UMBC produces more black M.D., PhDs than any other school
August 6, 2021 by Sarah HansenAs a trifecta of crises upended life in 2020, the need for a diverse scientific and medical community grew ever more clear. George Floyd’s murder elicited worldwide protests against racial injustice. COVID-19 affected all of our lives and had an outsize impact on Black and brown communities. And COVID-19’s economic fallout only exacerbated extreme wealth inequality.
At the same time, while some Black and brown people were reluctant to take the vaccine because of a negative history with the medical establishment, there was no one better than
Kizzmekia Corbett ’08, M16, biological sciences and sociology, to reach out to “vaccine inquisitive” folks, as she describes them. Corbett rose to fame in 2020 as the lead of the NIH team developing the Moderna vaccine and as the first Black woman in the world to create a vaccine.
Representation matters
It is in this context that UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Peter Henderson, senior advisor to the president, published their latest article in Issues in Science and Technology, “Nothing succeeds like success,” which addresses the persistent and urgent need to diversify the group of professionals in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine).
“When we have greater diversity of representation, we also have greater diversity of information, knowledge, lived experience, and perspectives—each of which enhances discovery and innovation,” Hrabowski and Henderson write. “When the science and engineering community looks like the United States, we find greater trust in and support for that community across groups in the population.”
The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC, and its more than a dozen replications elsewhere, have made great strides in supporting the success of underrepresented students in STEMM. Hrabowski and Henderson argue that the U.S. should frame the need for a diverse scientific workforce as a national priority and invest in it accordingly. Programs like the Meyerhoff Scholars that have proven their ability to move the needle, they write, should be short-listed for that investment, because “nothing succeeds like success.”
Impressive outcomes
“According to NSF data, UMBC is the number one baccalaureate institution for African American undergraduates who go on to earn Ph.D.s in the natural sciences and engineering, as well as doctorates in the life sciences, mathematics, and computer science,” Hrabowski and Henderson report. And, “according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, UMBC is the number one baccalaureate institution for African American undergraduates who go on to earn M.D./Ph.D.s.”
At the same time, “Over the past 30 years, our six-year completion rate [at UMBC for all students] has doubled, and the gap in completion rates between white and Black students has disappeared,” they write.
At UMBC, more than 1,400 undergraduate Meyerhoff Scholars, all of whom are committed to diversity in STEMM, have earned their undergraduate degrees. More than 800 of those have earned advanced degrees, and 300 more are currently completing graduate programs at top institutions across the country.
Meyerhoff Scholars at an annual dinner. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
A role model
And yet, this powerful example of progress exists in a nation that has seen minimal growth, and, in some fields, a backslide in minority participation in STEMM in the last decade, Hrabowski and Henderson explain. But programs like Meyerhoff have shown that big change is possible, and how to make it happen.
For example, for over 30 years the program has offered academic, social, and financial support. UMBC instructors have also invested time in completing significant course redesigns that shift the focus from “weeding out” to promoting success, and end up helping all students. More recently, an increased focus on faculty diversity has taken shape and begun to have an impact. Those efforts have led to impressive outcomes and a profound culture shift.
The Meyerhoff Scholars program has inspired several other student success initiatives at UMBC that offer various forms of support for students, including a cohort model that enhances a sense of belonging. For example, STEM BUILD is an NIH-funded program designed to help diversify the biomedical sciences. Programs in other fields, such as the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars and the Linehan Artist Scholars, also follow some of the same principles.
Other institutions have taken note. Programs at Pennsylvania State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have replicated the principles of the Meyerhoff Scholars with great success. UC San Diego and UC Berkeley have begun their own replication efforts. And programs at other institutions with similar principles, such as University of Florida and the historically Black Howard University, have also seen dramatic change in their graduation rates for underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and math.
A student conducts research at UC San Diego, which launched a replication of the Meyerhoff Scholars, called the Pathways to STEM (PATHS), in 2019. Photo by UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, CC-BY-2.0 license.
Investing in the future
In early 2021, a group of scientists wrote in Science recommending the formation of a new National Science and Engineering Diversity Initiative (NSEDI). They suggested NSEDI should allocate $10 billion per year for several years to improve diversity in science. “These and any other funds that target increasing diversity should be allocated judiciously,” Hrabowski and Henderson argue. “Financial resources should flow to institutions that most successfully contribute to greater diversity—regardless of institutional type.”
In the end, “producing scientists is about more than increasing the numbers. It is about changing attitudes and transforming the lives of people,” Hrabowski and Henderson write. “It is about showing our society what is possible when we invest in the talent of all our youth.”
As the pandemic, widening economic inequality, and rising demands for racial justice demonstrate, there is still much work to be done. “The message is clear,” Hrabowski and Henderson declare. “Investing in young people, replicating best practices of effective programs, and committing substantially more money to support Black and minority scientists can indeed move the needle and also tackle fundamental scientific and public health problems for humankind.”
Banner image: Scores of Meyerhoff Scholar alumni and current students with President Hrabowski (seated front, left) and Robert Meyerhoff (seated front, right). Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Learn more about the Meyerhoff Scholars Program Ripple Effect.
- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
Persistent. Innovative. Determined. These are the words UMBC’s commencement speakers returned to again and again to describe the Class of 2021. And despite a year of challenges—missing family and friends, technological frustrations, life lived through the computer screen—one of the resounding themes of this year’s Commencement ceremonies was gratitude.
Addressing this year’s graduates,
President Freeman Hrabowski reflected on his life and shared some wisdom learned throughout the years.
Screenshot from UMBC’s 2021 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony
“The longer I live, the more I realize there’s nothing more important than our family and our friends. We have to take the time to say ‘thank you’ because we never make it to any point of achievement alone,” he says. “There are always people helping us out.”
Virtual ceremony, tangible spirit
This spring’s ceremonies were held online in deference to the health and safety of the campus community. While the festivities were virtual, the spirit was very tangible. Students had the opportunity to come to campus for professional on-site graduation photos. Some even ran into local celebrity, Officer Chip, the campus comfort dog.
Jessica Ma ‘21, mechanical engineering, poses with Chip during on-campus photos.
Graduate Student Association president
Samantha Fries ‘18, psychology, and M.A. ‘21, applied sociology, shared in her commencement remarks that despite the challenges of the past year, there have been remarkable acts of kindness.
“This magnificent outpouring of love and empathy has been demonstrated all across all the world but I’m most proud to say that I’ve seen it shown exceptionally and persistently by the students, staff, and faculty here at UMBC,” said Fries. “Faculty restructured their courses to provide maximum flexibility. Staff worked long hours developing new ways to serve students and help them succeed online. Students created virtual networks to stay connected with one other and to provide much-needed support during a time where we all felt more isolated than ever before.”
Inspired by each other
Students relied on video chats, Discord channels, and the tried and true telephone to stay connected this past year. Even if they couldn’t see each other in person, Retrievers are still grateful for the friendships that persevered and the memories they made.
“A lot of people helped me feel comfortable and enjoy my moments at UMBC,” says
Billy Harold Kayim Tchuem ‘21, biochemistry. “The list is very long, but I just want to tell them ‘thank you’ for making this a very exciting journey and I hope we can all look back at these years and be able to appreciate how amazing they were.”
