07-30-2023 EDU - Flipbook - Page 4
4 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, July 30, 2023
Salisbury’s REAL Robotics Lab space consists of drone and 3-D printing labs, engineering workstations and a competition-standard VEX robotics arena.
High-tech labs offer valuable
opportunities in research
Students get hands-on learning opportunities
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
I
n 1999, University of Maryland, Baltimore
County commissioned the construction of
a new physics building. Funding was also
allotted for a new telescope and rooftop
observatory, which was used for astrophysics observations, outreach trainings and atmospheric physics research, as well as the student
astronomy club. Until recently, the 32-inch
DFM telescope was the largest on the east coast,
due to less-than-optimal conditions like humidity, pollution and weather.
A few years ago, Eileen Meyer, Ph.D., associate professor of physics, became interested in
the telescope and polarimetry, studying how
light is polarized, through a former postdoctorate advisor who was adjunct faculty at
UMBC. Feeling the university’s telescope was
underutilized, she suggested using it for the
polarity research. That was the beginning of the
device’s second life, and of Meyer’s involvement
using the telescope, contrary to her experience
with significantly different apparatuses like the
Hubble Space Telescope as she has spent the
last decade conducting astrophysics research
on black holes. Funding and support from the
college of natural and mathematical sciences
is helping Meyer bring the telescope to meet
current industry standards to render it researchgrade once again.
Meyer put out a call for a few undergraduate
students to assist in upgrading and repairing
the unit. She heard from about 120 interested
engineering and physics majors and found a
way to hire nine. Together, they are repairing
and cleaning electronic and physical components, designing and building new elements and
finding creative solutions to existing mechanical
problems. Meyer expects the work to be completed in the next six to eight months.
Although plans for an astronomy major are
well into the future, about 150 UMBC students
serve their interest by adding an astrophysics minor to their physics degree, joining the
astronomy club or participating in research
at UMBC, with other universities or through
opportunities with organizations like NASA
Goddard. Meyer encourages student participation, stating the experience is unlike at larger
schools. There is more contact with professors than at a larger institution, and there are
more opportunities for student involvement in
research.
“I would say you would almost have to go
out of your way to avoid being invited into a
research group if you’re a motivated, bright student,” she says. “We like to make opportunities
happen for our students.”
Robotics at Salisbury University (SU)
expanded with the hiring of Giulia Franchi,
Ph.D., a renowned researcher and assistant
professor of computer science in SU’s Richard
A. Henson School of Science and Technology.
For several years, Franchi has coordinated and
taught robotics coursework and served as the
faculty advisor for the student club, the SU
GULLS VEXU robotics team, whose members
compete annually at the VEX Robotics World
Championship. Recently, the university found a
building south of campus and invested $350,000
to renovate a 1,400-square-foot former dental
office to create a large open space for the program.
Robotics is the science and technology of
automated mechanics, namely the creation of
mechanical tools that can be automated and run
remotely, explains Michael Scott, Ph.D., dean
of the Richard A. Henson School of Science
and Technology at Salisbury University. Robots
in today’s world span from rovers on Mars to
Roomba vacuum cleaners at home.
The new SU REAL Robotics Lab space consists of drone and 3-D printing labs, engineering workstations and a competition-standard
VEX robotics arena, a place where engineering,
materials and computer programming intersect
and provide hands-on, physical experiences,
according to Scott.
Corey Phillips, a rising senior data science
and math major at Salisbury who reached out
to Franchi to found the robotics club in 2021,
describes the lab as an educational tool for
students with all levels of robotics experience.
“Anyone can come in and learn what they specifically want to, whether it be designing and
3D printing, programming [or] manufacturing
techniques. We get a lot from the lab. We use it
as a place that we can really explore a bunch of
different opportunities.”
One such opportunity is working with
Franchi, a leading international robotics
researcher specializing in robotic arms and
grasping mechanisms, and undergraduate students at the university are able to contribute
to her research. She’s also working on a project
that combines robotics and augmented reality.
Phillips has focused his efforts with Franchi on
movement algorithms and programming and
hopes to pursue a master’s degree in machine
learning after graduating next year.
