UMBC Parent Preview

UMBC's Pete Caringi III (Perry Hall, Md./Calvert Hall) signed a professional soccer contract with Oklahoma City Energy FC, general manager Jason Hawkins announced today.

"We're very happy to have Pete on board," said Energy FC Head Coach Jimmy Nielsen. "We're looking forward to working with him. He's a well-schooled, intelligent soccer player who will play a big part on our offense. We can't wait to see his game develop."

In December, Caringi became the first Retriever student-athlete to earn NSCAA First Team All-America honors in program history.

The 2012 and 2013 America East Striker of the Year, Caringi scored 27 goals over his last two seasons. The local product was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2013 America East Championships and finished his career with 37 goals (fourth on the all-time list) and 91 points (fifth all-time).

"It is a great day for UMBC soccer," said head coach Pete Caringi, Jr. "We are excited for Pete and look forward to watching him play at the next level. "

OKC Energy FC is one of the newest members of the USL Professional Division. USL PRO will feature 14 teams for the 2014 season with the addition of Oklahoma City and Sacramento. In 2013, USL PRO and Major League Soccer began a partnership to enhance the development of professional players in North America, strengthen the competition in both leagues and establish a solid foundation for future collaboration.

OKC Energy is one of two affiliates of Sporting Kansas City. The team's inaugural 28-game slate begins on the road against LA Blues on April 5 and the team's home opener is April 26 against defending USL PRO champion Orlando City SC, also a Sporting KC affiliate.

UMBC is featured in two articles in The Baltimore Sun’s February Education Supplement. Josh Massey, an interdisciplinary studies major, is profiled in an article titled “Tools of success” for his role in developing “Banana Bones,” a mobile campus navigation app to help students and visitors find their away across college campuses.

Massey and two of his fellow classmates, Andres Camacho and Hashem Kanfash, started the app as part of a class project that was later purchased by Tecor Networks. “None of us is really a techie,” said Massey, explaining why they didn’t produce the app themselves. “We knew we needed someone to help with the programming.”

UMBC’s Global Studies program is featured in an article titled “A global perspective,” which focuses on new programs that go beyond the traditional study abroad experience. Political Science Professor and Global Studies Program Director Devin Hagerty is quoted in the article describing the program, in which students are required to study abroad and take courses across several disciplines.

“This program is based on a global competence concept involving knowledge of other cultures and the ability to embrace change and learn about cultures outside your own environment. This way, if you are transferred to an office in Berlin or Stockholm, you will have the confidence to hit the ground running,” Hagerty said.

To read the full article featuring “Banana Bones,” click here. You can read the full article featuring the Global Studies program here.

UMBC’s Imaging Research Center employs innovative strategies to help researchers across the disciplines share their vision.

For 25 years, UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) has taken an entrepreneurial approach to leveraging new technologies and emerging media platforms to help researchers across the disciplines tell their stories using a wide range of visual media.

In the late 1980s, when the IRC was founded, personal computers were only just emerging and mobile phones didn’t exist. Now, in 2013, the IRC’s state-of-the-art facilities enable research in 3D visualization, immersive technologies, interactive installations, feature-length films, social media, and mobile device applications.

A hub of campus research activity, the IRC works with faculty and researchers in departments and centers across the disciplines. “At the Imaging Research Center here at UMBC, we use the broadest definition of the word ‘imaging,’” says Dan Bailey, director of the Imaging Research Center. “We work with NASA to help the general public understand our climate and our place in the universe. We’ve created a unique and comprehensive visualization of early Washington, D.C. We’ve created virtual sets for theatre, and we’ve brought inanimate objects to life in impossible and aesthetic ways.”

The IRC is also an educational facility where faculty and undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students engage in real-world, project-oriented, creative and collaborative research to complement learning in the classroom and prepare students for further learning and life after the university. The IRC continues to imagine new directions for interdisciplinary research in combination with technologically advanced media that communicate to and resonate with the general public.

Visit this link for a short video presenting the work of UMBC's Imaging Research Center.

The UMBC Student Events Board is proud to present the biggest Quad Mania ever! Here are just some of the awesome things that our students have to look forward to:

-A Great Big World: The duo behind the hit single “Say Something” will be performing on the quad at 8pm!

-Elephant Rides- This UMBC favorite is back and better than ever!

-Fireworks- Following “A Great Big World”, Fireworks will light up the night sky!

-Carnival Rides- Zipper anyone? What about Some bumper cars?

-Food trucks- Some of the Baltimore’s best trucks are coming to make your foodie dreams come true. Bring an appetite and some cash!

-Also featuring games, prizes, student orgs, and live music!