Agnik is looking for highly skilled web developers proficient in C# and Javascript at the intern level.

Agnik is a data analytics company located in Columbia, Maryland for distributed, mobile, and embedded environments. Agnik's products are powered by a collection of powerful technologies, including distributed data mining, private and secure multi-party data mining, and mobile and embedded data stream management and mining. Agnik is a leader in the field of data stream mining for distributed environments with a long history in research and development by its co-founders, who include UMBC PRofessor Hillol Kargupta.

Experienced Smart phone App developers for Android and iPhone are also welcome to apply. Familiarity with database management systems will be a strong plus. You need to be eligible to work off-campus.

The position starts immediately. We need to be able to work at least 20 hrs/week and should be able to commute to Columbia, MD. Payment is commensurate with experience. If you are interested then send your resume to Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

Natalie Morningstar, a junior majoring in Computer Engineering, has been awarded a Charlotte Newcombe Foundation Scholarship. The Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation is an independent foundation begun in 1979 by the estate of Mrs. Newcombe, a Philadelphia philanthropist.  Since 1981, the Foundation has provided scholarship funding for mature women students at UMBC.

This fall, Natalie will participate in the "Returning Women Mentor Program," which is a peer mentoring initiative that the Women’s Center at UMBC is introducing to better facilitate productive and ongoing connections among the scholars in their programs.

Natalie is also a CWIT Affiliate and part of the first cohort of Transfer Scholars in IT and Engineering (T-SITE). T-SITE is funded by an NSF-funded S-STEM grant and will serve 30 transfer students as part of the larger CWIT Scholar and Affiliates community through 2017.

When asked how she came to choose computer engineering as a major, Natalie said "Before transferring to UMBC I studied a mix of motion picture film, digital multimedia production and computer science. Both classroom and work experiences helped to expose me to a number of theories and applications, which ultimately lead me to my interest in computer engineering."

With such a broad range of interests, she will have many options for what to do after finishing her computer engineering degree. "Right now I have a broad interest", she reports, "and have not decided which specific field I want to pursue. I really enjoyed my work in signal processing at my summer computer engineering internship at Ventura Solutions, Inc. and I hope to gain exposure to other fields as well so I can narrow my focus."

Mindfulness with Middle School Students!

Our research team is studying whether a mindfulness and yoga program promotes positive outcomes for middle school students. This three-year study in 6 Baltimore City public schools is assessing whether a mindfulness and yoga program helps students cope with stress and reduces their use of alcohol and drugs. We are now in the final year of the study and are collecting data from 7th and 8th graders.

We are looking for individuals to join our research team and help us conduct assessments. Assessments include surveys for students and teachers, brief cognitive tests for students, and physiological measures from students, including blood pressure and lung capacity.

No prior training is required.

Study activities will occur October – December 2013. We are looking for:

• A minimum commitment of 5 hours per week
• Morning availability--most assessments will occur between 8-noon. It would be ideal if you were free Monday, Tuesday, and/or Thursday between 7:30-1.

Several research staff members will travel to schools together to conduct assessments. It’s not necessary to have a car but this would be a big help to the project.

This is a terrific experience if you like working with kids and are interested in yoga/mindfulness or school-based research. You will get training in how to obtain informed consent and how to conduct assessments with urban youth and will receive ongoing supervision and guidance.

IF INTERESTED IN THIS VOLUNTEER RESEARCH INTERNSHIP, APPLY VIA UMBCworks ASAP.  Position 9260367

Directions on how to add your resume to UMBCworks, can be found here.

• US Citizen or Permanent Resident
• Graduation Date on or after December 2014
  

Nutramax Laboratories is a Maryland- and South Carolina-based nutraceutical company that develops dietary supplements for both humans and companion animals.  Nutraceuticals are natural dietary supplements that support healthy living.  The focus of the Research and Development laboratory at Nutramax is to examine the efficacy of raw materials used in our product, testing bioactivity of finished goods and support of the Product Development Department by examining the efficacy of potential blends of active ingredients for new products.   In addition to in vitro assays, both human and animal studies are also carried out to support these initiatives. 

Immunology Internship:

This internship position will focus primarily on the efficacy of an immune product on boosting the immune system.   The intern will identify biomarkers of a stimulated immune system and help to develop an assay to examine the effect of the active ingredients.    Some knowledge of quantitative real-time PCR, ELISAs and tissue culture sterile technique is preferred. 

Cellular Detoxification

This internship position will focus on the ingredients of a product line with an emphasis on cellular detoxification via the up-regulation of Phase II detoxifying enzymes.  The intern will help to develop techniques to demonstrate the efficacy of the ingredients using quantitative RT-PCR to examine gene expression and perform biochemical assays to study GST activity, glutathione levels and NQO1 activity in a tissue culture system.  Some knowledge of quantitative real-time PCR, ELISAs and tissue culture sterile technique is preferred. 

To apply: Submit a resume via UMBCworks.

New to UMBCworks?  Visit http://www.shrivercenter.org/students/internco-opresearch/how-do-i-get-started/ to get started!

The History of Labor Day

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

• Learn more about the founder of Labor Day

CSEE's Dr. Richard Forno, Cybersecurity GPD and Assistant Director of UMBC's Center for Cybersecurity, talked with the Baltimore Sun's Scott Dance about international hacktivism following the defacement of a local area website and the recent attack on the New York Times website.

This week the website of the Canton Kayak Club was hacked and the landing page changed to show the image of a man on a horse with a spear and the messages "NO WAR!" and "All Hail the Islamic world, we're here!".

"We have no idea who did it nor why someone would hack our site," club Vice President Cliff Charland said. "It is obviously something we’re not happy about."

The website had been restored to normal as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Charland said the club's webmaster was looking to determine how the hack occurred and how it could be prevented in the future. The club has about 500 members, many of whom use the site frequently for information on club events, he said." source

The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program encourages undergraduate students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research experiences at the Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories. Selected students participate as interns appointed at one of 15 participating DOE laboratories. They perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission.

The SULI program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science’s, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) in collaboration with the DOE laboratories.

Applications for the SULI program are solicited annually for three separate internship terms. Internship appointments are 10 weeks in duration for the Summer Term (May through August) or 16 weeks in duration for the Fall (August through December) and Spring (January through May) Terms. Each DOE laboratory offers different research opportunities; not all DOE laboratories offer internships during the Fall and Spring Terms.