Join the CWIT Escape Room Committee!

Are you ready to unleash your creativity and problem-solving skills? We're looking for enthusiastic students to help design and run our escape room events and join the escape room committee! If you love puzzles, teamwork, and a good challenge, fill out our interest form and be part of the action!

CWIT Escape Room Committee Interest Application: 2024-2025

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzF9Z3V0if5QY_OIUXP6dVyDmLFfuXEBL3-9nvGv6B8MetjQ/viewform

For any questions, contact Escape Room Co-Leads -- Khushika Shah and Amaiyah Johnson at kshah7@umbc.edu and ajohnso6@umbc.edu.

We are excited to celebrate our CBEE undergraduate students and faculty who were recognized during the CWIT Award Ceremony that took place via WEBEX on Friday, May 7, 2021 (event recording).

Lockheed Martin Scholarship Recipient

Stacy Villanueva, Chemical Engineering BS

Student Academic Excellence Award

This award recognizes current students who have developed a lifelong love for learning and discovery not only in the classroom, but also through applied learning and co-curricular experiences. Award recipient(s) must also have maintained a minimum 3.25 cumulative GPA.

Ouriel Ndalamba, CWIT Scholar

Outstanding Research Partner Award

The Outstanding Research Partner Award is given to an individual or department who has actively collaborated with the Center for Women in Technology toward the CWIT mission and education research goals. 

Dr. Lee Blaney, Associate Professor of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Blaney has been involved in several of the projects run through CWIT, serving as a co-PI and representative of the Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering.

Kourtney Rutkowski is majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Psychology. She will graduate with her B.S. in May, 2018, and in 2019 she will complete her M.S. as part of the accelerated B.S./M.S. program in Mechanical Engineering. She is also a member of the Honors College, a CWIT Scholar, a Grand Challenges Scholar, and a member of Tau Beta Pi. She is currently conducting research at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal, as the first UMBC student to study in the UMBC/Porto exchange program.

What are your research interests? I am interested in materials, composites, and additive manufacturing with metals and thermoplastics. This research is applicable for many industries, including the aeronautical, energy, defense, and automotive industries.

Describe your project: My current research project is determining a manufacturing strategy for the production of metal/polymer composite sheets. Currently, I am looking at which types of surface treatments are needed to best adhere the polymer, a thermoplastic prepreg, to sheet metal. The conditions in which the prepreg is applied and cured must also be tested, and material characterization will be performed to determine which process would be optimal for production purposes. The reason that this is important is that polymer/metal composite such as these are low in weight but are high enough in strength to replace heavier materials, especially in the transportation industries to improve safety and fuel economy. When I return from Porto, I will join the research team in Dr. Marcus Zupan’s lab, focusing on the development of tools and methodologies for qualifying additively manufactured parts. This research is in collaboration with JHUAPL and PAX River, and can improve the additive manufacturing technologies and part quality.

Who are your mentors and why did you choose them? I work withProfessors Abel Santos and António Torres Marques at the Universidade do Porto. Professor Abel teaches the Global Engineering class on the Porto side, allowing me to meet him from when I took the class in the Fall 2016 semester at UMBC. Professor Torres Marques was introduced to me by Dr. Zupan and is my main research advisor in Porto. Their dedication to the process, helping me get prepared to come to Porto, and helping with the bureaucracy once I arrived has been invaluable. They also introduced me to their labs and graduate students, and have been very helpful in regards to questions involving my research project.

How did you become interested in this project? As an avid outdoorswoman, I’m passionate about finding solutions for the conservation and preservation of our natural resources and mitigating for and adapting to climate change. This led to an interest in renewable energy sources, and using my skills as an engineer to solve problems related to making renewables for more efficient and economical manufacturing.  Through the Global Engineering course, I learned about different international cultures and made some good friends. I also studied abroad in Germany in January and took a course in renewable energy sources in Kassel, Germany. I wanted to study abroad in Porto and open the gate as the first student in the UMBC/Porto collaboration. I worked with Dr. Zupan and Dr. Moreira to complete an application to the Mobile 2+ Erasmus scholarship and was awarded a living stipend, airfare, health insurance, access to cultural events, and opportunities to interact with students from around the world, as well as the engineering faculty from U.Porto.

What has been the most unexpected thing about your experience abroad? I love my time here in Portugal but I have definitely had some mishaps! My second week in Porto a homeless woman stole my jacket at a café, and I still see her wearing it around the downtown area. My first time traveling outside of Porto, I got on the wrong train coming back from Lisbon and got kicked off at a train station in the middle of nowhere because I didn’t have enough cash to pay to the fare. Most recently, I had my mom send me some winter clothes which got held up in the Portuguese customs for a month, but luckily my flatmate lent me some for my travels further North.

