Joseph Bennett, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Mona Layegh, Ph.D. ’25, chemistry, know how hard it can be to teach density functional theory (DFT) to undergraduates. DFT is a computational method for predicting a substances’ properties at the quantum level, such as how they conduct electricity or react with other compounds. Despite its complexity, DFT is a foundational technique that underpins research in fields like renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and nanotechnology, so it’s critical that students understand it and know how to apply it.

To address the challenge of teaching DFT well, Bennett and Layegh coauthored a tutorial on teaching the technique, which was published in the Journal of Chemical Education. Their paper was the first ever published in the journal’s brand new Tutorial section, which was inspired by their submission and a need to develop more training tools. 

The tutorial, refined over five years of training UMBC students in DFT, is paired with open-source resources on GitHub, including ready-to-use files and visualizations. These allow instructors at community colleges or in areas with limited internet to teach the concepts even without advanced computers.

“If you can erase some of the hurdles to make DFT a little bit more accessible, more students can get into it,” Bennett says.

In sharing these teaching tools, UMBC is leveling the playing field, making it possible for students in all kinds of learning environments to master this core technique. As a result, they’ll be better prepared for careers in growing industries like technology and healthcare, where they may go on to design better batteries, solar panels, life-saving drugs, and more. 

This summer UMBC is partnering with the Maryland Department of Disabilities to upgrade nine teaching labs in the Meyerhoff Chemistry Building. The updates will allow students with mobility disabilities to fully participate in critical chemistry and biochemistry lab courses. 

Sinks, lab benches, cabinets, fume hoods, specialized equipment stations, and more will all be constructed that are accessible for wheelchair users. A research lab will be similarly modified to allow students with disabilities to gain research experience.

“These projects are a part of an ongoing campus-wide effort to remove barriers to access throughout our campus buildings,” Celso Guitian, UMBC’s campus planner, says. 

A lecture hall in the Engineering Building is also being renovated this summer. The changes are similar to those made in lecture halls in the Administration, Meyerhoff Chemistry, and Biological Sciences buildings in recent years to create multiple spaces for wheelchair-users with fold-down desk tablets, both at the front and rear of the lecture hall. TV monitors will help students with vision disabilities who may not be able to see the whiteboard or screen at the front of these lecture halls. And seating size variations, including standing-desk options, accommodate students of varied body types and disabilities, including supporting pregnant students and students with orthopedic challenges. Assisted listening technology and an area for sign language interpreters support students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Other projects under construction this summer include accessibility upgrades in four Biological Sciences Building restrooms and elevator upgrades in several academic buildings.

“The Office of Accessibility & Disability Services greatly values our longstanding partnership with Facilities Management to assist us in the mission of inclusive access and elimination of barriers for all UMBC community members,” says Tawny McManus, assistant vice president for accessibility. “Improving our teaching labs allows increased participation of our students with disabilities and shows them UMBC welcomes everyone here.”

Lars Sobieski, undergraduate mechanical engineer at the Earth and Space Institute, spends his day developing hardware and testing for future climate satellites. At ESI, he designs and fabricates some of the ground support equipment (GSE) that will help calibrate future climate instruments, particularly the two-dimensional focal plane arrays (FPA). The FPA is the surface of a detector that collects light across millions of pixels and converts it into an image. ESI is developing FPAs for upcoming satellite instruments that are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelengths. These are critical spectral ranges for studying Earth’s clouds, aerosols, land, ocean, and atmosphere.

A major type of testing that satellites and their detectors undergo before launch is thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing. In the lab, Mr. Sobieski and ESI faculty are preparing an industrial TVAC chamber, which can submit our space hardware to orbit temperatures (-20C to +20C) and space-like pressures (10-7 millibars and lower). This TVAC chamber was part of a major state grant to ESI, led by Maryland Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, to boost UMBC’s capacity to support new space and satellite projects.

Mr. Sobieski is currently helping to optimize the TVAC chamber for related testing. However, he explains, “Because the TVAC chamber will not be ready for use for some of the FPA tests, I was given the task of designing and building an enclosure that can fit the GSE needed for the UV/VIS FPA test. This enclosure will be purged with dry air to ensure that no condensation will form on the electronics as they are chilled to below the dewpoint. It must also isolate the FPA from electrostatic discharge and provide through-wall access points for power, data, pneumatics, and a liquid cooling loop.” This will be used to verify the operation of the FPA prior to testing it under day-night temperature swings or the low pressures of the orbit environment.

Photo: The full assembly of the UV/VIS FPA (center gray part) and associated electronics in a metal enclosure for electronics testing. Photo Credit: L. Sobieski/ESI.

Since March 2025, he took on a completely different project for ESI in parallel – developing a full-scale 3D-printed model of the HARP CubeSat, ESI’s first foray into small satellite technology for studying Earth’s climate. According to Mr. Sobieski, “The process involved using the existing CAD assembly of the CubeSat to create a new, simplified model from scratch to reduce the part count. While the actual CubeSat had a few thousand parts, the 3D-printable model has only nineteen.” After a few rounds of test prints, gluing, body-filling, sanding, and priming, Mr. Sobieski enlisted the help of his fiancée to do the detail brush painting. For the end result, the 3D model of the HARP CubeSat looks remarkably similar to what actually flew in space from 2020-2022.

Photos: Process composite of the development of the HARP CubeSat 3D model. The monobloc model derived from the original satellite CAD file (left), components were primed (center left), painted to match the satellite (center right), and the final model (right). Photo Credit: L. Sobieski/ESI.

Greetings!

NOTE: Our original post had the correct dates listed but the incorrect day of the week (listing Tuesday when it should have been Wednesday). The correct days and dates are Wednesday 9/10 and Wednesday 10/1.

We are pleased to announce the official relaunch of our shared services center! To mark this occasion, we will be hosting an in-person event where participants will:

• Attend a one-hour presentation on our updated services and structure

• Meet the team supporting your department

• Take part in a Q&A session, followed by an opportunity to meet the team in person and enjoy coffee, tea, and light refreshments

To ensure this event works for as many attendees as possible, we would appreciate your input on:

• Your preferred start time: 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM

• Your preferred date: Wednesday, September 10th or Wednesday, October 1st.

Please complete the form no later than Friday, August 1st. Your feedback will help us finalize the event details and ensure a meaningful and productive relaunch gathering.

Link to Google Form: https://forms.gle/PrrTw8xPaWszt5439

Thank you!

AAOU SSC Team