UMBC has received a $1.2 million solar energy grant from the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) to support solar power installations on campus and other sustainability initiatives. 

The funding will enable construction of solar canopies over the north portion of the Stadium Lot. Rooftop solar arrays will be mounted on UMBC’s central receiving warehouse, located adjacent to the lot. The installations will be highly visible to the UMBC community and members of the public attending events at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. 

Together, these solar installations will generate 1,000 kWAC of clean, carbon-free energy, or about 2.5 percent of UMBC’s current annual electricity. The solar panels’ output will reduce UMBC’s carbon footprint by roughly 500 tons per year and earn Solar Renewable Energy Credits from the state of Maryland, which can be sold to power companies. The combined savings from the electricity generation and accompanying SRECs may save UMBC $200,000 to $300,000 annually.

“This solar energy project is a significant step forward for UMBC to reach its sustainability goals, and will benefit our campus and local communities,” Taylor Smith, assistant director in the Office of Sustainability, says. “For the first time, the university will generate a significant amount of clean, renewable electricity right here on campus.  We are lucky to have a community of partners that made this happen.”

Beyond solar

The grant will also support the development of UMBC’s Campus Clean Energy Master Plan (CCEMP). The CCEMP will rely on past studies and a forthcoming decarbonization engineering study to identify opportunities to save energy and decarbonize campus energy systems, including the central and satellite utility plants.

UMBC’s geography and environmental systems department and engineering faculty affiliated with the Grand Challenges Scholars Program are designing new learning opportunities that will use the solar project as an educational tool. Grant funds will partially fund academic experiences that provide students with hands-on learning opportunities in solar energy technology, renewable energy systems, and sustainability management, integrating real-world problem-solving into the academic curriculum. Five interns will also gain critical experience through supporting these projects, under the supervision of the Office of Sustainability and departmental faculty.

“The campus community can be proud of this commitment to bring solar energy to campus,” Smith says. “This project will not only accelerate UMBC’s shift to clean energy but will also create a visible, tangible symbol of the progress that’s been made. Plus, the new solar arrays will create learning opportunities for students to build the skills they need to thrive in the green economy.”

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has honored UMBC with its distinguished Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. This classification acknowledges UMBC faculty, staff, students, and community partners for their deep commitment to strengthening the bonds between campus and community. 

UMBC is one of only 67 public colleges and universities in the U.S. just announced as receiving this honor. To date, 359 U.S. institutions hold this classification. These institutions “are doing exceptional work to forward their public purpose in and through community engagement that enriches teaching and research while also benefiting the broader community,” says Mathew Johnson, executive director of Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Engagement, the administrative and research home for the classification. 

This achievement required a rigorous self-study of UMBC’s work with communities in Greater Baltimore and beyond. That process involved more than 120 members of the UMBC community as well as dozens of community partners. 

This recognition is a testament to UMBC’s unwavering support for increasing equity in the Baltimore region and in communities nationally and internationally through work that honors existing sources of community strength, fosters investments in communities, and actively works to address disparities in health outcomes, education, and other core issues. 

Preparing public servants

The Shriver Center has stood at the center of UMBC’s community engagement work for decades, preparing and connecting faculty, staff, and students from all academic programs with community partners. The Shriver Center’s applied learning experiences have helped thousands of students to develop as community-minded agents of change and hundreds of partner organizations to meet their goals. 

“Carnegie’s definition of community engagement emphasizes the importance of reciprocity and mutual benefits in the partnerships that are created,” explains Michele Wolff, director of the Shriver Center. “Shriver Center programs ask us to think about how we can make our partnerships more authentic, to effectively meet the needs of all involved. In this way, the longstanding approach of the Shriver Center also reflects the Carnegie Foundation’s principles of reciprocity and mutuality.”

Investing in change

BreakingGround is one long-standing UMBC community engagement initiative with significant impacts, both on and off-campus. This initiative supports work by students, staff, and faculty to address issues they care about, as innovative coalition builders, problem solvers, and agents of social transformation. Examples of projects funded by BreakingGround include environmental justice initiatives and work to improve Baltimore City’s aging water infrastructure.

The work of BreakingGround now fits within UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life, launched in late 2018.

