All posts by: UMBC News Staff

From Grad School to Google

Computer science doctoral student and Graduate Student Association (GSA) Vice President Tom Armstrong has a very full calendar for the rest of the spring, followed up by a summer internship with one of the Web’s hottest companies: Google.

As a second year Ph.D. student, Armstrong fills the bulk of his time with research in the intersection of computer science and linguistics at the CORAL (Cognition, Robotics and Learning) Lab, led by Professor Tim Oates. But like many graduate students, Armstrong also juggles his own coursework with teaching undergraduates (a section of Computer Science 203, Discrete Structures) and involvement with student organizations like the GSA.

Armstrong, who did undergraduate work at U. Massachusetts Amherst, came to UMBC and the CORAL Lab after meeting Oates, a fellow UMass Amherst alum. “We study what’s called language acquisition or language learning,” says Armstrong. “We look at ways a robot with sensors—much like a human baby—could learn language by being immersed in an environment. Children learn language by interacting with and listening to adults speaking normally. We want to make a robot do the same thing.”

This summer, Armstrong will be in California working at one of Google’s research labs. “I’ll be part of a team helping to improve Google’s machine translation function. When you Google something and get a result from a foreign-language Web page, I’ll be working to help make the ‘translate this page’ link in your search results work better.”

Armstrong is one of a growing number of UMBC grad students who have gone on to work at the research and development labs of prestigious IT and Web companies like Hewlett Packard, IBM, Nokia and Amazon.

This semester, Armstrong has been busy as vice-president of the GSA, which supports and promotes UMBC’s growing graduate student population. Armstrong is chair of the 26th annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) between UMBC and the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), to be held at UMBC on April 23. The annual event, which UMB and UMBC take turns hosting, is open to the entire campus community and is a good place to learn more about the real-world impact of graduate student research at UMBC.

Despite the difficulty of arranging logistics for 150 presenters and 70 judges, Armstrong is excited about hosting the conference. ”It’s an opportunity to showcase grad student research to the UMBC community and beyond,” says Armstrong. “Plus it gives grad students practice giving presentations on their work before going to a conference in their field, which can be somewhat of a lion’s den.”

According to Armstrong, events like the GRC help build UMBC’s national research reputation. “Higher visibility for graduate programs trickles down to a higher quality of undergraduate applicants, which over time will help UMBC rise in the national graduate program ratings.”

For more information on the 2004 Graduate Research Conference, visit http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/research//grc04.html

(4/12/04) 

Empowering UMBC’s Students

 For Student Government Association President Scott Nicholson, public service has become a way of life. Service with the SGA and other student organizations has offered him the opportunity to bring about positive changes that will benefit the entire UMBC community.

Nicholson, a native of Los Angeles, California, had never been involved with the SGA before beginning his term as president, but had served the campus as a resident assistant, a tutor and conversation partner for students learning English as a foreign language and a member of University Health Services’ Men Against Violence program. Originally recruited by last year’s SGA President Phil Shockley to be the vice president in Shockley’s successful re-election bid, Nicholson became president after Shockley was appointed to the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents last fall.

“Before becoming SGA president, I was quick to criticize anything I didn’t like at UMBC,” recalls Nicholson. “But when I had the opportunity to lead the SGA, I realized that students really did have the power to make changes on campus.”

Nicholson’s belief in the SGA’s ability to promote change has produced tangible results over the course of the year. Campus food and student participation in SGA elections have been the two biggest issues that the SGA has tackled this year. Thanks to their efforts working with Dining Services, nutritional information and healthier food choices are now available at campus eateries. The SGA also hopes to set a new record for voter turnout at UMBC with its goal of drawing 5,000 votes for its upcoming elections, being held April 19-23.

“I hope to leave the SGA with a stronger sense of its role representing the needs of UMBC’s undergraduates and have convinced all students that they do have ways of making their voices heard,” says Nicholson, reflecting on his year of service. “Every student has the ability to advocate for change.”

