CNMS faculty. staff, and guests gathered to honor the College's outstanding graduate and undergraduate students at the Seventh Annual CNMS Student Recognition Day on Friday afternoon, May 4, 2012. Mark Perks, the recipient of the 2012 Carl Weber Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Award, also was recognized at the May 4 ceremony. For more details, visit: http://umbc.edu/cnms/WeberAward

URCAD 2012 was held on Wednesday, April 25 and this all-day event, which is sponsored by the UMBC Office of Undergraduate Education, was the sixteenth Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day. Over 35% of the event's 204 presentations were made by CNMS students. For more information, visit: http://www.umbc.edu/urcad or check out the lists of presentations by CNMS disciplines:
* Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
* Bioinformatics
* Biological Sciences
* Chemistry
* Mathematics/Statistics
* Physics

UMBC's Life Science Symposium, A Look Ahead XV: Futures in Biomedical Research, was held on April 18, 2012 in the UMBC Ballroom. The event featured talks by Nobel Laureate Dr. Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and UMBC Professor of Biological Sciences, Dr. Charles Bieberich. For more detail information, visit: www.umbc.edu/lookahead/.

The Molecular Characterization & Analysis Complex (MCAC) offers state-of-the-art equipment as a resource to UMBC faculty and the local science community. An Open House cohosted by the CNMS and PerkinElmer, Inc. on March 7 celebrated its official opening and featured posters and live demonstrations. For information, contact MCAC Manager, Josh Wilhide.

Assessment Plan Review, third in the Active Assessment Luncheon Workshop Series, was held on Friday, March 30, from 11:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., in UC 116 - the Dean's Office. The series, which is being hosted by CNMS and the UMBC Faculty Development Center, was launched January 17, 2012, and will continue with a workshop luncheon on May 9. The workshops are targeting all persons using or who plan to use active learning instruction in their classrooms, especially instructors and graduate students using the CASTLE. A flier on the series is available to download in PDF format.

Growing Opportunities, the inaugural CNMS Associate Professors' Retreat, was held on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at UMBC's South Campus on Rolling Road. Twenty associate faculty members in all stages of their careers attended the event.

The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) committed $300,000 to support UMBC's CASTLE (CNMS Active Science Teaching and Learning Environment), which is providing the venue for new methods of teaching introductory classes to boost student success and retention. The generous SAIC gift was made in 2011 and acknowledged at a gala breakfast reception when a colorful photographic mural was unveiled in the 93-student classroom. The CASTLE is one of the UMBC Alumni Association's CNMS top giving priorities.