The Baltimore Traces project, a collaborative teaching initiative in the arts and humanities, amplifies the community voices of Baltimore residents and neighborhoods through various media. This key example of community-engaged teaching, which has been recognized by the National Humanities Alliance, has produced short video documentaries, a website, an interactive map, and radio programming that aired on Baltimore’s WEAA 88.9 FM.

Scholarship and teaching rooted in community engagement also play a significant role in the social sciences at UMBC. In the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, for example, students spend years honing their skills as future public servants and advocates in local, national, and international communities. Recent UMBC graduate Maheen Haq, global studies and economics, is a Sondheim Scholar who has worked to support communities facing discrimination, from Syria to Baltimore.

UMBC also trains future scientists and engineers to conduct community-based research. The National Science Foundation-supported Bahama Oriole Project, a collaborative research initiative with Bahamian scientists and conservationists, works to save the critically endangered Bahama Oriole. An affordable infant incubator that originated in a UMBC engineering course is now in clinical trials in India and recently won the 2019 Global Health Research Award from the Academic Pediatric Association. And UMBC’s Engineers Without Borders student group has taken trips to Kenya and Costa Rica, working collaboratively with local communities and local university students to improve access to clean water. 

UMBC is also invested in the local community immediately surrounding campus. Recently, the university celebrated the opening of OCA Mocha, the brainchild of students in an entrepreneurship class. OCA stands for Opportunities for Community Alliances. The coffee house and community activity space is located a few minutes from UMBC’s main campus and has already found success hosting UMBC and non-university groups and bringing them together in conversation.

“Thanks to the Carnegie application process, we know the extent and the depth of the community-engaged work that UMBC students, faculty, and staff have achieved over the last five decades,” shares Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “The Carnegie classification is an opportunity to celebrate that work. It’s also an opportunity to keep growing—coordinating this work to understand better the impacts of our community-engaged partnerships for our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and our partners.”

“Community engagement and a strong sense of purpose are at the heart of UMBC teaching, learning, and research,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is a reflection of our values and our character. It affirms that together we can achieve great things locally, nationally, and internationally.”

Featured photo: Sherman STEM Teacher-Scholar, Vanessa Gonzalez ’19, American studies, works with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC unless noted.

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! 

Spend some time with fellow alumni at these great events:

IT & Engineering Alumni Happy Hour
Wednesday, June 25, 6 – 8 p.m.
Union Jack’s
10400 Little Patuxent Pkwy
Columbia, MD 21044

An IT and an Engineering alum walk into a bar. The bartender says, “Hey, is this some kind of joke?” to which they reply, “No, we just like networking.” Enjoy a night out with fellow graduates of the College of Engineering and Information Technology and others now working in those fields for a networking happy hour at Union Jack’s for food and drinks. This event is sponsored by the UMBC Training Centers. RSVP to this FREE event now!

Battle of the Beltways: Orioles vs. Nationals
Wednesday, July 9, 5:30 p.m. picnic, 7 p.m. game
Camden Yards, Baltimore

The UMBC Alumni Association is hosting a night at Camden Yards as the Baltimore Orioles take on the Washington Nationals! Join other graduated Retriever Believers for a night of food, fun, and America’s favorite pastime.

The price for admission is $25 per person (limit 4) and each ticket includes a stadium seat and a pre-game picnic in the bullpen. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

UMBC Night at the Nationals Stadium: Nationals vs. Phillies
Saturday, August 2, 5:30 p.m. picnic, 7 p.m. game
Nationals Stadium, Washington D.C.

If you missed the Battle of the Beltways, you have another chance to join the UMBC Alumni Association for a night of baseball! Come watch the Washington Nationals challenge the Philadelphia Phillies at the Nationals Stadium. The price of admission is $20 per person (limit 4) and each ticket includes a seat in the stadium and a pre-game picnic area. Our group will be seated in the Mezzanine Gallery. To purchase your tickets now or to learn more, click here.

Join us this summer for fun alumni events like these:

IT & Engineering Alumni Happy Hour
Wednesday, June 25, 6 – 8 p.m.
Union Jack’s
10400 Little Patuxent Pkwy
Columbia, MD 21044

An IT and an Engineering alum walk into a bar. The bartender says, “Hey, is this some kind of joke?” to which they reply, “No, we just like networking.” Join fellow graduates of the College of Engineering and Information Technology and those who now work in those fields for a networking happy hour. Enjoy fabulous food and drinks on us while connecting with other IT & E Retrievers. This event is sponsored by the UMBC Training Centers. RSVP to this FREE event now!