As for Nicholson, he will soon be striking out into the world beyond UMBC. After only three years, he graduates next month with a double major in history and political science. His immediate plans are to spend a year in China teaching English and history in Shanghai. When he returns to the United States, he intends to complete a law degree and pursue a career in politics.

UMBC Student Government Association elections will be held April 19 through 23. For more information, contact SGA at x.5-2220.

Protecting the Urban Environment

Whether you live in the city or the suburbs, issues such as traffic, sprawl and pollution impact the quality of life of all Marylanders.

The Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), a multidisciplinary research center at UMBC, is on a mission to advance understanding of the environmental, social and economic consequences of the ongoing transformation of the urban landscape.

“I want to make CUERE a center of excellence in environmental research and education with visibility at regional, national and international levels,” says CUERE Director Claire Welty.

CUERE draws talent from a cross-section of UMBC departments including economics, policy sciences, civil and environmental engineering, geography and environmental systems, biosciences, physics, mathematics and statistics, and chemistry/biochemistry.  The center’s research agenda focuses on relationships between natural and socioeconomic processes that occur in urban environments and their impact on public policy.  

Welty, also a professor in civil and environmental engineering with a specialty in hydrology, came to UMBC from Drexel University in October of 2003.

CUERE, a relatively new center at UMBC, received initial support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2001.

Welty is excited about expanding the reach and reputation of the center’s collaborative research and she has a clear vision of how she would like the center to evolve.

Welty’s plans for CUERE are exemplified by many of its current research activities, which are of interest and importance to the greater Baltimore region. They include:

• State of the Baltimore Region — A triennial “report card” on development and the environment, households and neighborhoods, the economy and workforce, access and mobility, governance and fiscal capacity.

• The Definition and Measurement of Urban Sprawl — Conceptually defines and empirically measures urban sprawl, and then examines its effect on various indices of metropolitan well-being.

• Creating an Urban Ecosystem of Blue and Green Space in the Greater Baltimore Region — Examines the interconnectedness of the urban open and waterfront spaces in Baltimore City and how these spaces could be improved.

• Hydrology, Hydraulics and Hydrometeorology of Flood Response in Urbanizing Drainage Basins —  Focuses on the flood response to patterns of rainfall for warm season systems of thunderstorms and how the response varies with land-surface properties for several study watersheds in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Welty takes over CUERE leadership from Royce Hanson, who as interim director and professor of public policy helped guide CUERE through its establishment and early years. Hanson is now an affiliated faculty member with CUERE, visiting professor of public policy at UMBC, and research professor at the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy.

“The directorship offers me the perfect opportunity to combine urban policy and environmental engineering with the chance to work in a multidisciplinary setting,” says Welty. “It’s a new challenge and I’m looking forward to working with the UMBC community to help make the public more aware of how environmental science relates to their daily lives.” 

Capturing UMBC’s First America East Championship

 After leading the Retrievers to their first-ever championship title in the America East Conference, Swimming and Diving Head Coach Chad Cradock has once again proved that the equation “Cradock + UMBC” yields only success.

Cradock, a native of Barrie, Ontario, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UMBC in 1997, was a four-year letter-winner for the Retriever Swimming and Diving program. “I really enjoyed my experience as an athlete at UMBC,” said Cradock. “The friends that I made here are friends that I’ll have for a lifetime, and the whole school experience was a tremendous run for me. Being from Canada, it was a dream come true, since I always wanted to go to the States to compete. To be successful on top of it all was even more amazing.”

While at UMBC, Cradock recorded at the U.S. Open and was fifth in the 400-yard freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 1996. A mid-free and distance swimmer, he capped his senior season by earning ECAC Swimmer of the Meet honors. In that competition, he won the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events, breaking pool records in the 200 and 500 to lead UMBC to a second-place finish. His times of 4:28.62 in the 500-yard freestyle (’96) and 15:34.61 in the mile (’97) set school records that to this day are yet to be broken.

