The Synapse
Updates from the Sciences at Loyola University Maryland
August 2024 | Issue 70
The August issue of The Synapse contains news about the completion of the Hauber 2024 summer fellowship program, important news about the upcoming annual Grand Seminar, and opportunities for faculty and students.
"Success is completion. Success is being able to complete what we set out to do - each individual action, each specific step, each desired experience whether a big project or a very small errand."
Susan Collins
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HIGHLIGHTS & GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Save the date for the Grand Seminar - Tuesday, October 8, 2024!
Natural and Applied Sciences is pleased to announce this year's Grand Seminar is on Tuesday, October 8th at 6 PM, McGuire Hall, and will also be accessible via Zoom.
Our keynote speaker is Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr., Clark Leadership Chair in Science, Distinguished University Professor and Regents, Professor in the Department of Physics, University of Maryland
Stay tuned for more details and registration information.
2024 Hauber Research Fellowship Program Completion!
The 2024 Hauber Research Fellowship Program concluded with the 20 Hauber fellows presenting their outstanding research outcomes in various fields of study. The three-day presentations were well-attended by the Loyola community and sponsors. This year's Hauber fellows were funded by the generous support of Loyola's industrial partners; Whiting-Turner, W.R. Grace, Emergent BioSolutions, BoMark, and the endowed Hauber Summer Research program.
Hauber Summer Research Presentations
“Efficient Electromagnetic Material Characterization: A Comparative Study of Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithms" by William Sears, Engineering
"Improving Loop Performance Through Parallelization: A Comparative Analysis of Retiming and Loop Unrolling” by Emma Heiser, Computer Science
“Construction of Hadamard Matrices” by Leiyla Brent, Physics
“The development of methods to detect the presence of caffeine and nicotine in urban streams” by Clare Noone and Skylar Katchko, Chemistry
“Graph Coloring with Restricted Colors" by Alejandro Escorcia, Computer Science & Mathematics
With Mr. Jim Owens of The Whiting-Turner
With Ms. Jenele Williams-Garcia & Mr. Dave Kiskis of W.R. Grace
July 31, 2024
" Investigation of Turbulence Model Impact on Numerical Simulation of Savonius Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.“ by Brady Westerberg, Engineering
“Investigating the role of NPAS4 in cognitive outcome in aging” by Gwenyth Lowery, Biochemistry
"Comparison of passive and active temperature control approaches for food storage and transport“ by Dylan Covington, Engineering
“Numerical Approximations of Multiphysics Flows” by Joshua Manset, Applied Mathematics
“Using combinatorial frequency approaches to determine suitability of machine learning datasets” By Fenrir Badorf, Data Science and Hans van Lierop, Computer Science
August 7, 2024
"Perception-Based Road Hazard Detection System for Enhanced Vehicle Safety“ by Silas Green, Computer Science
“Evaluation of SLAM for Static and Dynamic Environments: Establishing a Benchmark in Autonomous Mobile Robotics Research” by Ryan Ziegler, Engineering
“Enhancing Data Synthesis for Privacy-Preserving in Recommender System” by Christian Walsh, Computer Science
“Enhancing Data Synthesis for Privacy-Preserving in Recommender System” by Lyric Campbell, Computer Science
"The Relationship between Cognitive Outcome, Sleep, & Aging: Evaluating the Fischer-344 Rat Model“ by Bradley Stinnette, Biochemistry and Brianne Smith, Biology
"Automation and Machine Learning: How a Robot Can Conduct Experiments Using Gaussian Process“ Miller Gruen and Adrian Timin, Physics
2024 Choudhury Sarkar Dey Medalist
The Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal is presented to an outstanding senior student graduating with a degree in the Natural or Applied Sciences for academic excellence and outstanding efforts in supporting diversity and community service. This medal was established in 2019 by the Sarkar-Dey family in honor of Dr. Dipa Sarkar-Dey, professor emerita of mathematics, as the first division medal at Loyola University Maryland.
Essay by Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medalist
Brianna Hebeka, a Biology and Forensic Studies major student was selected as the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medalist for 2024. The selection for the medalist is based on the student's resume and an essay reflecting on their Loyola experience, with an emphasis on their efforts related to diversity and community service as specified in the following selection criteria: (a) Co-curricular activities, including research, (b) On-campus service/engagement, (c) Off-campus service/engagement, and (d) Engaged in diversity-related activities.
Click here to read more about Brianna Hebeka essay.
13% Increase in Federally Funded R&D Spending in FY 2023
The FY 2023 FFRDC Research and Development Survey, conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation revealed that the 42 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) spent $29.3 billion on research and development (R&D) in FY 2023, an annual increase of 12.7% in current dollars.
Basic research activities accounted for 20% of total FFRDC R&D expenditures or $5.9 billion (figure 2). The remaining R&D expenditures were closely divided between applied research (40.7%, or $11.9 billion) and experimental development (39.4%, or $11.5 billion). Read more
Donnelly Science Center renovation in progress!
FACULTY AND STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES
Register for a free course on Understanding the media: A starter guide for scientists!
Register for a free training opportunity from SciLine, based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Wednesday, August 21, 2-3 P.M. ET.
The course is designed specifically for media-curious scientists with little or no media experience—teaches the basics scientists need to know as they consider dipping their toes or diving deeper into media engagement.
The course is led by Ph.D. neuroscientist Tori Espensen, with participation by freelance science journalist Elena Renken (NPR, Quanta Magazine, PBS “NOVA”). Attendees will learn what makes a science story newsworthy, how to become more “findable” by journalists, and key concepts and etiquette norms to know when speaking to a reporter. Please register here.
DOE Office of Science Accepting Applications, Offering Workshops for Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Awards
Current U.S. Ph.D. students in qualified graduate programs at accredited U.S. academic institutions who are conducting their graduate thesis research in targeted areas of importance to the DOE Office of Science are invited to apply for the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program.
The awards will support students working on Ph.D. thesis research at DOE national laboratories.
Helpful application assistance workshops will be held on Thursday, September 12, 2024, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT and Thursday, October 10, 2024, 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT.
Applications are due at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on November 6, 2024.
For detailed information and to apply, please visit Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program..
Register for the MS Data Science Virtual Info Session on Wednesday, September 11th!
Join us for an upcoming information session to learn more about Loyola University Maryland's Online Graduate Data Science program. The academic program director and the director of program operations will be present to answer your questions regarding program formats, application requirements, and the admission process.
By attending any of our information sessions, you can save yourself from paying the $60 graduate application fee.
Join us and explore the opportunities that await you! Please register here.
Reminders & Resources
The Bridge
Visit The Bridge for upcoming campus meetings and events.
Training and Development Opportunities for Employees and Students
Academic Calendar
Coronavirus Resources
- Loyola Coronavirus Updates - General university information for all students, faculty, staff including reopening plans, COVID-19 dashboard, FAQs, policies, and resources
Student Support Resources
Employee Support Resources