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Winning Season After competing in three international Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) events this year, UMBC finished in second place for the 2010 season. The UMBC Baja team is the number one team in the U.S. (first place went to Ecole de Technologie Superieure (ETS) of Montreal.). “We finished in the top ten in all three events. Only seven other teams in the history of Baja have done this,” said Steve Storck, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and captain of the Baja team. As a long- time member, this is a long-awaited achievement. In April the UMBC Baja team… Continue Reading Winning Season

Learning Through Experience Students from North Bend Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore have a better grasp on their potential careers, thanks to a program called Learning Through Experience (LTE) offered by the Shriver Center at UMBC. LTE is a component of the year-long Adventures in College and Career Exploration in STEM (ACCES) program, funded by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Cherry Hill Elementary/Middle School also serves as an ACCES partner.  The LTE program promotes learning by increasing awareness of a variety of careers, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math, and encourages students to work to achieve their lifetime goals. For… Continue Reading Learning Through Experience

Advancing Science For their prestigious scholarship, Robert Provine, professor of psychology, and Michael Summers, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, were named fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS fellowship is an honor shared only by top leaders in science. Provine is a neuroscientist engaged in studies of the development, evolution and neural mechanisms of behavior. His approaches are comparative and interdisciplinary, and, at various times, he has studied the neural basis of embryonic behavior, the development and evolution of bird flight and machine intelligence and control. His… Continue Reading Advancing Science

Going the Distance UMBC students often take their learning experience out of the classroom by interning at local companies, discussing ideas with visiting scholars, or doing service in the community.  For some students, prestigious awards help them to take their studies even farther: across the globe as they pursue opportunities in other countries. This year, three recent students were awarded Fulbright awards to research or teach in other countries, while two current students received Boren scholarships to study in countries that are important to U.S. security interests. Jessica Sadler ’09, English, Anna Gitterman ’10, biological sciences, and Michele Ko ’10,… Continue Reading Going the Distance

22 Yards For many players on the UMBC Cricket Club, the sport runs in their blood. That passion, combined with the team’s motivation and strength, has helped them achieve a ranking of third in the nation by American College Cricket. “It feels great to know that the hard work we have put in as a group over the years has finally paid off,” said President Anand Patel ’10 M.S., mechanical engineering.  The UMBC Cricket Club, also known as 22 Yards, was formed by cricket enthusiasts in 2004 and now has nearly 150 members. The game, which first originated in southern… Continue Reading 22 Yards

Gamers Delight A video game called “Closure” featuring a mysterious world plunged into darkness co-created by UMBC sophomore Jon Schubbe won an Independent Games Festival (IGF) award for “Excellence in Audio.” The game was also nominated in two other categories out of six possible IGF honors: “Technical Excellence” and the “Nuovo Innovation Award.” Closure was co-created by Tyler Glaiel, a student at Digipen Institute of Technology in Washington state and Chris Rhyne, a game developer from California. Closure is a 2-D puzzle platform game in which parts of the world in blackness don’t exist physically. Your character illuminates his immediate… Continue Reading Gamers Delight

“Playing Pericles” In UMBC’s version of “Pericles,” fields of corn are created with corn flakes, a watering can easily floods the town and toys come to life – all while the world is magnified in abstract images on screens in the Imaging Research Center (IRC). “Playing Pericles,” a joint collaboration by the IRC and Departments of English and Theatre, asks its audience: What does it mean to play – and – do you remember how? Funded through a grant from the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, the three groups have been working on the production since early September 2009. Quickly… Continue Reading “Playing Pericles”

Pictures of Progress From the gruesome photograph of a lynching victim to the moving footage of Jackie Robinson’s first major league game, the images of the Civil Rights era motivated people to act, whether those actions were ignited by injustice or inspired by achievement. Yet there had never been a comprehensive examination of the ways images mattered throughout the struggle. Six years ago, Maurice Berger, senior research scholar at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC)  at UMBC, set out to change that.  With the backing of his colleagues at CADVC and two grants from the National Endowment… Continue Reading Pictures of Progress

Excellence Across Disciplines On May 6, UMBC will become home to an honor society that reflects the diversity of student interests when the newest chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is installed. “Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest all-discipline honor society in the country,” explained Beth Wells, assistant vice provost for academic affairs. It accepts students of any major who are in the top 10 percent of their senior class or the top seven and a half percent of the junior class. Distinguished graduate students, alumni, faculty and staff can also be invited to join. Phi Kappa Phi members are eligible… Continue Reading Excellence Across Disciplines

Research, Scholarship and Creativity Virtual dance spaces. Why people drink diet coke, fail to lose weight and continue buying it. The implications and effects of male breast cancer on survivors. The reduction of cosmic radiation among NASA. astronauts.  This is just a sampling of the topics to be presented at two upcoming UMBC events that celebrate the research and creative achievements of undergraduate and graduate students. The 14th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD)  will be held Wednesday, April 28, followed by the 32nd annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) on Friday, April 30. Both events recognize the research… Continue Reading Research, Scholarship and Creativity

Solid Gold Scholars Two UMBC students were awarded Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Goldwater scholarship is awarded to sophomores and juniors who have excelled in science, mathematics or engineering. Nathaniel Kim ’11, B.S. Chemistry and B.A. Political Science, and Geoffrey Clapp ’11, B.S. Mathematics and Computer Science, have both done substantial amounts of research during their time at UMBC. Both students will be presenting at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day on Wednesday, April 28. Research is an essential part of the Goldwater application: each applicant must draft a research proposal in order to… Continue Reading Solid Gold Scholars

Sweat Free Sweatshirts, hats and shorts. Jackets, T-shirts and pants. UMBC logo merchandise is now made under fair labor practices, thanks to the Fair Labor Standards Advisory Group (FLSAG). The group, appointed by President Freeman Hrabowski, is chaired by Assistant to the President and Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Lisa Akchin and includes representatives of campus senates and members of the UMBC Solidarity Coalition, who brought this issue to campus administrators. As a result of FLSAG deliberations, UMBC has adopted a code of conduct describing the fair labor standards required by vendors producing merchandise. The full code of… Continue Reading Sweat Free