As part of her valedictorian speech, Katie Poteet ‘21, global studies and political science, described how UMBC’s inclusive nature and diverse culture shape the environment and help students build relationships.
“UMBC is unique, creative, and diverse. There’s something in each of us that others can learn from and be inspired by,” says Poteet, who is a first-generation college graduate.
Poteet on campus in fall 2020.
Coming to UMBC as part of a
fifth-generation farming family from rural Maryland, Poteet embraced the international opportunities afforded to her, such as a trip to Ghana as part of UMBC’s Global Brigades program. After graduation, she will attend the University of Cambridge, in England, to pursue a master of philosophy focusing on educational equity for women and girls in the Arab world.
“Because we are all so diverse, this graduation means something different to each of us,” she shared, “but it also marks the collective success and excellence of our community.”
Building the world they want to see
Addressing his fellow graduates as co-valedictorian,
Jordan Troutman ’21, M29, computer science and mathematics, emphasized the power of students recognizing themselves as agents of change.
“I believe in a world where the leaders in communities and organizations fully represent the populations they serve. We must see things for what they are, but even more, for what they can be,” says Troutman. “We have the ability to mobilize, find solutions, and challenge expectations. It doesn’t always take a massive crowd of people to do so, sometimes it only takes one person. Sometimes that person will be you.”
Troutman on campus this spring.
Troutman also received a prestigious
Knight-Hennesy Scholarship, the first in UMBC’s history. He’ll begin a computer science Ph.D. at Stanford University in the fall, continuing his algorithmic fairness research.
One of this year’s honorary degree recipients, Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute, also spoke of taking action to make a better world. She emboldened the Class of 2021 to lead the charge, no matter how uncomfortable the journey might be.
“So, maybe a bit more discomfort is what the world needs from you because we’re relying on you to show us the path forward,” said Wartell.
Looking ahead
Commencement is a transition point—the end of one journey and the start of another.
Victoria D’Souza, Ph.D. ‘02, biochemistry, knows it may not always be easy, but this class is uniquely qualified to face the challenges that come before them.
As the graduate honorary degree recipient, D’Souza expressed her confidence in these students, asserting that “if there’s anything this class of 2021 can teach us, it’s that you’re resilient. And if you put your mind to it, no challenge is insurmountable.”
A student takes graduation photos on campus.
Christopher P. Austin, CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering, undergraduate ceremony honorary degree recipient, echoed these sentiments.
“The world needs you not only to seek change, but to drive it,” said Austin. “Life is not a dress rehearsal, as one of my musical colleagues once put it. Live by these truths.”
But no matter how far Retrievers may go on their journeys, UMBC will always be home, says Fries. She shared, “Let us not think of this as the ending of a chapter, but rather the beginning of the next book in the series of our lives.”
Read more stories about the Class of 2021 on UMBC News. Full recordings of this year’s virtual ceremonies can be found on the Commencement site, along with social shareables, a virtual True Grit, and a photo booth. Help us celebrate our graduates by using #UMBCgrad on social media.
Banner image: Two of this year’s graduates stop for a selfie during on-campus photos. Photos by Marlayna Demond ‘11 unless otherwise noted.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
Jordan Troutman ’21, M29, computer science and
mathematics, first discovered algorithmic fairness during a summer
research program at Rutgers University after his first year at UMBC. The
field focuses on how computer algorithms, such as those responsible for
facial recognition or the content in our social media feeds, can foster
fairness or unfairness. The effects include anything from attempting to
identify someone who committed a crime to curating the content we see
in ways that influence how we think about others.
“Because these algorithmic systems are being used to make a lot of
life-changing decisions,” Troutman says, “now we have to make sure that
the tools and technologies we’re developing have some type of guarantees
or safeguards to make sure that they don’t have unintended consequences
towards minority groups specifically, or just any unintended actions.”
When Troutman returned to UMBC from his summer at Rutgers, he sought out James Foulds, assistant professor of information systems. He’s researched these issues under Foulds’s mentorship for the past three years.
This fall, Troutman will take his research interests to Stanford University, where he’ll pursue a Ph.D. in computer science as UMBC’s first Knight-Hennessy Scholar.
The international Knight-Hennessy Scholarship is open to students
applying to graduate school at Stanford in any area of study. In
addition to funding, it offers robust leadership and
community-development training. Troutman was selected as exemplifying
the scholarship’s core values: independence of thought, purposeful
leadership, and civic mindedness.
Socially-minded scholarship
In the 2019 – 2020 academic year, Troutman represented the student perspective as a voting member of the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC),
which establishes policies for every college in the state. At UMBC,
Troutman took on leadership roles in the Student Government Association
(SGA), the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE), and as a
teaching assistant and tutor supporting fellow students. In 2020, he received another prestigious honor, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Jordan
Troutman, left, and Dan Barnhart, former director of The Commons and
student life at UMBC, who recommended Troutman apply for the MHEC
position.
Troutman is a Meyerhoff Scholar and a member of the Honors College,
and he’s one of two UMBC valedictorians for 2021. In addition to
Rutgers, he’s conducted summer research at the University of California,
Berkeley and in the Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics
(FATE) research group at Microsoft. Troutman has also been involved with
UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life (CDCL), and he counts its
director, David Hoffman, among his mentors.
“Jordan embodies the kind of creativity that transcends disciplinary
boundaries, and has found dazzling ways to weave his social concerns
into his scholarship,” Hoffman shares. “I’m confident he will thrive in
the Knight-Hennessy program, and that we will have many more occasions
to celebrate his civic contributions.”
Participating in leadership has also given Troutman the chance to get
to know other leaders. His experience with MHEC demonstrated what true
leadership looks like. “It’s really powerful to see how—when you are
passionate about something, and you care about the people, and not the
power or the position—you can do good work and effect good change.”
From intention to impact
With the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, as well as a highly competitive
Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation,
Troutman will have the freedom to pursue research of his choice at
Stanford. He values the opportunity to be creative in his approach and
thinks of his research as “computational social
sciences”—interdisciplinary by definition. His computer science and math
courses have prepared him for the work; so have courses in the liberal
arts and his experiences with campus engagement.
Elective courses in philosophy “helped me understand broadly how to
articulate these non-quantitative concepts,” such as fairness, Troutman
says. A particular Honors College course about how the media uses faces
and how we internalize what the faces represent stuck with him.
Social media algorithms “are everywhere. So if these algorithms are
unfair in any way, then the way we’re consuming this media may not
necessarily be representative of the world we live in,” Troutman says.
“I think that’s a super important problem, and because I’ve taken these
other classes, it’s given me a broader context of how important this
problem is and has reaffirmed my interest in doing this kind of
research.”
Jordan Troutman, far left, attends a lab meeting in fall 2019 with James Foulds (right rear, green shirt) and his peers.
Troutman is looking forward to collaborating with the other
Knight-Hennessy Scholars on some of these big ideas. He also appreciates
the leadership training offered through the program, which he sees as
being about “trying to figure out how to be a well-intentioned person,
and then making really good work out of what your intentions are for the
world.”
