Don Norris, UMBC’s resident expert on Maryland politics, is director of the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR).A Passion for Maryland Politics In an election year that featured one of the most spirited gubernatorial races in state history, Don Norris, UMBCÂ’s resident expert on Maryland politics, was in high demand by regional and national media.As director of the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR), Norris leads one of the regionÂ’s foremost centers for applied social science and public policy research. He also has become more well-known to Baltimore/Washington political observers by lending his expertise to The New… Continue Reading A Passion for Maryland Politics
Strengthening the Campus Community Growing up in a family of eight siblings and 80 first cousins has made a profound influence on Patty Perillo. One of the fundamental lessons learned growing up as a child was the value of community, she says. And with most of the family still living within five miles of one another, there is no excuse for missing a Sunday family dinner or Tuesday game night.Building an engaged community is what drives Perillo, the director of student life at UMBC. When she is not busy organizing Homecoming activities, advising one of 170 student organizations or running a… Continue Reading Strengthening the Campus Community
CSEE Professor Penny Rheingans and her colleagues in the Graphics, Animation and Visualization Lab (GAVL) combine art and computer science. The Art of Computer ScienceUMBC Computer Science and Electrical Engineering assistant professor Penny Rheingans’ research combines the eye of an artist with the mind of a computer scientist to make complex data easier to understand visually.“90 percent of the human brain responds in some way to visual stimuli,” Rheingans says. From CT scans for doctors to images of the ozone layer for climatologists, Rheingans’ specialty is making information from massive databases clearer and easier to use through colorful and often… Continue Reading The Art of Computer Science
Frank Reeves ’86 invented the Rage Cage, a portable regulation lacrosse goal.Inventing the Rage Cage One might call Frank ReevesÂ’ invention — the Rage Cage— the “laptop” of the lacrosse world. That is, he has taken the heavy and cumbersome standard NCAA lacrosse goal and transformed it into a portable regulation version, which teams easily can set up, break down and transport. In three years, ReevesÂ’ Severn, Md.-based company, First Goal, has sold 500 Official Rage Cages and has pre-orders for 20 Rage Cage Practice goals, a less expensive spin-off of the official version, which is perfect for the backyard.This former… Continue Reading Inventing the Rage Cage
Nurturing Engineering Talent A few months into her new job as a chemical engineer, Heather Couvillon Rhodes, a May 2002 UMBC graduate, easily sums up her enthusiasm for her new profession: “Engineers have the opportunity to take knowledge and apply it to real-world problems.” Rhodes is employed by the Department of the Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground. In fact, Rhodes began applying the knowledge she learned in favorite subjects such as math and science to real-world problems long before graduation. As a co-op student at the Indian Head Naval Surface War Center, she worked to design rockets, warheads and rocket launchers… Continue Reading Nurturing Engineering Talent
 Ilse Schweitzer spent a year in Scotland studying Medieval Scottish literature. She will present her research at UMBC’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. A New Perspective on a Legend   Ilse Schweitzer, a Humanities Scholar with a double major in English and history, spent a year in Scotland studying the Scot Gaelic language and Medieval Scottish literature at the University of Aberdeen. “I was fascinated with what I was learning,” says Schweitzer, who is also a student in UMBCÂ’s Honors College. “My study abroad experience sparked my interest for going to graduate school and was the starting point… Continue Reading A New Perspective on a Legend
On a Mission to Support Women and Minority Graduate Students On December 5, UMBC was honored by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) for its efforts to build a comprehensive, supportive environment for women and minority graduate students“There has been a 50 percent rate of attrition for doctoral students at U.S. graduate schools over the past 20 years—and among minority students, this figure is even higher,” said Scott Bass, dean of the UMBC Graduate School, as he accepted the CGS/PetersonÂ’s Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community at the CouncilÂ’s annual meeting in Washington, DC.“We must diversify and support… Continue Reading Making Engineering Exciting
/b> to address the longstanding issues surrounding the gender gap in IT. CWIT Advisory Board Member Anne Spence, a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, understands the challenges of being a woman in a technical field. “One of my college professors told me that women should not be engineers, so I got the highest grade in the class to prove him wrong,” she says. “When I graduated with my degree I had six job offers. I did encounter initial resistance as an engineer at Bell Helicopter, but I was always able to get… Continue Reading Closing the IT Gender Gap
A New Target in the Fight Against HIVÂ A team of researchers from academia and industry led by Dr. Michael Summers, UMBC professor of chemistry/biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, have discovered a new target on the HIV molecule that could potentially lead to a new class of drugs to fight the virus that causes AIDS. The discovery is the cover article of the April 11, 2003 Journal of Molecular Biology.Summers and his team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers in his UMBC HHMI lab collaborated with Achillion Pharmaceuticals, a privately held drug firm based in New Haven, CT,… Continue Reading A New Target in the Fight Against HIV
Tom Rabenhorst’s research blends his love of nature with modern technology to provide a valuable service to the community. Rabenhorst, Director of Instructional Cartography in UMBCÂ’s Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, is also an avid outdoorsman. As Spring draws nearer, the hikers from UMBC and all over Maryland who flock to nearby Patapsco Valley State Park will navigate park trails using new maps developed thanks to Rabenhorst’s dedication. Rabenhorst combined global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and sweat equity to give the park the most detailed maps in its history. Rabenhorst spent months hiking the trails on his own or… Continue Reading Mapping the Patapsco
A Global Perspective on Policy  While many UMBC students become accomplished researchers, not many have the chance to learn in an outdoor classroom with a stunning view of the Swiss Alps in the background. Every summer, the International Field Research Program in Culture, Policy and Practice, created by the Departments of Sociology and Anthropology and Health Administration and Policy, takes a small group of students to Switzerland to gain an international perspective on a variety of policy issues and to give students direct experience with social sciences field research methods. The program is open to all students and, in… Continue Reading A Global Perspective on Policy
>Bringing Politics Close to Home UMBCÂ’s resident expert on the American presidency, Tom Schaller, has more than enough to keep busy in these exciting political times. Whether he is drawing comparisons between the presidencies of William McKinley and George W. Bush or guiding undergraduates through internships in legislative offices throughout Annapolis or Washington, D.C., Schaller, an assistant professor of political science, brings his research to the most pressing political issues of the day. more… Â Â Evolution of an Honors University Diane Lee, vice provost for undergraduate education and associate professor of education, takes UMBCÂ’s tagline, An Honors University in… Continue Reading UMBC Homepage Profile Archives
