OVERVIEW

Last summer’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage had a tremendous impact on our nation. This ruling, however, merely scratched the surface in terms of sexuality and gender identity in our country. We must continue this important conversation and dig deeper, paying special attention to intersections of sexuality with gender, race, ethnicity, religion, class, and disability.

GWST 210: Introduction to Critical Sexuality Studies introduces students to the field of critical sexuality studies. Using an interdisciplinary approach, GWST 210 conducts a critical inquiry into the historical precedents and theoretical frameworks necessary to understand the role of sexuality in shaping personal, social, economic, and political life. GWST also focuses on patterns of subordination and exclusion based on individuals’ sexual practices and identities, explains the origins and persistence of those patterns, and considers ways of challenging them.

GWST 210 is a 6-week, hybrid course that fulfills the Culture and Social Sciences GEPs, and is part of the Culture & Social Justice course offerings. GWST 210 is cross-listed with AMST 210.

Register Now!

Name: Jenette Phillips

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center

Position Title: Undergraduate Research Scholar

Major(s)/Minor(s): Mechanical Engineering

Expected Graduation Year: May 2017

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

The FREEDM Systems center is located at NC State but has partner universities that will are also participants of the same program. I was the only member of the FREEDM REU to be researching out of MS&T. Because I was the only member of my REU at this location I was paired up with a sister program through MS&T. Since I was with the sister program I would also participate and complete their requirements while doing my required tasks for FREEDM. So on Monday's and Wednesday's I would go on an online meeting and video conference the FREEDM center and other partnering universities and businesses. Friday's would alternate between a meeting with the MS&T student researchers and faculty and a field trip to various renewable energy related sites. 

The best visit was when the sister program took a visit to the Anheiser-Busch Beer facility in St. Louis. After touring the grounds, looking at the horses and Dalmatian, and smelling beer waft through the air, we then went to their water treatment facility. If I recall correctly they take the waste water from the factory (from cleaning out beer tanks and such) and use bacteria to eat the particles left inside. They can produce energy at a high efficiency , treat the water to be reused by the facility, and produce about 7% percent of the energy needed to make the beer during the brewing process. Almost every week I wrote a reflective essay for FREEDM. I had to create an elevator pitch to be presented for FREEDM. I had to create a poster which I presented twice, once for FREEDM and the next for a poster symposium at MS&T. 

My assignment was to develop a simulink model of an internal combustion engine. MS&T currently house an electric vehicle simulation that compromises essentially of 4 motors, 2 capacitors, and a GUI for the user to "drive " the vehicle with. Developing a simulation of an internal combustion engine, it could be integrated in the original electric vehicle model in varying different ways and could test which power train configuration would be the most efficient and environmentally sensitive model. Before going into this program I knew nothing about cars; the first three weeks were dedicated to nothing but trying to understand them! After reading over 100 papers and watching countless YouTube videos I realized how difficult my task would be. It's not because there aren't current models for the public to see, it's because of how much effort is needed to create one that actually makes sense.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I found this REU program through NSF's website. I knew that I wanted to do something mechanical and related to renewable energy, so I was sifting through all types of options : materials engineering, solar, wind, vehicular and animal safety, simulation, ect. This program caught my eye due to how long it has been running and how impressive the previous students' research projects were. I'm not very good at electrical engineering concepts, and that's what the program mainly focuses on, but I felt that I could utilize my strengths in mechanical engineering and love for thermodynamics to help me if I were to be accepted for the position. (Shout out to Dr. Sanchez for being so clutch at teaching thermodynamics, a seriously great professor!)

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

First of all, I am one of three UMBC undergraduates that were accepted into this program, and that's awesome! Just from that alone I felt confident from the beginning. I've gained a lot of insight that can help guide me to my future career. Like that I hate sitting behind a computer all day, so simulation engineering won't be for me, but that I love combustion. I also love teaching others about cars (and I'm really proud of myself for learning so much on my own) and am now seriously considering going to Graduate's school in order to become a professor. At first I was really nervous about being in Rolla, MO. It's a huge culture shock, coming from the DC metropolitan area, but it really opened my eyes to the shear impressiveness that other universities have to offer. I definitely think that students should take the opportunity to leave their hometowns to learn through research or industry experience. 

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

What I am working on right now has seldom done before. Car companies produce their own engines (I mean , it is the heart of the car. They wouldn't be able to survive if they didn't) and because of that, highly protect their products. The information that can be accessed by the public is readily used by researchers, but used without understanding what the information is actually providing. Basically, it's like if someone tried using an engine from a Honda Hybrid in a big pick up truck. It wouldn't drive the way it was mean to. Most of my work has been focused on the lack of attention given to these models and finding an easier, accessible and more accurate solution.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Do something different every summer, but at least do something. This a chance for you to discover what you're passionate about. Last summer I taught literature and engineering to kindergarten through fourth grade students at the Lakeland Elementary-Middle School. Lessons learned: I love teaching, but I do not love the public school system. This summer I did research. The next I plan on becoming a company's intern. That way I have a multitude of varying experiences to reflect upon while deciding what to do post-graduation.

Like this story on Facebook or Twitter!

Like the Career Center on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram

#UMBCintern

Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!

Happy Quadmania Weekend, everyone!

Due to the possibility of rain, the fireworks scheduled for this evening have been postponed until tomorrow night. We will be ending our QM Festival tomorrow evening (Saturday, April 23) with a performance by The White Panda at 9pm with fireworks directly following!

You'll want to stick around tomorrow night to end Student Events Board: Quadmania Festival with a BANG!

Asante’s bicycle, a custom bicycle with hand and foot pedals designed and built by ME capstone students, received the Project of the Year award for 2015 from V-LINC.  V-LINC is a non-profit that develops “Special Solutions for Special Needs”.  Asante is a 4-year-old little person with hydrocephalus who wanted a bicycle so he could ride with his brothers.  The capstone project team, consisting of Jacob Alvarez, Michael Roberts, Kevin Johnson, and David Nguyen, worked with Cristian Bell (Technical Director, UMBC Theater Department) to build the bicycle to Asante’s specifications.  You can see a video of Asante on his bicycle here.

Team PITCH (Preventing Injury, Trauma, and Cracks to the Head) presented their business plan to the judges at the Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition (CBIC) held at UMBC on April 20.  PITCH is developing an innovative device to be worn by baseball players (initially intended for pitchers) to protect them from batted balls.  The capstone project is the brainchild of Stefan Wroblewski, Andrew Wallace, Baruch Weiner, Jezron Basbas, and Michael Torres, currently students in ENME444 Mechanical Engineering Systems Design, and uses specially selected materials to make a very thin protective device that can be worn inside or outside a standard baseball cap.

All of the CBIC results can be found here.

You can find out more about the CBIC here.