The UMBC CSEE Seminar Series Presents

Optical Measurements and Devices for Biotechnology and Biomedicine

Dr. Yordan Kostov

Assistant Director, Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, UMBC

12-1pm Friday, 18 September 2015
ITE 102 (Lecture Hall VIII)

A variety of approaches for measurement of bioprocess and biomedical variables are presented. Classical optical measurements (fluorescence, absorption, decay time, etc.) are employed together with miniaturized versions of benchtop spectroscopy equipment to measure a number of bioprocess variables (pH, DO, protein concentration, etc.).  Similar approach allows for measurement of biomedical parameters (transcutaneous O2 and CO2, glucose). The sensing is made possible by the developed miniaturized versions of lab equipment, use of microfluidics and actuation, as well as the use of proper data processing coupled with customizable user interface. A number of examples will be given.

Dr. Yordan Kostov holds an M.Sc. in Electrical engineering from Odessa Polytechnical Institute (Ukraine) and a combined Ph.D. Degree in ChemE./EE from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He has industry experience as electronic technology engineer. In his doctoral studies, he focused on optical sensing of biomedical parameters, and pursues this line of research ever since. Currently, he is Assistant Director of the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at UMBC and Adjunct Professor at CSEE. His main interests are in the area of Biomedical measurements and devices.

Hosts: Professors Fow-Sen Choa (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. ) and Alan T. Sherman (Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. )

Contributing Photographer Eva Anzola is bringing back UMBChic for the Fall Semester!

UMBChic is a weekly column featuring stylish UMBC students strutting their style on campus!

If you run into Eva with her camera pointed at you, don’t be shy. Strike a pose and share a word or two about your fashion!

Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Google Music and Apple Music all want to stream your music whenever with a monthly subscription fee. Trebel Music aims to challenge that, by introducing free music that is ad-supported but is downloaded instead of streamed. Users spend virtual currency to play music, and then earn more currency simply by using the app and checking into local businesses. Now, Trebel is set to launch at more than 3,000 colleges and universities and 25,000 high schools, and UMBC is on the launch list.

Trebel Music is the flagship product of M&M Media, a California-based technology company. Trebel was originally known as Project Carmen and was tested at five different universities: Ohio State, Santa Monica College, Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and Long Beach State. Project Carmen is where the CEO and co-founder of M&M Media, Gary Mekikian, and chief of product, Corey Jones, developed some of the core ideas behind Trebel music.

“UMBC was chosen as a launch campus [for Trebel] because it fits the diversity profile of a school where adoption and engagement are likely to be the highest,” said Mekikian. “We looked at a map of the country and used data from the initial usage to figure out the ‘influencer’ schools in each region where we think the app can have the most success, and where we can develop long term relationships with students who are interested in helping us perfect the app.”

The way Trebel works is simple. Users have a virtual coin currency that they use to download songs or buy and own songs outright. There are myriad ways to earn coins: you can check into local businesses, watch in-app advertisements, refer friends to Trebel and even browse through the app. You will notice your coin balance go up along the way so you can continue listening to songs.

If you are low on coins or have coins to spare, you can send coins to other users. If all else fails, there are in-app purchases for coins at different tiers.

“A lot of college students have limited income and turn to MP3 converter sites and rolling free trials of subscription services, but these services are loaded with problems — terrible user experience, fake tracks [and] bad audio quality,” said Jones.

The app also integrates with a user’s existing iTunes and Google Play libraries so that playlists are automatically imported. New playlists can combine music from the app with songs the user already owns.

Song preview pages allow users to download or buy tracks. This is where the advertisements begin: if you choose the download for free option, you have to watch video ads until the song downloads. This isn’t the only ad placement — there are Pandora-esque advertising interludes at random points while listening to music.

Trebel music has a modern focus. The app itself is sleek and intuitive, with default colors of yellow and black. Don’t like the colors? When you get to a song preview page, simply shake your phone and the default theme will change to match the colors of the album art.

