All posts by: UMBC News Staff

The Chronicle names UMBC a “Great College to Work For” seven years in a row

The Chronicle of Higher Education has named UMBC an outstanding academic workplace for the seventh consecutive year. UMBC is one of only 80 universities to receive the “Great Colleges to Work For” distinction and the only Maryland four-year institution to be recognized.

Each year, the Chronicle surveys faculty, staff, and administrators and asks them to rate their workplaces on a variety of factors. The assessment also includes analysis of demographic data and workplace policies. The Chronicle’s 2016 results are based on responses from more than 45,000 people at nearly 300 public and private, two-year and four-year institutions nationwide.

2016GCWFHonorRoll_TM_newFor the fifth consecutive year, UMBC was featured on the Chronicle’s “honor roll,” which recognizes universities that excel in almost every recognition category. Among those categories, UMBC was recognized for its strong shared governance model, vision and strategy of its leadership, and the university’s continued investment in teaching and research.

This year, UMBC was highly rated in the following categories:

  • Collaborative Governance
  • Confidence in Senior Leadership
  • Professional/Career Development Programs
  • Respect and Appreciation
  • Supervisor/Department Chair Relationship
  • Teaching Environment
  • Tenure Clarity & Process
  • Work/Life Balance

“This ‘Great College’ recognition reflects the commitment and dedication of the people who work here,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “It affirms what we all know: UMBC is a place that supports people, values collaboration, and fosters trust, respect, and enthusiasm for helping our students succeed.”

The Chronicle’s acknowledgment caps a month of national recognition for UMBC. Forbes and MONEY both released their rankings in early July, naming UMBC a top public university. UMBC was also recognized for its stellar academics and supportive community in the latest edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges.

Image: UMBC’s main campus, outside the University Center and Academic Row. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

UMBC Ph.D. student makes surprise discovery of natural back-up system in fish reproduction

What happens when a scientist gets a research result that flies in the face of their expectations? More research leading to new, compelling discoveries.

Yonathan Zohar’s lab at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology has been studying a particular reproductive hormone, gnrh3, in zebrafish for years. “We’ve constantly shown how important gnrh3 is for reproduction in fish,” says Olivia Spicer, a researcher in the lab who is completing her Ph.D. in marine, estuarine, and environmental sciences. Spicer was caught off-guard when, in her latest research, zebrafish without a speck of gnrh3 seemed to reproduce normally.

Spicer used a molecular technique known as TALENs to produce mutations specifically in the gnrh3 gene of her fish. “This is the first time gnrh3 has been mutated on purpose,” she says. The mutation rendered the gnrh3 protein non-functional.

Then Spicer bred the mutant fish together and painstakingly screened their offspring for individuals with two copies of the broken gene. These fish would be guaranteed to pass the broken gene on to the next generation, creating a steady supply of gnrh3-free fish, or gnrh3 “knockouts.”

When Spicer bred the completely gnrh3-free fish together, she was expecting interesting results, but, “Everything was normal. My heart sank a little,” she says. After all, this ran counter to previous research, where destroying cells that produce the hormone and reducing the amount of the hormone effectively hindered reproduction.

Spicer turned to the scientific literature for clues to explain what happened. As it turns out, “More studies are emerging where people are knocking out genes and expecting some big, flashy result and finding that everything is normal,” Spicer says.

So what’s going on?

Spicer suggests another gene might be compensating for the loss of gnrh3 by taking on the role it usually plays. Redundancy is common in biology. Particularly for a process as important as reproduction, it makes sense that “the animal will have a backup system,” says Spicer. The result suggests that the way genes and proteins function together in the brain is “not as cut and dried as we thought,” she says. “It’s more like a web of things interacting.”

The finding is especially exciting, because “this is the first time that a vertebrate species has been shown to possess biological redundancies to ensure reproduction happens, even in the absence of the key hormonal regulator,” says Zohar. “The fish find a way to produce the next generation.”

