COEIT

headshot of a woman in front of a grassy lawn

From apples to army robots, curiosity and commitment define Priya Narayanan’s career

/ 4 minutes of reading

She didn’t exactly experience a Sir Isaac Newton-like epiphany after being conked by a falling apple, but Priya Narayanan, Ph.D. ’08, mechanical engineering, spent a lot of her time at UMBC interacting with the iconic red fruit.  For her Ph.D. thesis, Narayanan worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study whether a simple device made of a long, inclined track could reliably orient apples. The ultimate goal was to automate visual inspection of the fruit—using cameras to spot blemishes—and the cameras required the same view of the apple each time. Narayanan spent thousands of hours performing experiments with rolling… Continue Reading From apples to army robots, curiosity and commitment define Priya Narayanan’s career

A woman and a college student sit talking to each other across a conference table with lots of windows behind them during office hours

Office Hours 

/ 4 minutes of reading

Each week during her student-facing office hours, UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby meets with students to chat about their lives and experiences at UMBC. Today, she’s speaking with Okechukwu Tabugbo ’25, computer engineering, president of UMBC’s Black Men’s Society, a group that provides mentorship, skills training, and community to students while trying to eliminate negative narratives and stigma around what it means to be a Black man in America. Okechukwu Tabugbo: I found out about UMBC’s Black Men’s Society when I was in my first year. I knew Marvin Onwukwe, the club secretary at the time. He was always walking… Continue Reading Office Hours 

Illustration by Rebecca Bradley, featuring colorful overlapping hands grabbing for wine glasses and mugs over a green picnic blanket.

Grab a Seat at the Table

/ 13 minutes of reading

These days, it’s tempting to grow numb to the polarization of society and the breakdown in public discourse and to retreat into our silos of solidarity. But a liberal arts education has the potential to offer an antidote to these seemingly inevitable fates—through modeling and practicing empathy. At UMBC, students are invited to the table to share their stories and listen to their peers. These acts of educational hospitality help Retrievers find their why and pursue the public good. It’s the first day of class. You’re looking around, bright-eyed and a little nervous, and then your instructor smiles at the… Continue Reading Grab a Seat at the Table

GRIT-X 2023 presenters standing on stage

GRIT-X 2023 explores wide range of UMBC’s research and creative achievement around campus and beyond

/ 7 minutes of reading

Spiders, robots, climate change, Vaudevillian history, and more—this year’s GRIT-X event had something for inquiring minds of all kinds, with explorations into elements of the past, our collective present, and possibilities for the future. Continue Reading GRIT-X 2023 explores wide range of UMBC’s research and creative achievement around campus and beyond

a group of alumni award winners stand together on a stage

Alumni Awards 2023—Making impact through relationships

/ 3 minutes of reading

On the stage of the 35th annual Alumni Awards, awardees and their nominators repeated a shared theme: the freedom and flexibility to grow at UMBC—not alone—but in community. Presented by the Alumni Association Board of Directors, the event recognizes inspiring alumni in a range of fields, as well as a rising star and an outstanding faculty and staff member. Rehana Shafi, recipient of the inaugural staff award, emphasized that she was only able to do so much “with so many.” Shafi, director emerita of the Sherman Teacher Scholars Program, said: “This work, this way, isn’t an individual endeavor….Impact happens inside… Continue Reading Alumni Awards 2023—Making impact through relationships

Lights and cables in a computing facility.

UMBC’s Vandana Janeja aims to boost high-performance computing know-how to tackle environmental science challenges with a $1 million NSF grant

/ 4 minutes of reading

UMBC’s Vandana Janeja was recently awarded a nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will leverage high-performance computing to solve real-world problems and make it accessible to students and researchers of all backgrounds,” Continue Reading UMBC’s Vandana Janeja aims to boost high-performance computing know-how to tackle environmental science challenges with a $1 million NSF grant

Four men standing on stage in front of a screen that says "INCS-COE C2C CTF 2023, August 1-4, 2023, Keio University, closing ceremony"

Cracking the code: International collaboration fosters cybersecurity

/ 5 minutes of reading

This summer, three UMBC students competed in an international “capture the flag”-style cybersecurity competition in Japan, with one Retriever taking home a victory—and all three bringing back a greater range of expertise. This opportunity helped UMBC students build global relationships and attain more practical experience in cyber defense.  Continue Reading Cracking the code: International collaboration fosters cybersecurity

Printed text on yellow background as a word cloud, including words "Retriever Essentials. Community partnerships. Save-a-swipe"

Retriever Essentials student team is runner-up in a nationwide competition to address world hunger

/ 3 minutes of reading

Retriever Essentials, represented by student volunteers Nhi Nguyen ’25, biochemistry and bioinformatics, and Ben Bhattarai ’23, biology and psychology, is a second place finalist in the 2023 Wilbur Ellis Innovation Award. Announced at the end of September, the honorable mention award—given to only four schools—recognizes the student teams with the most innovative strategies for providing food for a growing world population. Continue Reading Retriever Essentials student team is runner-up in a nationwide competition to address world hunger

Arecibo Conference Center

UMBC joins collaboration to create new STEM education, research center at Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico

/ 3 minutes of reading

This week UMBC was named as one of four institutions chosen to work together on a National Science Foundation-funded project to establish a new science educational center at the Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico. NSF will contribute more than $5 million over five years to establish the multidisciplinary center, called the Arecibo Center for Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Science Education, Computational Skills, and Community Engagement (Arecibo C3). Continue Reading UMBC joins collaboration to create new STEM education, research center at Arecibo Observatory site in Puerto Rico

black and gold flags span across academic row

Standing Ovation for Outstanding Retrievers

/ 3 minutes of reading

At UMBC, we celebrate the accomplishments of our alumni community year round, but our annual Athletics Hall of Fame induction and Alumni Awards ceremony and reception give us a chance to cheer extra loud for the outstanding Retrievers among us.  Stanyell Odom, director of alumni engagement, says it best about the incoming class of awardees: “These award winners embody so many of the characteristics that make UMBC such a special place. They are leaders in their professions and fields—innovative teachers, educators, and scientists—and are engaged and proud members of this UMBC community.” The 23rd Hall of Fame induction  Coming up… Continue Reading Standing Ovation for Outstanding Retrievers

Two mean wearing formal attire hold a framed certificate.

Cybersecurity expert Richard Forno appointed an honorary international professor

/ 2 minutes of reading

Richard Forno, assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity and a principal lecturer in the department of computer science and electrical engineering, has been appointed an honorary international professor in the School of Science and Engineering at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), one of Mexico’s oldest universities. Continue Reading Cybersecurity expert Richard Forno appointed an honorary international professor

© UMBC: A University System of Maryland
Member Institution
Scroll to Top