Robot Governance – Institutions and Issues

Dr. Aaron Mannes, ISHPI Information Technologies

10:30-11:30 Tuesday, 24 July 2018, ITE 346

Inexpensive sensors and information storage and processing have enabled the large-scale production of robots: autonomous systems capable of acting on the world. These systems represent an enormous technological and economic opportunity that will change society in countless and unpredictable ways. They will also bring new policy challenges. This presentation examines the missions the government will need to undertake to address the challenges raised by this new technology, identifies critical gaps the government faces in carrying out these missions, and discusses institutional options to address these gaps.

Dr. Aaron Mannes is the Senior Policy Advisor at ISHPI Information Technologies, where he supports the Apex Data Analytics Engine (DA-E) at the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate. In supporting DA-E, Dr. Mannes collaborates on big data projects that support the Homeland Security Enterprise and researches technology policy. He started at DHS as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Fellow in September 2015. From 2004 to 2015, Dr. Mannes was a researcher at the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) where he was the subject matter expert on terrorism and international affairs collaborating with a team of inter-disciplinary scientists to build computational tools to support decision-makers facing 21st century security and development problems. Dr. Mannes earned his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy in 2014. His dissertation topic was the evolving national security role of the vice president.

Dr. Mannes is the author or co-author of four books on terrorism and has written scores of articles, papers, and book chapters on an array of topics including Middle East affairs, terrorism, technology, and other international security issues for popular and scholarly publications including Politico, Policy Review, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, The Journal of International Security Affairs, The Huffington Post, The National Interest, The Jerusalem Post, and The Guardian.

This research was conducted with the support of the Apex Data Analytics Engine in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). In no way should anything stated in this seminar be construed as representing the official position of DHS S&T or any other component of DHS. Opinions and findings expressed in this seminar, as well as any errors and omissions, are the responsibility of the presenter alone.

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UMBC’s Jane Arnold Lincove, associate professor of public policy, is collaborating with colleagues across the U.S. to launch the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH) through a $10 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

“The goal is to gather top researchers across the United States who are studying different aspects of schools of choice,” says Lincove. “It allows us to share information and research questions to better understand the impact of how different school districts implement school choice.”

The new center will be based at Tulane University. Additional partners include faculty from Michigan State University, Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University, and ten other higher education institutions across the United States.

Lincove’s research on education policy includes a focus on the charter school system in New Orleans post-Katrina. In addition to her academic publications in journals like Education Finance and Policy, Lincove has also written for policymakers and the public, through groups like the Brookings Institution and the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans.

Through REACH, Lincove will do further research to identify whether schools systems that utilize school choice deliver on the promise of improving educational equity and offering greater access to high-quality education for students, given the variability of school enrollment practices and children’s transportation and housing challenges. Her work will include research in Baltimore’s public school system, which enables schools of choice, with the support of UMBC School of Public Policy graduate students. This work will be in collaboration with the Baltimore Education Research Consortium led by Baltimore City Public Schools, Morgan State University, and Johns Hopkins University.

Lincove explains that REACH will enable scholars in this field, who are based in cities across the United States, “to share information and research questions to better understand the impact of how different school districts implement school choice.” She points out that this is especially important in districts where leaders have replaced traditional education systems with school choice in hopes of better meeting the needs of vulnerable or underserved students, such as low-income students, students from racial or ethnic minority groups, English language learners, and special education students.

Lincove is highly aware of the complexities this work involves, but she looks forward to shedding light on an issue of such public importance. “Researching school choice is challenging because there are so many stakeholders that are for and against it. But in the end,” she says, “looking at research across the United States allows us to identify what is working and help inform policy to help school systems create equitable, successful, and safe learning environments.”

Learn more about Jane Lincove and REACH.

Banner image: Jane Lincove, public policy. Photo by Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque for UMBC.

A team of researchers from UMBC’s Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) and department of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering is working to develop a new, low-cost anti-malarial drug to help tackle a disease that causes over 200 million infections and 400,000 deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Peng Xu, assistant professor; Xudong Ge, research associate professor; and Govind Rao, professor, received $422,623 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the research. Xu and Ge are the co-PIs on the grant, and Rao is the project director.

Therapies that contain artemisinin have shown to be an effective first-line treatment for malaria. Artemisinin is derived from extracts of the wormwood plant. This makes it relatively affordable to produce, but also means the medication supply depends on having an abundant and steady source of the plant.

With the support of the grant, the UMBC research group will develop a scalable and cost-effective production process. Through genetic and process engineering, they will develop an alternative yeast that can be used to more affordably produce artemisinic acid.

“This work builds on CAST’s unique strength in sensor technology and couples it with innovative yeast metabolic engineering,” Rao says. “We are excited to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a cost-efficient manufacturing process, and, ultimately, to help eradicate malaria around the world.”

Banner image: Peng Xu, left, and Xudong Ge, right, work with a student to develop an anti-malarial drug. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Hello Study Abroad Alumni,

I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your study abroad experience!

Are you looking for people to share your experience with? Are you also looking for a job? The Study Abroad Office is seeking a student to join our staff of Peer Advisors. Please complete the application via the link below and be ready to submit a resume and cover letter explaining your qualifications and interest in joining our team. 

Follow this link to the Application: Complete the Application

Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser: https://umbc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9EIW71RdSA7uIbb

Please complete the application by Tuesday, July 31st at 4:00p.m., if you are selected for an interview we will contact you to schedule a time the following week.

Best,

The Study Abroad Office