March is Women’s History Month!

Three  years ago Women’s History Month’s national theme was “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.” The theme honored generations of women who throughout American history have used their intelligence, imagination, sense of wonder, and tenacity to make extraordinary contributions to the STEM fields. At UMBC we honored this theme by partnering with the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) to feature some of their amazing students participating in technology in the engineering and information technology fields. While the theme for Women’s History Month changes every year, we have come to love the tradition in spotlighting the stories of UMBC’s CWIT women. So with that, we are honored to bring you the 3rd Annual CWIT Showcase in honor of Women’s History Month.

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Natacha Ngea
Computer Engineering
CWIT  Scholar & Newcombe Scholar

Meet Natacha Ngea! A CWIT Scholar and computer engineering major.

Describe what sparked your interest STEM and the journey to choosing your major.

I have always been interested in Science and Technology. My favorite classes were biology, chemistry and Mathematics. I still remember how excited I was to perform experiments with test tubes. In my country of origin, Cameroon, you specialize in high school and your admittance in College depends on what you graduate in. I was placed in Modern Languages. It never felt right. When I got the opportunity to come to the US, I decided to use that chance to finally do what I always wanted to do. In order to do so, though, I needed to pay my way to school and fill the gap I had in technology so I had so I enrolled in a professional certificate at Howard Community College (HCC). My first class was a computer repairs class. I loved it. I wanted to know how computers work. My professor knew so much on the topic that I asked him what was his background was in. He told me he was a mechanical engineer. That is when I started thinking about getting a degree in engineering. After meeting with my advisor, I took some tests and I enrolled in a second degree in engineering. After physics I, I knew mechanical engineering was not the right fit for me but I found out there was a computer engineering program. I read the curriculum and I was sold. In the meantime, I was invited to join the STEM community at HCC. Through this program, I grew more and more confident. I also joined the Computer/Network support team as an intern. I discovered that I liked troubleshooting and taking things apart. I learned a lot there. I am a visual learner and English is not my first language so being able to relate a concept I learned in class with an application I encountered through my internship was great. After an A.A.S in Computer Support Technology and an A.A in Computer Science, I transferred to UMBC in fall 2014 to pursue a degree in Computer Engineering and I also work for DoIT as a network technician.

Tell us about an internship, research experience or project that you are proud of.

When I started my first internship. I had no experience. No one expected much from me or asked me anything so I started going on tickets on my own and shadowed more experienced technicians. I wanted to be taken seriously. Finally a big project came and individual assignments were made as it went. When I was given my own part of the project, I knew that my efforts were paying: I was part of the team.

Who are your role models in the engineering or IT field? How have their stories influenced your educational or career goals.

My role models are my peers. Each one of them has her story and it is really fascinating to hear them. I went to Grace Hopper Conference last Fall and I met a lot of professionals in the field and other students in the country or from other countries. It was very encouraging to me to hear the same passion and drive, sometimes the same goals and I felt re-energized. It was a great experience. If you are in a computing major, you must attend Grace Hopper.

Women often face subtle comments (microaggressions) or people who tell them they can’t/shouldn’t be in these majors which are often dominated by men. What would you say to those women or what advice do you have?

In the environment where I grew up, the young are discriminated against because they are young. The older can get away with anything because they are older. That experience and the other forms of discrimination I faced taught me a very important lesson: It is not about you. It is about the aggressors. They have a problem. You do not. For the most part, you are never really conscious right away of these microaggressions. You find yourself angry and low on energy because those tiny papercuts start to accumulate. You are not alone in this. At Grace Hopper, I kept hearing the same story over and over again no matter where the women were in their professional lives.You need to create your own support system: It may or may not involve people. If it does, it does not need to be other women in your major, though that would be ideal. My first year at UMBC, I was hanging out with mechanical engineers. Do something that always brings you high positive energy (it will channel your frustration into something positive) and remind yourself of what motivates you to be in these majors. I created a Women in Computer Engineering Lean In Circle opened to undergraduates, graduates and alumnae. Of course, there are plenty of other resources on campus such as SWE and affiliates from scholarship programs.

Natacha is also a Newcombe Scholar and part of the Women’s Center Returning Women Students Program. She’s pictured here with other UMBC returning women students at fall orientation.

With viral hashtags like #DistractinglySexy or #AddWomen and #Ilooklikeanengineer, women in STEM are using social media as a tool for activism and creating awareness about women’s representation in STEM. What’s your favorite example of women in STEM supporting and empowering themselves and other women to change the narrative about women in STEM?

I have already mentioned the Grace Hopper Conference and Lean In Circles but my favorite is #Ilooklikeanengineer. America loves labels. I have never seen anything like it. When you think about it, most issues stem from this need to catalog everything including people. This campaign is great because you can fit in any other label and see how pointless they are.

