Graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, held December 16-17, celebrate student accomplishments through over a dozen inspiring stories. Continue Reading UMBC honors over 1,000 new graduates at 2015 Winter Commencement
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
As more banks use social media platforms, they are encouraging consumers to view social media as a way to access resources and to have their questions answered quickly. Banks and retailers alike use social media to connect with consumers. However, they use it in different ways and have varying degrees of success, says Ant Ozok, associate professor of information systems, in The Daily Record. Ozok notes that mortgage services and credit cards are difficult to effectively promote on social media due to their complexity, including the regulations surrounding them. Consumers are also more likely to have a negative reaction to… Continue Reading Ant Ozok explains challenges banks face in using social media to connect with customers
The intersection of technology and do-it-yourself (DIY) culture, known as the Maker Movement, has been praised for encouraging Americans to be creative and resourceful. However, the costly technology associated with the movement has raised concerns about accessibility. Amy Hurst, information systems, spoke to the Huffington Post this week about how she is encouraging diverse populations to engage in making. Through working with individuals with intellectual disabilities and visual impairments, Hurst found that many DIY tools were difficult to use. Supported by a National Science Foundation grant, she started developing new tools and platforms to help people repair or customize objects,… Continue Reading Amy Hurst, Information Systems, Describes “Making for All” in Huffington Post
Penny Rheingans, director of The Center for Women in Technology (CWIT), Susan Martin, associate director of CWIT, Carolyn Seaman, information systems, and E.F. Charles LaBerge, computer science and electrical engineering, recently received a $632,488 grant from the National Science Foundation to support transfer scholars in computer science, computer engineering, and information systems. The grant will continue the work of the Transfer Scholars in Information Technology and Engineering (T-Site) program. The program provides scholarship funds, academic and professional programming, and a supportive community to encourage transfer student success in computing majors. The program is open to transfer students from Maryland community… Continue Reading CWIT, IS, and CSEE Faculty Receive NSF Grant for Transfer Scholars Community
Brian Frey, UMBC Ph.D. student in information systems, has been collaborating for the past several years with colleagues at Georgia Tech University on a very simple concept: How can one infuse braille communication with the iPhone? Over these past few years the team has been refining their Braille Touch App in support of that concept. Their efforts were validated with the recent release of the Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS8. Of the millions of apps that Apple has approved for release in the App Store since the release of the first generation iPhone, only a select few have been… Continue Reading Information Systems Ph.D. Student is Co-Developer of an iPhone App in iOS8 Package
The Department of Information Systems is proud to announce the release of a new book co- edited by IS Faculty Helena Mentis, PhD. The book is a “first of two volumes designed as a collective graduate guidebook for conducting fieldwork in healthcare. This volume brings together the experiences of established researchers who do fieldwork in clinical and non-clinical settings, focusing on how people interact with healthcare technology, in the form of case studies. These case studies are all personal, reflective accounts of challenges faced and lessons learned, which future researchers might also learn from.” “Fieldwork in Healthcare: Case Studies Investigating… Continue Reading Helena Mentis, IS, Co-Edits a New Book on Computing in Healthcare
Technological advancements such as direct deposit, ATMs and cell phone apps have changed the way people bank. A recent news report found that 50% of the population had not visited a bank branch in the last month. Ant Ozok, associate professor of information systems, visited WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show to discuss technological innovations that have transformed personal banking. Ozok, who specializes in human computer interaction, emphasized the importance of a positive user experience, saying, “Banks need to take the precautions that are necessary so that users do what they need to do in an efficient way.” Click here to… Continue Reading Ant Ozok, Information Systems, on The Kojo Nnamdi Show
Congratulations to UMBC’s Department of Information Systems for being ranked a top online graduate program in information technology by U.S. News & World Report. The UMBC program was ranked #19 in the nation, and is one of just two programs in Maryland to appear on the list. See the rankings. Learn how U.S. News & World Report calculated the rankings.
Amy Hurst, Collaborates on Multi-University Project To Improve Web and Cloud Computing Accessibility Will Help People With Disabilities Take Full Advantage of Online Resources “The researchers are working on methods for easily modifying software to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Researchers will develop ways to make it easier for people with disabilities to log on to the Web, make user interfaces more accessible, and change the presentation of information on the Web to streamline experiences for people with disabilities, caregivers and service providers. The researchers also will look for ways to leverage help from other people on the… Continue Reading Amy Hurst, Information Systems, Collaborates on $3.7 million project
Jianwu Wang, assistant professor of information systems, is the most recent UMBC faculty member to receive a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Wang’s NSF grant totals more than $500,000 over five years. It will support his work to develop more efficient and reproducible causality analytics for use in climate science. Cause and effect is a fundamental research question in many disciplines and there are some unique challenges in discovering cause-effect relationships from climate data. Wang explains that Earth changes so rapidly that climate scientists studying it must continuously capture a huge volume of data. For the… Continue Reading UMBC’s Jianwu Wang receives NSF CAREER Award to help climate scientists discover causal relationships from massive amounts of data