“It’s provided me a place to learn and hone
a lot of skills that I wouldn’t have otherwise,”
says Phillips, who first became interested in
robotics in middle school with the FIRST LEGO
League and later VEX robotics competitions in
high school. He led the robotics team to a 9-1
record and a top-10 finish at this year’s world
competition in Texas. The team also received
the competition’s sportsmanship award, as voted
on by the nearly 100 other participating teams.
The team doesn’t rest on its success – its members also mentored the nearby Parkside High
School team.
Salisbury recently launched tracks in its
computer science major, and the upper-level
robotics course is included in the artificial intelligence track.
To educate students and enable participation in research, the University of Maryland,
Eastern Shore (UMES) opened a MicroElectromechanical System (MEMS) lab located
in its state-of-the-art engineering and aviation
science complex. MEMS refers to integrated
High-tech labs,
continued on page 8
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Preparing students for an
ever-changing workforce
Advances in technology are creating new job opportunities
By Carol Sorgen, Contributing Writer
The link between patient care and technology is the centerpiece of the University
of Maryland School of Nursing’s (UMSON)
Master of Science in nursing informatics.
UMSON was the first university in the
world to offer this master’s level program beginning in 1989. More than three decades on, the
increasing demand for the adoption of electronic information systems in both health care
organizations and the businesses that develop
and sell health care technology has created a
growing need within the nursing informatics
profession. According to the American Medical
Informatics Association, up to 70,000 health
informatics specialists will be needed in the
next several years.
“UMSON’s nursing informatics specialty
prepares nurses to improve patient care and
safety, workflow and health care outcomes
through the development, implementation and
evaluation of information technology,” says
Cheryl Fisher, Ed.D., M.S.N., R.N., nursing
informatics specialty director. “Our graduates
are leaders in the conceptualization, design
and research of digital information systems in
health care organizations and in the informatics industry.”
The program requires 40 credits and 135
practicum hours. Full-time and part-time
options are available; the program can be completed in as little as two years. Fisher observes
that the flexibility of the program means nurses
can continue to work full-time while taking one
to two courses online. Advisors work with students to develop an individualized plan of study
that meets the student’s schedule, and connect
with students by email, telephone, virtually or
in person. A required onsite practicum is chosen by mutual agreement between the student
and practicum instructor.
“This program gives nurses an opportunity
to use their skills and knowledge in new ways,”
says Fisher. “The field of nursing informatics
has a bright future and will continue to expand.”
Offering New Program on Health Information
Management at Coppin State
Coppin State University’s new Master of
Science in health information management
(HIM) has been designed to meet the growing need of professionals who can ensure that
patient information is kept secure and is accessible by the right people at critical times.
The program, which began in January 2022,
trains students in such relevant areas as data
privacy, maintenance of patient data, medical
coding and billing, data analytics, best practices, and strategies to work collaboratively across
health care organizations to ensure security of
data.
“The Master’s in health information management is unique in its focus on health information,” says Mona Calhoun, Ph.D., chairperson of health information management, who
explains that the degree blends health care and
technology, while emphasizing data governance
and security, developing leadership and management skills, and addressing the growing
demand for skilled professionals.
“This degree is needed to ensure the efficient management and utilization of health
information in an increasingly digital and datadriven healthcare landscape,” Calhoun says.
Brittany Hamlett, M.S., RHIA, who is the
HIM team lead at UM Rehabilitation and
Orthopaedic Institute in the University of
Maryland Medical System, graduated from the
program this spring. “I chose this field because
it gives me an opportunity to make an impact in
the health care field outside of patient care,” says
Hamlett, who is 32 and lives in Randallstown.
“I chose Coppin’s program for both my
undergraduate and graduate studies because of
its uniqueness as an HBCU (Historically Black
Colleges and Universities),” Hamlett continues.
“What I liked most about Coppin’s program is
that the professors connect with their students,
so you feel as if you are family. They are knowledgeable about the field and aim to make sure
that all students are prepared when they go out
to work.”
Calhoun remarks that Coppin’s program is
unique because in the second year of their academic program, students are able to specialize
in informatics, health services administration,
quality improvement and risk management, or
data analytics. Upon completion of the degree,
students are eligible to sit for a certification
in certified health data analytics through the
American Health Information Management
Association (AHIMA).
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
employment of HIM professionals is expected
to grow much faster than the average for all
Ever-changing workforce,
continued on page 7