Supportive community
Troutman shares that several UMBC experiences were instrumental in
helping him build his confidence and understand the powerful difference
he can make.
Roles in SGA and participating in UMBC’s STRiVE student leadership
retreat and Alternative Spring Break “helped me understand my own sense
of agency and my ability to make an impact,” Troutman says. He realized
that solving massive, intimidating problems often starts with a single
person, and says, “Learning that has just made me believe that I
literally could do anything.”
The Meyerhoff Scholars Program helped him internalize some of the
same ideas. “Meyerhoff gave me this idea that you can really make a
change in your life,” Troutman says. “You can be whoever you want to be.
You just have to be active about it and to believe in yourself and use
the support and community around you to get where you want to be.”
NSBE also played a role in Troutman’s growth. NSBE “helps students
feel that they belong in science,” he says. “It’s helped to center me
and to help me really understand what it means to build community. Now, I
hope to go and help to foster more communities at these other places
that I go in my life.”
And Foulds, his research mentor, “has given me really good insight,
perspective, and guidance on how to do research, think about problems,
and especially how to overcome a lot of different pitfalls that happen
in research,” Troutman says.
Jordan Troutman ’21
An ethical leader
All these programs, communities, and experiences are representative
of the culture at UMBC, Troutman says. “You can really be yourself and
be engaged and very intentional with people, and you can be as cool or
kooky as you want—there’s a space for you at UMBC,” he says.
In the Knight-Hennessy application process, students submit a video
addressed to their future Knight-Hennessy cohort. “Jordan’s video
demonstrated how to do a gymnastics flip. Not the kind of thing you’d
expect from a computer scientist—but it was a way to showcase his other
interests and let his personality shine,” April Householder, director of undergraduate research and prestigious scholarships, observes. “Lately, UMBC has been winning very prestigious scholarships, and I think part of the success has to do with encouraging our students to be themselves throughout the process.”
“I think that’s the beauty of this school,” Troutman shares. “You can
be whoever you want. And it’s not just something that you say to get
people in here. It’s like, no, they’re actually backing it up with the
things that they do. It’s really about the students.”
For Troutman, his research, civic engagement, and leadership are all about one thing: making positive social change.
“While Jordan was working in my lab, I was gratified to see his
enthusiasm grow as he realized that his technical research could be a
part of the efforts he was already making toward creating positive
change in our society,” Foulds says. “Jordan is on a path toward
becoming an ethical leader and a thought leader who can help steer the
course of progress in AI technology in the right direction.”
Ultimately, Troutman says, “What I want to do is just help people see their ideas come true.”
Banner image: Jordan Troutman on UMBC’s Academic Row. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
]]>
May 6, 2021 by Sarah Hansen Jordan Troutman ’21, M29, computer science and mathematics, first discovered algorithmic fairness during a summer research program at Rutgers University after...
https://news.umbc.edu/umbcs-jordan-troutman-to-continue-algorithmic-fairness-research-as-knight-hennessy-scholar-at-stanford/
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/101546/guest@my.umbc.edu/3a0046a53695fda2c8ec5d20d20bf374/api/pixel
civic
cnms
coeit
computer
honorscollege
mathstat
meyerhoffscholars
page1
science
undergradresearch
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/groups/coeit
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/original.jpg?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/large.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/medium.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/small.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxsmall.png?1496851664
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/xxlarge.jpg?1620324331
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/xlarge.jpg?1620324331
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/large.jpg?1620324331
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/medium.jpg?1620324331
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/small.jpg?1620324331
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/xsmall.jpg?1620324331
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/546/6239b83903f2385017956e1891c199eb/xxsmall.jpg?1620324331
0
0
false
Thu, 06 May 2021 14:10:26 -0400
Anthony Johnson elected to Amer. Academy of Arts & Sciences
Anthony Johnson, professor of physics and computer
science and electrical engineering, and director of UMBC’s Center for
Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR), has received the
prestigious honor of election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Academy, founded during the American Revolution, “honors
excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to
examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the
world, and”—in the words of its original founders—“work together ‘to
cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest,
honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous
people.’”
Being elected as a member is one of the highest honors a scholar can
receive. The Academy has elected approximately 13,500 members since its
founding in 1780.
The Optical Society also recently recognized Johnson’s more than
40-year career in photonics and his commitment to mentorship with the Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award.
Anthony Johnson. Photo courtesy Anthony Johnson.
High-impact research
Johnson joined the UMBC faculty in 2003 after launching his career at
Bell Labs and then spending eight years at the New Jersey Institute of
Technology. In his research, he works on creative applications for
ultrashort pulse lasers. These have included shrinking cancerous tumors,
optimizing long-distance communications, preventing viruses in seafood
from causing food-borne illness, and developing new nanoscale
materials.
Mentoring emerging researchers has also been a key priority
throughout Johnson’s life and career, and he is well known for his
dedication to students and colleagues. “Anthony understands the role of
nurturing students, helping them to find their inner spring and to
fulfill their potential and their own personal dreams,” says long-time
colleague and friend Stephen Fantone.
Commitment to the next generation
At the same time that Johnson received the Optical Society
recognition, he was also named to the Committee on Diversity and
Inclusion on the Technical Advisory Board of the Institute for
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Having benefited as an
undergraduate from an internship focused on opportunities for people
from underrepresented groups in physics, Johnson has always prioritized
diversifying his field.
“There’s still a lot to be done in our professional societies to
build up and attract both women and minorities,” Johnson told UMBC News
for a story on the Optical Society award. “We still have work to do to expand the opportunities to a broader set of people and bring in new ideas.”
President Freeman Hrabowski is the only other person at UMBC who has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“Anthony Johnson is a true pioneer, and he has had a profound impact
on the world through his research and teaching,” Hrabowski says. “What’s
especially significant is his deep commitment to guiding, supporting,
and inspiring the next generation of scientists. I can think of no one
more deserving of this honor.”
Banner image: Anthony Johnson, right, with students in his laboratory. Photo by UMBC.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
]]>
April 22, 2021 by Sarah Hansen Anthony Johnson, professor of physics and computer science and electrical engineering, and director of UMBC’s Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research...
https://news.umbc.edu/umbcs-anthony-johnson-pulse-laser-innovator-elected-a-member-of-the-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences/
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/101166/guest@my.umbc.edu/34ec6e9157db9542a57718e4edbe11c8/api/pixel
cnms
coeit
csee
majoraward
page1
physics
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/groups/coeit
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/original.jpg?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/large.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/medium.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/small.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxsmall.png?1496851664
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/xxlarge.jpg?1619118843
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/xlarge.jpg?1619118843
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/large.jpg?1619118843
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/medium.jpg?1619118843
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/small.jpg?1619118843
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/xsmall.jpg?1619118843
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/101/166/21868400b454ec59758f011b7d98f289/xxsmall.jpg?1619118843
0
0
false
Thu, 22 Apr 2021 15:14:12 -0400
UMBC offers new Research Experiences for Undergraduates
programs available in smart computing, big data
March 25, 2021 by UMBC News Staff
Starting out at UMBC, Meyerhoff Scholar Timothy Potteiger
wasn’t certain what direction he wanted to take. However, he benefited
from UMBC programs that brought the world to his doorstep, inviting
universities to pitch him their summer research experiences. One
conversation with Washington State University particularly resonated.