Battle of the Beltways: Orioles vs. Nationals
Wednesday, July 9, 5:30 p.m. picnic, 7 p.m. game
Camden Yards, Baltimore

Join the UMBC Alumni Association for UMBC Night at Camden Yards as the Orioles take on the Nationals. The price of admission is $25 per person (limit 4) and each ticket includes a seat in the stadium as well as a pre-game picnic in the bullpen. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

UMBC Night at Nationals Stadium: Nationals vs. Phillies
Saturday, August 2, 5:30 p.m. picnic, 7 p.m. game
Nationals Stadium, Washington D.C.

Join the UMBC Alumni Association for UMBC Night at Nationals Stadium as the Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies. The price of admission is $20 per person (limit 4) and each ticket includes a seat in the stadium as well as a pre-game picnic area. The seat location for our group will be located in the Mezzanine Gallery. To purchase your tickets and learn more, click here.

Check out our full events calendar.

Mechanical engineering major Brian Wayman ’99 is using the skills he learned at UMBC and at Georgia Tech (MS, Ph.D.) to improve the lives of premature babies.

A mechanical engineer at GE Healthcare, Wayman was profiled recently on the College of Engineering and IT’s website. Prior to joining GE in July 2010, Wayman was the R&D Team Lead, New Product Development at Becton Dickinson.

Brian has several patents and patent applications for his work at Becton Dickinson on disposable syringes designed to prevent re-use of the syringe following injection.  In addition, he has several publications in peer-reviewed bioengineering journals.

Read the full story here.

Only four short years have passed since Rithy Chhay graduated from UMBC, but he is already on the fast track to success.
At just 26 years old, the computer science grad is a senior software engineer with Red Arch Solutions, a software and systems engineering firm in Columbia, Md. He’s a young husband, as well, and one of the core members of the recently re-energized Chapter of Young Alumni steering committee.
Then again, Chhay has been ahead of the game for most of his life, as least where computer science is concerned.
“I started writing my own computer programs when I was in middle school,” he explains, adding that he took several computer science classes in high school, including an Advanced Placement course. He describes his choice to continue studying computer science in college as “a natural progression.”
Chhay decided to pursue his studies at UMBC for several reasons. He liked the location, which was close to his family, and the cost was reasonable, especially with the merit scholarship he earned. Chhay’s decision was also influenced by his brother, Sinath Chhay, who graduated from UMBC in 1996. “He always spoke highly of the school,” Chhay says.
Chhay was invested in the UMBC community from day one. “I was actively involved with Greek life and Residential Life,” he explains, adding, “I worked as part of the desk staff for Potomac Hall and I was a resident assistant for two years in Erickson Hall.” He was also a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, giving him a close-knit group of friends with whom he still keeps in touch.
By combining what he learned in the classroom with the life skills he gained through leadership activities, Chhay had a solid foundation of lessons to take with him to the working world.
“Interpersonal relationship skills, teambuilding, problem solving, and time management – all of those things on top of what I learned from my coursework enabled me to be where I am today,” he says.
Chhay credits his calculus II class with Dr. Jagmohan Kapoor as being a particular turning point in his life. “I began to realize what my potential could be and what I could achieve if I really worked hard for what I wanted,” he explains. Dr. Kapoor’s class was important to Chhay’s future for another reason as well – it’s where he met his future wife, the former Lauren Boudra ’03, biochemistry and molecular biology.
Now that he’s out in the “real world,” Chhay has to use his multitasking skills even more than he did in college. He is currently balancing a career, a new marriage, and continuing his education. A computer science master’s candidate at UMBC, Chhay admits, “I’d be lying if I said balancing life, work and school was a walk in the park.”
In addition, Chhay’s involvement in the 15-member C-YA steering committee allows him to give back to the university that gave him his start. As a member of a group that is focusing on educational programming, he has been helping to organize upcoming Etiquette & Networking Dinner at the Brass Elephant, as well as a seminar on how to buy a home.
For Chhay, transitioning to the real world hasn’t been too difficult. “Life after college is definitely different,” he says, “but I always looked at college as my job.” With such a strong work ethic and positive attitude, Chhay is sure to be successful for years to come.
– Jennifer Matthews ’07
Originally posted August 2006