Timothy W. Finin (Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering) is one of four recipients of the 2009 IEEE Computer Society's Technical Achievement Awards, for his "pioneering contributions to Distributed Intelligent Systems."

Additional photos and video are available on the IEEE Computer Society web site.

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/window/socialnetworking.html

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/window/socialnetworking.html

Two UMBC Professors Win NSF CAREER Awards

Two UMBC scientists were recently recognized as among the nation’s top young faculty in their fields by the National Science Foundation (NSF), receiving the NSF’s CAREER award, an honor that comes with five years of research funding and support.

Without the expertise of physicists like Gougousi, beloved consumer electronics like iPhones, Blackberries and iPods would drain their batteries in half an hour. “Silicon-based technology has reached its limit,” Gougousi said. “Gallium Arsenide is a possible next-generation material."

“It’s somewhat like putting down paving stones to make a patio; we stack layers of atoms one on top of the other. Our stones and glue are organic molecules and water. Our goal is to understand the interactions of these materials at the atomic level and develop techniques to produce a dependable, good quality film.”

“Show Me the Motion”

“We use virtual reality, or VR, as a tool to design machine systems, especially those with flexible parts,” Su said. Su’s toolkit, known as the VR design environment, adds a crucial third dimension to early-stage design and prototyping.

Su and his students use a virtual reality helmet, interactive glove and a pen-like gizmo known as a haptic device, which lets users feel a virtual prototype. Their goal is designing machine parts capable of precise - sometimes delicate - motions at the different scales.

“An example is the tip of a robot’s grasper arm in a factory assembly line,” said Su. “It has to be able to be flexible in order to accommodate errors. If it’s too rigid, it doesn’t work correctly.”

Su is honored by the CAREER award, and hopes it will enable him to spend time on another passion: educating the next generation of engineers. Hosting and teaching a two-week summer course for high school students was part of his award proposal.

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/research/blog/2009/04/two_umbc_professors_win_nsf_ca_1.html

Two UMBC Professors Win NSF CAREER Awards

Two UMBC scientists were recently recognized as among the nation’s top young faculty in their fields by the National Science Foundation (NSF), receiving the NSF’s CAREER award, an honor that comes with five years of research funding and support.

Without the expertise of physicists like Gougousi, beloved consumer electronics like iPhones, Blackberries and iPods would drain their batteries in half an hour. “Silicon-based technology has reached its limit,” Gougousi said. “Gallium Arsenide is a possible next-generation material."

“It’s somewhat like putting down paving stones to make a patio; we stack layers of atoms one on top of the other. Our stones and glue are organic molecules and water. Our goal is to understand the interactions of these materials at the atomic level and develop techniques to produce a dependable, good quality film.”

“Show Me the Motion”

“We use virtual reality, or VR, as a tool to design machine systems, especially those with flexible parts,” Su said. Su’s toolkit, known as the VR design environment, adds a crucial third dimension to early-stage design and prototyping.

Su and his students use a virtual reality helmet, interactive glove and a pen-like gizmo known as a haptic device, which lets users feel a virtual prototype. Their goal is designing machine parts capable of precise - sometimes delicate - motions at the different scales.

“An example is the tip of a robot’s grasper arm in a factory assembly line,” said Su. “It has to be able to be flexible in order to accommodate errors. If it’s too rigid, it doesn’t work correctly.”

Su is honored by the CAREER award, and hopes it will enable him to spend time on another passion: educating the next generation of engineers. Hosting and teaching a two-week summer course for high school students was part of his award proposal.

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/research/blog/2009/04/two_umbc_professors_win_nsf_ca_1.html

Taryn Bayles

For Bayles, mentoring and teaching are intertwined and happen simultaneously. Her love of learning is apparent to students, and they are engaged by the personal stories and lessons she shares. Her hands-on activities and practical real-world examples help students better connect with the complex material inherent to chemical engineering. She is always there for students, frequently responding to e-mail questions in the wee hours of the early morning, as her days are filled teaching classes and helping students individually in her office. There is often a line outside her door, and she has never turned a student away.

When it comes to scholarship, Bayles focuses in the area of engineering education. She served as principal investigator on three National Science Foundation grants (STEP, CSEMS and S-STEM), which were focused on undergraduates and support for retention, which included mentoring. Bayles personally mentored a cohort of undergraduates as part of the research study. In addition, in order to disseminate high school curricula, Bayles acts a mentor and coach to teachers in numerous high schools in Maryland and Virginia. Because of her work with local schools, more students are encouraged by their high school technology education teachers to pursue engineering at UMBC.

Bayles honors include the IEEE Real World Engineering Project Award (2008), ASEE ERM Apprentice Faculty Award (2004), Professor of the Year Award (2004) and (Meyerhoff) Mentor of the Year (2003).

Bayles earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a M.S. in Chemical Engineering, M.S. in Petroleum Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
 

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/newsevents/Awards2009/bayles.html

Taryn Bayles

For Bayles, mentoring and teaching are intertwined and happen simultaneously. Her love of learning is apparent to students, and they are engaged by the personal stories and lessons she shares. Her hands-on activities and practical real-world examples help students better connect with the complex material inherent to chemical engineering. She is always there for students, frequently responding to e-mail questions in the wee hours of the early morning, as her days are filled teaching classes and helping students individually in her office. There is often a line outside her door, and she has never turned a student away.

When it comes to scholarship, Bayles focuses in the area of engineering education. She served as principal investigator on three National Science Foundation grants (STEP, CSEMS and S-STEM), which were focused on undergraduates and support for retention, which included mentoring. Bayles personally mentored a cohort of undergraduates as part of the research study. In addition, in order to disseminate high school curricula, Bayles acts a mentor and coach to teachers in numerous high schools in Maryland and Virginia. Because of her work with local schools, more students are encouraged by their high school technology education teachers to pursue engineering at UMBC.

Bayles honors include the IEEE Real World Engineering Project Award (2008), ASEE ERM Apprentice Faculty Award (2004), Professor of the Year Award (2004) and (Meyerhoff) Mentor of the Year (2003).

Bayles earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a M.S. in Chemical Engineering, M.S. in Petroleum Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
 

Original Source: www.umbc.edu/newsevents/Awards2009/bayles.html