Curiously, mice and humans don’t have the same ability to compensate for loss of gnrh3. “Zebrafish seem to be far more flexible in their ability to compensate for the loss of important genes,” Spicer says. Also, the fish are only able to compensate for broken genes that function early in the reproductive hormone cascade. Knocking out genes farther downstream or knocking out gnrh3 after early development still results in reproductive changes. Learning why fish are more malleable than humans could inform our understanding of human brain development.

The next steps will be identifying the compensating gene and homing in on the time window and conditions when compensation occurs. For Spicer, who will defend her Ph.D. thesis in December, the search is on.

Citation for Spicer’s paper:
Spicer O., Wong T., Zmora N. & Zohar Y. (2016). Targeted Mutagenesis of the Hypophysiotropic Gnrh3 in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Reveals No Effects on Reproductive Performance. PLOS One, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0158141

John Rennie Short argues that the South China Sea dispute could have significant global consequences

An international court ruling could escalate geopolitical tensions around the world. That’s according to School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short, who explains in a new op-ed how an ongoing dispute in the South China Sea could have significant global consequences.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled earlier this week that China has no legal basis to claim a large swath of maritime territory in the South China Sea, a group of islands that is currently in the midst of a territorial dispute between China and the Philippines.

In an article in The Conversation titled “Troubled waters: conflict in the South China Sea explained,” Short explains that the court ruling about the sovereignty of the islands “…will likely create more problems than solutions. Interpreted by China as a U.S.-inspired power move, it will increase rather than decrease geopolitical tensions.”

South China Sea

Short writes that while the court’s decision will strengthen other countries’ counter-efforts to Chinese maritime expansion, it will not stop China from moving forward, especially since the court has no enforcement power.

“China will snub the legal international order and seek bilateral negotiations with the Philippines,” he explains, adding, “the ruling does not make diplomacy any easier for the U.S., which now has to deal with an ally who has won a legal decision but also a rival who will not back down under the muscular pose of President Xi Jinping, even after the court ruling.”

As a political geography and globalization researcher, Short says that China’s motive is seeking international political and economic clout as it continues to build up atolls and islands in the region. He provides the historical background for China’s maneuvers, including Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), which were first introduced in the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of The Sea.

“Part of China’s strategy in the waters of the South China Sea then is to lay claim over islands, natural and artificial, in order to establish sovereignty to claim the surrounding waters,” he writes.

The United States Navy has taken actions in recent months that Short says are designed to enforce the idea that the South China Sea is considered open water and that the U.S. is still a power in the region.

“Yet, conflict between Washington and Beijing can be managed. There are vast areas of mutual economic interest and shared global objectives,” Short explains. “A greater fear is that a local event can spin out of control….And often it is events at the local that can influence the global.”

Read the original article in The Conversation (updated July 12). Additional media coverage can be found below:

What’s happening in the South China Sea? (U.S. News) 
#SouthChinaSea: ‘China wants to offset negative outcomes for its reputation’ (Radio Sputnik) 
US-China: ‘Chances of a conflagration in the Pacific region are quite high’ (Radio Sputnik) 
Troubled waters: conflict in the South China Sea explained (Associated Press)   
Troubled waters: conflict in the South China Sea explained (Honolulu Civil Beat News) 

Header image: John Rennie Short. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Bottom image: Ships from the George Washington Carrier Strike Group (GWCSG) and Royal Malaysian Navy steam in formation during a photo exercise. The GWCSG is on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of operations supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trevor Welsh/Released) CC by-SA 2.0.

PBS NovaNext highlights Daniel Lobo’s work solving biological mysteries with evolving computer models

Other scientists thought it couldn’t be done. One called it “ridiculously impossible.” But Michael Levin, a biology professor at Tufts University, disagreed. Levin hired Daniel Lobo, now an assistant professor of biology at UMBC, to help solve a biological mystery: How does a flatworm grow a head here and a tail there? How can it regenerate a complete body from less than one percent of its original form? What could explain the tiny creature’s amazing feats of regeneration?

Levin saw that Lobo had “the right combination of computer expertise and interest in biology” to tackle a challenge like this, writes Cynthia Graber in “Replicating Life in Code” on PBS.org. So Levin took Lobo on as a postdoc and he got to work.