When you play a song, the album art transforms into a turn wheel that you can use to rewind or fast forward a song. Traditional playback controls are also located at the bottom just in case you want to switch out the turn wheel. At the top, you’ll find tabs for lyrics and video, all embedded within the app so you can quickly switch between the two without loading a separate app or webpage.

The most exciting new feature Trebel brings to the market are the social aspects. When looking for music, users can view the top downloads or top plays at UMBC. Furthermore, when you sign up for Trebel, you create your own profile where you can follow others and have followers. Tapping on someone you follow, you can view their activity of what songs they downloaded and played, coins they received and who they are following along with their followers. You can customize what playlists you want to share publicly.

One major concern for Trebel is the amount of space it will take up on your device. According to Mekikian, “there’s a magic algorithm in the Trebel app that keeps track of storage space on mobile devices. The app allows for unlimited number of downloads and you’ll never run out of storage space. The technology we have built in the app will keep track of what you have or haven’t listened to in months. The technology caches the music in the cloud.”

Trebel faces some shortcomings, however. Currently, it is limited to only iOS and Android devices. Mekikian says there are plans for a desktop version, along with a Windows version, and even the potential for apps on Xbox One or PlayStation 4. “We’re starting out on mobile because that’s where millennials listen [to their music],” Mekikian said.

Although the company likes to tout the non-streaming aspect of the app, it does pose questions for everyday usability. Say you’re driving somewhere: beforehand, you’ll have to set up what playlists and songs to download – and stick to those – unless you want to fiddle around with downloading songs while driving.

The alternative is that Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Google Music and Apple Music all have ways of discovering music through radio or other playlists without you having to interact with the app constantly. In those situations, you just set it at a station or playlist and let it stream.

The library of songs at Trebel’s disposal is also pretty low. Users can request songs for the service if they are unavailable, but the library will not be as extensive as other streaming services at first.

As it stands right now, Trebel is free with sponsored advertisements. Coming soon will be a monthly pass that will remove banner ads and video ads from the app, which students can pick up at a discounted $4.99 a month or $9.99 otherwise.

The Android version is set to launch in the coming weeks, but UMBC students on iOS devices can go ahead and try out the app now. All they need is to sign up with their UMBC email address.

Mekikian and Jones are providing an important service to the low-end music market. “We’re not really competing with Apple Music or Spotify because they are providing an important service to [the high-end of the] market,” said Mekikian.

Who knows — if their bet is that millennials are the key to music consumption, they might find even greater success than other music services.

Editor’s note: David Verghese also writes for the Department of Information Technology.

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• Must be eligible to be granted a security clearance
• Must be a full-time student in an undergraduate or graduate program
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 desired
• Must be available for the entire 12-week program
• Must be available for an operational interview and other applicable processing between May 2015 and March 2016
• Major studies areas of consideration:
• International Affairs/Politics/Relations

• Intelligence/Security Studies
• Regional Studies
• Economics
• Decision/Information/Data Science
• Note: Minors/Certificate programs or multiple courses in computer science, networking, technology, or telecommunications areas are highly sought.

Egypt

Six soldiers, including four American peacekeepers, were wounded in two explosions in northeast Sinai on Thursday caused by improvised explosive devices.

Pentagon official Captain Jeff Davis said that the peacekeepers were evacuated “by air to a medical facility where all are receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.”

The soldiers were part of the Multinational Force and Observers, an international peacekeeping force that oversees the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The MFO generally operates in and around the Sinai peninsula, an area under Egyptian control that has long served as a buffer between the two nations.

Following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, the Sinai has increasingly become a hideout and breeding ground for jihadist groups, many of which are also opposed to Israel.

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, one of the Sinai’s most prominent jihadist groups responsible for attacks in the peninsula, declared its allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014, making it ISIL’s new chapter in Egypt: the Sinai Province of the Islamic State.

China

China held a lavish parade on Thursday commemorating the defeat of Japan in World War II, showcasing its military prowess in an unprecedented scale.

In the parade’s opening speech, President Xi Jinping honored “the Chinese people who unwaveringly fought hard and defeated aggression” from Japan.  

