Dr. Jamie Gurganus was interviewed by The Washington Post last week on the experience of remote teaching. In the telephone interview, she mentioned that engineering students are not able to put their hands on physical tools in a lab or classroom to build stuff and solve problems. She said “engineers aren’t machinists, but they do need to understand how things work.”
 
Read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/umbc-pandemic-remote-learning/2020/10/23/24add5f2-0e24-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html

Chancellor Jay Perman with Karla Negrete '19, mechanical engineering, and current Ph.D. student.

USM chancellor Jay A. Perman, MD and UMBC president Dr. Freeman Hrabowski toured the Interdisciplinary Life Science Building (ILSB) and stopped by Dr. Deepa Madan's lab.

Karla Negrete ‘19 mechanical engineering and Ph.D. candidate, spoke with them about the battery research conducted in the lab. Karla went into detail on the material focus she is undertaking when experimenting with secondary zinc-ion battery chemistry, and how this research aims to find an alternative to conventional li-ion chemistries with similar electrochemical properties. She was able to show them the fully constructed batteries within the swage locks containing their in-house hydrothermal V2O5 deposited cathodes, zn foil anode, and their novel gel-polymer electrolytes. The chancellor was intrigued that the focus of the research was not testing batteries for electrochemical characteristics, but rather on correlating material properties to these electrochemical characteristics.

She further discussed how she and other researchers are fortunate to be able to conduct research during these troubling times, and how grateful they are that UMBC is taking all the necessary precautions to ensure researchers are safe and healthy while working on site. 

More pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/umbcpage/posts/10158625753420907

The attached paper published in the Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology has been selected for the JMST Best Paper Award 2019.

Title: Piezoelectric energy harvester utilizing mandibular deformation to power implantable biosystems: A feasibility study

Authors: Richard Fan, Soobum Lee, Hyunjun Jung, Mary Anne Melo and Radi Masri

Vol. 33 No. 8

The award will be given during a virtual ceremony on December 17, 2020 at Kangwon Land Convention Center, Korea, during the 2020 Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers Annual Conference.

Congratulations to the authors!

UMBC International Education Services (IES) and the English Language Institute (ELI) have begun planning International Education Week 2020! IEW is a joint initiative between the US Department of State and the Department of Education hosted by universities annually in mid-November. It’s an opportunity to highlight international initiatives on campus, celebrate the international student population, and expose domestic students to international experiences they would not otherwise know. 

• International Education Week:  November 16-20, 2020

• All 2020 IEW events will be held virtually

• International Education Week Website: https://iew.state.gov/

What’s Next?

Planning Committee Search:

IES and the ELI are looking to form a planning committee for International Education Week, and we would like a member(s) of your department to be a part of it. This committee will organize and promote UMBC’s International Education Week. They will ensure the week creates a fun, engaging, and educational week of programming for all members of the UMBC community. Currently, the committee meets biweekly and is in the early stages of the planning process

• If you are interested in joining the IEW Planning Committee please email iew@umbc.edu as soon as possible!

Event Proposal Submissions:

If no member of your department is able to join the planning committee, we are still strongly encouraging all departments across campus to get involved by hosting a virtual event, for students (current and prospective), staff, faculty and/or the wider UMBC community during IEW. A separate email will be sent at that time, with additional information on all things planning IEW Proposals and Events 

IEW also supports and helps to further promote the university-wide effort towards internationalization. For further information regarding International Education Week contact us at iew@umbc.edu. Additionally, you may visit the official website at https://iew.state.gov/ and see the attached infographic. 

We hope you're inspired and energized to bring the world to UMBC!

Interested in a career in aerospace? The Brooke Owens Fellowship provides paid internships and executive mentorship to undergraduate women and gender minorities in the aerospace industry, including in engineering, science, policy, and business. The applicationis currently live until October 4th! 

Why apply? Fellows have interned at over 30 host companiessuch as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Boeing. Each cohort convenes for a 3-day summit in July (virtually during COVID-19) to build connections with their class and network with top aerospace professionals. In addition to a paid internship and summit experience, fellows are also matched with executive mentors— thinkCEOs and astronauts! 

Still interested?We suggest taking a look at the application as soon as possible to request recommendations and start thinking about your application pieces.

Also stay tuned for updates on our social media accounts, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Brooke Owens Fellowship Outreach Team : outreach@brookeowensfellowship.org

Looking forward to seeing your application!