Baja cars may be small, but they are incredibly tough — they’ll tackle the rockiest terrain and make seemingly impossible jumps. And while they’re fun to watch on the track, they’re also taking on important work here on UMBC’s campus, where our students design, build, and race these rough and tumble automobiles.

The ultimate test for any Baja team is the Baja SAE International Collegiate Design Series, an engineering competition that gives undergraduate and graduate students a chance to enhance their engineering and project management skills through a series of real-world challenges. And this year, UMBC is proud to play host to one of the three competitions in North America. Come May, more than 100 international college teams put their Baja vehicles to the test in Mechanicsville, MD. Each team will be challenged to design and build a prototype for a rugged, single-seat, off-road vehicle suitable for use in a variety of conditions. The vehicle must be designed for safe operation over rough terrain, including dirt, rocks, sand, mud, logs, steep inclines, and shallow water.

Of course, hosting the Collegiate Design Series involves several significant expenses, including renting the track location, purchasing materials to build the track, and supporting up to 400 volunteers throughout the competition. That’s why we’re asking for your help. Through your gift to Baja SAE, you’ll not only ensure that our students are getting invaluable real-world engineering experience, you’ll also help them develop project management, marketing, and leadership skills that will be critical in their future careers. And you’ll help us make the 2015 SAE International College Design series unforgettable.

Support UMBC Baja as a donor or volunteer! 

Editor’s note: Here at UMBC, our students are the heartbeat of campus, and we are committed to providing them the best possible education. So, for the month of March, we will be highlighting our amazing academic departments, some of their recent achievements, and ways that you can help fund their continued excellence.

Your gift is extremely important and many of our students are depending on you. Please show your support and make an impact today. With you we can make a difference.

The Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering department is proud to share a few testimonials of its undergraduate research program.

“As an undergrad at UMBC, I studied the same curriculum that all of you had: learning to size reactors, heat exchangers, separators, etc. [. . .] In contrast, my research gave me a chance to tackle problems that don’t have an answer yet, and that might not even have a satisfying answer. [. . .] That was an exciting challenge for me so I went to grad school to continue working with that kind of problem.” Sean Kshimetski ’14, chemical engineering

“My experience as an undergraduate researcher gave me the confidence and experience to pursue a Ph.D. Through my UG research experience, I was able to build not only a tool set of research techniques but an understanding of how scientific research is conducted in an academic setting. When I was starting my graduate program, I was able to more easily acclimate to a new laboratory setting because I had gained familiarity with basic laboratory protocols from working in Dr. Marten’s lab.” Colleen Courtney ’12, chemical engineering

With your help, the Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering department can continue supporting students like these in their achievements. Click here to donate.

The Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department is proud to announce that UMBC will be partnering with MITRE Corporation to found national cybersecurity research center that supports the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and help businesses secure their data and digital infrastructure. The department would also like to announce that Professor Chintan Patel M.S. ‘01, Ph.D. ‘04, and computer engineering student Gurashish Singh recently demonstrated a prototype system that can detect distracted driving behavior at the ATPA Expo, the largest gathering of industries involved with transportation.

With your help, the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department can continue supplying new equipment and providing resources to build a sense of community among our students.

Click here to donate.

The Information Systems department is pleased to share that a research team led by Dr. Nirmalya Roy, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, is exploring how to retrofit homes with sensor networks that monitor a resident’s behavior and activity levels. The team is also exploring ways to modify existing sensors and other smart-home technologies to help health care providers and caregivers remotely monitor seniors in their own homes at a lower cost. The department would also like to congratulate Victoria Lentz ’15, cybersecurity, on receiving one of the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security program’s HP-backed scholarships. Lentz, one of ten recipients, plans to work in the cybersecurity industry and pursue a master’s degree.

With your help, the Information Systems department can continue sponsoring speakers through our Council of Majors and providing travel fellowships for International Field Research.

Click here to donate.

The Mechanical Engineering department is thrilled to announce that Dr. Carlos Romero-Talamas, assistant professor in the UMBC Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been recognized with a DARPA Young Faculty Award for his research in computational models of nuclear fusion technology. The department would also like to share that Anne Spence, ME professor of the practice, participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Elijah Cummings. The panel was part of a congressional initiative to learn about issues women educators encounter in building and sustaining economic security and focused on strategies to increase the number of women pursuing STEM fields.

With your help, the Mechanical Engineering department can continue developing a prototyping space to brainstorm ideas and assemble preliminary models and supporting our Baja team — $500 sends a Baja team member to national competition.

Click here to donate.

Editor’s note: Here at UMBC, our students are the heartbeat of campus, and we are committed to providing them the best possible education. So, for the month of March, we will be highlighting our amazing academic departments, some of their recent achievements, and ways that you can help fund their continued excellence.

Your gift is extremely important and many of our students are depending on you. Please show your support and make an impact today. With you we can make a difference.

The Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering department is proud to share a few testimonials of its undergraduate research program.

“As an undergrad at UMBC, I studied the same curriculum that all of you had: learning to size reactors, heat exchangers, separators, etc. [. . .] In contrast, my research gave me a chance to tackle problems that don’t have an answer yet, and that might not even have a satisfying answer. [. . .] That was an exciting challenge for me so I went to grad school to continue working with that kind of problem.” Sean Kshimetski ’14, chemical engineering

“My experience as an undergraduate researcher gave me the confidence and experience to pursue a Ph.D. Through my UG research experience, I was able to build not only a tool set of research techniques but an understanding of how scientific research is conducted in an academic setting. When I was starting my graduate program, I was able to more easily acclimate to a new laboratory setting because I had gained familiarity with basic laboratory protocols from working in Dr. Marten’s lab.” Colleen Courtney ’12, chemical engineering

With your help, the Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering department can continue supporting students like these in their achievements. Click here to donate.

The Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department is proud to announce that UMBC will be partnering with MITRE Corporation to found national cybersecurity research center that supports the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and help businesses secure their data and digital infrastructure. The department would also like to announce that Professor Chintan Patel M.S. ‘01, Ph.D. ‘04, and computer engineering student Gurashish Singh recently demonstrated a prototype system that can detect distracted driving behavior at the ATPA Expo, the largest gathering of industries involved with transportation.

With your help, the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering department can continue supplying new equipment and providing resources to build a sense of community among our students.

Click here to donate.

The Information Systems department is pleased to share that a research team led by Dr. Nirmalya Roy, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, is exploring how to retrofit homes with sensor networks that monitor a resident’s behavior and activity levels. The team is also exploring ways to modify existing sensors and other smart-home technologies to help health care providers and caregivers remotely monitor seniors in their own homes at a lower cost. The department would also like to congratulate Victoria Lentz ’15, cybersecurity, on receiving one of the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security program’s HP-backed scholarships. Lentz, one of ten recipients, plans to work in the cybersecurity industry and pursue a master’s degree.

With your help, the Information Systems department can continue sponsoring speakers through our Council of Majors and providing travel fellowships for International Field Research.

Click here to donate.

The Mechanical Engineering department is thrilled to announce that Dr. Carlos Romero-Talamas, assistant professor in the UMBC Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been recognized with a DARPA Young Faculty Award for his research in computational models of nuclear fusion technology. The department would also like to share that Anne Spence, ME professor of the practice, participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Elijah Cummings. The panel was part of a congressional initiative to learn about issues women educators encounter in building and sustaining economic security and focused on strategies to increase the number of women pursuing STEM fields.

With your help, the Mechanical Engineering department can continue developing a prototyping space to brainstorm ideas and assemble preliminary models and supporting our Baja team — $500 sends a Baja team member to national competition.

Click here to donate.