COEIT

group photo of five people in professional attire and conference lanyards, two wearing black stoles with red, green, and yellow accents.

UMBC chapter of National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) shines at regional conference

The UMBC NSBE team defeated Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University to win the Tech Bowl competition, a Jeopardy-style game that tests teams’ knowledge of fundamental engineering principles. UMBC also claimed first through third place in the research poster presentation contest, which involved a 10-minute technical research talk followed by questions from the judges and audience. “We are so proud of the UMBC NSBE Chapter,” Keith Harmon shares. “They do tremendous work supporting UMBC STEM majors and offering service impacting youth in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.” Continue Reading UMBC chapter of National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) shines at regional conference

A woman and a college student sit talking to each other across a conference table with lots of windows behind them during office hours

Office Hours 

Each week during her student-facing office hours, UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby meets with students to chat about their lives and experiences at UMBC. Today, she’s speaking with Okechukwu Tabugbo ’25, computer engineering, president of UMBC’s Black Men’s Society, a group that provides mentorship, skills training, and community to students while trying to eliminate negative narratives and stigma around what it means to be a Black man in America. Okechukwu Tabugbo: I found out about UMBC’s Black Men’s Society when I was in my first year. I knew Marvin Onwukwe, the club secretary at the time. He was always walking… Continue Reading Office Hours 

Illustration by Rebecca Bradley, featuring colorful overlapping hands grabbing for wine glasses and mugs over a green picnic blanket.

Grab a Seat at the Table

These days, it’s tempting to grow numb to the polarization of society and the breakdown in public discourse and to retreat into our silos of solidarity. But a liberal arts education has the potential to offer an antidote to these seemingly inevitable fates—through modeling and practicing empathy. At UMBC, students are invited to the table to share their stories and listen to their peers. These acts of educational hospitality help Retrievers find their why and pursue the public good. It’s the first day of class. You’re looking around, bright-eyed and a little nervous, and then your instructor smiles at the… Continue Reading Grab a Seat at the Table

GRIT-X 2023 presenters standing on stage

GRIT-X 2023 explores wide range of UMBC’s research and creative achievement around campus and beyond

Spiders, robots, climate change, Vaudevillian history, and more—this year’s GRIT-X event had something for inquiring minds of all kinds, with explorations into elements of the past, our collective present, and possibilities for the future. Continue Reading GRIT-X 2023 explores wide range of UMBC’s research and creative achievement around campus and beyond

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Alumni Awards 2023—Making impact through relationships

On the stage of the 35th annual Alumni Awards, awardees and their nominators repeated a shared theme: the freedom and flexibility to grow at UMBC—not alone—but in community. Presented by the Alumni Association Board of Directors, the event recognizes inspiring alumni in a range of fields, as well as a rising star and an outstanding faculty and staff member. Rehana Shafi, recipient of the inaugural staff award, emphasized that she was only able to do so much “with so many.” Shafi, director emerita of the Sherman Teacher Scholars Program, said: “This work, this way, isn’t an individual endeavor….Impact happens inside… Continue Reading Alumni Awards 2023—Making impact through relationships

Lights and cables in a computing facility.

UMBC’s Vandana Janeja aims to boost high-performance computing know-how to tackle environmental science challenges with a $1 million NSF grant

UMBC’s Vandana Janeja was recently awarded a nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will leverage high-performance computing to solve real-world problems and make it accessible to students and researchers of all backgrounds,” Continue Reading UMBC’s Vandana Janeja aims to boost high-performance computing know-how to tackle environmental science challenges with a $1 million NSF grant

Four men standing on stage in front of a screen that says "INCS-COE C2C CTF 2023, August 1-4, 2023, Keio University, closing ceremony"

Cracking the code: International collaboration fosters cybersecurity

This summer, three UMBC students competed in an international “capture the flag”-style cybersecurity competition in Japan, with one Retriever taking home a victory—and all three bringing back a greater range of expertise. This opportunity helped UMBC students build global relationships and attain more practical experience in cyber defense.  Continue Reading Cracking the code: International collaboration fosters cybersecurity

Printed text on yellow background as a word cloud, including words "Retriever Essentials. Community partnerships. Save-a-swipe"

Retriever Essentials student team is runner-up in a nationwide competition to address world hunger

Retriever Essentials, represented by student volunteers Nhi Nguyen ’25, biochemistry and bioinformatics, and Ben Bhattarai ’23, biology and psychology, is a second place finalist in the 2023 Wilbur Ellis Innovation Award. Announced at the end of September, the honorable mention award—given to only four schools—recognizes the student teams with the most innovative strategies for providing food for a growing world population. Continue Reading Retriever Essentials student team is runner-up in a nationwide competition to address world hunger

Arecibo Conference Center

UMBC joins collaboration to create new STEM education, research center at Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico

This week UMBC was named as one of four institutions chosen to work together on a National Science Foundation-funded project to establish a new science educational center at the Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico. NSF will contribute more than $5 million over five years to establish the multidisciplinary center, called the Arecibo Center for Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Science Education, Computational Skills, and Community Engagement (Arecibo C3). Continue Reading UMBC joins collaboration to create new STEM education, research center at Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico

black and gold flags span across academic row

Standing Ovation for Outstanding Retrievers

At UMBC, we celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni community year round, but our annual Athletics Hall of Fame induction and Alumni Awards ceremony and reception give us a chance to cheer extra loud for the outstanding Retrievers among us.  Stanyell Odom, director of alumni engagement, says it best about the incoming class of awardees: “These award winners embody so many of the characteristics that make UMBC such a special place. They are leaders in their professions and fields—innovative teachers, educators, and scientists—and are engaged and proud members of this UMBC community.” The 23rd Hall of Fame induction  Coming up… Continue Reading Standing Ovation for Outstanding Retrievers

Two mean wearing formal attire hold a framed certificate.

Cybersecurity expert Richard Forno appointed an honorary international professor

Richard Forno, assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity and a principal lecturer in the department of computer science and electrical engineering, has been appointed an honorary international professor in the School of Science and Engineering at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), one of Mexico’s oldest universities. Continue Reading Cybersecurity expert Richard Forno appointed an honorary international professor

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