How I got a grip and solved an expensive problem

Myela Paige, Ashok Williams, and Roy Anderson, LSAMP students in the Meyerhoff Scholars program at UMBC, used a week of their summer before graduate school to participate in the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) annual conference in Costa Rica. Each participated in the  University System of Maryland’s 20 person delegation to the conference, with sponsorship from the National Science Foundation. Myela, Ashok, and Roy also participated in the International Student Forum: Foro Latinoamericano de Estudiantes sobre Educación en Ingeniería, which is part of World SPEED – the Student Platform for Engineering Education Development. Former student participants in SPEED include engineers who are now members of the faculty around the world. Myela, Ashok, and Roy, mechanical engineering students at UMBC, will be attending graduate school starting Fall 2016 at Georgia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Virginia Tech, respectively.

UMBC’s Mechanical Engineering LSAMP BD Graduate Students Have an Impact on the LSAMP Students, in the U.S. and in Costa Rica.

Mechanical Engineering at UMBC was well-represented by these LSAMP students, and by UMBC graduate students: Hector Medina, Saadi Habib, and Maxim Serebreni. Hector Medina and Saadi Habib, also LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate students, are pursuing the PhD.  Hector Medina (LSAMP – California AMP, LSAMP BD – UMBC) has been a teaching assistant for the undergraduate students. The students had great things to say about being on a trip with their TAs. Some of the comments are as follows:

“I’ve heard Hector talk about grad school, engineering, and research. He talks about it all of the time, and always told us to ‘go to grad school.’ Now I see what he was talking about.”

“I see Hector and Saadi in the [engineering] building all of the time, plus Hector was my TA, and he is always real. They are among the graduate students who seem to really enjoy what they are doing, they have fun, and it shows.”

Photo: Top Row (L-R): Berthel Tate (Computer Science, UMBC & researcher in Electrical Engineering at UMBC), Dr. Jaye Nias (Computer Science doctoral grad, Bowie State University and former computer science professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore). Row 2 (semi-circle, L-R): Christopher Chester (BioEngineering, U. of Maryland College Park), Malik Abu-Kalokoh (Computer Engineering, U. of Maryland College Park), Elise Donkor (Computer Engineering, UMBC), Myela Paige (Mechanical Engineering, UMBC), Max Serebreni (Mechanical Eng., UMBC), Hector Medina (Mechanical Engineering, UMBC grad student), Yarazeth Medina (USM PROMISE AGEP & UMBC Grad Student Development Program Coordinator), Saadi Habib (Mechanical Engineering, UMBC grad student), Ashok Williams (Mechanical Engineering, UMBC), Dr. Tracy Bell (LSAMP Co-PI, Bio Professor, University of Maryland Eastern Shore)

Research presented at the conference in Costa Rica by the College of Engineering at IT at UMBC:

Undergraduate and graduate students presented research at the conference. Students noted that they were excited to have the opportunity to present their work at an international conference. The official languages of the conference were English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Participants were from Latin America and the Caribbean, the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

• 

  Myela Paige, UMBC Mechanical Engineering LSAMP Meyerhoff Scholar presents in Costa Rica prior to attending graduate school at Georgia Tech.

  ENGINEERING RESEARCH from UMBC was shared in Costa Rica: July 21-22, 2016, as part of the LACCEI Conference.

• Fabrication and Characterization of Electrically Pumped Disordered ZnO Lasers. Extended Abstract # 84 Myela Paige, Bs. (UMBC, US), Kannatassen Appavoo, PhD. (Brookhaven National Laboratory, US), Matthew Y. Sfeir, PhD. (Brookhaven National Laboratory, US).

• Mechanical Analysis of Three Coaxial Electrospun Synthetic Biopolymers. Student Paper # 70 Roy Anderson, Eng. (UMBC-LSAMP/Meyerhoff, US), Wei Tan, PhD. (University of Colorado, US), Richard Johnson, (US), Winston Elliott, (US)

• Guidelines for Engineering Laboratory Courses: Increasing Undergraduate Student Curiosity and Material Retention. Student Paper # 83 Héctor Medina, Eng. (UMBC, US), Saadi Habib, Eng. (UMBC, US).

• Solder Interconnects Failure Modes in Encapsulated Electronic Packages. Extended Abstract # 52 Maxim Serebreni, MSc. (UMBC, US), Craig Hillman, PhD. (DfR Solutions, US).

• Heart Monitoring System for Personalized Arrhythmia Detection. Extended Abstract # 59 Elise A. Donkor, BSc. (UMBC, US).

Photo (L-R): Max Serebreni, (UMBC, Mechanical Engineering, Graduate Student) discusses his research with UMBC’s Roy Anderson, and LSAMP Co-PI Sunji Jangha. Roy Anderson (center) will attend graduate school at Virginia Tech this fall. Max Serebreni participates in programs that are sponsored by the PROMISE AGEP at UMBC.