They spoke about researching smart home sensor technologies to help
improve the daily lives of older adults and people with disabilities.
Potteiger ’14, computer engineering, was drawn to that purpose-driven
approach. Little did he know that the program manager for that
undergraduate research experience in 2013, Nirmalya Roy, would soon join UMBC’s faculty and expand research opportunities for even more undergraduates.
Nirmalya Roy
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) are critical for
students like Potteiger. Roy, now associate professor of information
systems at UMBC, is principal investigator leading a new REU in Smart
Computing and Communications funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF). The program is accepting applications through March 31 for this summer from students nationwide.
Potteiger is excited for students to take advantage of this
opportunity. “I know Dr. Roy has a good vision on how to actually impact
society with research,” he shares.
Transformative experience
The program will bring together ten undergraduate students in a paid
10-week, full-time research experience from June 7 to August 13. While
the summer 2021 program will be remote, each student will work closely
with a research group and mentor. They will receive guidance from Roy
and co-PI Dmitri Perkins, as well as other information systems and computer science and electrical engineering (CSEE) faculty.
In the final week, the students will have a chance to present their
research through UMBC’s popular Summer Undergraduate Research Fest. They
will also have the opportunity to develop peer-reviewed articles and
continue their research throughout the year with faculty.
“The idea of this experience is not only to give them exposure to
hands-on research problems, but to also help undergraduates with
professional development,” says Roy. “Developing a peer network and
encouraging them to build confidence talking with professors and
researchers in their field will be important for their careers.”
Real-world applications
One REU project will tackle privacy protection in COVID-19 contact tracing programs, while another will study a chatbox method for studying cryptocurrency. Roy will also give students the chance to optimize smart home sensors for seniors or work on the FloodBot project,
a collaboration with nearby Ellicott City to create an early flood
warning system after a 2018 flash flood caused catastrophic damage.
Sensors placed in Ellicott City through the FloodBot project. Photo courtesy of Nirmalya Roy.
Students can also work with Perkins, a CSEE professor, on research
into wireless devices capable of “situational awareness,” the ability to
switch from one frequency to the next along a limited radio spectrum
highway. The interdisciplinary project is crucial to staving off what
some experts fear is a looming, massive traffic jam for wireless devices
globally.
“The hallmarks of all our projects is that they have public impact,” says Vandana Janeja, chair of information systems.
Vandana Janeja
Expanding opportunity
Providing undergraduates with real, hands-on research experiences
resonates personally with Perkins. He grew up in a no stop-light town in
Mississippi and attended Tuskegee University, which had well-regarded
academic programs but more limited lab research opportunities at the
time. Perkins was able to gain research experience in a broader range of
areas by participating in REUs at two other universities.
Dmitri Perkins. Photo courtesy of Perkins.
Recognizing that many students come from similar backgrounds where
research opportunities may be rare, the REU specifically encourages
applicants from community colleges and groups traditionally
underrepresented in the STEM fields.
“With students from traditionally underserved communities, there is
often some apprehension or insecurity about pursuing a career in
research,” Perkins says. “Once students complete their UMBC summer
experience, they will have more information, more understanding of what
research looks like, and the knowledge that they can actually do this.”
Unique online experience
Jianwu Wang has also joined the wave of faculty from
UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT)
launching new REUs. Wang is assistant professor of data science and
director of the Big Data Analytics Lab. With co-PI Matthias Gobbert, professor of mathematics, he’s just received NSF funding to launch an online interdisciplinary Big Data REU.
Jianwu Wang
They will provide an 8-week summer online research experience to
undergraduates from across the country. Students will explore “how to
utilize modern data science and high-performance computing techniques to
process and analyze big data in many science and engineering
disciplines,” Wang explains. This includes fields ranging from
atmospheric science to mechanical engineering to medicine.
“We’ve designed the program to be purely online so it is particularly
useful for students in remote areas or who might have health concerns
or concerns about travel,” says Wang. “We also want to make sure it is
accessible to students with family responsibilities and disabilities,
who may not be able to leave their home for an extended period of time.”
Big data research
This program will combine formal instruction, team-based research,
and experience disseminating that research. The goal is to ignite
students’ interest in “how data science and high-performance computing
techniques could help the scientific discovery process” while giving
them essential hands-on research skills and preparing them for the
workforce.
Students will learn how to identify research questions and conduct
research using advanced cyberinfrastructure software technologies and
hardware resources. Tentative research themes for summer 2021 research
projects include big data and machine learning techniques for sea ice
prediction and for medical image classification.
The summer 2021 program will run June 7 through July 31. Applications are due by April 15, 2021,
and the organizers invite undergraduates in all STEM fields to apply.
Students who complete the fully-funded program will also be eligible for
additional funds to present their research at conferences around the
country.
Roy and Wang credit COEIT for encouraging their efforts to launch new REUs. Erin Lavik,
associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of
chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, describes the new
programs as “fantastic.” She shares, “This is an exciting chance to
connect undergraduates from across the country with unique UMBC student
research experiences and our outstanding, innovative faculty.”
Graduate student Adam Day (left) works with Erin Lavik (right) in her lab, 2017.
Featured image: Nirmalya Roy with a student in 2018. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC unless otherwise noted.
Article written by Nick Ford for UMBC News.
###
- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
]]>
March 25, 2021 by UMBC News Staff Starting out at UMBC, Meyerhoff Scholar Timothy Potteiger wasn’t certain what direction he wanted to take. However, he benefited from UMBC programs that...
https://news.umbc.edu/umbc-offers-new-research-experiences-for-undergraduates-in-smart-computing-big-data/
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/100241/guest@my.umbc.edu/f0ae8043a8211c70998378b92e1f2968/api/pixel
coeit
csee
is
mathstat
page1
undergradresearch
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://beta.my.umbc.edu/groups/coeit
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/original.jpg?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xlarge.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/large.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/medium.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/small.png?1496851664
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xsmall.png?1496851664
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/000/095/c2a784a6cda726ef5f845e9192adb64b/xxsmall.png?1496851664
College of Engineering and Information Technology
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/xxlarge.jpg?1616693802
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/xlarge.jpg?1616693802
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/large.jpg?1616693802
https://assets4-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/medium.jpg?1616693802
https://assets3-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/small.jpg?1616693802
https://assets1-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/xsmall.jpg?1616693802
https://assets2-beta.my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/100/241/e7b1d12cd1c20febc28843e08405db23/xxsmall.jpg?1616693802
0
0
false
Thu, 25 Mar 2021 13:38:38 -0400
UMBC entrepreneurs receive record-number of MIPS awards
February 11, 2021 by UMBC News Staff
Six UMBC faculty members have just received grants from the Maryland
Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program to develop new technologies with
potential to grow the state's economy. This is UMBC's largest number of
winning proposals within a single proposal round since MIPS began in
1987.
