Capitol Hill hearing on NSF-funded INSuRE project highlights UMBC student research

Dec 17, 2015 / 1 minute of reading

Two posters created by UMBC student researchers were highlighted during an informational hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, December 16, focused on the Information Security Research and Education (INSuRE) project. UMBC is one of seven universities nationwide participating in INSuRE, a multi-disciplinary and multi-level collaborative research initiative. Through INSuRE, undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to work on various problems related to cybersecurity while being mentored by industry professionals. Alan Sherman, professor of computer science, is a co-Principal Investigator (PI) of the INSuRE project, which began in 2013. He is leading seven UMBC students across three… Continue Reading Capitol Hill hearing on NSF-funded INSuRE project highlights UMBC student research

3D Scanning Room opens with a 90-camera flash

Dec 14, 2015 / 3 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) has debuted the 3D Scanning Room, featuring new software that allows 3D models to be created by combining dozens of 2D photographs. A ribbon-cutting event and brief remarks from President Freeman Hrabowski and Vice President of Research Karl Steiner were held on Tuesday, December 8. The 3D Scanning Room features 90 digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras that are set up in a circular formation around a space where people or objects are positioned for 2D photographs. The cameras take simultaneous photos, looking for features like textures and edges that reflect light. Once the photos are captured, they are… Continue Reading 3D Scanning Room opens with a 90-camera flash

Data from learning management systems help improve teaching, say UMBC experts

Dec 8, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

Systems that store and analyze data about how students are progressing through their coursework can be a powerful source of better decision-making in higher education. That’s the theme of a CampusTechnology.com article featuring a lengthy section on UMBC’s use of the Blackboard learning management and data-analysis system to promote student success. At UMBC, Blackboard data about student performance are now “across all the colleges and all the key functional offices that are responsible for student success, so they’re all able to get the data they want,” says Jack Suess, chief information officer and vice president of information technology. Among the… Continue Reading Data from learning management systems help improve teaching, say UMBC experts

UMBC and U.S. Navy celebrate partnership establishing Maryland’s first NROTC unit

Dec 8, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

On Monday, November 30, 2015, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy Dennis McGinn and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski joined President Freeman Hrabowski for a ceremony to formally celebrate the establishment at UMBC of Maryland’s first Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program. The program, which is part of the new Maryland NROTC consortium that includes the University of Maryland, College Park, provides an opportunity for students to earn a commission in the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps while completing their undergraduate degrees. During the event, McGinn spoke highly of UMBC as an institution with exceptional leadership and innovative approaches to… Continue Reading UMBC and U.S. Navy celebrate partnership establishing Maryland’s first NROTC unit

Common sense on social media can guard against identity theft, but it’s no guarantee, says UMBC cybersecurity expert

Dec 7, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

December is National Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month, and it is a reminder to consumers to be vigilant about the security of personal information. Precautionary measures often considered to be “common sense” are some of the best ways for individuals to protect their identity, says Rick Forno, director of UMBC’s graduate program in cybersecurity and assistant director of UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, in an article on WalletHub. Destroying unneeded documents that contain personal information, such as old medical records and tax returns, rather than simply throwing the documents in the trash, can help individuals protect their identity. However, Forno… Continue Reading Common sense on social media can guard against identity theft, but it’s no guarantee, says UMBC cybersecurity expert

Contrary to Darwin’s assumptions, female and male songbirds can be equally musical, say UMBC biologists

Dec 4, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

Contrary to the popular belief, made famous by evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, that only male songbirds sing, female birds can be as musical as males of the same species. This is the conclusion of UMBC’s Karan Odom, a biological studies PhD student, and Kevin Omland, professor of biological sciences, from their intensive study of songbirds in Maryland and Puerto Rico. Their research on the subject, originally published in Nature Communications, is highlighted in a new article in National Wildlife Federation magazine. The current research includes four oriole bird species. Odom and Omland studied the Baltimore oriole and orchard oriole in… Continue Reading Contrary to Darwin’s assumptions, female and male songbirds can be equally musical, say UMBC biologists