What has been the most rewarding part? One of the best things was finally meeting my friends in person were from Porto and I had met through the UMBC Global Engineering course. In that course, students from around the world work in teams on theoretical solutions for global issues. Students interact via Skype and WhatsApp, and for some students, like myself, there were some strong friendships formed across the ocean. Meeting those friends who I had made, as well as making new friends here who are from across the world, has allowed me to learn about a variety of cultures and open my mind more and more every day. Even better, day by day I find myself feeling like a local here in Porto, and know that it will always be a second home for me.

What will you do next with your research? I’m hoping to bring back what I’m learning to Dr. Zupan’s lab and use my experiences as a basis to start my thesis research, which I hope to publish. I will present on my Porto experience and the research I conducted there at URCAD, in April.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? Be flexible and open minded. Don’t be afraid to take risks- say yes to things and take opportunities as they come. Ask for help- make connections and friends wherever you go. Don’t get locked into graduation dates. Studying abroad won’t take any extra time- you can combine it with Master’s work or do it over the summer or winter, so it won’t take time out of your academic schedule, even in a major with successive classes like engineering!  If for some reason it does take extra time, the experience to go abroad is more valuable than graduating in four years. Money is not an issue- there are so many ways to get it paid for and Portugal is really cheap in terms of the cost of living.  My rent is 250 euros a month and includes utilities!  No one looks back and regrets studying abroad and says, “I’m glad I didn’t do that so that I could graduate on time.”

What else are you involved in on campus? Besides the scholar’s programs and honors organizations that I am involved in, I am also involved with numerous other things on campus. I am an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow for the Mechanical Engineering department, which besides simply teaching the students, has also allowed me to meet and mentor the students in the years below me. I also try to work through my scholar’s program, CWIT to be a role model for the young women in engineering who are in the cohorts after me. I volunteer with an organization that holds its state competition here at UMBC named First Lego League (FLL). FLL is STEM competition for elementary and middle school students that helps to introduce them to topics such as engineering, and seeing the passion and intelligence of these students continuously encourages me in the promotion of STEM and fills me with hope for the next generation of engineers. Last but not least, I am a member of UMBC Cru and the UMBC Rock Climbing Club.

Career goals? After completing my M.S., I plan on obtaining a Ph.D. in environmental engineering. I hope to use my education to pursue a career that can create renewable energy solutions to help the environment, and people, in a large-scale way. After a while in industry, I plan on following the path of some of my mentors and becoming a college professor.

Want to know more about research abroad in Porto and other countries? Contact Dr. April Householder at aprilh@umbc.edu

Professor Marie desJardins was selected for the 2017 A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award by the Anita Borg Institute. The annual award recognizes an educator who has developed innovative teaching practices and approaches that attract girls and women to computing, engineering, and math. As part of the award Dr. desJardins will take part in a panel on efforts to increase women’s representation and success in technology at the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Orlando this October.

Increasing gender diversity in computing has become both a professional focus and personal commitment for desJardins over the course of her career. “It’s part of a broader equity issue — for everyone to be able to envision themselves as creators of technology, and for the future of technology to be created by a diverse community of scientists and engineers,” she says.

This summer, desJardins shared her passion for encouraging girls and women to pursue careers in computing with nearly 150 elementary and middle school girls who attend the Mind, Body, Coding camp at UMBC. “Seeing these young girls whose lives could be transformed by greater access to computing is incredibly inspiring,” she says. “It’s a big part of what gets me energized every day to do the work that I do, from supporting diversity in K-12 computing education to mentoring junior female faculty who will train the next generation of computer scientists.”

The award announcement cited Professor desJardins for her many accomplishments in education, research and support of and commitment to improving student diversity, access, and quality of computer science courses at the high school level.

“Marie is known on campus and throughout her professional community for her dedication to mentoring, diversity, outreach, and innovative educational practices. Marie was named one of UMBC’s 10 “Professors Not to Miss” in 2011, and is regularly sought out to give invited talks to student groups. In 2010, she was invited to be a CRA-W/CDC Distinguished Lecturer. She was also one of the inaugural Hrabowski Innovation Fellows, and with that award, helped to create the ACTIVE Center, a new classroom that supports pedagogical approaches that increase student engagement and active problem solving.

