**from the physics department**

Dear UMBC Community,

Public Lecture

Cosmological Inflation, the Multiverse, and more: Views of a Skeptic

Tuesday April 16th at 7PM

Please join us for a special Public Lecture by Dr. Demos Kazanas, one the originators of the idea of Inflation in the early Universe.  In this talk, Dr. Demos Kazanas will present a basic overview of standard (Newtonian) cosmology, the problems of initial conditions, including Horizons and flatness and how Inflation provides a resolution. The cost of this approach is that of the Multiverse, an infinite set of independent universe islands like the one we perceive. Dr. Kazanas will discuss his personal take on the resolution to these problems. 

The event is free and open to the public. There will be time after the lecture (of about 1 hour) for Q&A with the speaker. The event will be held in room 401 on the fourth floor of the Physics Building. 

More information here: https://physics.umbc.edu/outreach/

Students are particularly encouraged to attend. Please spread the word!

Dr. Meyer

Chair, UMBC Physics Outreach Committee

Dr. Soobum Lee has been invited to chair the Energy Harvesting Symposium at the ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS) in Louisville, KY, September 9-11, 2019.

I am contacting you to announce the 5th Annual Association of Old Crows (AOC) STEM Program to be offered in conjunction with the AOC International Symposium, October 28-30, 2019 at the Washington DC Convention Center.

The STEM Program will focus on STEM high school students in the VA, DC and MD regions who are interested in potential STEM careers. There will be special technical displays and learning stations. The program will feature engaging and informative presentations by an exclusive group of professionals who aim to empower and inspire potential future Crows about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Interactive booths will be set up to introduce students to the basic concepts Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum (e.g. waveforms, amplitude, frequency, transmitters, receivers, antennas and more). The physics of radio and RADAR transmissions will be introduced as well as the concepts behind Cyber vulnerabilities and Cyber security.  Additionally, there will be interactive booths, robots, unmanned air vehicles, modeling and simulation, bomb suits, as well as Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) displays. Our program works with 20 high schools in the DMV area and have attracted over 1000 students in 2018.

We will have industry representatives to discuss internship opportunities as well as to answer questions about mentorships and job opportunities. We would love to have college representatives as well as college students to close the gap between the learning materials and the career session we have organized. We would also welcome any interactive display your Engineering department might be able to provide.  We would love for undergraduate or Graduate schools to attend with representatives, professors and students. The STEM program is free for Universities and students. 

The STEM Program is part of our largest event of the year, our Annual International Symposium, which spans over 3 days of presentations and exhibits at the Marriott Marquis and DC Conventions Center in Washington.

We are in the initial planning phase and would like to gauge interest before releasing detailed plans.  The DC Convention Center provides excellent METRO accessibility and this venue provides an excellent opportunity for young people that may be interested in pursuing academic tracks or careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

I look forward to hearing from you!

About Us: The AOC is an association comprised of engineers and scientists, members of the armed forces, and major corporations who have common interests in Electronic Warfare (EW), Electromagnetic Spectrum Management Operations, Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA), Information Operations (IO), and other information related capabilities.  The Association of Old Crows provides a means of connecting members and organizations nationally and internationally across government, defense, industry, and academia to promote the exchange of ideas and information, and provides a platform to recognize advances and contributions in these fields.

Best Regards,

Blain Bekele

STEM Coordinator

blain@crows.org |  (703) 549-1600  |  crows.org

ME Ph.D. students presented papers at the International Conference on Plasticity, Damage & Fracture:

-       Saadi A. Habib, Jeffrey T. Lloyd, Christopher S. Meredith, Akhtar S. Khan, Scott E. Schoenfeld

“Effect of anisotropy and strain rate on ductile fracture of a magnesium alloy”

-       Abbas Iftikhar, Saadi Habib, Akhtar S. Khan

“Evolution of subsequent yield surfaces and elastic constants with finite plastic deformation under proportional and non-proportional loading paths of a high work hardening aluminum (annealed Al 6061-T6)”

Angela Y. Ku, Akhtar S. Khan, Scott E. Schoenfeld

"Quasi-static and dynamic response, and texture evolution of two overaged Al 7056 alloys in near peak strength, T761, and near peak aged, T721 tempers."

 The Twenty Fifth International Conference on Plasticity, Damage & Fracture (ICPDF), took place in Panama City, Panama January 3-9, 2019. There were about 300 presentations, almost equally divided by participants from USA, Europe & Asia. The conference was conceived 35 years ago, and developed over the years by Professor Akhtar Khan. Two awards were also given at this conference, the Khan International Award for life long outstanding contributions to the field of plasticity (received this year by a professor at Georgia Tech.) and International Journal of Plasticity Young Researcher Award for excellent contributions over past 5 years (given to an associate professor at Ohio State University). Both awards have been established by Professor Khan and given every year. Professor Khan and Professor Jeong-Whan Yoon (from KAIST, S. Korea) were the Chair & Associate Chair, respectively, of the conference.