Engineering at Maryland Fall/Winter 2026 University of Maryland > Fearlessly Forward - - - - - OUT OF THIS WORLD In the deserts of southern Utah, Adrian Cires ’26 watches over a robotic rover built by the UMD Loop student organization as part of a Mars exploration-themed competition. UMD Loop was one of 38 teams invited to compete in the 2026 University Rover Competition—a tournament organized by The Mars Society to build cutting-edge rovers capable of completing missions—held in May at the Mars Desert Research Station. The team introduced new technologies for this year’s rover, such as autonomous keyboard typing (mission-critical for any robot conducting science and penning missives on the red planet) and a custom-built fluorometer and Raman spectrometer to detect signs of life. Photo by Kevin Tish - - - - - WELCOME Friends and Supporters, I was honored to become the Clark School’s 15th dean in October 2021. Even in those first few months, it was clear that Maryland Engineering is a special place where people care about their areas of expertise as well as making an impact on this world. In addition, our campus is located in one of the country’s most unique ecosystems, where key decision makers in the public and private sectors who shape strategy for our nation come together. With the Clark School’s close proximity to numerous federal and private companies, we are readily able to engage with leaders and stakeholders. Our vibrant ecosystem impacts how we educate students, influences research we conduct, and the partnerships we build. From day one, it has been amazing to be here at Maryland. I am consistently impressed by our students transforming academic theory into real-world impact, our faculty improving the academic experience in the classroom and through experiential learning and service, and our staff demonstrating operational excellence and positioning our community for success. Our many accomplishments over the past five years, from newly opened buildings to newly launched programs, reflect the outstanding community that is Maryland Engineering: the E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory, Steny H. Hoyer University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland SMART Building, Vertically Integrated Projects for experiential learning, xFoundry for student entrepreneurship, and the St. John Center for Translational Engineering in Medicine, among other examples. As we move forward into 2027, Maryland engineers should feel a sense of pride. In April, we will dedicate our newest building, Stanley R. Zupnik Hall, where engineers from different disciplines and students from different organizations will be together. Once open, I invite you to visit Zupnik Hall and see the largest atrium and first mass-timber staircase on campus, the Connected Autonomous Vehicle Lab, the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation Legacy Space, and more. I am proud of our school’s role in building a better society. Thank you for your continued support as we enter this exciting next chapter for Maryland Engineering. Sincerely, Samuel Graham Dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor A. James Clark School of Engineering #12 The Clark School ranks #12 among the country’s public undergraduate engineering programs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026–27 rankings. - - - - - Engineering at Maryland Fall/Winter 2026 VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 Engineering at Maryland is published twice a year by the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. DEAN Samuel Graham EDITOR Melissa L. Andreychek ART DIRECTOR Matt Laumann ASSISTANT DEAN FOR COMMUNICATIONS Chris Bender CONTRIBUTORS Daniela Benites Michelle Z. Donahue Robert Herschbach J. Spence Holman Sala Levin Darcy Long Nola Mak Amanda McClish Heather Medina Wynne Parry Alex Pile Megan Stolz Rogers Jennifer Figgins Rooks Robyn Ross Rebecca Ruark Elena Russ Katherine Shaver Ellen Thorpe Tom Ventsias Stella Zawistowski COVER Illustration by Ella Maru Studio WEBSITE eng.umd.edu/em-magazine MAIL Send letters to the editor: Melissa L. Andreychek Engineering at Maryland magazine A. James Clark School of Engineering College Park, MD 20742 em-editor@umd.edu Engineering at Maryland magazine refers to the A. James Clark School of Engineering by that name in all cases, including stories that describe alums who graduated before the name was established, in 1994, to honor Mr. Clark’s outstanding philanthropy. Copyright ©2026 University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE Tiny Engineering. Big Impact. Meet five Maryland engineers working at the nanoscale to improve everyday lives and livelihoods. IMPACT Leadership Dean Graham: The Next Five Years Research Faster. Safer. Better. Bold, Brave Solutions Everlasting Copper Faculty Honors, Awards, and Accolades COMMUNITY Students A New World of Play Apple Comes to Maryland Top Honors for Terp Alums Dean’s Circle Spotlight Early Career Distinguished Alumni Society Puzzle Code Mode Snapshots Events at Guinness Open Gate Brewery, UMD’s Xfinity Center, and more Illustration By Ella Maru Studio; Terry Yang Photo By Tony Richards; Swing Photo By John T. Consoli - - - - - IMPACT: Leadership Dean Graham: The Next Five Years What does it take to turn an engineer’s intellectual energy into solutions for society’s biggest challenges? For Dean Graham, it starts with bringing the right people together—and creating the right environment where innovators can succeed. By Katherine Shaver On a recent afternoon, the Maryland Robotics Center hummed with University of Maryland students and researchers tackling what Clark School Dean Samuel Graham calls “big challenges.” With an admiring smile, Graham watched a 3-foot humanoid and a 5-foot robotic dog maneuver about while a small team fine-tuned how the machines could assess people’s breathing and other vital signs to one day help triage disaster victims. Nearby, other students refined a space rover designed to collect soil samples, take photos, and track its own whereabouts on Mars. Another group analyzed the soft, tong-like “grippers” they’d made on a 3D printer to help doctors at Children’s National in Washington, D.C., take biopsy samples from their tiniest patients. While visiting with each group, Graham listened intently before the researcher in him lit up with questions: What are you using for sensors? Does the robot use an intelligent power management scheme? Would your materials be safe inside an infant’s body? “That’s really cool,” Graham marveled upon hearing the designs explained. It was the kind of hands-on learning and high-impact research that Graham championed throughout his first five years leading the A. James Clark School of Engineering. “When I walk into a lab, I always see the passion and energy from our students, along with new challenges they are working on,” he said. “I love giving students an opportunity to create.” Bring the right people together Since being reappointed to a second five-year term in June, Graham remains laser-focused on channeling academia’s intellectual energy into improving everyday lives, now and in the future. Developing reliable and responsible robots. Creating intelligent manufacturing systems. Advancing semiconductor and quantum technologies. Collaborating with doctors to develop medical treatments and devices. Building autonomous drones that can deliver medicines to rural areas or work with first responders to save lives, and more. “I like being in the room to discuss how we can tackle challenging problems that could have a lasting impact on our society,” Graham said. “You need to bring the right people together to come up with solutions,” he added. “To create these innovations, the Clark School puts a premium on building collaborations, both within the university and across the nation.” Embrace challenges, strive for excellence The ability to work and get along with different people was baked into Graham’s childhood. His father’s Army career required moving every few years between bases in Germany, Maryland, Texas, Georgia, and other locations throughout the South. He eventually spent his high school years in Sumter, S.C. His parents taught him and his four siblings the values of working hard, respecting their teachers and mentors, embracing challenges, and striving for excellence. Though he worked hard in school, Graham said, he didn’t know many college graduates—let alone engineers—while growing up. But high school teachers who saw his strong grades and AP test scores pointed him toward summer programs at the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. There, he would develop a long-running interest in mechanical engineering and advanced materials. While majoring in mechanical engineering at Florida State University, Graham joined his siblings as the first in their family to attend college. He remembers the invaluable support they received through scholarships and the vital experiences of doing research and internships. Today, his siblings work as a federal judge, a patent lawyer, a nurse practitioner, and a senior executive of a mortgage company. “Our family’s been blessed,” he said. “It’s clear to see that the work ethic and not being afraid to take on challenges have been passed down to us from my parents.” Provide opportunities Like the teachers who mentored him, Graham said, he encourages students who initially might not think of themselves as engineers, including those from underserved communities. As a first-generation college student himself, he appreciates that students often need help to understand the opportunities available and learn to ask the right questions to evaluate them. “I was fortunate that someone gave opportunities to me, so I want to create opportunities for others,” Graham said. “I want to help people who have the talent, regardless of their background, get into these fields and succeed.” His passion is playing out in West Baltimore, home to Terrapin Works Baltimore, UMD’s newest makerspace. Graham teamed up with Tim Regan ’77, president and CEO of construction firm Whiting-Turner, and others to create a welcoming place where local children and residents can develop problem-solving skills using 3D printers, a laser cutter, and other high-tech tools. Graham said he wants the makerspace to fuel users’ creativity and boost their self-confidence. He wants them to know they can solve problems in their community and for the world, regardless of whether they go on to pursue an engineering degree or a trade job. “We want to inspire people so they know that their innovative thoughts can be turned into something physical,” he said. “You can actually go solve the problem. You don’t have to wait for someone to do it for you.” Forge connections Graham arrived at Maryland in 2021 from the Georgia Institute of Technology. It’s where he had earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and later worked for 18 years, first as a professor and eventually as chair of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Georgia Tech Provost Raheem A. Beyah, who worked with Graham there, said he was best known for his award-winning, high-impact research—on top of being collaborative, easy to talk to, and “down-to-earth.” “He’s just the nicest, most humble individual that you could ever meet,” Beyah said. “So rarely do you find that combination of exceptional scholarship and exceptional leader.” Reflecting on his early UMD career, Graham said he’s proud of hiring “incredible” faculty and supporting students. That includes launching the annual Capstone Design Expo, where engineering seniors share their solutions to real- world problems. He’s also forged closer connections between Maryland’s engineering school in College Park and its medical school in Baltimore: A new joint B.S.