A few weeks into her summer internship with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, rising senior Ortisemoyowa “Moyo” Ikomi, chemical engineering, attended an event celebrating a milestone in the company’s construction of a new drug manufacturing plant in Rockville, Maryland. During the event, the organizers played a video featuring a young girl whose seemingly terminal cancer was cured with immunotherapy drugs—the same type of drugs that would be manufactured in the new facility. “This girl was in hospice care, at home with her family who thought they might just have to wait for her life to end, and this drug gave her a… Continue Reading UMBC chemical engineering student intern finds purpose giving patients hope
An international team of scientists, including two researchers who now work in the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) at UMBC, has shown that twisted carbon nanotubes can store three times more energy per unit mass than advanced lithium-ion batteries. The finding may advance carbon nanotubes as a promising solution for storing energy in devices that need to be lightweight, compact, and safe, such as medical implants and sensors. The research was published recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Continue Reading UMBC scientists show twisted carbon nanotubes might power “wind-up” sensors and other devices
UMBC is strengthening the university’s research connection with the energy company Constellation, expanding on a partnership of more than 20 years with the Baltimore-based business. Constellation, the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy, funds scholarships and has endowed a professorship in mechanical engineering at UMBC, regularly recruits students for internships and jobs, and hosts its annual Youth Energy Summit on the UMBC campus. In March, UMBC and Constellation signed a Master Research Agreement, which will facilitate greater research collaboration between the two organizations. In April, Constellation sent representatives to the College of Engineering and Information Technology’s (COEIT’s) inaugural Research Day… Continue Reading With eye to research, UMBC expands partnership with Baltimore-based energy company Constellation
Molly Mollica, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering who joined UMBC in August 2023, has been selected for an American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development Award, which will provide more than $200,000 to fund her research for the next three years. Mollica studies the biomechanics of blood platelets, which play an essential role in healthy blood clotting, but can also contribute to the formation of blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Bleeding and clotting have been shown to vary between males and females, but the reasons are not well understood. In her AHA-funded research, Mollica will investigate how… Continue Reading Molly Mollica wins American Heart Association Career Development Award
An Dang ’24, chemical engineering, quickly became involved in activities in the department of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering and this year helped the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) pull together a major student conference for the first time. Continue Reading An Dang ’24: A chemical engineer who helped pull off a big student conference
This April 22, as the campus community celebrated Earth Day, the feel of spring’s natural reawakening was in the air. Birds chirped from newly leafed trees and students strolled in the bright sunshine. But the pleasant day belied a concerning trend: In Maryland and beyond, the balance of Earth’s life-supporting systems is shifting, driven in large part by the heat-trapping greenhouse gasses we humans send into the atmosphere. The Earth is getting hotter; weather patterns are changing; and ecosystems are under stress. “Climate change is pressing us to adopt a more Earth-friendly lifestyle, to develop renewable energy,” says Özgür Çapraz,… Continue Reading From solar energy harvesting to advanced batteries: Cohort of new engineering faculty bolster UMBC’s commitment to Earth-friendly research