Marie has become known nationally for her support of and commitment to improving student diversity, access, and quality of computer science courses at the high school level, and has received multiple NSF awards to support her efforts in this area. She is the lead PI on the NSF-sponsored “CS Matters in Maryland” project, which is creating curriculum and training high school teachers to teach the new AP CS Principles course. She has built a statewide coalition to increase access to K-12 CS education, with a focus on inclusion and diversity. She is also the Maryland team leader for the Exploring Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance, an NSF-funded initiative that is coordinating state-level CS education efforts.

Marie is UMBC’s 2014-17 Presidential Teaching Professor and was a founding member of the Maryland chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association, for which she is currently the university liaison. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning, planning and decision making, and multi-agent systems. She has published over 100 scientific papers on these topics, and was recently named one of the “Ten AI Researchers to Follow on Twitter” by TechRepublic and one of “14 Women in AI You Should Follow on Twitter” by craigconnects.

At UMBC, Marie has been PI or co-PI on over $6,000,000 of external research funding, including a prestigious NSF CAREER Award, and has graduated 11 Ph.D. students and 25 M.S. students. She is particularly well known on campus and in her professional community for her commitment to student mentoring. She has been involved with the AAAI/SIGART Doctoral Consortium for the last 16 years and has worked with 90 undergraduate researchers and high school student interns. She was awarded the 2014 NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award and the 2016 CRA Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award in recognition of her commitment to undergraduate research.”

The post Marie desJardins receives award for inspiring women to pursue careers in computing, engineering and math appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

Professor Marie desJardins was selected for the 2017 A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award by the Anita Borg Institute. The annual award recognizes an educator who has developed innovative teaching practices and approaches that attract girls and women to computing, engineering, and math. As part of the award Dr. desJardins will take part in a panel on efforts to increase women’s representation and success in technology at the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Orlando this October.

Increasing gender diversity in computing has become both a professional focus and personal commitment for desJardins over the course of her career. “It’s part of a broader equity issue — for everyone to be able to envision themselves as creators of technology, and for the future of technology to be created by a diverse community of scientists and engineers,” she says.

This summer, desJardins shared her passion for encouraging girls and women to pursue careers in computing with nearly 150 elementary and middle school girls who attend the Mind, Body, Coding camp at UMBC. “Seeing these young girls whose lives could be transformed by greater access to computing is incredibly inspiring,” she says. “It’s a big part of what gets me energized every day to do the work that I do, from supporting diversity in K-12 computing education to mentoring junior female faculty who will train the next generation of computer scientists.”

The award announcement cited Professor desJardins for her many accomplishments in education, research and support of and commitment to improving student diversity, access, and quality of computer science courses at the high school level.

“Marie is known on campus and throughout her professional community for her dedication to mentoring, diversity, outreach, and innovative educational practices. Marie was named one of UMBC’s 10 “Professors Not to Miss” in 2011, and is regularly sought out to give invited talks to student groups. In 2010, she was invited to be a CRA-W/CDC Distinguished Lecturer. She was also one of the inaugural Hrabowski Innovation Fellows, and with that award, helped to create the ACTIVE Center, a new classroom that supports pedagogical approaches that increase student engagement and active problem solving.

Marie has become known nationally for her support of and commitment to improving student diversity, access, and quality of computer science courses at the high school level, and has received multiple NSF awards to support her efforts in this area. She is the lead PI on the NSF-sponsored “CS Matters in Maryland” project, which is creating curriculum and training high school teachers to teach the new AP CS Principles course. She has built a statewide coalition to increase access to K-12 CS education, with a focus on inclusion and diversity. She is also the Maryland team leader for the Exploring Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance, an NSF-funded initiative that is coordinating state-level CS education efforts.

Marie is UMBC’s 2014-17 Presidential Teaching Professor and was a founding member of the Maryland chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association, for which she is currently the university liaison. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning, planning and decision making, and multi-agent systems. She has published over 100 scientific papers on these topics, and was recently named one of the “Ten AI Researchers to Follow on Twitter” by TechRepublic and one of “14 Women in AI You Should Follow on Twitter” by craigconnects.

At UMBC, Marie has been PI or co-PI on over $6,000,000 of external research funding, including a prestigious NSF CAREER Award, and has graduated 11 Ph.D. students and 25 M.S. students. She is particularly well known on campus and in her professional community for her commitment to student mentoring. She has been involved with the AAAI/SIGART Doctoral Consortium for the last 16 years and has worked with 90 undergraduate researchers and high school student interns. She was awarded the 2014 NCWIT Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award and the 2016 CRA Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award in recognition of her commitment to undergraduate research.”

The post Marie desJardins receives award for inspiring women to pursue careers in computing, engineering and math appeared first on Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.