The program connects University System of Maryland (USM) faculty and
students with Maryland businesses. UMBC's latest MIPS grantees include
computer science and electrical engineering faculty Tim Oates, Chein-I Chang, and Anupam Joshi; Soobum Lee, mechanical engineering; Dipanjan Pan, chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering; and Vikram Vakharia, marine biotechnology. Among their industry partners are UMBC alumni entrepreneurs who are building businesses in Maryland.
Advances in aquaculture technology
Vakharia partnered with Mary Larkin, founder and CEO of Gaskiya Diagnostics,
on a high-impact aquaculture project. The pair worked to develop a
proposal for rapid, low-cost, easy-to-use diagnostic tests to protect
and support aqua-farm production.
Larkin received her Ph.D. in marine biotechnology from UMBC in 2018.
She was supported by research funding through MIPS as a graduate student
at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology. She now serves
as an industry partner through the program.
Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology
According to Larkin, "Low-cost, on-site tests enable aqua-farms to
rapidly identify pathogens, allowing them to monitor disease and take
actions to protect their crop." Gaskiya's initial focus for this testing
is Whiteleg shrimp production facilities, which have an average of more
than $4.5 billion in losses annually from disease.
"Farmers need to test their ponds and get instant information so that
they can quickly take action and mitigate disease," says Larkin.
What faster, simpler tests look like
Larkin describes Vakharia as a "perfect match" for her collaborator
on this research. Vakharia's background is in viruses that impact
organisms important to aquaculture, including shrimp.
For this project, Vakharia notes, "I first had to identify the
target. With the target, I can make a protein that Larkin can use to
detect those pathogens in shrimp." He explains, "This protein is a
critical first step in making a non-animal-based binder that detects the
pathogen."
The team plans to incorporate the proteins and binders into a
paper-based test. The test will provide results in minutes, similar to a
pregnancy test.
Aqua-farms. current tests for similar pathogens must be done through a
lab. This results in an elongated turn-around time and average cost of
$50 per sample. Gaskiya Diagnostics hopes to price the new diagnostic
test at $5 to $10. The test results will be available in as quickly as
10 minutes. No expertise or additional equipment are required to perform
or interpret the results.
Next generation cybersecurity
Joshi, professor and chair of computer science and electrical
engineering, received a MIPS grant for a cybersecurity collaboration
with the startup CyDeploy.
They are developing a platform that automates the quality assurance
process for cybersecurity updates made to IT and "internet of things"
(IoT) devices like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and health and medical
devices.
CyDeploy CEO Tina Williams-Koroma '02, computer
science, presented Joshi with the idea to develop a
"cybersecurity-driven change management system." The technology is based
in and leverages the use of artificial intelligence and machine
learning to create a cloud-based replica of a company's systems.
Tina Williams-Koroma. Photo courtesy of Williams-Koroma
From prototype to launch
Williams-Koroma and Joshi's group at UMBC developed a conceptual
prototype. It shows the infrastructure and technology that would make
the system feasible, combining off-the-shelf tools with novel research.
"Increasingly, the government is now beginning to mandate security
requirements around IoT devices. The longer-term vision that CyDeploy
has is capturing the state of these systems, virtually recreating them
and then running the security changes against virtual versions to see
how the changes would affect those systems," Joshi adds.
Anupam Joshi
Williams-Koroma, who is also an adjunct instructor at UMBC, projects
that the initial development of the platform will be complete in late
spring 2021. They anticipate launching a free pilot version for
businesses to test their IT systems. IoT pilots will come in a later
phase.
Funding that matters
Joseph Naft, director of the MIPS program, is excited about the
tremendous potential of these projects. The long-term vision is creating
additional high-quality jobs in Maryland. "We do this," he says, "by
bringing the expertise of faculty and students to bear on technology
issues in product development for companies within the state."
Since its inception, the MIPS grant program has had a $42 billion
economic impact on the state of Maryland and has created nearly 22,000
jobs. UMBC's incredibly strong results "speak well to the engagement of
UMBC's faculty with commercially viable products and technologies," says
Naft.
Dean Drake, associate vice president for research at
UMBC, credits these results to the "expansive pool of talent" at UMBC
and across all of the University System of Maryland.
"Helping our industry partners solve their challenges is a great
strength of both UMBC and USM institutions more broadly," says Drake.
"Our talented faculty, students, staff, and alumni have expertise in
every discipline that's out there."
These results also demonstrate UMBC's "interest in working with
c'ompanies in the state" for the benefit of all Marylanders, Naft notes,
and UMBC's robust potential for future growth.
Banner image: IMET entrance. All photos by Marlayna Demond ' 11 unless otherwise noted.
Article by Adriana Fraser for UMBC News.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
The National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students has named UMBC’s Danyelle Tauryce Ireland
a 2021 Transfer Champion Rising Star. The award honors her years
mentoring and advocating for UMBC transfer students in information
technology and engineering fields.
Ireland is associate director of the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT). She is also a research assistant professor in the Engineering and Computing Education Program within UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT).
“My professional background has been in K-12 education and some of my
first experiences supporting students in higher education have been
with the Transfer Scholars in IT and Engineering (T-SITE) program at
UMBC,” says Ireland. “I identify as an educational scholar-practitioner,
so to be recognized for my impact in service of students, and to have a
former T-SITE Scholar contribute to the nomination process, was
especially validating.”
Danyelle Ireland
Partnership to support students
Ireland arrived at UMBC in 2016 with a Ph.D. in educational
psychology from Howard University, having focused her research on the
achievement motivation and retention of Black undergraduate women in
computing fields. At UMBC, she began working on a new five-year National
Science Foundation grant to examine pathways for computing and
engineering students who transferred to UMBC from other institutions.
This was her first opportunity to work specifically on the needs and
experiences of transfer students, grounded in her expertise on computing
and engineering education, culturally responsive pedagogy, academic
motivation, and social identity.
“The grant proposal was led by my predecessor, Susan Martin, but was
awarded after she left UMBC and began the same day I started in the
role, so I got to make this project my own,” Ireland says.
Ireland led the integration and implementation of two nationally
validated survey instruments, examining pre- and post-transfer student
success. She also worked with campus partners to establish
transfer-focused interventions in COEIT.
Danyelle Ireland (second from right) with CWIT students in February 2020.
“I quickly learned a tremendous amount about the institutional
structures that facilitate successful student supports. I also learned
the benefit of good relationships with colleagues to carry out this
important work,” she says.
Ireland collaborated closely with six area community colleges and the
team was granted an additional year to implement their findings at
UMBC. Always focused on the student experience, she is particularly
eager to institutionalize UMBC’s enhanced academic advising approach for
COEIT transfer students. She has also explored how COVID-19 has
impacted faculty and staff participants in the transfer learning
community.
Visibility for the work
In a time full of challenges, Ireland says, “Receiving this award
this year was a nice boost to my morale and motivation in my role.” In
addition to honoring her work, the award brings greater visibility to
UMBC’s transfer student population and to how the university can most
effectively support their success.
“I’m really excited about how we can leverage all of the lessons and
experiences gained through CWIT’s work around transfer success in
computing and engineering,” says Ireland. “The response from colleagues
and partners committed to supporting UMBC transfer students has been so
encouraging.”