The University of Maryland College Park’s LSAMP program was represented at LACCEI as well. Sarah Mburu – UM College Park LSAMP-BD Fellow, presented the following work:

Atom Probe Tomography Analysis of the Local Chemical Environment at the Austenite/Ferrite Inter-faces of Cast Duplex Stainless Steels. Extended Abstract # 74 Sarah Mburu, Eng. (University of Maryland College Park, US), Radna Prakash Kolli, PhD. (University of Maryland College, US), Daniel Perea, PhD. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US), Samuel Schwarm, Eng. (University of Maryland College, US), Arielle Eaton, Eng. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , US), Jia Liu, PhD. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US), Shiv Patel (University of Maryland College, US), Jonah Bartrand (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US), Sreeramamurthy Ankem , PhD. (University of Maryland College, US).

Photo: The primary language of the LACCEI conference was Spanish. Sarah Mburu (LSAMP – BD, College Park) and Myela Paige (LSAMP, UMBC) use the conference’s translation service during one of the plenary sessions while working on their Spanish. Cultural appreciation was a big part of the conference.

Photo: Elise Donkor (LSAMP UMBC, Computer Engineering) and Ashok Williams (LSAMP UMBC, Mechanical Engineering) listen to graduate student peer mentors during one of the outdoor session breaks. Ashok was part of the biomechanics laboratory at UMBC, and is looking forward to starting graduate school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Elise is using her skills to start her career as a Software Engineer & Consultant at Microsoft. Elise describes her work as follows: Implement Azure Applications, Dev Tools & Technologies (IIS, COM+, .NET, Data Access, VS, TFS, Compilers) for Microsoft clients.

Humanitarian Engineering and Global Sustainability

During the Foro Latinoamericano de Estudiantes sobre Educación en Ingeniería (FLEEI) forum, part of the World Student Platform for Engineering Education, students had a chance to work in teams, think about problems, present solutions, have those solutions critiqued, revise the solutions, and present the results to group and judges.

Photo, above: Myela, Ashok, and Roy worked on teams to think of an engineering problem that they wanted to solve. They were among the participants who worked in groups to develop solutions using engineering methods. These projects were part of the humanitarian engineering focus, with emphasis on global sustainability in its many forms.

Photo, above: Roy Anderson (UMBC, Mechanical Engineering) learns about global sustainability first hand with fellow participants Gloria Opoku-Boateng (Human-Centered Computing, UMBC PhD program), Dr. Tracy Bell (LSAMP  Co-PI at  the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Biology professor), and Rosemary Parker (LSAMP Co-PI at the University of Maryland College Park and Director of the Clark School of Engineering’s Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering).

Sponsorship & Reflections Blog

This international project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation: NSF #1449322, Division of Engineering Education and Centers/Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE), and the NSF Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Award #1002566 for the University System of Maryland’s LSAMP program. The blog with daily questions and reflections, sponsored by the NSF EHR PROMISE AGEP, can be found here:

https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/promise/laccei2016/

Photo credits belong to the collective University System of Maryland delegation of LACCEI 2016 participants. We thank all of the participants for contributing and sharing photos.

Recent graduates and current PhD students in the Mechanical Engineering program participated in the Latin and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions annual conference in Costa Rica.

More information about the conference and our students can be found here.

Sign up today for your audition to sing with "the cool chorus in town!"

That's us, Handel Choir of Baltimore, according to Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun, in his review of our March 5, 2016 performance of Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles at the Baltimore Basilica. Click here to read the rest.

Handel Choir is for singers who value the traditions of classical choral performance and are ready to be challenged to strive for excellence in making music. Join us!

Auditions will take place:

Think back to the science classes you took as a child. What do you remember about them? Did you watch a caterpillar spin a cocoon and emerge a butterfly, or a tadpole grow into a frog? Did you turn baking soda and vinegar into a fuming volcano, or set off a homemade hot air balloon from the school parking lot? Did you feel a sense of wonder as you watched the world work its unique magic?

That’s the sense of wonder the late Homer W. Schamp, Jr., UMBC’s first dean of the faculty, professor emeritus of education, and trained physicist, pursued science with, and one he sought to instill in both his students and his own children. His wife Juliana Reese Schamp, who worked on important sociological research for the state of Maryland, treated life the same way, until her passing in 2009.

With the Juliana and Homer Schamp Memorial Scholarship, their sons, Brough and David Schamp, hope to keep their parents’ legacy of intellectual curiosity alive in the next generation of K-12 science educators.

Throughout his life, Dr. Schamp, a former College Park physics professor who joined UMBC in 1965, emphasized early education as a crucial part of a child’s intellectual development. His own introduction to science began during his childhood in rural Ohio, when, according to his son David, he became fascinated with the engineering of farm equipment. It’s a curiosity he emphasized to the education classes he taught here, and something he brought up his own children with as well.