Present at the parade were more than 30 foreign government officials and heads of state including Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. However, many Western leaders and Japan’s Prime Minster Shinzo Abe did not attend.

President Jinping also announced that the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest military which stands at 2.3 million members, would be cut by 300,000 personnel by 2017.

The parade showcased over 10,000 troops and hundreds of aircraft, tanks and missiles. Despite this display, President Jinping reassured the global community that China was committed to peace. “No matter how strong it becomes, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any nation,” he said.

The United States

The White House secured the support of Democratic Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly referred to as the “Iran Deal.”

Senator Mikulski’s announcement on Wednesday ensured President Barack Obama that his veto of a Republican resolution of disapproval cannot be rejected in the Senate.

On Friday, Senate Democrat Michael Bennet also announced his support for the administration’s Iran Deal.

However, moments after Senator Bennet’s announcement, Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post that he would not support the deal.

Senator Cardin is the third Senate Democrat to oppose the deal. Senator Cardin, who is typically counted as a reliable vote for the administration, said, “This should be a vote of conscience, not a litmus test of party loyalty or political acumen.”

If both the House of Representatives and the Senate pass a resolution of disapproval, President Obama has promised to veto it, which is why securing votes has become such a priority for his administration.

This week, we chatted with Retriever sophomore Joseph Ricks, a captain on UMBC’s ultimate frisbee team Booya.

TRW: When did you get into ultimate Frisbee and why?

JR: In high school, I played soccer and there wasn’t really a Spring sport for me. My high school AP Chemistry teacher, Mr. Keven Moldenhauer, was the coach of a professional current Ultimate team. That’s how I was introduced to the sport. Then when I came to UMBC, I saw people playing pick-up ultimate Frisbee on Erickson Field. I decided to check it out, and I fell in love with the sport. I stuck with the sport because of the camaraderie with my teammates and opponents.

TRW: What is your biggest/favorite highlight of your time playing ultimate Frisbee?

JR: Our ultimate Frisbee team, Booya, was at a tournament called High Tide, and about halfway through the game I was a part of a very intense defensive point. The opposing team’s offense was swinging the disc and I deflected it and caught a Callahan, which is when a defensive player intercepts the disk while in his opponents end-zone.  It is similar to a pick-six in football. A Callahan is quite rare, and this helped push the momentum in my team’s favor.

TRW: Why would you encourage other people to play ultimate Frisbee at UMBC?

JR: I would say that the atmosphere of being around other ultimate Frisbee players is like no other. Even your opponents are your friends. Since the sport is self-officiated, the spirit of the game and its integrity are permanently kept. Ultimate is a fun, fast-paced sport, unlike any other. I would describe it as an amalgamation of football, basketball and handball. Many people think that ultimate is just throwing a Frisbee around, but it is so much more than that. I would encourage any athlete to try the sport because it is unique and so much fun to play.

TRW: Would you rather get a 4.0 GPA or have your ultimate Frisbee team go undefeated?

JR: School comes first, but several people achieve a 4.0 GPA. Only a select few get the opportunity to go undefeated and hold the collegiate national championship trophy up.

TRW: If someone wants to get into ultimate Frisbee and get good at it, what do you recommend they do?

JR: I would recommend that they work on their forehand and backhand throws, work on conditioning and watch higher level players to develop a better understanding of the game.

TRW:  If you could build an Ultimate Frisbee team of any professional athletes, who would you pick?

JR: Starting Offensive Line: Alan Kolick (Pro Ultimate Player), LeBron James (Pro Basketball Player), Bo Jackson (Former Pro Baseball and Football Player), Matt Rebholz (Pro Ultimate Player), Marshall Lynch (Pro Football Player), Lionel Messi (Pro Soccer Player) and Calvin Johnson (Pro Football Player).

JR: Starting Defensive Line: Usain Bolt (Pro Track and Field), Gareth Bale (Pro Soccer Player), Ed Reed (Pro Football Player), Darrelle Revis (Pro Football Player), David Luis (Pro Soccer Player), Ray Lewis (Former Pro Football Player) and Delrico Johnson (Pro Ultimate Player).