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
Anthony Johnson, professor of physics and computer science and electrical engineering, has been named chair of the American Physical Society (APS) Bridge Program’s National Advisory Board (NAB). Johnson was involved with the Bell Labs Cooperative Research Fellowship Program for Minorities, a precursor to the APS Bridge Program, in the 1970s. “The Bridge Program had its genesis with the Bell Labs Diversity Program, which I participated in, and thus it was quite an honor to be nominated Chair or the APS Bridge Program’s NAB,” he shares. The Bridge Program was created in 2013, funded by the National Science Foundation and the… Continue Reading Anthony Johnson to chair national advisory board promoting diversity in physics
For twenty years JCET has brought leading scientists to UMBC in research areas that align with NASA’s Earth science interests, such as climate and radiation, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and solar system sciences, including geophysics. UMBC is now ranked among the world’s top universities for geosciences. Continue Reading NASA renews partnership with UMBC’s JCET for $46 million over five years
Eileen Meyer and Markos Georganopoulos, physics, published an article in Nature last week detailing their research on black holes. Meyer, the lead author of the paper, is completing a postdoctoral position at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore before beginning her professorship at UMBC. Using photographs taken with the Hubble Space Telescope over the past 25 years, Meyer and Georganopoulos observed a “shock collision” of plasma jets, indicating that plasma jets run into each other and gain energy in that manner. “Something like this has never been seen before in an extragalactic jet,” Meyer said. “This will allow us… Continue Reading Eileen Meyer and Markos Georganopoulos, Physics, Use Hubble Telescope to Observe Rare “Shock Collision”
UMBC is always full of hard-working people who aspire to do great things, and the class of 2014 is no exception. Today, we wanted to share with you what some of our recent graduates are planning to do with their Retriever education. Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar Meghan Carpenter, political science, used her interest in politics to to focus on education policy. She was the director of the Office of Community and Government Relations in the Student Government Association and a Governor’s Summer Intern at the Maryland State Department of Education. As a student, Carpenter proposed a budget to the Maryland… Continue Reading Meet the Newest Alums: Carpenter, Scheerer, Krach, and Berghaus
Editor’s Note: The UMBC physics department recently honored the life of Joseph Mulligan, one of the founding faculty members, with their annual Mulligan Lecture and award. This year’s recipient, Kim Berghaus, is the first undergraduate student to receive the award. Her lecture, presented on May 14, 2014, is titled “The Life and Work of Albert Einstein.” Recently, Berghaus shared her thoughts with us on this opportunity: The Mulligan lecture is a beautiful tradition, held every end of the school year about a topic in the history of physics to honor Joseph F. Mulligan. Holding this meaningful lecture was an amazing opportunity for… Continue Reading Annual Mulligan Lecture Recognizes 2014 Scholar
Zhibo Zhang, an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department, and his collaborators received a three-year grant of $710K from NASA’s Sciences of Terra and Aqua program to study the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) clouds. The MBL clouds cover about 20% of Earth’s surface. They play a pivotal in Earth’s radiative energy budget. Prof. Zhang’s research will help us understand the horizontal and microphysical structure of MBL clouds and provides guidance for the development of future NASA satellite missions. As PI, Zhang will lead a group of researchers from UMBC, NASA GISS, and the Univ. of Illinois. Zhang was also recently… Continue Reading Zhibo Zhang receives $710K grant from NASA
What do you need to do to put up offshore wind turbines? You need to know where the wind is. That’s what Ruben Delgado, a faculty research assistant in UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), is working on. Timothy Wheeler at the Baltimore Sun wrote: “Also aboard are scientists from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who are gathering data on atmospheric conditions and winds high above the water, where the giant turbine blades will be. Ruben Delgado, a faculty research assistant at UMBC, said the data gathered using remote sensing gear on board as well as old-fashioned… Continue Reading Ruben Delgado, JCET, in the Baltimore Sun
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) held its 2012 Agency Honor Awards on August 2nd to honor individuals who “have distinguished themselves by making outstanding contributions to the Agency’s mission.” Among those honored was Raymond Hoff, physics, who received the Distinguished Public Service Medal (DPSM) at an awards ceremony held at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The DPSM serves as NASA’s “highest form of recognition that is awarded to any non-Government individual or to an individual who was not a Government employee during the period in which the service was performed, whose distinguished service, ability, or vision has personally… Continue Reading Raymond Hoff, Physics, Honored with NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal
Recent Ph.D. Sanjit Karmakar ’12, physics, was featured in an article published by The Baltimore Sun July 13th. The focus of the article was on Karmakar’s work in “ghost imaging,” where a picture can be taken without actually “seeing” the object which is being photographed. The camera the physicist designed utilizes the light of the sun as the source for images, which are generated on a computer using mathematics associated with quantum physics. This process can be used to generate images of objects on other continents and planets without the distortion of traditional photography, according to the piece. Speaking on… Continue Reading Dr. Sanjit Karmakar ’12, Physics, in The Baltimore Sun