Featured image: Danyelle Ireland, associate director of CWIT and
research assistant professor, with CWIT students. All photos by Marlayna
Demond ’11 for UMBC, February 2020.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
As we prepare to close the book on 2020, we want to take a look back
at some of UMBC’s most important chapters from this past year. Here are
our top 20 top memories from 2020:
COVID-19 vaccine
Kizzmekia Corbett ’08, M16, biological sciences, has served as scientific lead for the NIAID team that developed the NIH-Moderna vaccine against COVID-19. President Freeman Hrabowski and his wife Jackie both participated in the NIH-Moderna vaccine trial, showing what leadership looks like in action. In addition, Kaitlyn Sadtler ’11, biological sciences, is leading an NIH study to estimate how many people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19, including asymptomatic people.
UMBC’s second Rhodes Scholar
An honor so nice, we did it twice! Sam Patterson ’21, M29, is now the second student in UMBC history to receive a Rhodes Scholarship.
Only 32 American students are awarded the prestigious scholarship each
year, which supports graduate study at the University of Oxford. Among
other prestigious scholarships earned by UMBC students, Jordan Troutman ’21, M29, computer science and mathematics; Dominique Brooks ’21, M29, biological sciences; and Olumide Fagboyegun ’21, M29, biochemistry, were all named Barry Goldwater Scholars.
Sam Patterson ’21. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.
Preparing for Fall 2020
The cost to attend UMBC was lowered by 22 percent for in-state undergraduate students in fall 2020 to help mitigate the financial challenges caused by the global pandemic. Hundreds of faculty
also spent the summer training to create engaging, high-quality virtual
classroom experiences for students through a program called PIVOT.
Record Fulbright Awards
UMBC was officially named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution
in early 2020. Over 43 percent of UMBC’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program
applicants earned awards last year. Eleven recent UMBC alumni are
recipients of 2020 – 2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards, including seven from UMBC’s Class of 2020.
Inclusive excellence
Jasmine A. Lee, director of inclusive excellence in UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs, now also leads UMBC’s new Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion and Belonging (i3B). Ariana Wright Arnold joined UMBC as director of the new Office of Equity and Inclusion, which launched an Inclusion Council made up of faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Basketball fans celebrate this season
Through strict adherence to COVID-19 safety guidelines, UMBC men’s and women’s basketball
were both able to return to play in winter 2020. Although current
precautions prevent fans from attending games, #RetrieverNation is still
showing up however they can for our teams.
We have liftoff!
UMBC’s Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) was named the Small Satellite Mission of the Year by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The
HARP team and colleagues from SDL in Utah, with family members, on the
morning of the rocket launch (11/2/19). Photo by Sarah Hansen.
New books in the news
Among the many books published by UMBC faculty this year, Elizabeth Patton, media and communications studies, explored how Americans think about the modern home office and why in Easy Living: The Rise of the Home Office. Her article about gender and working from home has been read 150,000 times through CNN, Fast Company, and other news outlets. Marjoleine Kars, history, wrote about a massive rebellion of enslaved people in Berbice in the 1700s in her new bookBlood On The River, featured as one of NPR’s best books of 2020.
Student-led events
Students kept our campus community engaged virtually with HackUMBC and TEDxUMBC, both held fully online and drawing huge audiences.
Faculty COVID-19 research connects with the public
Zoë McLaren, public policy, published several articles explaining COVID-19 testing and clinical trials, including a piece on the winter surge in COVID-19 cases. Katherine Seley-Radtke, chemistry and biochemistry, and colleagues received a Fast Grant to study antivirals’ effectiveness against COVID-19. Seley-Radtke’s articles explaining drugs used to treat COVID-19 have been read more than one million times.
Lucy Wilson, emergency health services, joined an interdisciplinary team of experts in developing “The Roadmap to Recovery: A Public Health Guide for Governors.” A team of researchers led by Charissa Cheah, psychology, was one of the first to receive an NSF Rapid Response Research award on COVID-19, to examine an increase in racism and discrimination experienced by Chinese Americans during the pandemic.
Cyber Dawgs take first place
The UMBC Cyber Dawgs took first place in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which was held virtually.
Six feet = seven squirrels
Still having a hard time visualizing
how far apart six feet is when social distancing? We pride ourselves on
innovation at UMBC, and that’s how we came up with the perfect example:
six feet apart is the same as seven squirrels. Researchers have not yet
confirmed if this is before or after they ate the fries stolen from
your lunch.
Artists get creative
Confronted with a global pandemic, UMBC alumni artists got creative
in finding ways to share their work with the world. Comedians,
photographers, writers, and more proved that the show must go on, and
that art can help make people make it through difficult times.
Inclusive language event with global reach
UMBC hosted “The Evolving World of Inclusive Language”
online in June. Nearly 800 people from across the U.S. and around the
world registered for the day-long event, and 250-300 participants joined
each session. The event was organized by Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque of UMBC’s Office of Institutional Advancement, funded by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
Lumbee archives
Ashley Minner, American studies, is working with a fellow Lumbee scholar to bring the Lumbee history and archives back to the community. Her work has been featured this year by the Baltimore Sun, Smithsonian, and others.
Essential contributions of women in science
Evangeline Rose, Ph.D. ’20, biological sciences; Karan Odom, Ph.D. ’16, biological sciences; and Kevin Omland, biological sciences, wrote about the key role women have played in revolutionizing our understanding of female bird song, and the importance of diversity in scientific research.
First Generation Network
UMBC faculty and staff who are first-generation college graduates
came together to develop the First Generation Network, dedicated to
supporting UMBC’s first-gen students, approximately 25 percent of our student body.
Happy birthday, Chip!
We were thrilled for any reason to celebrate in 2020, and the first birthday
of our best girl Chip was one of our favorites. She’ll accept IOUs for
any in-person pets you’d like to give her when we’re back on campus.
U.S. News rankings: teaching, innovation
UMBC has advanced to #11 for undergraduate teaching and holds the #9
position on the list of most innovative schools in the nation in the
2021 U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges rankings.
Reaching the finish line
With classes predominantly online this fall, former students who’ve had to pause
their studies re-enrolled at UMBC through the Finish Line initiative.
Roughly a quarter had just one course left to complete, and UMBC celebrated their graduation this month.
We look forward to making new memories with our UMBC family in 2021! Check out these stories and more through UMBC News and UMBC Magazine.
Header image taken by Marlayna Demond ’11 in 2019.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
For some fall 2020 graduates, the day they finish their final class
won’t look much different from any other day of working and studying
from home—they’re saving their celebration for when they snag their
dream job or when it’s safe to throw a party. For others, the occasion
will mark the end of a very long road, so some proper pomp is
necessary.
Shelissa Kearney ’20, sociology, is one of the
latter students. “I can’t go anywhere right now, but I’m going to
celebrate,” says Kearney, who last took classes at UMBC in 2014. “I’ll
have a nice dinner with my husband and my son. It’s nice to see all of
this come to fruition, and I need to acknowledge that.”
To understand Kearney’s commitment to celebration is to know that her
first semester at UMBC was in spring 1997. Kearney graduated from high
school two years early to jump-start her modeling career, but didn’t
want to forgo an education—two of her parents have Ph.D.s, so she knew
the value of a degree.