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The Center for Women In Technology (CWIT) is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in the creation of technology in the engineering and information technology fields. CWIT efforts begin with nurturing a strong group of Scholars, grow to building community resources for other women in these majors, extend to fostering a healthy gender climate and ITE pedagogy in College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) departments, and finally expand into outreach efforts to increase interest in technical careers. A successful program for female-friendly engineering and information technology education at UMBC will help make UMBC a destination for women (and men) interested in technical careers and serve as a national model for other universities. To read previous Women’s History Month CWIT spotlights, click here. 

To learn more about the experience of women in STEM, check out the American Association of University Women’s report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) which presents in-depth yet accessible profiles of eight key research findings that point to environmental and social barriers — including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities — that continue to block women’s progress in STEM.

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For more information about Women’s History events and happenings, visit the Women’s Center myUMBC group page.

Helena Mentis, assistant professor of information systems at UMBC, was recently awarded the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for her research in surgical telemedicine.

The CAREER Award is an NSF program designed for early career faculty members who are typically pre-tenured and within their first five years of their career. Mentis said, “It’s a pretty competitive award, but it’s also really supportive of junior faculty members to get their research off the ground.”

The CAREER Award grants Mentis with $518,121 over the course of five years. Using the monetary benefits this award provides, Mentis will be able to continue her research. The money from this award will go toward her current project, “Collaborative Image Manipulation and Annotation in Surgical Telemedicine.”

Mentis’ recent work has focused on the role of surgical telemedicine in transplant surgeries. Before advancements had been made in this field, doctors would have to call one another on the phone to communicate and describe the situation pertaining to the donated organ and the recipient. With advancements, the surgical teams dealing with these transplants have been using Google glass to capture and send video in order to more effectively communicate with potential donor recipients from far distances and to ensure a successful transplant. Her research examines the work required to implement these technologies, as well as the benefits of doing so.

In order to be considered for this award, Mentis was required to write an application, generate a research idea and be able to effectively communicate her idea to the program committee.

Mentis also had to prove she was supported by a group of surgeons with whom she intended to conduct her research. Finally, with these materials submitted, a panel of scientists reviews the applications and decides on which individual’s research they would like to fund.

Surgical telemedicine allows surgeons from outside of a surgery to be able to communicate with surgeons performing the surgeries. Using surgical telemedicine, surgeons are able to telecommute into the operating room to be able to weigh in on the surgery and assist the surgeon who is performing the surgery.

This technology is beneficial for a wide variety of surgical needs. Surgeons who may need more guidance from more experienced surgeons while in the operating room can use this as a form of communication to gain information from surgeons who cannot be present during the surgery. It can also be used by collaborating surgeons as a way of communicating when one surgeon is away.

Mentis said receiving this long time award will be beneficial to further developing her research because it enables her to go into more depth. Mentis said, “I am going to be able to work in a couple of different surgical environments and see what benefits of telemedicine work in one type of surgery versus different types of surgery, and that’s actually a huge benefit.”

Mentis said she can also use this as a way to assist graduate students. Mentis said, “I hope to be able to support the next generation of information scientists to be studying this area.”

Mentis also sees this as an opportunity to expand an internship program for high schools students at the surgical stimulation center she works with at Anne Arundel Hospital. With this expansion, these high school students will be able to get more involved in medical informatics research.

Mentis also works with various UMBC undergraduates, graduates, masters and PhD students in her lab. “I really appreciate being able to have those undergraduate and graduate students working together as a team because I think everyone has a really interesting perspective to bring to the problem,” she said.

When discussing the role of undergraduate students in the lab, Mentis said, “I highly recommend any undergraduate to reach out if they’re interested in doing or seeing what research is all about.”

The post UMBC professor receives NSF CAREER AWARD appeared first on The Retriever.

The Baltimore Corps Fellowship is coming to campus this TUESDAY to recruit those completing their undergraduate or graduate degrees in the coming months from ALL fields of study.

Baltimore Corps recruits across the board because the organizations with whom they partner are looking for a wide array of skills. Fellows come from all backgrounds and all fields of study.

BALTIMORE CORPS FELLOWSHIP INFORMATION SESSION
Tuesday, March 22nd
6:00 to 7:30 pm in Commons 331

At this information session, learn what Baltimore Corps is all about--our mission, our work, and our vision for years to come. We will present about our programming, introduce attendees to some of our current Fellows, learn about what attendees are studying and are passionate about, and hold space to answer any questions about our Fellowship program.

The application for the 2016-17 Baltimore Corps Fellowship is now live. Apply now through April 15th.

The Baltimore Corps Fellowship is a network of professionals leading impact-oriented initiatives in Baltimore City, the social change capital of America. Working across fields including health, education and workforce development, our community is on the front lines of creating opportunity for Baltimore's communities and families. 

Fellowships are full-time, paid positions in a Baltimore nonprofit, social enterprise or government agency. Though the Fellowship is one year, 80% of Fellows are hired by their host organization at the conclusion of the year. If you are interested in joining us, apply today and attend Tuesday's information session.  Bring your resume.