After graduating, Cradock assumed the position of assistant coach under his mentor, Sid Burkot. “I never really assumed that I would be a coach,” said Cradock. “I decided to apply for the opening and was pretty excited. Hard to believe, but it all actually just led to what it is today.”

What it is today is a head coaching position that has posted an incredible 62-15 men’s and women’s combined record, good for a .805 winning percentage. This year alone, both teams set a school-best 12-1 record, with the men winning their seventh straight league title, while capturing UMBC’s first ever championship in the America East. The women, who took four of five league titles during UMBC’s tenure in the Northeast Conference, finished second in the America East.

“Watching my athletes today—watching them train hard and work hard—has been a great experience,” said Cradock the day his team captured the championships. “They deserve everything they have achieved with hard work and dedication and discipline.”

The hard work showed during the three-day competition, where the Retriever men dominated, as they amassed a league-record 901 points. The closest competitor was Binghamton, who came in second with 574 points. Senior co-captain Brad Green received Swimmer of the Meet honors, as he broke the 12-year old school record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.82, en route to receiving five gold and two silver medals in the championships.

On the women’s side, everyone contributed a tremendous effort, as the Retrievers broke three school records—Astrid Sperling in the 100 backstroke, Agnes Stanislawska in the 200 freestyle, and the 400 medley relay team of Sperling, Lindsey Prather, Holly Wittsack, and Stanislawska. In addition, Stanislawska received Swimmer of the Meet honors in her first year as a UMBC competitor.

“The keys to being successful in our program are belief in what you’re doing, belief in yourself, trusting yourself and focus, dedication and discipline,” said Cradock. “If you put it all together and never question yourself and you’re always positive, you will be a successful student-athlete at UMBC.”

Mentoring Outside of the Classroom

 Tim Oates, assistant professor of computer science, is a fixture in Potomac Hall on Wednesday evenings, greeting students as they leave for dinner or return from class. He is one of several UMBC professors who participate in the Faculty Mentor Program.

In addition to scheduling regular “office hours” in the residence halls, faculty mentors offer programs on topics such as studying for tests and applying to graduate schools. Research indicates that students who have contact with faculty outside the classroom are more likely to graduate, are more likely to exhibit higher levels of achievement and are generally more satisfied with their college experience.

“I’m available to listen and talk with anyone who wants to stop by,” says Oates. “We chat about everything from day-to-day concerns to career interests and graduate and professional schools.”

Oates says he participates in the Faculty Mentor Program, in part, because of his own experience as an undergraduate. “I would have benefited greatly from having an advisor with whom I could share my career interests,” he explains. “No one at my undergraduate institution talked with me about going to graduate school. After college I ended up working for a few years before I discovered that I really wanted to go back to school.”

The Faculty Mentor Program is also welcomed by the students. “Dr. Oates provides good insight into whatever problems students are dealing with,” says Jesse Ellsbury, a senior English major. “[The program is] a good resource for Potomac.”

Meeting with students in the residence hall setting helps Oates remember what it’s like to be an undergraduate. “I see firsthand many of the adjustments first-year students make, and that affects my approach in the classroom. It makes me more sympathetic,” says Oates.

For information on how to become a faculty mentor or to nominate a UMBC faculty member, e-mail Matt Soldner, assistant director of residential education.

Leading the Way for Student-Athletes

UMBC has built a tradition of successful student-athletes who are not only great competitors at their sports, but also provide leadership on and off the field. High jumper Ed Warner confirmed his place in this elite group with his participation in the NCAA’s Leadership Conference, held last summer in Orlando, Florida.

Accomplishments on and off the field earned Warner one of only 300 spots at the conference. During the 2002-03 indoor track seasons, he won the high jump at the Terrapin/PVA Indoor Track Meet with a leap of 2.09 meters, was the runner-up in the high jump at the Penn State Indoor Invitational and the NEC Indoor Championships. He has also been team captain for the last two years.

