Student teams recently gathered at Betamore, a Baltimore-based entrepreneurship and coworking space, to battle in the final round of UMBC’s annual Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition. This year’s competition included two distinct tracks: technology and innovation, and social impact. The top three ideas in each track received funding to help move their ventures forward.
In 2021, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) awarded UMBC more than $1 million over five years to create a program specifically for undergraduate scholars interested in research on substance abuse and addiction. A year after the program’s launch, it is thriving as students in fields as diverse as economics, computer science, and chemical engineering find ways to connect their interests to this important topic.
Gabby Khan ‘22 came to UMBC to study computer science and game development. What she found when she arrived was a warm, supportive community. “Everyone was welcoming and felt responsive, like humans,” she says. “People in administration who I’d call with questions were welcoming and friendly.”
Robots are becoming increasingly capable of complex tasks and are moving into roles that previously could only be done by people, in sectors like healthcare, education, and elder care. UMBC’s Cynthia Matuszek has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to study how robots learn about the physical world from spoken language to improve how they work with people.
Four UMBC students have been named 2022-23 Goldwater Scholars, tying the university’s past record, set just last year. This year’s recipients are Christopher Slaughter ‘23, computer engineering; Rachel Myers ‘23, chemical engineering; Tobi Majekodunmi ‘23, mechanical engineering; and D’Juan Moreland ‘23, biological sciences and music. UMBC had more winners this year than any other institution in the state of Maryland.
At UMBC’s 2022 Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards (PFASA), Tamra Mendelson said she loves “getting to the core of a concept” in her research and teaching. As awardee after awardee addressed the audience, both in person and online, it became clear that all shared the same “core concept” of UMBC: community.
Local governments provide many daily essential services. Disrupting their operations shakes confidence in the government and potentially endangers citizens.
As vehicles become more advanced, opportunities increase for hackers to remotely attack their embedded systems, creating significant safety concerns for drivers and passengers. UMBC’s Riadul Islam, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how to better detect and protect against these cyber attacks.
Articles on The Conversation offer context to current events, explain natural phenomena, introduce new research in an accessible way, and more. “The Conversation helps us contribute to our public service mission as a public university,” says Vice President for Research Karl Steiner. “This milestone underscores the importance of academic researchers actively participating in the public discourse of complex issues.”
Baltimore-based tech company Fearless and a team of UMBC alumni led the development of the the Searchable Museum to complement the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition. The Fearless and NMAAHC teams worked together to reimagine this exhibit specifically for online audiences.
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.
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.