First, Lobo had to turn all the existing scientific data about flatworm growth (more than 1,000 experiments) into a database that a computer could understand. “Lobo created a standardized language and a standardized mathematical approach that represents the shapes of the worm’s regions, its organs, and how they’re interconnected,” writes Graber. “The end result was a searchable database of results, which is now available to all flatworm biologists.”

Next, he wrote the simulation program, “a virtual worm on which candidate models would test their results,” writes Graber. To run the program, Lobo and Levin rented time on a supercomputer owned by the University of Texas. As the program runs, “the models receive scores based on how well they predict the outcomes seen in flesh-and-blood flatworms,” Graber explains. If a model more closely matches reality, the program allows it to “reproduce,” or recombine its characteristics with other models, just like in real-life evolution. Then the next generation of models is tested against the database. The process continues until the program generates a model that matches all the data.

After six billion simulated experiments and 26,727 generations, a model emerged that matched every real-life experiment. It predicted experiments that had never been done, so Lobo and team tested them and found the model had predicted the results accurately.

Lobo’s success led him to explore other applications for this type of modeling approach. A graduate student in Levin’s lab ran experiments to collect data about pigmentation in tadpoles (as a model for melanoma), and then Lobo created a program that evolved to model why some tadpoles develop cancer and others don’t. The winning model predicted the results of all but one existing scientific paper. The team reran that experiment and got a different result—one that agreed with the model.

In his UMBC lab, Lobo uses similar modeling methods to discover how bacteria produce certain compounds. Bacteria already produce some therapeutic compounds, such as insulin. If scientists could trigger bacteria to produce other compounds based on what we learn from computer models, the results could revolutionize drug development. Lobo is also now “trying to reverse-engineer cancer tumors to attempt to discover the best possible treatments to cause them to collapse,” writes Graber.

Lobo and Levin agree that using artificial intelligence in the form of evolving computer models to answer biological questions is a major field of growth with tremendous potential. Lobo is on the cutting edge of this work, where computer science and biology meet.

Read more in “Replicating Life in Code” by Cynthia Graber on pbs.org.

Image: Planaria, a variety of flatworm commonly used as a model organism in experiments; photo by Jennifer Connelly.

UMBC leaders call for community support and reflection in response to recent acts of violence

In response to the tragic events in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas last week, and ongoing acts of hatred and violence across the country and around the world, President Freeman Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous have called for community support and honest and thoughtful conversations in the following message to the campus community:

In the wake of the act of terror in Orlando one month ago today, the killing of young black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the killing of police officers and wounding of other officers and civilians in Texas this past week, we are struggling to come to terms with ongoing acts of hatred and violence across the country and around the world, from Turkey to Bangladesh. On behalf of the entire UMBC community, we extend our sincere condolences to the families and communities that have suffered such tragic personal losses.

 

In challenging times, when heartbreaking acts of violence occur so frequently, it can be difficult to find a path forward, but we know it must start with coming together as a community, across protest lines and lines of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and geography. We must work together to eliminate the causes of violence and injustice in our communities.

 

As a university community, it is our responsibility to lead and engage in honest and thoughtful conversations on difficult topics that are of great importance to our society, including systemic inequality, racism and prejudice in all its forms, and social justice. Many faculty, staff, and students have already created opportunities for such conversations across campus, as well as opportunities for reflection and healing. The Women’s Center and Mosaic Center will host a community safe space discussion tomorrow, noon-1 p.m., in the Women’s Center.

 

We will convene groups on campus to examine pressing social issues and identify new and existing resources to support our community in the coming weeks and months. This will include looking at ways to make sure these important conversations are a part of campus programs, events, and curricula.

 

As we consider the difference the UMBC community can make, we want to remind everyone of the following campus resources already in place:

 

Despite the continuing challenges facing our nation and world, we must remain hopeful. UMBC is a special community, and our mission has never been more important.

Image: UMBC library and Baltimore City skyline. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

 

Ellen Handler Spitz examines the relationship between psychoanalysis and the arts in new publications

In two new publications, Honors College Professor Ellen Handler Spitz provides rich analysis of intersections between psychology and the arts.