-M.D. degree for undergraduates majoring in engineering, math, physics, and computer science helps to meet the growing demand for doctors well-versed in the complexities of artificial intelligence and high-tech healthcare. “As you look at the future of medicine, there’s more and more technology coming into play,” Graham said. “Having that foundational knowledge gives students more insight into how this technology works and why it works. They can be in the room for discussions about solutions that are needed and how to create them.” Major new facilities that will have opened on his watch include the E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory and the almost-completed Stanley R. Zupnik Hall. Both have cross-disciplinary, state-of-the-art lab spaces that, as Graham said, “invite people to want to work together.” Eyes forward Looking ahead, Graham said he’s excited to take on emerging challenges, including creating curriculum and tools for teaching students to develop and use fast-moving AI responsibly: “We want to make sure we uphold human principles as we design these technologies.” He’d also like to help quantum engineering students and researchers turn their lab discoveries into market-ready technology. Another priority: Continuing to support UMD research that helps save lives, including therapies to prevent and cure cancer, devices that use AI, and ways to reduce the cost of—and increase access to—such solutions. When he can take a break from his leadership duties, Graham likes to get back to his own award-winning research: helping next-gen electronics work more effectively and last longer by pulling heat from the high-performance microchips that power them. He also enjoys photography, listening to live music, and spending time with his wife, Shalonda, who works as a corporate accountant, and their children, Camryn and Sheldon, who both majored in engineering. He said he looks forward to continuing to help Clark School students, faculty, and researchers have a transformative impact on society through engineering. “Maryland is one of the top places to pursue an engineering degree,” Graham said. “We have engineers here who want to take on these big challenges. My role is to provide the right environment to encourage them to tackle big problems—and succeed.” Photos By Stephanie S. Cordle, Lisa Helfert, Mike Morgan - - - - - IMPACT: Research Faster. Safer. Better. Maryland engineers don’t wait for what’s next. From ultrafast travel to next-gen computing, the future is engineered by Terps. By Wynne Parry Maryland engineers work ahead of the curve. Across fire safety and quantum technology, electric vehicles and autonomous driving, UMD innovators are tackling urgent challenges—with fearless ideas, advanced tools, and tenacious curiosity—to make what comes “next” better for everyone. Outpacing Hazards Adopting new fire codes can take years. Fires burn on their own timelines. Home to the only ABET-accredited undergraduate program in fire protection engineering, Maryland trains students to innovate before codes catch up to emerging risks. Assistant Clinical Professor Rosalie Hrybyk ’13, M.S. ’15 draws on a decade of experience as a licensed fire protection engineer to advance computer modeling in the department’s undergraduate curriculum. Students can explore how a fire might progress through a building by computationally modeling its behavior and occupants’ ability to safely escape, for example. The modeling can be used to verify whether protective measures—including those ahead of code—will keep people safe. This approach can be especially useful for projects involving ambitious architecture; environmentally driven, timber-heavy construction; or energy storage systems that rely on potentially combustible lithium-ion batteries, according to Hrybyk. “There’s always a drive for new, improved technologies,” she says. “To keep people safe, fire protection engineers need to stay ahead of the potential hazards of these advancements.” Rapid Recharge Imagine charging your electric vehicle (EV) in the time it takes to finish your coffee. Charging today’s EVs can take 30 minutes or more, but Distinguished University Professor Chunsheng Wang is working to quicken that commitment—by focusing on chemistry. The Department of Energy is calling for the development of EV batteries that charge to 80% in less than 15 minutes. Wang and Chang-Xin Zhao, a researcher in his lab, seek to exceed that goal to as little as 10 minutes, what they call “coffee time.” Their research revealed that electro-osmotic drag, a process widely recognized in fuel cells, also occurs in lithium-ion batteries. It also plays a decisive role in limiting how quickly thick, energy-dense electrodes can be charged. The team developed an electrolyte design that achieves 80% charge within 13 minutes. Wang aims to reduce charging times even further to 10 minutes—but fast charging is only part of the goal: He’s also working to extend how long batteries last when not being used and the temperatures at which they operate. Quantum Leap For decades, computers have grown faster and more powerful. Assistant Professor Avik Dutt envisions another dramatic leap forward—one propelled by the quantum properties of