Warner has also been actively involved in student organizations throughout his years at UMBC. As a freshman, Warner served on UMBC’s judicial board and has also been a resident assistant. A highlight of his campus activity is his work with the Student Government Association, where he helped create the Team Point System, designed to promote school spirit by increasing attendance at UMBC athletic events. Student organizations were awarded points when their members attended these events, and organizations with the highest number of points at the end of the year received prizes.

Warner’s strong leadership skills proved to be an asset at the NCAA Leadership Conference. While at the Conference, Warner formed a team with about 15 other student-athletes. This team was led by two facilitators who taught the student-athletes how to work as a unit and become better individual leaders in the process.

Leading by example, the facilitators left a deep impression on Warner. “The facilitators taught me so much that I can still remember their names,” Warner said.  “They taught me how to be a great leader and improve my existing abilities.”

Conference participants were presented with a series of challenges that gave them the opportunity to practice the leadership and team-building skills they were learning. One specific challenge that Warner remembered well was a night when all 300 student-athletes thought they were getting ready to go out for a nice dinner. The students gathered on buses to go, but, when they approached a barn, Warner and his teammates grew suspicious. When they stepped off the buses, students were told that, instead of receiving dinner, they would be preparing their own dinners with their teammates.

 “When my teammates and I first heard our mission, we began to argue about what we could make for dinner that would accommodate everyone’s individual tastes and dietary restrictions,” Warner recalled. “We had to stop and remember what we had learned earlier in the week about teamwork and apply it to this challenge. Once we started working together, as a team it became a better environment and a good dinner.”

Warner must have made quite an impression at the Leadership Conference because, in early November, he was chosen to go to the headquarters of USA TODAY to meet with NCAA corporate sponsors and the president and vice president of the NCAA to share his experiences at the leadership conference. He was one of only three student-athletes chosen to address the group. Warner received a firsthand look at  the NCAA’s plans for the 2004 athletic seasons, including its upcoming promotional campaigns.

“My experiences at both the Leadership Conference in Florida and the meeting at USA TODAY were amazing,” Warner said.  “Although the Leadership Conference is over, I’ve just begun to use all that I learned.”

Warner, a political science major, doesn’t plan to leave his leadership skills behind after leaving UMBC. After graduation, he intends to go to law school and pursue a career in immigration and naturalization law.

Rowing to Two World Records

Graduate student Amanda Lea Miracle can now add world record holder to her already long list of accomplishments: 4.0 GPA, Presidential Award Scholarship, Ford Scholarship, graduate teaching assistantship and several published research articles. On January 17 and 18, Miracle set the women’s world record for longest continual row on an erg, or rowing, machine at 25 hours non-stop—with only an allotted 10-minute break per hour—rowing for a total of 176,766 meters. In doing so, she also set the world record for the individual 24-hour row in the heavyweight women (age 20-29) category, rowing for a total of 170,425 meters.

Although Miracle just started rowing in the spring of 2003, she showed the same dedication to the sport as she does her academic goals. When she wasn’t working on her M.A. in Historical Studies (she plans on beginning Ph.D. studies this fall, concentrating on the history of women, children and the American family), she trained every day for six to eight hours. In the summer, her day began with a commute to Annapolis for two hours of morning training with the Annapolis Rowing Club, followed by two hours on an erg, and then evening practice with the UMBC Crew club.

“She is a remarkable person about whom her coaches, myself and her fellow rowers are very proud,” says Crew faculty advisor Lou Cantori. “She exemplifies the personal modesty and high individual motivation of the UMBC rower.”

For Miracle, the 25-hour row was a way of balancing her incredibly demanding academic life—she wanted a “big athletic goal” to balance her “big academic goal.” In addition to the physical training, she did a lot of research and planning. Miracle meticulously planned out a schedule which detailed what and when to eat and drink.  Her support team, which included friends, fellow rowers and her coaches, Evan Rea and Renee Foard, made sure that Miracle followed her schedule and provided moral support. “Evan was there for 18 hours, and Renee for 14,” says Miracle. “I really could not have done it without them. I may have been the one bouncing back and forth like a ping pong ball, but it was really a group effort.”