In a special online issue of the American Psychological Association journal, “Psychoanalytic Psychology” devoted to the humanities, Spitz has the lead article, linking the humanities with psychoanalysis by building on an expanded lecture presented initially at the Austen Riggs Center’s Erikson Institute. Read more about her article “Anna, Gregor, and Ajax: Translation and Transference” on the APA website. 

Spitz is also the author of a chapter on “Psychoanalysis and the Visual Arts” in the new Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalysis in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. Her chapter focuses on Rembrandt’s “The Polish Rider,” which lives in the Frick Collection in New York City.

Earlier this month, Professor Spitz presented a talk at the 33rd International Conference on Psychology and the Arts at the Université de Reims in France. Her talk was based on her research on “The Psychology of Fairy Tales.” The conference was attended by delegates from the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Austria, Pakistan, Japan, Mexico, and Belgium, among other countries.

Spitz is the author of six books on the arts and psychology. Read more about Spitz’s work on the Honors College website. 

Image: Rembrandt’s “The Polish Rider.” Image from Art Gallery ErgsArt, public domain image.  

UMBC’s Emily Escobedo finishes in top 10 at U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials

UMBC swimming and diving standout Emily Escobedo ’17, psychology, capped her historic year with a strong finish in the 200m breaststroke at the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials, held last week in Omaha, Neb.

In the 200m breaststroke prelim, Escobedo finished 4th in her heat and 16th overall with a time of 2:29.12, earning a trip to the semifinal, which aired live on NBC. In the semifinal Escobedo swam an impressive 2:27.03, finishing in 10th place, just two spots shy of qualifying for the finals.

“This year’s Olympic trials was an amazing experience for me,” said Escobedo. “It’s such a fun meet to watch and truly such an honor to be able to swim in. There is so much talent at that meet and I was lucky to be able to witness some incredible swims and watch the dedication that those athletes have.”

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Earlier in the week, Escobedo placed 54th in the 100m breaststroke, winning her preliminary heat with a time of 1:10.72. She also placed 36th in the 200m individual medley, earning third in her prelim heat with a time of 2:17.67.

“The U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials is the fastest meet in the world, and we are so proud of Emily and all she has accomplished,” said head coach Chad Cradock ’97, psychology. “Finishing tenth and swimming in the semifinals is that much more impressive.”

Competing in the Olympic Trials adds to Escobedo’s growing list of athletic accomplishments. Earlier this year, Escobedo won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the NCAA finals, becoming the first Retriever to earn All-American status in the pool. She has also been named America East Rookie of the Year and Swimmer of the Year three times, earning multiple trips to the NCAA Championships, and becoming the first Retriever to score at the national meet.

2016.03.19 2016 Womens NCAA Swimming Championships_Lunn-52

Escobedo is also a phenomenal scholar-athlete. In 2016, she was named to the America East All-Academic Team and as a Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar (CSCAA) All-American. The CSCAA scholar award recognizes students-athletes competing in the NCAA championships who have maintained a 3.5 GPA or higher during the school year.

See additional details at UMBC Athletics.

Images, top-bottom: (1) Emily Escobedo at the 2016 NCAA swimming finals, photo courtesy of Tim Binning/The Swim Pictures. (2) Emily Escobedo enjoying the 2016 U.S. Swimming Olympic trials, photo courtesy of Emily Escobedo. (3) Emily Escobedo receiving her bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the 2016 NCAA swimming finals, photo courtesy of Reagan Lunn.

UMB-UMBC Partnership Symposium celebrates research collaborations with impact

UMBC and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) celebrated new and recent recipients of UMB-UMBC Research and Innovation Partnership Grants at a symposium held last month on UMB’s downtown Baltimore campus.

This annual event seeks to actively support the growth of meaningful and sustainable research collaborations between the two universities. The June 2016 symposium highlighted the milestones of past partnership grant recipients and celebrated a new round of awardees: five teams of two, with faculty from all three colleges at UMBC as well as UMB’s School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, School of Dentistry, and School of Social Work.

In recognition of the power of collaborative research, Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research at UMBC, shared, “This is another brick in the pavement as we’re building a road between our two campuses.”

