Mike graduated from Perry Hall High School (Baltimore County) in the Class of 2005, and joined UMBC that Fall on a Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce Full Scholarship. He majored in Chemical Engineering (GPA: 3.75) and graduated from the Honors College in 2009. During his time at UMBC he participated in a variety of activities, including: living on the Honors College Floor for two years, creating the "Biodiesel Project" (a club that made biodiesel at a local farm using waste vegetable oil and did some related research on campus), singing in the Gospel Choir, organizing a Bone Marrow Registration Drive (+475 sign ups, he later donated bone marrow in 2020), performing research/work on campus in the labs of several faculty (Dr. Daniele Fabris, Dr. Brian Reed, Dr. Upal Ghosh, and Dr. Mariajosé Castellanos), presenting at URCAD, volunteering at St. Agnes clinics, and having a fantastic experience overall.
After graduation from UMBC, Mike biked across the United States with two other UMBC alumni and a then current UMBC student, to raise money for safe water. During his gap year, he worked as a research associate at UMB Shared Services Facility.
In Fall 2010, he attended Lehigh University for graduate school, where he earned his master’s and doctorate in environmental engineering. He earned a Fulbright Scholarship while at Lehigh and lived/researched in India from 2012-2014. While in India, he co-founded Drinkwell in 2013 with two other co-founders. Drinkwell is a water solutions company based in India and Bangladesh to solve the arsenic and fluoride crisis that was related to his PhD research on innovative ion exchange nanomaterials. Today, they serve up to 300,000 users per month across the Indian subcontinent. Mike finished his PhD in 2017 from Lehigh University and continued working with Drinkwell - overall he lived in India, Bangladesh, and his suitcase for three years.
Since 2018, he has been primarily based in Brooklyn, NY doing consulting work. Today, he works for Revel and supports their rapid expansion after their recent $126M Series B investment round. Revel's mission is to accelerate EV adoption in cities by providing the infrastructure and services that make it easy to go electric.
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikegerman
Drinkwell: https://drinkwell.com/
Google Scholar: Profile Link
Image credits:
Headshot: Mike German
This list of UMBC Alumni employers should not be construed as sponsorship, affiliation, or approval by the trademark owner.
Rachel Myers was just 3 years old when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Already a science-minded kid, watching her mom's resilience in the face of the invasive treatments made her intimately familiar with the symptoms and side effects of cancer treatment. During a high school internship at the National Institutes of Health she fell in love with biomedicine -- "I saw people that looked like me in the field, which wasn't something I was used to before" -- and decided to follow her personal connection with science into a career.
Now a junior at University of Maryland Baltimore County majoring in chemical engineering, Myers is one of seven undergraduates from around the United States to participate in the new Materials Initiative for Comprehensive Research Opportunity (MICRO) program, a fully remote, online research internship from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE). Myers' research interests are focused on using nanoparticles as drug delivery therapeutics for breast cancer and other chronic diseases, and the MICRO program offered an unprecedented opportunity to access expertise, mentorship, and approaches to biomedicine that might otherwise have stayed out of reach for undergraduates.
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One semester into her internship, Myers has found the online program both rigorous and uniquely rewarding. The internship has two components: research -- working directly with MIT faculty, and education -- general assignments to give the students a solid understanding of materials science as a field.
Myers is working with Joelle Straehla in Professor Paula Hammond'ss lab to use nanoPRISM to identify the genomic determinants of nanoparticle trafficking in cells. "The biggest challenge comes down to learning new techniques in my lab, being exposed to new coding languages I haven't learned before. Because I don't have a materials science program at home, thinking like a materials scientist has been a new challenge for me," she says.
"Rachel has exceeded my expectations and having her as a remote mentee has been a positive experience for us both," says Straehla. "I am looking forward to continuing to support Rachel on her journey as she applies to graduate schools."
]]>The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate.
By providing scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the Goldwater Foundation is helping ensure that the U.S. is producing the number of highly-qualified professionals the Nation needs in these critical fields. Over its 30-year history, Goldwater Scholarships have been awarded to thousands of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to win other prestigious awards like the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship that support our Scholars’ graduate school work. Today, Goldwater alumni can be found conducting research that is helping defend the Nation, finding cures for catastrophic diseases and teaching future generations of scientists, mathematicians and engineers.
A DoD-funded postdoctoral position is available for a postdoctoral fellow to start immediately in the area of targeted nanoparticles for delivery of drugs in models of trauma. Experience with nanoparticle synthesis, characterization, and drug delivery studies is desirable. The Laviklab works as a team collaborating with each other to support the development of novel drug delivery systems, hemostatic nanoparticles, and high throughput tissue models. Our goal is to find colleagues who are interested in being part of a collaborative team.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please email a cover letter highlighting your experience and career goals along with your cv to elavik@umbc.edu. Women and people from marginalized groups are especially encouraged to apply.
~~ UMBC is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. ~~
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