Gender and Women’s Studies is excited to announce that three of our students will be presenting at URCAD this year! Our three presenters are listed below and we hope that you’re able to stop by and learn more about the exciting research that they’ve been conducting this year.

Dan Willey — “Home Sweet Homo: An Ethnography of Queer Living Space”

4/25 at 11:15am in UC312 - Oral Presentation

Emily Ruppert — “Instagram’s Influence on a Generation of Women”

4/25 during the poster session between 1:00-2:30pm – Poster #77

Jamie Tingler  — “Why Does Peach Need Mario, Zelda Need Link and Moxxi Get Sexually Shamed?: Gender and Sexual Representation in Video Games”

4/25 during the poster session between 1:00-2:30pm – Poster #46

URCAD is Wednesday, April 25, 2018.

UMBC's 22nd Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day is this Wednesday, 
April 25, 2018

URCAD.umbc.edu

UMBC Racing will host the 2018 Baja SAE Maryland competition, where engineering students test the limits of single-seat, all-terrain vehicles they have spent the year designing and building. The event, which attracts teams from across the country and the world, will be held at Budds Creek Motocross in Mechanicsville, MD, April 19 – 22.

Throughout the weekend, each team will put their vehicle to the test in a series dynamic events and an endurance race. The teams will compete not only in racing times, but also in areas like durability and cost.

“I am most excited about the chance to compete against 100 other schools from all across the world,” said Robert Sherwood ‘20, mechanical engineering, one of the UMBC Racing team captains. “It allows us to show all the other schools what UMBC is capable of achieving.”

Each year, UMBC’s team develops one vehicle, relying on lessons learned in prior competitions. Beginning in the fall, this year’s team worked together to develop a new off-road, all-terrain vehicle that is fast, structurally strong, and meets SAE International’s strict technical requirements. Their focus has been on designing and constructing it to withstand the difficulties that come with navigating rough terrain, in preparation for challenges that will test the vehicle’s performance in various situations. On one day of the competition, the team participates in a range of events that put the acceleration, suspension, and maneuverability to the test.

“The first race of each season is the most difficult because it is the first real end-to-end challenge for the team and vehicle, and will likely reveal any deficiencies in their design or fabrication,” explained Neil Rothman, professor of practice in mechanical engineering, and faculty advisor of the UMBC Racing team. The team took a fresh approach to the vehicle design this year, focusing on simplicity and reliability so we will see how that holds up over the next 4 days of competition.

Team members share that the endurance race is one of the most exciting and challenging parts of the weekend event. During the endurance race portion of the competition, the team must drive the vehicle for four hours. The team must switch drivers out at least once, and the vehicle may stop to refuel throughout the race.

Another element of the competition is pitching the vehicle to an fictitious company. Members of the team present their vehicle as a prototype. It is then inspected based on criteria including technical elements, cost, and design, keeping in mind SAE’s requirements for a design that is “reliable, maintainable, ergonomic, and…serves a recreational user market.” Beyond the design and construction of the vehicle, this part of the competition evaluates the students on their skill in delivering a sales pitch.

In 2015, the last time the UMBC team hosted the Baja SAE Maryland competition, UMBC came in fifteenth place overall. During the 2017 season, the team placed twentieth at a competition in Illinois, and thirty-third at a competition in Kansas.

For additional details about the competition, visit the SAE International website.

This is Ms. Sandra Dee Kaminski of the Eastern Mountain Region Area 35 (top floor).  She predicts that she will handily win the URCAD selfie contest.

"All my girlfriends say I'm the best," noted Kaminski, who was interviewed at her desk. "They say- Sandra Dee-- you are SOOOO good. Your selfies are SOOOO FUNNY!"

Think you can beat Ms. Sandra Dee Kaminski?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

This is Ms. Rene Morgenthal of Hardy Hill East but also Southwestern, Area 46 (back).  She predicts that she will handily win the URCAD selfie contest.

"I know a lot about photography, like Ansel Adams," noted Morgenthal, who was sitting at a gas pump but not purchasing gas. "I also have a nice phone. It takes nice pictures. High-definition."

Think you can beat Ms. Rene Morgenthal?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

UMBC is again celebrating major national recognition for talented student researchers with the announcement that Linda Wiratan ’19, biochemistry and molecular biology, has been named a 2018 – 2019 Goldwater Scholar, and Yasmin Graham ’19, mechanical engineering, received an honorable mention. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program seeks to identify and support undergraduates in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics “who show exceptional promise of becoming this nation’s next generation of research leaders.”

Wiratan began her UMBC research career as a high school senior, working with mentors Marcin Ptaszek, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Nopondo Esemoto ’12, biochemistry and molecular biology, and a current Ph.D. student in chemistry. “She learned both theoretical concepts and experimental techniques quickly,” Ptaszek recalls.

After only a few months, she was working independently in the Ptaszek lab. During her two years in the lab, she contributed significantly to two academic papers, one of which was featured on the cover of Inorganic Chemistry. Based on her rapid progress, Ptaszek says, “I am sure in just a few years she will be a world-leading researcher.”

With gratitude for his mentorship throughout that initial lab experience, Wiratan shares, “Dr. Ptaszek’s patience and real-world advice have shaped my early successes in college and maturation as a researcher.”

Once enrolled at UMBC, Wiratan began work with Hua Lu, associate professor of biological sciences, and Chong Zhang, a postdoc in the lab. “Dr. Lu constantly encourages me to be a creative and driven scientist and cares deeply about my well-being in and out of the lab,” Wiratan shares.

Wiratan’s research today focuses on the relationship between the circadian clock and innate immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant species. Specifically, she is examining how the plant’s defense system, when activated by pathogens, can alter the plant’s circadian clock. Her results demonstrate that the relationship clearly exists, but is complex. The research has important disease-control applications for agriculture and even human medicine.

“Linda has been a key member in my laboratory to study this topic,” says Lu. Wiratan independently developed an undergraduate research award proposal and is a co-author on a research paper under revision in Nature Communications, a premier international journal.

Beyond her impressive scientific journal articles, Wiratan has also written for broader audiences. She co-authored a piece in The Conversation, an online news outlet that connects researchers with the general public. Her article introduced readers to the idea that studying plants can inform precision medicine, and it was republished in Smithsonian Magazine online. Wiratan has even founded her own social entrepreneurship organization, City of Cells, LLC, which focuses on improving the public perception of science through creative work, such as an online journal, science-inspired home furnishings, and educational animations. She does all this while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

“Disseminating science concepts to the general public is one of Linda’s ways to show her passion for research,” says Lu. “She is clearly a rising star who will make a difference in science education.”

For Wiratan, being named a Goldwater Scholar is particularly gratifying because her success has not come easily. “This scholarship symbolizes the culmination of years of hard work and endurance,” she says. “I have always loved science and research, but growing up I have been faced with so many challenges.” She thanks her mentors—Ptaszek, Lu, and Simon Stacey, director of the UMBC Honors College—for their support in helping her confront those challenges and grow a sense of inner strength, resilience, and confidence that has propelled her forward.

“Now I see the proof that I am strong enough to create my own future and inspire others,” she says. “The Goldwater Scholarship is that final push that will help me fly.”

In 2016, Daniel Ocasio ‘17, Naomi Mburu ‘18, and Andreas Seas ‘17, all chemical engineering majors, received Goldwater Scholarships.

Banner image: Linda Wiratan stands in front of flats of her research plants. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.