Aaron White, senior scientific advisor to the director at the National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH-NIAAA), delivered a keynote focused on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol addiction. In addition to having a major negative impact on so many lives, White noted, alcohol addiction costs the U.S. nearly $250 billion dollars each year.

Following White’s remarks, the 2014-15 Research and Innovation Partnership Seed Grant teams each presented updates on their work, including goals for the upcoming year.

Toni Antalis, professor of physiology at the UMB School of Medicine; Rajabrata Sarkar, professor of surgery at UMB School of Medicine; and Zeev Rosenzweig, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UMBC collaborated to develop a targeted therapy that increases blood flow to the limbs of patients with artery blockages resulting from diabetes, stroke, or other causes. With the prevalence of diabetes rising dramatically in this country, it’s critical to find ways to prevent the need for last-resort treatments like amputation.

When an artery experiences blockage, the nearby arteries expand to compensate, a process called “arteriogenesis.” When a specific protein called “p53” is deleted, the arteriogenesis response is stronger. However, p53 is also a critical tumor suppressor, so deleting it throughout the entire body or for an extended period of time is dangerous. The team is developing a new technique using nanoparticles to carry a drug that blocks p53 to carefully targeted immune cells, which pick up the particles and deliver the drug where it is needed. The team has shown that the new therapy effectively reduces p53 activity and increases arteriogenesis, which is maintained after treatment stops after 14 days.

Aryya Gangopadhyay, professor and chair of the department of information systems; Nirmalya Roy, assistant professor of information systems; and Elizabeth Galik, associate professor in UMB’s School of Nursing; have developed and implemented a smart health technology for people with Alzheimer’s or symptoms of the disease. The technology monitors the cognitive impairment of older adults to help them maintain independence. They worked with a senior community center to fit some residents with wearable sensors to assess cognitive function by monitoring everyday activities like making a sandwich, sweeping the floor, washing hands, and folding clothes.

Radi Masri, associate professor of endodontics, prosthodontics and operative dentistry at the UMB School of Dentistry; David Seminowicz, assistant professor of neural and pain sciences at the UMB School of Dentistry; and Raimi Quiton, assistant professor of psychology at UMBC, are working together to elucidate pain processing in migraines, the third most common cause of pain in the U.S. They hope to discover neural pathways that could be new targets for treatment, because current treatments are ineffective for a large percentage of migraine sufferers.

The team showed that a brain area known as the superior colliculus could be involved in processing migraine pain. The superior colliculus is known to integrate many types of sensory information, which might help explain symptoms such as sensitivity to light, sound, and touch. They also found that individuals who experience migraines have chronically high levels of a protein that is known to transmit pain signals. One next step for their research is to see how mice respond to pain stimuli if the neural signal is prevented from passing through the superior colliculus.

The final presentation examined how drugs are evaluated to develop a more effective way to test the effects of drugs on different cells simultaneously. To assess their new testing method, Ronghui Ma, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Liang Zhu, professor of mechanical engineering, and Hongbing Wong, professor in UMB’s School of Pharmacy, developed a specialized 3D-printed plate with multiple chambers.

umb-umbc partnership steiner-jarrell1

The 2016-17 grant winners span several several departments and centers at UMBC and schools at UMB. On the “challenge track,” Xudong Ge, UMBC Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST), and Richard Pierson, UMB School of Medicine, will pursue development of a non-invasive respiratory status monitor. Chris Geddes, UMBC chemistry and biochemistry and Institute of Fluorescence, and Colin Stine, UMB School of Medicine, will work on the ultra-rapid and sensitive detection of cholera.

“Seed track” winners include Elsa Garcin, UMBC chemistry and biochemistry, with Patrick Wintrode, UMB School of Pharmacy; Soobum Lee, UMBC mechanical engineering, with Mary Melo, UMB School of Dentistry; and Christine Mair, UMBC sociology and anthropology, with Amanda Lehning, UMB School of Social Work.

UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and UMB Chief Academic and Research Officer Bruce Jarrell offered closing remarks focused on their shared commitment to building a close relationship between the two universities for years to come. UMB and UMBC have complementary strengths, Pres. Hrabowski explained. Programs like the UMB-UMBC Partnership Grants, he said, help both universities fulfill their potential as national leaders in innovative research and teaching.

