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Molly Mollica wins American Heart Association Career Development Award

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Molly Mollica, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering who joined UMBC in August 2023, has been selected for an American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development Award, which will provide more than $200,000 to fund her research for the next three years. Mollica studies the biomechanics of blood platelets, which play an essential role in healthy blood clotting, but can also contribute to the formation of blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Bleeding and clotting have been shown to vary between males and females, but the reasons are not well understood. In her AHA-funded research, Mollica will investigate how… Continue Reading Molly Mollica wins American Heart Association Career Development Award

PACE atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in the raised to launch position. Photo credit: NASA

On PACE to Unravel Earth’s Mysteries

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The third time’s the charm. Against a calm and crisp dark night sky on Florida’s Cape Canaveral on February 8, 2024, just after 1:30 a.m., the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft rocketed to orbit carrying on board Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP2)–UMBC’s wide-angle imaging polarimeter.  The launch marked the first time NASA deployed a university payload on a large operational Earth science space mission. Continue Reading On PACE to Unravel Earth’s Mysteries

Student tech interns work on a project together

UMBC-run program will support twice as many tech internships this summer

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An innovative internship program run through UMBC that helps Maryland support growing technology businesses while also retaining talented college graduates in the region is set to more than double over the next year, thanks to a $700,000 budget investment from Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly. The funding increase is effective July 1, making it available for the summer internship season and allowing for a growing number of employers to immediately take advantage of this proven and effective workforce development program.  Launched and administered by UMBC, the Maryland Technology Internship Program (MTIP) offers financial assistance to technology-based businesses… Continue Reading UMBC-run program will support twice as many tech internships this summer

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From solar energy harvesting to advanced batteries: Cohort of new engineering faculty bolster UMBC’s commitment to Earth-friendly research

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This April 22, as the campus community celebrated Earth Day, the feel of spring’s natural reawakening was in the air. Birds chirped from newly leafed trees and students strolled in the bright sunshine. But the pleasant day belied a concerning trend: In Maryland and beyond, the balance of Earth’s life-supporting systems is shifting, driven in large part by the heat-trapping greenhouse gasses we humans send into the atmosphere. The Earth is getting hotter; weather patterns are changing; and ecosystems are under stress.  “Climate change is pressing us to adopt a more Earth-friendly lifestyle, to develop renewable energy,” says Özgür Çapraz,… Continue Reading From solar energy harvesting to advanced batteries: Cohort of new engineering faculty bolster UMBC’s commitment to Earth-friendly research

A gym filled with students and booths for a career fair

Résumés in hand, 2,000+ hopeful and prepared Retrievers attend the 2024 Career Fair

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“We were excited to help employers develop a strong talent pipeline and diverse future workforce, shaping the leaders and innovators of tomorrow,” said Paige Bauder, associate director of employer relations and recruitment programs at UMBC, about the UMBC 2024 Spring Career Fair.  Continue Reading Résumés in hand, 2,000+ hopeful and prepared Retrievers attend the 2024 Career Fair

Headshot of man in front of brick building.

Mechanical engineering professor Timmie Topoleski honored for his service to the Society for Biomaterials

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Timmie Topoleski, professor of mechanical engineering at UMBC, has received the 2024 Society for Biomaterials Award for Service, which honors individuals who have devoted significant time and energy to advancing the goals of the professional society. Continue Reading Mechanical engineering professor Timmie Topoleski honored for his service to the Society for Biomaterials

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

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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

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From apples to army robots, curiosity and commitment define Priya Narayanan’s career

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She didn’t exactly experience a Sir Isaac Newton-like epiphany after being conked by a falling apple, but Priya Narayanan, Ph.D. ’08, mechanical engineering, spent a lot of her time at UMBC interacting with the iconic red fruit.  For her Ph.D. thesis, Narayanan worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study whether a simple device made of a long, inclined track could reliably orient apples. The ultimate goal was to automate visual inspection of the fruit—using cameras to spot blemishes—and the cameras required the same view of the apple each time. Narayanan spent thousands of hours performing experiments with rolling… Continue Reading From apples to army robots, curiosity and commitment define Priya Narayanan’s career

Two people look at model plane in lab space.

UMBC teams with the Navy and the University of Arizona to develop new capabilities for hypersonic flight

/ 6 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Ankit Goel has been investigating better ways to control aircraft flying at hypersonic speeds, by primarily focusing on the vehicle’s engine. He recently received more than $850,000 in funding from the Office of Naval Research to further the investigations. Over the next three years he will partner with Kyle Hanquist at the University of Arizona and researchers from the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) to develop improved engine control strategies and assess their performance in ground experiments conducted at the NAWC facility at China Lake, California. Continue Reading UMBC teams with the Navy and the University of Arizona to develop new capabilities for hypersonic flight

Jamie Gurganus, second from left, poses with softball players displaying their 2022 America East Championship jewelry.

Faculty Unleash Their Inner Coach

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In spring 2022, UMBC softball swept all three tournament games to win their third America East championship. The Retrievers held their opponents scoreless, becoming the first team in conference history to achieve this milestone. And no one cheered louder for their success than Jamie Gurganus, faculty in engineering and computing education and mechanical engineering. Decked out in softball gear (and now with a championship ring necklace gifted from the team engraved with “Prof. G”), Gurganus ’04, M.S. ’11, Ph.D. ’20, mechanical engineering, ended her inaugural semester as honorary faculty coach to the record-breaking team on a high note. (UMBC Softball… Continue Reading Faculty Unleash Their Inner Coach

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