Retriever Essentials will host its first seasonal Home for the Holiday Lunch on Thursday, November 28th, 2019, 12p-2p in the True Grits Dining Hall.

This lunch is a holiday-style potluck that will offer communal atmosphere to the UMBC members who can't travel back home or don't have families at the time of holidays. Participants can bring food items, holiday decorations, and will also have a chance to help to prepare some treats during the event. The event will also include activities such as board games, arts and craft table, karaoke, letter writing, and of course music and dancing! All UMBC members and their families are welcome.

Please see the attached flyer. To RSVP, please go to the link below:

For more details feel free to email retrieveressentials@umbc.edu

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance where we honor the memory of the transgender people whose lives we have lost to acts of anti-transgender violence.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition in raising public awareness of hate crimes committed against transgender people. 

According to an annual transgender violence report published by the Human Rights Campaign, at least 22 trans and gender-nonconforming people have been fatally shot or killed by other violent means. Most of those killed in 2019 were young, black women. We do not know the actual number of deaths because too often these stories go unreported – or misreported. 

On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we name, honor, remember and mourn the transgender people whose lives our country has lost to anti-transgender violence this year: 

Brianna “BB” Hill | Itali Marlowe | Ja’Leyah-Jamar | Bee Love Slater | Bailey Reeves | Tracy Single| Bubba Walker | Pebbles La Dime Doe | Kiki Fantroy | Denali Berries Stuckey | Brooklyn Lindsey | Zoe Spears | Chanel Scurlock | Chynal Lindsey | Paris Cameron| Michelle “Tamika” Washington | Muhlaysia Booker | Claire Legato| Ashanti Carmon| Jazzaline Ware | Dana Martin | Layleen Polanco | Johana “Joa” Medina Leon

Sources: GLAAD, HRC, NBC news, List of Transgender people killed around the world , Remembering Our Dead

If you've experienced or witnessed anti-LGBTQ+ violence, or are concerned about someone who has, you can call the Anti-Violence Project hotline 24/7 at 212-714-1141. All calls are confidential. You can also report violence anonymously or ask for a counselor to reach out to you online.

UMBC Cyber Dawgs are named CyberForce national champions

UMBC’s Cyber Defense Team, known as the Cyber Dawgs, has emerged the national champion team in the U.S. Department of Energy’s fifth annual CyberForce Competition. The Cyber Dawgs earned first place overall out of more than 100 teams from universities across the country.

Ten national laboratories hosted competing teams this year, November 15 – 16. UMBC competed at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois, while other teams traveled to sites like the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Competing teams hailed from a broad range of institutions, including Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The competition tasks students with defending critical energy infrastructure during simulated cyberattacks. The scenarios are designed to be realistic, focused on water and power systems and including real-world constraints, such as insufficient budget for system upkeep and limited information on system needs. During the competition, “red teams,” including industry professionals, attack the system, while the students work to ensure that the infrastructure is available to their customers, or “green teams,” who test system usability.

The teams receive points based on how successfully they address attacks, while still allowing users to access the infrastructure they need. The teams are also awarded points for innovative defense tactics and ideas. This year’s competition saw several leading teams with neck-and-neck scores until the final round, when UMBC’s Cyber Dawgs pulled ahead for the victory.

The competition offers students a unique opportunity to develop their cybersecurity skills in relation to critical infrastructure, and have hands-on experience in a realistic cyberattack situation.

“The CyberForce competition is the most unique of our annual events, allowing us to experiment with network configurations to defend an industrial control system against adversaries while playing the roles of an IT organization,” explains RJ Joyce ’18, M.S. ’20, computer science, a member of the winning team. “The hard work, dedication, and creativity that each member brought to the team lifted us from a regional win last year to a national win this year.”

In addition to Joyce, last weekend’s winning team included Anna Staats ’20, computer science; Drew Barrett ’20, computer science; Grant Spencer ’20, computer science; Cyrus Bonyadi, Ph.D. ’23, computer science; and Seamus Burke ’20, computer science.

“The team’s second national championship in three years shows the enthusiasm, grit, and tenacity of our students in demonstrating their technical cyber expertise in a competitive arena,” says Rick Forno, senior lecturer of computer science and assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity.

Forno advises the Cyber Dawgs with Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering. “It’s an awesome thing not just for the team and university,” he says, “but for each competitor individually, as they prepare to enter the cybersecurity workforce after graduation.”

UMBC students have a strong record in state and national competition. In 2018, UMBC computer science and information systems students won the top prize at the Maryland Cyber Challenge. A year earlier, the UMBC Cyber Dawgs won the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

Adapted from a UMBC News article by Megan Hanks.

The post UMBC Cyber Dawgs are named CyberForce national champions appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

BECOME A CBEE STUDENT AMBASSADOR!

WHAT DO AMBASSADORS DO?

▪ Promote the Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering (CBEE) program and UMBC to prospective students and families

▪ Share fun facts and personal experiences on lab and campus tours

▪ Attend campus and recruiting events to market the CBEE program

WHY JOIN AMBASSADORS?

▪ Gain valuable leadership, public speaking, and marketing skills and build your resume

▪ Make a difference in the educational futures of prospective students

▪ Make connections with UMBC peers, faculty, and staff members

▪ Earn some extra $$$!

How to Join?

You must be a junior and senior. If interested email Fabiola Attime, fattime@umbc.edu for details.