Header image: 2016-17 UMB-UMBC Partnership Grant winners, from left to right: Amanda Lehning, Christine Mair, Chris Geddes, Colin Stine, Mary Melo, Soobum Lee, Xudong Ge. Top image: Andrew White gives his keynote address. Bottom image: Karl Steiner (left) and Bruce Jarrell introduce the program. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Tim Brennan reflects on economic implications of federal court decision to uphold the FCC’s net neutrality rules

Last month, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) net neutrality rules, the idea that Internet service providers should allow access to all content and applications without favoring or charging differently by user. Tim Brennan, a professor of public policy and economics and former FCC chief economist, published an article in The Free State Foundation journal, reflecting on the economic implications of the decision and arguments on both sides of the issue.

In his article “Is the Open Internet Order an ‘Economics-Free Zone‘?,” Brennan explains that economics was indeed in the order, but he goes through several points including the ideas of “paid prioritization” and a “virtuous cycle” that were included in the Open Internet Order and explained his view of how they didn’t match up with the evidence.

Brennan offered potential alternatives to the Open Internet Order, including regulating the price that broadband suppliers charge for content delivery, and he also commented on why both sides fought so hard over the issue.

“The broadband industry may have feared even stronger regulation,” he explained, adding “…From the government’s side, a speculative possibility may be that if the U.S. government allows broadband providers to charge content suppliers for delivery, it will invite broadband providers in other countries to extract delivery fees from the dominant U.S. content suppliers, such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix.”

Read the full article on the Free State Foundation website.

Image: Tim Brennan speaks at a 2015 research forum on campus. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

John Rennie Short explains what Brexit vote reveals about economic and social inequality in the U.K.

There has been widespread analysis and commentary in recent weeks about what the Brexit vote will mean for the global economy, but School of Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short wrote in a June 25 op-ed in The Conversation that the vote reveals a lot about the political geography in the United Kingdom.

“The vote laid bare a seldom-acknowledged political and economic imbalance within the country. It has also raised the chances of dissolving a more than three centuries-old union,” he explained.

Short wrote about the economic and social inequality in the U.K. and how the voted reflected competing interests in a crowded political space.

“There is a spatial dimension to this social inequality. The U.K. has the most marked regional inequality in Europe. The rich and wealthy are concentrated in London and the South East where household incomes are higher than the rest of the country. As the U.K. became a more unequal and divided society, the cleavage between London and the South East compared to the rest of the country is becoming more marked.”

Prof. Short also wrote about what lies ahead politically for the U.K., stating, “the Brexit vote reveals and embodies the deep divide in the U.K. between the different regions of England and Wales and especially between the affluent London and the South East. This division is unlikely to heal soon.”

Read Short’s full article, titled “The geography of Brexit: what the vote reveals about the Disunited Kingdom,” on The Conversation‘s website. The article was also republished in the Associated Press, Salon, and SF Gate.

Image: John Rennie Short. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Two bwtech@UMBC companies win 2016 Maryland Incubator Company of the Year awards

AirPhoton and Phoenix Operations Group are the newest bwtech@UMBC companies to win Maryland Incubator Company of the Year (ICOY) awards. AirPhoton won best technology product company, and Phoenix Operations Group won best data analytics company at the awards event held June 21 at the American Visionary Arts Museum.  Six other bwtech@UMBC companies were recognized as finalists.

AirPhoton produces customized scientific equipment for air quality data collection. The instruments they build are employed on the ground, in aircraft, and on satellites.

“AirPhoton is very excited to be recognized with this award, especially given the other very fine companies that were selected as finalists,” says Lorraine Remer, CEO and research professor of physics at UMBC. “We hope to continue growing and contributing to the incubator program and the Maryland economy.”

mdincwinner2

Phoenix Operations Group offers data analytics, cloud application design and administration, and platform optimization services to the intelligence community. Devin Edwards, director of strategic development, says the research park has served the company well.

