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Maryland Moments, August, 2006 University Initiatives (Rankings, New Programs) UM retains its ranking of No. 18 among the Top 50 Public Universities. Its cumulative Top Ten U.S. News rankings (including graduate rankings) remain at a record 31. Top 25 rankings dropped from a record 92 to 91. The magazine also rated undergraduate business and engineering programs. Smith School of Business
Specialties
Entrepreneurship No. 10
Specialties
Aerospace 10 (Same)
U.S. News also ranks "a list of schools with outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success." There are eight categories, with UM ranked in these five. Schools of all sizes are in these rankings.
Learning Communities (35 ranked): In learning communities, students typically take two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors well. Some learning communities are also residential." Service Learning (29 ranked): "In service-learning programs, required (or-for-credit) volunteer work in the community is an instructional strategy. What's learned in the field bolsters what happens in class and vice versa." Study Abroad (62 ranked): "Programs at these schools involve substantial academic work for credit--a year, a semester, or an intensive experience equal l to a course --and considerable interaction with the local culture." Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects (62 ranked): "Independently or in small teams, and mentored by a faculty member, students do intensive and self-directed research or creative work that results in an original scholarly paper or other product that can be formally presented on or off campus."
UM is No. 1 in doctoral degrees swarded for African American Engineering, Total Minority Mathematics and Asian American Mathematics. Other top programs: Total Minority degrees, No. 20; African American degrees (traditonally white institutions), No. 13, Total Minority Area & Ethnic Studies, No. 3; Asian American Education, No. 6; Hispanic Enginering, No. 8. In master's degree programs, UM is No. 6 in African American engineering. Combining the U.S. News Top 25 list and the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education reveals UM is again No.1 among its U.S. News Top 25 peers in awarding degrees to African Americans. In all, UM, conferred 680 undergraduate degrees, 132 master's degrees and 26 doctorates. The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation will give more than $1 million over four years to the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering for bioengineering research on the nanoscale. A cross-disciplinary group of researchers associated with the Clark School is developing a new 'biochip' techcnology that promises to give doctors a new way to discover drugs to treat bacterial infections, without stimulating resistance-building mutations. The Deutsch Foundation, based in Baltimore, is funding the work in the hope of speeding development of new life-saving drugs and advancing the new field of nano-biotechnology." The Clark School of Engineering's Maryland Industrial Partnerships program announces funding for 23 projects, 44 percent more than during the last round of awards. Increased funding from the state allows MIPS to distribute $4.5 million, instead of the $2.35 from the previous year, nearly doubling research projects. MIPS unites faculty from University System of Maryland schools with business startups. Since 1987, the program has awarded $27.8 million in grants for projects involving 369 companies. The Washington Business Journal reports the univeristy's pursuit of a developer for a 38-acre parcel across Route 1 from UM's main gate. Presently, a mail facility and support buildings occupy the land that becomes increasingly valuable for the expanding flagship campus. "The university has begun to move on redevelopment of a site at Route 1 and Paint Branch Parkway that houses a bus maintenance yard, warehouses and most of the school's facilities-management operations.... 'It's our single -best redevelopment opportunity,' says John Porcari, vice president of administrative affairs for the university. 'We own all the land, so there's no need to assemble anything. We've got mixed-use zoning already in place. We want to anchor the redevelopment of Route 1 with this project.' The property could accommodate at least $50 million in development, 'but that's a conservative estimate,' Porcari says, adding that the university already has reserved spots on campus for a relocated bus yard and maintenance operations." Anthony Janetos is named director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a College Park-based group that investigates the scientific, technological, economic and policy implications of climate change. The Institute, which was formed in 2001, is collaboration between the UM and the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Janetos most recenlty served as vice president of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment in Washington, D.C., where he directs the center's Global Change Program. From 1999-2002, he served as vice president for science and research at the World Resources Institute, also in Washington, D.C. Computerworld magazine names UM one of the winners of its second annual Computerworld Horizon Awards for cutting-edge technologies. OASYS, a unique system for online opinion analysis developed by researchers at the university's Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, was selected for the award by an independent panel of senior IT executives. Professor V.S. Subrahmanian led the development of OASYS, a quantitative system for analysis of opinions expressed in online news media. The Clark School of Engineering creates a Continuous Innovation Initiative to ensure that old-economy manufacturing in Maryland reamins a viable business. Maryland Daily Record: "The new Continuous Innovation Initiative will work with Maryland manufacturers on ways to use technology and best business practices to stay competitive, said Al Etheridge, the initiative�s manager.... The plan is to work with companies to develop plans to fit their needs, such as identifying new markets or streamlining production, Etheridge said. The university will spend between three and six months with each company." Washington Business Journal: "Flexcar wants to change the age for borrowing a car. Traditionally, rental car companies only allow people 25 and older to rent their vehicles. And car-sharing firms have been serving those 21 and older. Flexcar, a portfolio company of Steve Case's D.C.-based investment firm Revolution, is trying to change that. The Seattle-based company on Thursday kicked off its new program for undergrads by launching a pilot program at six campuses, including the University of Maryland." Science & Technology
A team of researchers from UM and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center image areas of habitat suitable for the ivory-billed woodpecker, the largest and most regal member of the woodpecker family, which may still survive some 60 years after it was thought to have gone extinct. The team spent two weeks of flights over delta regions of the lower Mississippi River using an aircraft carrying NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor, which has a unique ability to peer into dense forests to reveal the internal structure of the vegetation, as well as information about the terrain beneath the forest canopy. Firefighter Training Yields Increased Safety Guidelines developed by the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute at UM, through a study funded by a $750,000 Department of Homeland Security grant, produces safety guidelines aimed at reversing the rising number of deaths among firefighter trainees. Taining deaths accounted for 10 percent of all on-duty U.S. firefighter deaths in the past decade despite a drop in the number of firefighter deaths overall. Society & Culture
The fourth annual UM survey of Maryland drivers shows that a lot more people are buckling up than they were four years ago, but a lot more are also concerned about other drivers who use cell phones behind the wheel. More drivers also report encounters with aggressive drivers, and most of them continue to be concerned about drunk drivers. The survey, conducted by UM's department of public and community health, looks at how driver behaviors and concerns change from year to year. English lecturer Michael Olmert wins his third Emmy award as the writer for a Discovery Channel/BBC animated program called Before The Dinosaurs. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the award during it's 58th annual Creative Arts Primetime Emmy program in Los Angeles. Olmert joined 5 other members of the production cast to receive the award under the "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)" category.  Fall '06 :
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Information provided by the Office of University CommunicationsEmail University Communications at emailum@umd.edu