NOAA visits IMET and the NAIB

 
Baltimore, MD (July 29, 2015)

A delegation of senior staff members from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Office of Aquaculture (led by Dr. Michael Rubino, Director, second from left in the above photo) visited the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) and the National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) on Wednesday, July 29th to discuss sustainable aquaculture and seafood. Yonathan Zohar (far left) gave a presentation of IMET’s aquaculture programs and led the group on a tour of the Aquaculture Research Center. The delegates were very impressed with the breadth and depth of IMET’s innovative research in sustainable aquaculture.

LLC 890: Research Proposal Seminar in Fall 2015

LLC 890 is an intensive research writing course that is open to all students who have a major research-based writing project. It is useful for those students who have finished comps or are finishing comps in September, as well as students who have not yet started comps and are in earlier stages of their work. Writing projects could include: a dissertation proposal, a pre-proposal draft, paper revisions for an article, a grant or fellowship proposal, or other major writing projects.

Students will work individually with Dr. Bickel and a peer writing partner in a recursive writing process throughout the semester. We will consider initial research problems and questions, theoretical frameworks and key concepts, writing literature reviews, the ethics and integrity of research writing, writing as inquiry and a daily practice, methodological frameworks and particular methods, issues of interdisciplinarity in content and research processes, how to make compelling presentations, and working effectively with dissertation advisors and committees.

The course will meet roughly every other week with intensive writing and feedback in between meetings. Skype is a possibility for those who cannot make class meetings. The course begins Monday, August 31, 4:30-7 in the MCS conference room, but the participants will decide together on subsequent meeting times. Note: 890 can be taken more than once. 
Please be in touch with Dr. Bickel if you are considering enrolling for more details including scheduling issues and permission.

Here at UMBC we are always looking to stay in the loop when it comes to our alumni. This is the latest from Danikquia Starks ’15, political science,and Sharon Lipford ’89, psychology, who have both received awards promoting their work as they advance in their careers.

Danikquia Starks ’15, political science, is a participant in the GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Programme. Starks completed her degree in political science and is now completing an internship with the GraceKennedy Remittance Services Limited. The program began in 2004 in order to grant second- and third-generation Jamaicans the chance to experience their culture and heritage while gaining vital experience in a professional setting.

To read her full story, click here.

Sharon Lipford ’89, psychology, has been named the executive director of Healthy Harford, a nonprofit that encourages Harford County to be a healthy community. Lipford’s professional experience with various advisory councils, as well as her many distinguished awards such as the Maryland Distinguished Service Award and recognition from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office for Critical Incident Response, propel her in her current position as she helps foster a healthier community.

Click here for more.

RACE AND THE LAW

Fall Semester 2015

AFST 440 SECTION1: RACE AND THE LAW

WEDNESDAYS 7:10PM - 9:40PM - ENG. BLDG RM 336

PROFESSOR MICHELLE DAVIS, ESQ.

Explore why American ideals of equality fail to match reality for some

Explore the complex issues that arise at the intersection of Race, Law and Public Policy

Potomac Photonics' Digital Fabrication Brings Iterative Design Process to Asthma Research at Anderson Cancer Center

CAD-based digital fabrication tools provide a quick, economical method to test and change designs, speeding up the invention and product development cycle.

Halethorpe, Maryland   July 28, 2015   Technology News

(PRLEAP.COM) July 28, 2015 - Using CAD-based Digital Fabrication tools, Potomac Photonics is able to provide designers with a quick, economical method to test and change designs. A research team at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston recently implemented the Potomac process to study the machinery of mucus secretion in asthma. 

Dr. Michael Tuvim, Director of Laboratory Research, in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine explains that the group's mucus secretion studies are aimed at developing an assay in order to record mucus eruption in real time, which does not currently exist. Excessive mucus production that cannot be cleared by normal ciliary action blocks airflow. In fact, the cause of death from asthma is actually suffocation.

Using fluorescent detection technology with mice trachea that have been pre-stained with an orange fluorescent dye, the researchers can stimulate baseline secretion, depleting the stores of mucus production and consequently stopping explosive secretion. In their initial experiments, Dr. Tuvim's team built a flow chamber to house unfurled and flattened trachea explants. They then prepared and mounted the trachea samples on glass microscope slides. He says, "The system will allow us to mimic physiological conditions and visualize the changes in secretion (recorded and measured as changes in fluorescence) under the microscope in real time."

Potomac provided a glass coverslip containing a 2.5 x 2.5 mm window for the light exposure. Explains Dr. Tuvim, "Creating the small size of the window was prohibitive for traditional glass cutting methods. Potomac Photonics was one of the few companies that could meet our small size requirement and not damage the glass."

However, as is common in the research phase of scientific work, the glass slides didn't provide the optimal result for the team. The glass slides were too fragile for the process to work and so a return to the proverbial drawing board was needed. 

"Potomac worked with Dr. Tuvim," says Potomac President and CEO Mike Adelstein, "to find a material that would be more robust for his experiment. Because we have a wide range of material processing capabilities we were able to provide a solution in thin stainless steel."

The design could also be easily modified because CAD-driven digital fabrication tools such as laser micromachining are flexible. Without the need for masks, changes are immediately drawn in computer software and translated directly by the machines. Time and cost are greatly reduced, giving researchers and designers an opportunity to test various models.

As inventor Thomas Edison once pointed out, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Progress in science and engineering is furthered by a process of trying and testing and trying again. When a designer can quickly and easily test new designs, it speeds up the entire invention and product development cycle. Companies can get products to market quicker and design optimization ensures greater success in the marketplace. For researchers such as Dr. Tuvim's group, it can more importantly, save lives.

About Potomac Photonics
For over 30 years, Potomac Photonics has been a leader in microfabrication, laser micromachining and small hole drilling. Potomac's contract services span prototyping to production, helping clients develop miniature products and bring them to market. Using cutting-edge manufacturing technology, Potomac has been recognized by both commercial and government agencies for innovation in areas such as medical device, electronics, aerospace, and automotive manufacturing. Potomac's high-tech facility, located at BWTech@UMBC Research and Technology Park, is ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certified. Visit the website at www.potomac-laser.com