Click here for more information on UMBC’s Crew club.

Driven to Win

Spring is around the corner, and it’s once again time to prepare for the big race. The drivers strap on their helmets. The pit crew fine tunes the engine. Right feet twitch in anticipation of flooring the gas at the first wave of the green flag.

It’s not NASCAR; it’s a car-obsessed club of mechanical engineering students right here at UMBC. For over two decades, members of UMBC’s chapter of The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) have designed, built, tested and raced a pint-sized but powerful dune-buggy style car in a national contest that pushes their reflexes and brainpower – as well as their cars’ gears, tires and pistons – to the absolute limit.

“We expect to reach our goal of a top 20 finish this year,” says Robert Barrick, a senior mechanical engineering major and public affairs officer of the UMBC SAE chapter. “The plan is to take two cars to the race this time, which we’ve not been able to do before.”

As they gear up for the national race (held in June in Milwaukee), the UMBC team has an added edge this year – real-world experience from one of the top technology and engineering companies in the nation – Lockheed Martin. The team has also received support and sponsorship from Black and Decker, Siemens Building Technologies and UMBC mechanical engineering professor Uri Tasch.

According to Panos Charalambides, chair of mechanical engineering at UMBC, the Mini-Baja experience is impressive to employers. “Last May, Toyota of North America design group hired one of our students, Alex Marinelli, who competed with graduates from schools with established strengths in automotive engineering,” says Charalambides. “Alex was selected because of his intimate experience with the Mini Baja project.”

Barrick and his fellow team members have spent much of the fall semester holed up in a small machine shop located in the basement of the Technology Research Center (TRC) building. They plan to begin testing the two “mini-baja” cars over Spring Break.

The contest isn’t necessarily won by the fastest car. In addition to top speed, the SAE regional competitions are a gearhead’s dream combination of challenges measuring acceleration, braking distance, maneuverability, and even a tractor pull and endurance race. Points are also given for important design elements including comfort, safety and originality.

The mini-baja experience is a great way for mechanical engineering students to apply lessons from the classroom to the real world. Professor Bill Wood, who teaches ENME 444 (Mechanical Engineering Systems Design), is also the team’s faculty advisor.

In 2003, the UMBC team placed 54th out of 119 teams, but that was using a car designed in 1997 driven by team members new to the contest. “This year we’re more experienced and we have two much better cars,” says Barrick. “Our eye is on making the top 20 SAE teams in the country.”

The UMBC SAE chapter meets every Wednesday at 1 p.m. in ENG301. Students of all majors interested in helping with this year’s race team or the club’s First Annual Car Show, tentatively scheduled for April 17, should contact sae@umbc.edu or drop by a Wednesday meeting.  

Committing to Scholarship and Service

For the members of UMBC’s Golden Key International Honor Society chapter, an honor society offers much more than an addition to a resume or graduate school application. These students have committed both to maintain the level of academic excellence that earned them a place in the society and to support the community service activities that are a hallmark of the UMBC chapter.

UMBC’s Golden Key chapter was founded in 1995 and currently has about 600 members. It is advised by Lynn Zimmerman, professor of biological sciences and vice provost for academic initiatives, and Mark Terranova, associate director for service-learning in the Shriver Center. To be invited into the society, students must be juniors or seniors in the top 15 percent of their class. In addition to its recruitment efforts, UMBC’s chapter of Golden Key focuses on participating in community service activities. During the fall semester, chapter members organized a Halloween party for children at Villa Maria, a Baltimore shelter for children with emotional disabilities; entered a team in the Washington, D.C. AIDS Walk; and participated in several activities that involved sharing books with children. (These activities are open to anyone who wishes to participate, not just Golden Key members.)

Other Golden Key chapters have taken notice of UMBC’s successful chapter. Last August, the chapter won its fourth Key Chapter Award at Golden Key’s annual International Convention. This award was presented to just 25 of 335 chapters in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. UMBC’s chapter has also been active in passing on its knowledge of successful practices in workshops and displays presented at every International and Regional convention since 1996.