“The cyber incubator at bwtech@UMBC was able to provide Phoenix Operations Group with access to industry professionals to help set up our infrastructure,” Edwards says, “thereby allowing us to compete and grow within our domain in a matter of months, surpassing companies that have been in the industry for years.”

mdincwinner1

The event’s keynote speech by Andy Jones, managing director of the Maryland Venture Fund, centered on advice for new entrepreneurs. Stay focused on a small range of products or services and embrace board meetings as opportunities to take stock, he said. Also, “growth is your friend,” because revenue gives a company leeway to try new things. Perhaps most important, “Surround yourself with good people,” he told emerging entrepreneurs. “It really is a marriage, so pick your partners carefully.”

Previous ICOY winners from bwtech@UMBC include:

2014

Light Point Security (Best Cyber Company)

2013

Plasmonix, Inc. (Best Technology Transfer Company)

2012

Noxilizer (Best Life Sciences Company)

StormCenter Communicaitons, Inc. (Best Cyber/Homeland Security Company)

SemaConnect, Inc. (Best Green Company)

2009

Oculis Labs, Inc. (Best Information Technology Company)

2007

Lentigen Corporation (Best Life Sciences Company)

BDMetrics, Inc. (Best Graduate Company)

2006

Profectus BioSciences, Inc. (Best Technology Transfer Company)

2005

AVIcode, Inc. (Best New Incubator Company)

TechGuard Security, LLC (Best Information Technology Company)

2004

BDMetrics, Inc. (Best New Incubator Company)

2003

Scientific Products & Systems, Inc. (Most Promising Technology Transfer)

2002

Columbia Technologies (Best Innovative Technology Company)

In Vitro Technologies, Inc. (Best Graduate Company)

Header image: Andy Jones gives the event’s key note.

Other images: AirPhoton team members accept their award (top) and Phoenix Operations Group team members accept theirs (bottom).

Photos sourced from www.mdincubatoraward.com

 

UMBC’s Brandon Enriquez named University System of Maryland student regent

Brandon Enriquez ‘17, economics and mathematics, has been named student regent for the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, effective July 1, 2016.

Enriquez was among three new members appointed to the University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents by Governor Larry Hogan for the upcoming fiscal year. The Board of Regents oversees USM’s academic, administrative, and financial operations.

As student regent, Enriquez represents more than 168,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 12 institutions across the state, including UMBC. As a voting member of the board, he will work fellow regents members and USM institutions to address a wide variety of issues that impact students, faculty, and staff.

“I am very excited to be named student regent,” said Enriquez. “I look forward to applying some of the insights I’ve gained in my research to help students across the state.”

During his one-year term, Enriquez plans to focus on college affordability and student success. His ongoing undergraduate research focuses on the economics of education and policies surrounding remediation and student employment on academic performance. “I not only care about making sure college is affordable for students, but also about helping them succeed academically—both for undergraduate and graduate students,” he says.

Enriquez is the fourth UMBC student to be appointed to the USM Board of Regents in the past decade. He joins Collin Wojciechowski ’13, political science and media & communication studies (2011-12); Josh Michael ’10, political science (2008-09); and Phil Shockley ’04, information systems and political science, ’09, M.P.P. (2003-04).

“It’s a great honor when one of our students is selected to serve on the USM Board of Regents,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “I was delighted to learn of Brandon’s appointment. He represents the very best of our university, and we look forward to seeing him learn and grow with this new opportunity.”

This summer Enriquez is working as a research assistant at MIT on a project to evaluate the effects of randomly awarded student scholarships. From this study, researchers hope to examine the potential causal effect of financial aid on enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of poor and working-class students. Last year, he spent the summer at Harvard University analyzing the impact of limiting postsecondary remediation to two-year community colleges.

Enriquez is a Meyerhoff NSA Scholar and member of the Honors College. He has served as president and co-president of the UMBC College Democrats, and has participated in UMBC’s STRiVE Leadership Retreat.

Media coverage:
Three new regents join USM Board (The Daily Record) 

Images, top-bottom: UMBC Administration Building, courtesy of Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. Brandon Enriquez head shot, courtesy of Brandon Enriquez.

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