Shelissa Kearney first attended UMBC in 1997. After some educational starts and stops, she graduates in December 2020.
Photo courtesy of Kearney.
“If I was traveling for work, I would schedule my classes to try to
make it work with some juggling here and there, because I really wanted
to go to school,” Kearney says. But completing her degree with a heavy
work and travel schedule took longer than she’d hoped.
Early on in her studies, Kearney says one of her biology
professors—in an attempt to encourage her to double down
academically—said, “Shelissa, at this pace, you’re going to be 34 before
you graduate.” Kearney laughs, “I’ve clearly passed that mark, but I
finally did it.”
Creating a path to return
It’s standard practice for UMBC to reach out to Retrievers who have
earned at least 60 credits and are in good standing academically, but
not currently enrolled in classes, says Yvette Mozie-Ross
’88, vice provost for enrollment management and planning. The goal is
to encourage them to return to finish the degrees they are so close to
completing. This year, with the rapid move to online learning, students
who paused their education have been able to return in larger numbers
than ever before.
The winter 2020 graduation ceremony will be held virtually, but some graduates look forward an eventual in-person option. Photo of 2018 Commencement by Marlayna Demond ’11.
Of the approximately 120 students who returned to complete their degree (through a program termed Finish Line), roughly a fourth of them only needed one more semester to do so, and will graduate in December 2020.
“Our staff have been energized by our engagement in the Finish Line program,” says Ken Baron,
assistant vice provost for academic advising and student success. “We
love to help students overcome barriers to complete degrees. Many of
these students were close to graduating in the past, so enabling them to
return now, especially during COVID, is particularly meaningful.”
Substantial online class offerings have been the key to students’
return, says Baron. With remote working arrangements becoming more
mainstream in late spring and summer, “many of these students found
themselves in the best possible time to return to college since leaving
UMBC.”
Finding closure in the last class
Some students, like Kearney, needed nearly a full course load to
finalize their degree; others only needed one specific course to get
their diploma. Sam Oh ’20, business technology
administration, was actually able to participate in the spring 2017
graduation ceremony, but needed to retake one requirement to receive his
degree.
After his father had a stroke, Oh wasn’t able to immediately return
to UMBC. In his time away, he began pursuing certifications in Excel and
as a data analyst, becoming familiar with SQL coding. After he
graduates, he’ll apply for jobs as a business or data analyst.
For Oh, retaking Introduction to Management Science online this fall, has been a “do-it-yourself experience, which I love.”
His advice for other students, who might be going through something
similar to him in 2017: “Be honest and inform your current professors in
advance. Based on my personal experience, most of them will be willing
to give you extensions on your assignments or may even exempt whatever
is due at the time based on the circumstances.”
And even though Oh has already had the Commencement experience, he
says, “I will without doubt have a sense of closure after I finish my
final exam next week.”
Overcoming the final obstacle
Steven Heckman is another student only one class shy
of graduation. A computer science major, Heckman was held up by the
final language credit he was completing abroad in summer 2019.
“Unfortunately, I got sick and other things happened that didn’t allow
me to earn a grade I could transfer back to UMBC,” says Heckman.
Stymied by this language requirement, Heckman says he wasn’t
initially eager to return to finish his degree, but his parents
encouraged him to think about how much work he had already completed to
get this far in his studies.
Heckman, left, with the UMBC Game Development Club in spring 2019.
Photo courtesy of Heckman.
The process was more straightforward than he expected.“Coming back to
school now has let me take the class online, and not have to commute,”
says Heckman. Plus, he says, the asynchronous format of Japanese 201—his
final class—is better suited for him as someone with ADD to be able to
review the material at his own pace.
Heckman sees the increased online offerings, along with the detailed
Blackboard calendars and other tools instructors are making use of now,
as essential for reaching students who might not excel in the
traditional lecture hall environment.
Looking back at his years at UMBC, he cites lecturer Kalman Nanes
as particularly forward-thinking in making course resources available
online. Nanes, who taught him linear algebra, took the time to record
and post his lectures for students. “As someone who loses attention
easily, the extra effort Professor Nunes put into his class not only
made it easier for me to learn, but he also made me care about a new
subject.”
Expanding access
Ken Baron agrees with Heckman’s assessment that online accessibility
will benefit the entire campus community. “I believe we have learned
considerably, during a remarkably short period,” says Baron, “how
powerful online courses are regarding the needs of our student
population.”
Whatever life looks like on campus after a vaccine is widely
available, he continues, “we believe our Finish Line students are a
successful case study, clearly demonstrating the need for a mix of
instructional options as we move into the post-COVID era.”
An achievement at any stage
Christopher Lee, a UX content strategist for
Facebook, and a Finish Line student completing his final class at UMBC,
says the chance to participate in class while still engaged in his
professional life has been rewarding.
The perceived stigma of returning to college to finish his degree kept Lee away longer than he planned.
Headshot courtesy of Lee.
“Having been a working professional for seven years at this point,
I’ve spent more time in the ‘real world’ than in undergrad,” he says. “I
understand how the world works in a deeper, more nuanced way. My
experiences inform my perspectives on the topics we discussed in class,
and I’m better equipped to articulate them now.”
As someone who began his academic experience more than a decade ago,
Lee, a psychology major, says it took him too long to return to finish
his degree.
“At first, I believed I would feel like it was a stigma, since it
felt like an achievement I should’ve completed years ago,” he shares.
“Thankfully, I got over that, and focused on the fact that my journey is
uniquely my own, and it likely wouldn’t matter to my professor and
classmates. Turns out, it didn’t.”
“A necessary step”
Shelissa Kearney is now a children’s book author. Her book I Wish,
published in January 2020, focuses on not comparing yourself to others.
As someone who is finishing up a 20-year journey to receive her degree,
Kearney wants to celebrate the value of each person’s unique
experience.
Kearney poses with a copy of her book
I Wish, published in 2020.
Photo courtesy of Kearney.
“For me, this last semester has been a shining star in the dark sky
of this year,” says Kearney. “This has been a really long process, and
it’s my personal goal to finish. I’ve done a lot of things in my life,
but for me, this was a necessary step to complete.”
In addition to her end-of-school celebration, Kearney whole-heartedly
looks forward to attending an in-person graduation ceremony, when it’s
safe to hold one. Since she graduated high school early, she has never
experienced walking across the stage, shaking hands with professors, and
sharing those celebratory moments with family.
“This will be my first one,” says Kearney, “and I definitely plan to be there.”
Banner image: Balloons outside of the UMBC Event Center after the spring 2019 Commencement. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
Data archives from NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information
System (EOSDIS), which collects data from satellites, aircraft, and
ground instruments, currently contain about 31 petabytes (PB) of data.
That’s 31 followed by 15 zeros, or 31 million billion bytes. Within three years, the archives are expected to hold more than 150 PB, and keep adding nearly 50 PB every year.
“Now we have so much raw data. So how do we analyze it? How do we make it useful for the research community?” asks Jianwu Wang,
assistant professor of information systems and affiliated faculty at
UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), a partnership
with NASA.