light. “With light-based quantum computing, we could solve a problem in minutes or even seconds that, today, would take hundreds of years,” he says. To manipulate packets of light called photons at the quantum level, Dutt’s lab designs chips much like those currently used in computer processors, offering a distinct advantage: The same nanoscale fabrication facilities that make electronic chips in cell phones, cars, and other common devices could also produce light-based quantum technology. Rather than waiting on the construction of new factories, Dutt says, light-based quantum computing could instead draw on existing manufacturing capacity—potentially speeding the day when quantum tools reach the market at an affordable cost. His light-based approach could also speed up another technology: sensors. Dutt’s team built a device to detect the toxic gas hydrogen cyanide using light manipulated by ring resonators on a silicon nitride chip. Their light-based device can sense the gas at concentrations invisible to conventional instruments, providing critical information faster. Hypersonic Flight Fly from New York to London and back, and you’ll need 14 hours for the flights. But in the future, super-fast hypersonic travel could compress that trip into a fraction of the time, opening the possibility for routine same-day, round-trip transoceanic journeys. Associate Professor Christoph Brehm uses computational tools to study the distinct challenges of traveling at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). These hypersonic velocities exceed 3,830 miles per hour—far beyond what is necessary to initiate a thunderlike sonic boom. Brehm’s research addresses the physical phenomenon of turbulence. This chaotic airflow drives hypersonic flight’s enormous demand for fuel and the potential catastrophic heat that it generates. One of his projects aims to delay or stop turbulent flow with a material designed to maintain smooth “laminar” airflow. The design relies on a piano key-like structure that’s only a few millimeters thick: Individual segments of the material move independently to drain energy from pressure fluctuations and to prevent the transition to turbulence. Speedier (and Safer) Rides Accelerating, then braking for a red light. A blocked line of sight. A lapse in attention. Driving can be tedious and dangerous. Xianfeng “Terry” Yang, director of the Maryland Transportation Institute, uses artificial intelligence to make autonomous (self-driving) vehicles (AVs) roadworthy—in part, by addressing some of the technology’s shortcomings, including critical gaps where AVs lack training to make split-second, potentially life-saving decisions. Today’s AVs receive standard training that introduces them to most circumstances on the road, but not to everything. They can miss edge cases, such as those involving bad weather, unpredictable behavior by pedestrians or bicyclists, or a crash that can’t be avoided. Dianwei Chen, a graduate student in Yang’s lab, uses large language models to identify possible edge cases and then verifies and replicates them in CARLA, an open-source 3D driving simulator built on the Unreal Engine. Using reinforcement learning, Chen looks for split-second, potentially life-saving ways to prevent a crash or, if it’s unavoidable, to minimize injury and damage. Photos By Tony Richards - - - - - Bold, Brave Solutions $73.4 million: Maryland engineers are leading interdisciplinary partnerships and forging new approaches to address vexing issues in information infrastructure, global health, and more. $37.5M Quantum Simulation Quantum simulation models extraordinarily complex quantum systems that overwhelm even today’s most powerful conventional computers. The Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation received a five-year renewal award expected to total $37.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Mohammad Hafezi, Minta Martin Professor with joint appointments in electrical and computer engineering and physics, becomes its director. Since it was established in 2021 with a $25 million federal award, the institute has developed novel ways to verify quantum systems, reduce errors, and demonstrate increasingly sophisticated quantum simulations while building a collaborative community of scientists, engineers, educators, and students. $18.6M Quantum Internet Engineering breakthroughs are required to develop and deploy the technical and societal foundations of the emerging quantum internet. The Center for Quantum Networks (CQN) received a four-year NSF renewal award of $18.6 million. Saikat Guha, Clark Distinguished Chair of electrical and computer engineering who most recently codirected the center, becomes its director. CQN brings together engineers, computer scientists, networking researchers, atomic physicists, materials scientists, and others to develop infrastructure that connects quantum-enabled devices. At the university level, the center is helping establish quantum information science and engineering as a distinct interdisciplinary field. $17.3M Autonomous Biomanufacturing One of 20 sites supported through a $400M NSF investment to create AI-enabled labs for automated science, engineering discoveries, and translation. The Collaborative for the Realization of Autonomous Biomanufacturing (CRAB) Lab was established with a $17.3 million NSF award to launch a test bed for users to program automated workflows for experiments in biomanufacturing, which uses living organisms and cells rather than chemical or mechanical processes to create products. Biomanufacturing faces a critical need for real-time data processing: Traditional molecular measurement processes are too slow to train