“He exposed us to all kinds of different things as we were growing up,” says Brough. “Mushroom hunting, […] botany, the stars, everything. […] His main field was physics, which is really pretty abstract, but what he really was interested in was the phenomenal, real world that we live in.” After his retirement, Brough says, Dr. Schamp built several kinetic sculptures and interactive physics-based artworks, including a large kaleidoscope on display at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

Brough shares his father’s belief that science “should be a hands-on subject,” and says that computers and technology can create a distance between students and the physical world around them.

“The kids should be inspired by something they saw, heard, felt, experienced,” he says. “[That] inspiration is something that is often lost if you’re just looking at something on a computer and answering questions.”

In keeping with his philosophy on education, Dr. Schamp made sure to hire only the highest-quality professors, and it’s doubtful that UMBC would be the hub for innovative teaching and experiential learning it is today without the Schamps’ early influence.

“UMBC was my father’s life’s work and both of my parents conceived of it as a first rank teaching institution,” David says. While his mother, Juliana, was never a faculty member, she was “instrumental in [UMBC’s first faculty] being hired, as recruitment usually began as an evening in our home where my parents could converse [with candidates] on almost any topic.”

Giving back to UMBC seems to run in the family: Homer and Juliana Schamp established the Joseph D. Reese Memorial Prize, a biennial award given to history students, in memory of her father. “It seemed only natural to want to contribute to a place so dear to [our parents],” says David.

He agrees with his brother that their parents raised them to be thinkers, to ask questions.

“I often later felt I had learned my most important lessons at home — specifically how to learn — [and] that curiosity and thoroughness were rewarding and that it had to come from within. Knowing how to learn is the most crucial skill a teacher can pass on and my parents really encapsulated that skill. I would hope any future teachers would want to engender that in their pupils,” he says.

We don’t know exactly what science education will look like when the first Schamp scholar teaches their first class, but we do know that they’ll have the intellect, leadership, and natural curiosity to inspire a new generation of learners.

—Julia Celtnieks ’13

Make a gift to UMBC today, and help inspire a new generation.

The reason colleges and universities require students to write an essay for their admission application is for us to get to know who you are. We want to know what your values are, what your preferred learning style is, and what you would bring to a community of learners.  An essay displays your personality, provides admissions representative insight beyond your grades, and helps determine if you as an applicant will “fit” into our institution’s community.

Here’s exactly what we look for:

1. Grammar and punctuation

Proof reading is key!

1. Clear and concise

Please don’t write us a two page essay…:)

1. Who is this applicant?

Be UNIQUE, be YOU!

Remember to start early by researching your topic, complete an outline and rough draft, develop three parts (introduction, body, conclusion), be specific, get creative, be honest, and edit! Also, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your peers, friends, and/or mentors.

I hope this helps make the essay writing process better for all of my Future Retrievers! As always, get the latest news from the Undergraduate Admissions Office by following our social media accounts @UMBCadmissions!!!

 A short reflection by Shira Devorah, Women’s Center student staff.

I bought my own copy of Dirty River (even though the Women’s Center has a copy you can loan now thanks to the UMBC’s LGBTQ Faculty & Staff Association recent donation), and I’m really glad that I did. I got to underline the poetry and the words that really resonated with me. I carefully applied sticky notes to the parts I loved, the difficult areas I wanted to come back to, the short mix of music I have to check out.

Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home

Dirty River, A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home, by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, is a memoir, but it is also so much more. It is a story of escape, of survival, of scraping by and fighting to exist. This book is more poetry than prose. It is incredibly difficult, dealing with (trigger warning!) incest, abuse and intimate partner violence. It is also difficult because there is so so much. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha feels everything so much. She discovers herself and pulls you in through all the twists and turns. 

This book explores her complicated and celebrated  identity as a queer disabled femme Sri Lankan woman of color. Each facet of herself is carefully explored, every insecurity, every  moment of triumph bursts onto the page. She will not apologize for existing, for running away, for her commitment to activism and celebrating the voices and authorship of queer people of color. She introduces us to the many complex people who hurt her, abused her, raped her and to the people who cared for her and called her family, who stuck in her life. She withers away on one page and blossoms on the next.

Her narrative is fluid, skipping from one point in time to the next. Each chapter is something a little different, a new window to peek through. You have to work through this book – you have to earn Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s story. This book is daunting and incredibly rewarding. I ask you to stick with it, because reading this book makes you feel full inside. It took me longer to read Dirty River than I had anticipated. Though there are only 232 pages, they are filled to the brim with poetry and difficulties and survival.  It is overwhelming, and it is beautiful.

Need more Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha in your life? Good news, she has a bunch of poetry books and  spoken word on Youtube! Even better news? She’s slated to be the keynote speaker for the 4th annual Critical Social Justice: Home coming to UMBC this October!

Her performance of Sins Invalid from 2009. Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 

This is an amazing interview she did last year on the Laura Flanders Show

Leah also has books of poetry available! Love Cake, Consensual Genocide, and Bodymap

Pick up our new copy of Dirty River, A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home at the Women’s Center’s lending library. And, save the date for October 25th to see her in person at UMBC at Critical Social Justice 2016! 

This short blurb is part of our Summer Reading Challenge. Check it out and happy reading!