While Earth scientists are encountering this glut of satellite data,
researchers in computing fields are rapidly increasing the capabilities
of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. At the
same time, there is an increasingly urgent need to better understand
Earth’s systems as they shift due to climate change.
All of these factors drove Wang and his collaborators to find ways to
help researchers access useful information collected by Earth-observing
satellites much faster. A new $1.4 million award from NASA’s Advancing
Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science (ACCESS) program will
make their work possible.
Jianwu Wang. Photo courtesy Jianwu Wang.
Taking computers to cloud school
The ACCESS project focuses specifically on improving how algorithms
process and learn from the data satellites collect about clouds. At any
moment, clouds cover about two-thirds of Earth’s surface, and yet
understanding of their role in global climate is still lacking. Zhibo Zhang, associate professor of physics and a co-PI on the project, and his research group have been working to enhance knowledge about clouds’ role in regulating the global energy balance and precipitation.
To understand how clouds work in the global system, scientists need
the data that instruments orbiting Earth on satellites collect. But the
data needs some analysis before it’s useful. For example, when an
instrument in a satellite looks at the Earth, it can detect things like
brightness and color. But it can’t decide if it’s looking at a cloud or a
clear sky. That’s the job of computer algorithms that scientists apply
to the data after it’s collected.
Clouds can vary greatly in their appearance, so the computer needs to
learn what different kinds of clouds look like. That way it can report
“cloud” when its data meet the definition. That process of teaching the
computer to learn from examples is called “machine learning.”
Zhibo
Zhang and members of his research group. Clockwise from lower left:
Atmospheric physics Ph.D. students Qianqian Song, Chamara Raja, and
Kevin Zheng; Zhibo Zhang; and Olivia Norman ’21, physics. Photo by
Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
To train the computer algorithm, researchers feed the computer data
that’s already labeled as “cloud” or “not-cloud.” Eventually, the
computer learns to tell the difference on its own, and can report
accurately whether an image it’s never seen before is a cloud or not. A
good algorithm can learn to tell the difference between a cloud, smoke,
dust, and other kinds of particles found in the atmosphere.
It’s all connected
One goal of the new project is to generate these training data sets.
At the most basic level, it is somewhat similar to asking humans to
complete captchas asking them to “click the boxes that include clouds,”
but millions of times, and with significant added challenges and
complexity.
For example, clouds cast shadows on each other and interact in other
ways. So when the computer is trying to make a judgment about a given
pixel in an image, it actually needs information about the surrounding
pixels as well. Those interactions can extend far beyond what’s right
next door. When looking at a spot in Maryland, for example, “You don’t
only need to know about Maryland, you need to know about New York,”
Zhang says.
An
image of clouds above Earth collected by the Visible Infrared Imaging
Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument, which sends its data through the
Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Find more images available through EOSDIS. Photo by NASA / VIIRS.
To address this challenge, the team will generate numerical
simulations, as opposed to direct observational data collected by the
satellite, to help define in computer code the ways clouds and other
particles interact with each other in the atmosphere.
Using those complex simulations, “We can know which pixels are
affecting their surroundings or being affected by their surroundings.
That way, we’ll have a totally connected network that we can use to
train the algorithms,” Zhang says. “Even observations cannot tell us
which pixel is affecting which pixel. Only numerical simulations can do
that.”
Decoding the data
Another important part of their work will make it possible to
transfer knowledge between two different categories of instruments. The
first type, active sensors, are extremely accurate but only observe a
very small portion of the sky: All of them together only watch about 10
percent of Earth’s surface. Passive sensors, on the other hand, are a
little less accurate but, combined, look at nearly the whole globe.
Sanjay Purushotham. Photo courtesy Sanjay Purushotham.
“These sensors collect different kinds of data,” and all of it is valuable, says Sanjay Purushotham,
assistant professor of information systems and another co-investigator
on the project. A major challenge for the team is coming up with
algorithms that allow computers to use all of the available data—from
both kinds of sensors—to define clouds and their interactions in ways a
computer can understand.
“You cannot use any off-the-shelf machine learning or deep learning model to solve this problem,” Purushotham says.
The magic of AI
All of this algorithm development takes a lot of resources and human
energy. However, the team is working to automate some parts of the
process. Right now, “It’s always difficult to duplicate an algorithm
designed for one instrument for other, similar instruments, or even for
the same instrument on a different platform,” explains Chenxi Wang, a
co-PI on the project and an assistant research scientist with JCET.
“Even subtle changes in the instrument or the platform’s orbit can cause
the original algorithm to fail.”
“You have to develop almost a brand new algorithm,” C. Wang adds.
“You have to adjust parameters, check the stability of the algorithm,
and do evaluation… You have to do everything again. And that can take
from six months to several years.”
Chenxi Wang. Photo courtesy Chenxi Wang.
C. Wang hopes to help the computer learn to do the translations
itself, based on an understanding of the fundamental physics. All a
human would have to do is give the program certain parameters about the
instrument and the satellite it’s traveling on.
“I think that’s the magic of machine learning and artificial
intelligence,” says C. Wang. “The hope is that instead of years, it will
take only a few days or at most a week. It will save a lot of time and
resources.”
“We’re developing this process so it can be universal and applied to
any instrument,” adds Zhang. “It’ll liberate some scientists from
repeating the same things again and again to fine-tune the algorithms.”
It will also get data to scientists like him much faster. As he notes,
“If you have to wait for many years to get that useful data, it’s harder
to make progress.”
The power of partnership
UMBC’s long-term partnership with NASA has helped make this project
possible. “The special connection between UMBC and NASA through JCET has
definitely prepared us better for this kind of proposal,” Zhang says.
Belay
Demoz, director of JCET and professor of physics at UMBC. UMBC also
maintains two other partnerships with NASA, the Geoplanetary
Heliophysics Institute (GPHI) and the Center for Space Sciences and
Technology (CSST). Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
In addition, a confluence of advances has given fresh impetus to this
kind of work. For one thing, demand for climate data is on the rise,
given the increasing visibility of the climate emergency. “Cloud
observation is a high priority for NASA today. No one knows just how
much clouds are contributing to climate change and other things,” J.
Wang says. “That’s why we chose this topic, because it’s so important to
understand Earth.”
Parallel advances in machine learning and data collection further
fuel the effort. “Even two or three years ago we couldn’t have done
this,” J. Wang reflects.
In the end, though, it comes down to collaboration. Each member of
the team of data scientists and atmospheric physicists brings a unique
perspective and knowledge base.
“We have good synergy among the team members, so we can speak the
same language even though we come from different disciplines,”
Purushotham says. “That helps us understand what the real problems in
the data are, and what innovations we need to solve them.”
Banner image: The VIIRS instrument captured this image of bands of cirrus clouds off the southwest coast of Australia in 2019, which portend intense weather. Photo: NASA.
###- For additional UMBC Science and Technology stories, visit the UMBC News site.
- For additional stories about the UMBC community, visit the UMBC Magazine site.
- For additional COEIT stories, visit the COEIT site.
- For additional COEIT Research Highlights, including Publications Spotlights, visit the COEIT Research pages on the COEIT Dean's Office site.
