshah, Co-founder of Webmechanix.

A special thanks to our participants, alumni judges, and to all the students who came out to listen and help select the winners! Congratulations to all the Idea Competition participants!

A weekly round-up curated by Women’s Center staff member, Michael Jalloh Jamboria

In the spirit of my friend, who gave us the glorious name ‘Slaying on the Weekly’, every week I will be bringing you some interesting, funny or thought-provoking content from the internet! Be sure to join us next week for more and continue to slay!

Article of the Week:

The Women’s Center is dedicated to our mission. In our effects of promote gender equity and serve marginalized communities, we want to provide a few resources and encourage all of the UMBC Community to reach out to the Women’s Center. We want to hear your worries, questions and concerns. In the meantime, check out our list of resources.

• Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry (Southern Poverty Law Center)
• Preparation for January by Demographic Issue
• Oh Crap! What Now? Survival Guide (pages on various demographic issues/concerns)
• Surveillance Self-Defense
• Web-Security: Harm Reductionist Guide
• Solidarity Networks
• Concrete Suggestions in Preparation for January 2017’s change in American government (by demographic issue, but for any interested readers)
• Information on long-term birth control options

UMBC Happenings:

Professors and activists within the Gender + Women’s Studies Dept have started a petition to Pres. Hrabowski and other provosts to make UMBC a sanctuary institution. Want to sign? Click on the link to add your name and affiliation to the petition!

This week was Black Lives Matter week. They had a plethora of great events that helped mobilize students and expand on their definition of Black Lives Matter. The UMBC event page for Black Lives Matter week has recounts and pictures from the week, in case you missed the festivities.

Check out the Black Lives Matter memorial display on the Quad

Song of the Week:

I’ve been listening to really great music recently, and I want to share that with all of you! This week’s song is ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ by Bob Marley + the Wailers.

Before I leave you, I’m sure you are all aware that next week is Thanksgiving. I understand how difficult it can be to navigate going home and being with family, especially over longer periods of time. Feministing’s Guide to Surviving the Holidays is a great resource for tips pertaining to how to gendered expectations, political arguments and more. Take care!

Enjoy the Holidays! See you soon!

The first recorded observations of comets, solar eclipses and supernovae came from the Chinese. We can thank the Greeks for gears, screws, catapults, and crowbows. The Romans were pioneers in civil engineering and built a highly sophisticated  urban civilization. The ancient Egyptians developed simple machines, such as the ramp, to make the construction process easier (After all, the pyramids weren’t built in a day.)

ANCS 330: Ancient Science and Technology investigates the development of ancient technologies like these in many forms. Examine cases in scientific reasoning, geometry, astronomy, engineering, anatomy and medicine, and many more. Studying the history of these innovations, including political, cultural or other factors, will provide insights into related social science fields.

Cross-listed with HIST 330, this course fulfills the Arts and Humanities or the Culture GEP requirement for undergraduates, and can be applied towards either degree program.

Register Now!

Beginning in the Spring of 2017, Baltimore Independent Dance Artists (BIDA) will engage with four journalism students and emerging dance critics to be paired with four separate professional dance artists/companies for the duration of the spring 2017 BIDA Season (January-End of May 2017). The interns will engage with their respective artist partners through open rehearsals, performances, interviews and research.

This opportunity is open to Dance Majors/Minors, Journalism, English or Communication Majors and Minors

Dance Journalism Internship Objectives:

●       To engage writers and aspiring journalists with an interest in dance writing with professional dance artists/companies over time in order to enhance the journalistic skills of the writers, and the development of a dance artist or company.

●       To provide thoughtful and informed dance writing about professional Baltimore area dance artists and companies in order to strengthen the discourse about dance in our region.

Dance Journalism Internship Program Description:

Journalism interns will be required to produce the following written documents, which will be published through online channels including the BIDA website and blog. Each intern will be paired with an BIDA Season artist or company in order to develop the following:

●       500 word artist/company or BIDA overview

●       1,000 word overview of a current creative work that the artist partner is developing 

●       500 word Preview of a work to be presented by the artist partner during the season

●       500 word Review of a public performance presented of an artist (other than the partner artist) during the BIDA season Interns will receive a complimentary press ticket to the shows they are reviewing.

Dance Journalism Internship Program Impact:

This program directly addresses an identified need for the development of informed and articulate dance writers in the Baltimore area dance community.