UMBC’s Mohamed Younis earns IEEE Fellow distinction as a leader in wireless network research

Feb 1, 2022 May 10, 2022 / 2 min read

Mohamed Younis has long been known as an innovator in wireless communications and networks, addressing complex protocol and security challenges. Now, he is one of the newest fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE is a professional organization dedicated to advancing technology. It is the world’s leading and largest technical society, with over 400,000 members in more than 160 countries.The organization awards the IEEE Fellow distinction to members who have contributed to their fields in particularly significant ways.

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UMBC to launch prestigious Beckman Scholars Program for aspiring M.D./Ph.D.s

Jan 25, 2022 Jun 6, 2022 / 6 min read

“The Beckman Scholars Program at UMBC will serve as a springboard for students from all backgrounds to launch themselves into successful careers as physician scientists. And as Beckman Scholars, they will be surrounded by a community that enables them to explore, challenge themselves, and, yes, sometimes fail—all while feeling supported,” says Dean Bill LaCourse.

UMBC’s online master’s in information systems is one of the nation’s best, U.S. News reports

Jan 25, 2022 Jun 6, 2022 / 3 min read

U.S. News today announced that UMBC’s online master’s degree in information systems is one of the nation’s best online programs in this growing field. This year, joining UMBC in the top 50 ranked programs are universities like Virginia Tech, Johns Hopkins, and George Mason. UMBC’s program is also included on the Best for Veterans list for the second year in a row, among the top 25 programs nationwide.

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UMBC continues to advance Maryland’s biotech workforce through $900K biomanufacturing grant

Jan 19, 2022 Jun 6, 2022 / 5 min read

UMBC’s new biomanufacturing program “is really the next wave of UMBC expanding our training offerings,” says Annica Wayman, associate dean. It builds on success with an award-winning Biotech Boot Camp and the Translational Life Science Technology bachelor’s degree, launched in 2019.

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Smithsonian features Erle Ellis’s research on how humans have shaped ecology over millennia as a top discovery of 2021

Jan 13, 2022 Jun 6, 2022 / 2 min read

“Our work shows that most areas depicted as ‘untouched,’ ‘wild,’ and ‘natural’ are actually areas with long histories of human inhabitation and use,” Ellis previously shared with UMBC News. They might be interpreted like this, he suggests, because in these areas, “societies used their landscapes in ways that sustained most of their native biodiversity and even increased their biodiversity, productivity, and resilience.”

UMBC research group tackles ongoing hurdles to efficient solar power tech

Dec 17, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 6 min read

Two new papers from Can Ataca’s research group at UMBC set the stage for further advances in solar power and other renewable energy technologies. Graduate students Daniel Wines and Gracie Chaney led the projects. Ataca’s group’s work is theory- and computation-based, but these projects took advantage of collaboration with experimental researchers. As work in this field develops from theory to implementation in devices, “There’s a need for both kinds of research at every stage,” Wines says.

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Hero of the Year: TIME honors UMBC alum Kizzmekia Corbett, COVID-19 vaccine leader

Dec 13, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 3 min read

TIME magazine’s famed Person of the Year issue today announced Kizzmekia Corbett as a Hero of the Year for her leadership in developing the COVID-19 vaccine. “Vaccines have the potential to be the equalizer of health disparities, especially around infectious diseases,” Corbett has said.

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UMBC Marshall Scholar Joshua Slaughter seeks to advance equity in personalized medicine

Dec 13, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 5 min read

Joshua Slaughter ‘22, M30, has received the Marshall Scholarship, becoming the second student in UMBC history and the first in 29 years to be selected for the prestigious award. He was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.

UMBC and Israeli Ministry of Agriculture establish aquaculture research partnership

Dec 10, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 5 min read

The partnership will center on addressing challenges to the aquaculture industry that, once overcome, will make aquaculture more efficient and sustainable, and expand it to more seafood species. “There is an urgent need to promote agriculture in a sustainable way in the U.S.,” said Russell Hill, “and we hope to contribute as much as possible to that effort.”

Viral inventors: UMBC study finds virus DNA orchestrates a critical cellular pathway in bacteria

Dec 9, 2021 Jun 17, 2022 / 7 min read

A protein produced by viral DNA is orchestrating the critical “SOS response” in a large group of bacterial species, according to a new study in Nucleic Acids Research. “It’s the SOS response because if the bacteria or virus doesn’t get it right, they die,” Ivan Erill says.

two students in lab coats at a microscope

UMBC continues to advance biotech in Maryland through new $900K biomanufacturing grant

Nov 23, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 6 min read

A growing list of programs and partnerships is positioning UMBC as a leader in developing Maryland’s biotech and biomanufacturing workforce. “We are driven by the vision that Maryland can be a leader in biotech,” Dean Bill LaCourse says. “We’re establishing strong pathways to develop the workforce, where students and professionals have an array of choices about how to get to the biotech career they want and that the region needs.”

Woman with auburn hair stands with a man with dark bears in a lab. She wears a tie dyed lab coat and he wears a white lab coat.

UMBC’s Lavik and Bieberich develop new approach to nanoparticles that stop internal bleeding

Nov 23, 2021 Feb 12, 2022 / 2 min read

When a person experiences a trauma that leads to significant bleeding, the first few minutes are critical. It’s important that they receive intravenous medication quickly to control the bleeding, but delivering the medication at the right rate can prove challenging. Slower infusions can cause fewer negative reactions, but the medication might not work fast enough, particularly in the case of a serious trauma.