09/1/09

UM-Flint student receives Google Scholarship

From Mlive:

FLINT, Michigan — University of Michigan-Flint student Miyako Jones is among 18 students in the country and two from Michigan to receive a $10,000 academic scholarship through Google and the United Negro College Fund.

As a Google-United Negro College Fund scholar, Jones will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Google Headquarters in California in 2010.

The annual Google-UNCF scholarship is awarded to a group of African-American students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science or computer engineering with a minimum 3.5 GPA.

The program offers “last dollar” scholarships based on unmet financial need for students majoring in computer science or computer engineering.

On the trip to the Googleplex, Jones will have the opportunity to meet other scholars and attend technical talks and professional development workshops while exploring the San Francisco Bay area.

Miyako is also an active participant in our Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. Congratulations on this accomplishment Miyako!

08/31/09

Faculty Award

Congratulations to Quamrul Mazumder, Assistant Professor of Engineering Science, Computer Science, Engineering and Physics. As a co-investigator – Mazumder and his colleague received an award from the National Science Foundation for their project “Evaluating Online Metacognition Tools for Use in Large Classrooms.” They were awarded $149,857.

Congratualations, Dr. Mazumder!

08/25/09

Student Researcher Honored

From MLive:

After four years as a U.S. Army medic, University of Michigan-Flint senior Cameron Waites was selected for several prestigious scholarship and research opportunities that include work for Stanford University.

Waites has been named one of 15 recipients of the highly competitive National Institute of Health undergraduate scholarship program, a 10- week long summer laboratory experience with a researcher and a postdoctoral fellow.

The Army sergeant has also been selected for the Stanford Summer Research Program/Amgen Scholars Program. Each participant is matched with a member of the school’s faculty to work in one of Stanford’s state-of-the-art research facilities.

Waites, of Mount Morris, spent more than 4,000 hours in patient care with the Army.

“It was during my time in the army, and subsequent time in the Iraqi desert, that I discovered my true calling to become an M.D., Ph.D. and advance the understanding of science and medicine,” Waites said in a UM-Flint news release.

He said he decided to attend UM-Flint after learning about the honors program and health sciences degree.

“These two facets of my education would allow me to be with my family and also have an opportunity to truly stand out and make a difference in the Flint community,” he said.

The medical school hopeful will have the opportunity to advance his education at some of the most prestigious institutions in the country through the programs he has been selected for.

Washington D.C. is also on his itinerary. He is among only 25 undergraduates in the “Michigan in Washington” program, which will allow him to combine coursework with an internship that reflects his particular area of interest during the program.

Classes are taught by UM faculty but students gain access to local Washington experts in their research area.

There’s more good news for Waites.

He recently learned that the Scholarship Program Board of Directors selected him to be one of five scholars for the 2009-2010 Gallagher Koster Scholarship Program. The scholarship is awarded to outstanding, undergraduate students who need financial assistance to pursue their health-related career.

In late September, Waites will be honored among other recipients at a scholar’s dinner in Boston.

Congratulations, Cameron!

08/11/09

New member to the Office of Research Staff!

mary_mandeville

Please join us in welcoming Mary Mandeville, UM-Flint’s new Research Compliance Specialist.  Mary is responsible for assisting the campus community with issues regarding Human Subjects protection. Mary also serves as the campus contact for training and administration of the eResearch Regulatory Management system and will work closely with Marianne McGrath, Ph.D., chair of the Institutional Review Board.
 
Mary holds an MBA from Eastern Michigan University, a Masters degree from Kansas State University, with undergraduate work at Michigan State and additional certification from The University of Michigan. 
 
Most recently Mary served as Project Director/Program Manager for a federally funded, multi-site nursing research project for the University of Illinois at Chicago & The University of Michigan.  Previous to this assignment she was affiliated with the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
 
Welcome to the team Mary!

07/14/09

Mobile Device Security

A Mobile Device Security seminar will be presented by Laurel Marotta at two brown-bag lunches in July. The first presentation on Thursday, July 23, 2009, 12:00-1:00 pm, will be an overview on what mobile device security is, why it is important, and how to protect mobile devices.  The second presentation on Thursday, July 30, 2009, 12:00-1:00 pm, will be demonstrations on when and how to use tools–such as Vista BitLocker, Encrypted File System, File Vault, and True Crypt–to protect mobile devices.  Both presentations will be held in the University Center Happenings room. 

Contact Laurel Marotta with any questions, [email protected].

06/23/09

Research awards

Congratulations to the following recepients of research funding:

Jonathan Jarosz, Assistant Director University Outreach/Center for Applied Environmental Research: Recently received funding for the following project: “Design, Implementation, and Coordination of a Community Gardening Program in Mid-Michigan (Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Mecosta, Midland, and Osceola Counties)” from the Mid-Michigan Community Action Agency for $18,138.

Jonathan also received $85,000 from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for his project “Flint River Re-Vitalization.” 
 
James Milton: Received a student research award to present his project “My Journey to Embrace a Career in the Criminal Justice Profession” at the Justice Studies Association Conference in Albany, New York.  Dr. Kenneth Litwin is the faculty advisor for this project.

Linda Knecht, Associate Director and Assistant Professor of Nursing: Received $3,500 from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for her project, “UM-FIND Healthy Choices/Nutrition Now.”

Congratulations to each of our recepients!

06/22/09

Goodbye Sally!

After more than 8 years with UM-Flint including the last 3 with the Institutional Review Board, Sally Conley, IRB Core Support Staff, has accepted a new position with the Internal Revenue Service. Sally’s last day was Thursday, June 18. 

Human subjects research review will continue as usual and any questions should be directed to John Callewaert, [email protected], 810-762-3383.  We hope to post the vacancy as soon as possible and have the position filled later this summer.

06/1/09

Faculty and staff awards

We are happy to announce the following faculty and staff awards:

  • Lynn Lebeck, Program Director/Clinical Assistant Professor Health Sciences and Administration, recently received $11,976 from the Department of Health Resources and Services Administration her project entitled “Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship 2009.”
  • Joel Rash, LAUNCH Manager, University Outreach, recently received $35,000 in funding from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for his project entitled “Empowering The Next Entrepreneurial GENeration (EnGen) in Mid Michigan.”
  • Jonathan Jarosz, Assistant Director, University Outreach, recently received $9,433 in funding from the City of Frankenmuth for his project entitled “Development of a Cass River Greenways Graphic Standard, Website, and Non-motorized Transportation Map.”

Congratulations to you all!

05/16/09

Undergraduate researchers at Meeting of Minds

 

hpim1684-resize

On May 15, nearly 50 students from UM-Flint participated in the annual Meeting of Minds (MOM) Undergraduate Research Conference at UM-Dearborn.  Congratulations to all the student presenters and thank you to all the UM-Flint faculty who attended the event.  For more information about MOM – including the journals for the past few years – visit the Meeting of Minds homepage.

04/27/09

UM-Flint student accepted as Stanford Scholar

We are happy to announce that Honor’s student Cameron Waites has been accepted into the Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP)/Amgen Scholars Program from June 21st – August 15! As an SSRP Scholar, Cameron will have the opportunity to work closely with Stanford University faculty while receiving full funding supporting for travel, housing, meals, and a $3200 stipend. Also, he will have the opportunity to participate in the Amgen Scholars Program National Symposium from July 18 – July 20 at UCLA.

More information about the Amgen Scholars Program can be found at www.amgenscholars.com.

Congratulations on this accomplishment Cameron!