Inaugural Inventors’ Luncheon honors UMBC faculty innovators across disciplines

Dec 4, 2015 / 3 minutes of reading

UMBC’s inaugural Innovators Luncheon, held November 30, 2015, celebrated faculty innovators from across the university who are forging new paths in their fields. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Office of Technology Development (OTD), Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA), and bwtech@UMBC, the event acknowledged accomplishments of UMBC Technology Catalyst Fund (TCF) and Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) awardees. In addition to recognizing the TCF and MII awardees, five UMBC faculty were presented with awards for outstanding initiatives in disclosing their inventions. Christopher Geddes, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the Institute of Fluorescence (IOF); Fow-Sen… Continue Reading Inaugural Inventors’ Luncheon honors UMBC faculty innovators across disciplines

Baltimore is now a cybersecurity hub attracting global talent, says bwtech@UMBC’s Hemmerly

Dec 1, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

With the flurry of recent internet hacks, how safe is the information that we post online? Who will develop the innovations needed to secure our data in cyberspace? In a new Baltimore Sun op-ed, bwtech@UMBC Executive Director Ellen Hemmerly writes that the necessary innovation will come from Baltimore, thanks to the city’s proximity to the federal government and major defense and intelligence contractors, high concentration of cybersecurity and IT startups, and early experience with “revolutionary cyber companies.” “Ultimately, cybersecurity is not just about national security, it’s also about our own economic security,” writes Hemmerly. “We’ve been vulnerable since day one,… Continue Reading Baltimore is now a cybersecurity hub attracting global talent, says bwtech@UMBC’s Hemmerly

NASA’s Operation IceBridge confirms observations on ice shelf collapse, JCET researcher Shuman explains

Dec 1, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

NASA’s Operation IceBridge, a survey of polar ice, carried out parallel flights in the north and south poles for the first time in seven years. The mission to the Antarctic Peninsula recorded a big drop in height of the two glaciers at the south pole. The mission to the Arctic collected measurements of depleted land and sea ice at the end of the summer melting season. In an article on the NASA website, Christopher Shuman, research associate professor at UMBC’s Geography and Environmental Systems department, faculty at UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), and research scientist in the… Continue Reading NASA’s Operation IceBridge confirms observations on ice shelf collapse, JCET researcher Shuman explains

UMBC researchers raise Atlantic bluefin tuna on land for first time in North America

Nov 21, 2015 / 4 minutes of reading

A team of UMBC researchers has made history by successfully raising Atlantic bluefin tuna from eggs to juvenile stage in a recirculating, land-based mariculture system for the first time in North America. Scientists at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) overcame significant challenges in creating the successful, sustainable aquaculture system — roadblocks that had previously frustrated researchers for years. A sharp increase in demand for bluefin tuna in the sushi industry has intensified fishing of the species, fueling seven-figure prices for individual fish and depleting populations. In 2015, the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Blue Planet Report identified Atlantic… Continue Reading UMBC researchers raise Atlantic bluefin tuna on land for first time in North America

Yoni Zohar says FDA approval of genetically engineered salmon could have environmental benefits

Nov 20, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the first genetically modified animal for sale as food: AquaAdvantage salmon,. The FDA determined that the salmon is not biologically different than nongenetically engineered salmon and is safe to consume. A CNN article on the news shares comments by UMBC’s Yonathan Zohar, professor and chair of the department of marine biotechnology, on the environmental benefits of the fish, which is designed to grow more quickly, to meet the continually increasing demand that is currently threatening salmon populations. Zohar’s research focuses on developing environmentally sustainable aquaculture techniques, and he has previously… Continue Reading Yoni Zohar says FDA approval of genetically engineered salmon could have environmental benefits

Marie desJardins argues ultra-competitive hackathon culture may discourage women in cybersecurity

Nov 13, 2015 / 2 minutes of reading

There is a high demand for fresh talent in information security, but the industry has struggled to hire and retain professionals from an essential portion of their potential talent pool: women. Just 10 percent of people working in information security are women, and in a new Slate article UMBC’s Marie desJardins suggests the emphasis that recruiters and people in the industry place on competitive extracurricular activities, such as hackathons, may be dampening women’s interest in the field. Activities such as hackathons—events where coders compete to build a new product or service, working continuously over a set period of hours or… Continue Reading Marie desJardins argues ultra-competitive hackathon culture may discourage women in cybersecurity