Akua Bonsra, president of UMBC’s chapter of Golden Key and a senior biochemistry major, sums up the appeal of the society for new members: “This is a group where you can have the most fun while doing the most good.”

Juniors (60 credits) and seniors who have completed at least 15 credits at UMBC and have a 3.6 cumulative GPA (top 15 percent academically) should receive an invitation to become a member of Golden Key in mid-February. If you do not receive an invitation and believe you meet these qualifications, please contact Dr. Lynn Zimmerman as soon as possible at zimmerma@umbc.edu. Additional information about UMBC’s Golden Key chapter is available online.  

Modeling the Subsurface of the Earth

Mathematics and statistics professor Sue Minkoff and two of her Ph.D. students are engaged in a mathematical geoscience project that will lead to greater understanding of the Earth. Now in its second year, the collaborative project with Rice University is funded by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

The overarching mission of the project, Minkoff says, is “to understand statistical properties of the earth at a variety of different scales.” At Rice University, much of the emphasis is on developing a basic understanding of the deep crust of the earth and issues related to near-surface environmental cleanup. At UMBC, students Tanya Vdovina and Oksana Korostyshevskaya are developing efficient mathematical algorithms for modeling the subsurface of the earth.

A large chunk of the project involves inversion, a process in which researchers attempt to learn about material properties of the earth without actually digging up the subsurface and causing environmental damage. The strategy is similar to a CAT or MRI scan, or an ultrasound used to view a developing baby. During inversion, an elastic wave is sent into the earth and interacts with the heterogeneous layers that make up the subsurface. Based on the message that the wave sends back, it is possible to obtain geophysical information without the need to actually dig.

Minkoff’s students are focused on finding a quicker way to solve the wave equation mathematically so that researchers can tackle the large amounts of data one encounters in these problems in reasonable time. The goal is to match this data through repeated solution of the wave equation, all the while tweaking the elastic parameters in the model to better fit the data. “This is a time-dependent problem; one of the algorithms we are looking at for solving the elastic wave equation is staggered in both space and time, so conceptually it gets very challenging,” says Minkoff. “I think they [Vdovina and Korostyshevskaya] understand it better than I do!”

Vdovina and Korostyshevskaya, both of whom have a solid theoretical background, have never engaged in such a large project before. “It’s very different from doing homework for class,” says Korostyshevskaya. “You can feel the difference. It’s interesting to work on a project with such a practical application.”

A National Model for Math and Science Education

A partnership between UMBC, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS), Maryland State Department of Education, and the Achievement Initiative for Maryland’s Minority Students is helping to create a national model for improving pre-K through 12th grade math and science education.

SUPER STEM [School-University Partnership for Excellence in Research-based (SUPER) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)] is funded by a five-year, $13-million grant from the National Science Foundation Math and Science Partnership program, and promises to accelerate student achievement and reduce achievement gaps by enhancing teacher and school effectiveness.

The SUPER STEM project is an extension of UMBC’s successful Urban Teacher Education (UTE) program for schools in Baltimore County. “Our emphasis is on improving teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and diagnosing student understanding of math and science to accelerate student learning and achievement,” says John Lee, founder and director of UTE. “Teachers learn to access and inventory their students’ current skills and use that as a foundation for further teaching.”

SUPER STEM will increase the number, quality and diversity of teachers from all disciplines by offering performance-based recruitment incentives to attract high-quality teachers and principals to serve in highest-needs (low-performing and underserved) schools and by providing training and professional development to nearly 2000 existing principles and teachers on designing, implementing and assessing STEM-focused educational practices.

In addition, six technology-mediated STEM academies at high needs pre-K through 12 schools will allow students and their teachers to develop the information technology skills required for the 21st century. The project will also provide year-round schooling to students attending the STEM academies and special projects that extend beyond the school day.

Assessments of the outcomes and effectiveness of SUPER STEM will be conducted at the student, teacher, school and BCPS level, and the findings will be disseminated through various education conferences across the U.S.