artificial intelligence models, limiting the potential for experiment optimization and scaling. The CRAB Lab will incorporate novel electronic measurement tools, developed at the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Food and Drug Administration, that allow for high-velocity, high- volume measurements to complement molecular data, providing comprehensive datasets for training AI models. “Being selected for this award reflects UMD’s commitment to solving real biomanufacturing challenges,” said William Bentley, director of the Fischell Institute and CRAB Lab principal investigator. “What excites me most about the CRAB Lab is that it’s not just conducting research; it's contributing to a national resource where researchers across academia, industry, and government will be able to access experiment data and automation capabilities that would otherwise be out of reach.” Photo By John T. Consoli - - - - - Everlasting Copper A new invention halts the copper degradation cycle that turns statues, roofs, and even nickels green. Researchers including Shenqiang Ren, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, have developed a liquid reactive ink that can print copper onto nearly any surface without oxidation or corrosion. Using a versatile blue ink, the team created a fast, relatively low-temperature method at 150 degrees Celsius to create copper that remains stable over time. Their breakthrough addresses two long-standing challenges in the field: developing printable copper inks under ambient conditions and preventing it from corrosion and oxidation. Copper is a hidden backbone of modern life, carrying electricity in artificial intelligence systems, data centers, wireless networks, circuit boards, solar panels, and batteries. Given its applicability across industries, the reactive ink could replace conventional copper-processing methods such as plating and chemical etching, reducing time, cost, and environmental impact. Ren and Liangbing Hu from Yale University have cofounded the startup NewCopper to commercialize the ink. The company develops high-performance, conductive, copper-based inks for printed electronics. Photo By Daniela Benites - - - - - IMPACT: Faculty DEPARTMENTS AERO: Aerospace BIOE: Bioengineering CEE: Civil & Environmental CHBE: Chemical & Biomolecular ECE: Electrical & Computer FPE: Fire Protection ME: Mechanical MSE: Materials Science PHY: Physics INSTITUTES AIM: Artificial Intelligence BBI: Brain & Behavior IBBR: Bioscience & Biotechnology Research IPST: Physical Science & Technology IREAP: Electronics & Applied Physics ISR: Systems Research JQI: Joint Quantum MEI2: Energy Innovation MTECH: Technology Enterprise REFI: Biomedical Devices UMIACS: Advanced Computer Studies Associate Professor and Clark Faculty Fellow Damena Agonafer (ME) and Institute Director and Distinguished University Professor Eric Wachsman (MSE/MEI2) were two of 15 Maryland engineers, inventors, and scientists named 2026 RealLIST Innovators by Technical.ly. RealLIST Innovators honored for shaping the future of technology and strengthening their communities by hosting meetups, launching podcasts, and mentoring the next generation. Associate Professor and Clark Faculty Fellow Damena Agonafer (ME) and Willis H. Young Jr. Professor DEREK PALEY (AERO/ISR/BBI) were named 2026 Fellows by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The distinction of Fellow recognizes members with significant engineering achievements and sustained contributions to the profession. Professor Siddhartha Das (ME/MAGE) was named the 2026 recipient of the AES Electrophoresis Society Mid-Career Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions to electrophoresis, microfluidics, and related fields. He was honored as a national and international leader in research, teaching, and service to the community. Associate Professor Edward Eisenstein (BIOE) was named a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was recognized for his application of broad approaches to engineering plants as healthy bioenergy and bioproduct feedstocks as well as his leadership of the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (2000–08) and his role in establishing the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (2009–10). Clark School Dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor Samuel Graham (ME) was named the 2026 recipient of the Richard Chu Award for Excellence in Thermal and Thermo-Mechanical Management of Electronics given by the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers. Graham’s current research centers on the development of electronics made from wide bandgap semiconductors for a range of applications, including optoelectronics, RF communications, power switches, and neuromorphic computing. Graham was also named an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), one of the highest awards given by ASME. The award recognizes a lifetime of service to engineering and distinguished service that contributes significantly to the attainment of the goals of the engineering profession. Since 1980, no more than five engineers annually have received this honor. Distinguished University Professor and Minta Martin Professor Ashwani Gupta (ME/AERO/IPST/MEI2) was elected an International Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. A leading authority on swirl flows and distributed combustion for cleaner energy conversion, Gupta has won international acclaim for pioneering a revolutionary combustion method known as the “Green Flame,” which produces an environmentally benign flame with very low nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Professor Jin-Oh Hahn (ME/REFI) was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s class of 2026 Fellows. He was honored for his seminal contributions to the understanding of autonomy in physiological system monitoring and closed-loop control. Professor Bongtae Han (ME) was selected by the Electronic Packaging Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to receive its Outstanding Sustained Technical Contribution Award. He was honored for his contributions to electronic packaging design for reliability and workforce development, especially measurement of advanced package behavior and material properties. Professor Christine Hartzell (AERO) was named to Georgia Tech’s 40 Under 40 class of 2026. Hartzell, who earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech, is the founding director of UMD’s Center for Advanced Space Science and Technology Research and has participated in several missions with NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to study asteroids and Phobos, one of Mars’ moons. Associate Clinical Professor Bill Koffel ’79 (FPE) received the 2026 Industry Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals who have contributed to the fire life safety industry, from Siemens. He was selected for his well-recognized engineering expertise and contribution to code development for life safety. Assistant Professor Erika Moore (BIOE) was named to the 2026 cohort of Ford Global Fellows, a program launched by the Ford Foundation to bring together leaders from across sectors to collaborate on solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Moore focuses her work on understanding how gaps in biomedical knowledge contribute to unequal health outcomes and how those gaps can be addressed through more inclusive research approaches. Lecturer Colleen Murray Ph.D. ’24 (AERO) was honored by the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering as its 2026 Young Professional of the Year, which recognizes early-career professionals demonstrating exceptional leadership and notable success in material and process engineering. Distinguished University Professor Michael Pecht (ME/MEI2) is among the top international scientists included in Research.com’s 2026 Best Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Scientists ranking, reflecting his long-standing contributions to reliability engineering, prognostics and health management, electronics reliability, battery safety, and risk assessment. The organization ranked him No. 40 in the world and No. 21 in the United States. UMD President and Glenn L. Martin Professor Darryll J. Pines (AERO) was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Pines, who was recognized for educational and academic leadership, is principal investigator for Engineering for US All (e4usa) to expand engineering education to new generations of high school students and teachers. Professor and Department Chair Arnaud Trouvé (FPE) received the Dougal Drysdale Award for Extraordinary Service to the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS). He was honored for his long-term service to the IAFSS as host committee chair for the 10th Symposium (held at UMD), as a program cochair for the 11th and 12th Symposia, and as a symposium cochair for the 13th and 14th Symposia. He is also a cofounder of the first IAFSS working group, the Working Group on the Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena, and currently serves as a trustee of the IAFSS. Trouvé was also announced to the Society of Fire Protection Engineers’ 2026 class of Fellows. Fellow membership represents the society’s highest professional honor and is bestowed to individuals who have amassed significant accomplishments and stature in fire protection engineering. Professor Norman Wereley (AERO) was named a 2026 Fellow by the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering for his excellence in mechanical engineering and outstanding contributions to the progress of the profession. He is an internationally recognized scholar in smart, composite, and cellular materials for occupant protection systems, magnetorheological fluids and devices, and pneumatic artificial muscles for morphing aircraft and robotic applications. Wereley was also named a 2026 Fellow by the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering for his pioneering contributions to smart composite materials and adaptive structural systems for energy absorption, occupant protection, and actuation applications, and for sustained leadership in advancing materials research, manufacturing innovation, and education within the global advanced materials community. Assistant Professor Kaiqing Zhang (ECE/ISR) received the 2026 Donald P. Eckman Award from the American Automatic Control Council. He was honored for his fundamental contributions to learning for control and decision-making, especially in dynamic games, multi-agent systems, and reinforcement learning, with applications to robotics and generative-AI agent systems. - - - - - Accolades for Engineers The University of Maryland’s 2026 Convocation ceremony honored five outstanding Clark School faculty and staff for their contributions to education, research, and service. Distinguished University Professor The highest appointment bestowed on a tenured faculty member Amr Baz Department of Mechanical Engineering Carol Espy-Wilson Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Selected for combining outstanding scholarship with teaching excellence Ahmet Aydilek Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Professional Track Faculty Excellence Award Recognizing consistent excellence and a commitment to student success, innovative academic practices, and impactful scholarly work Martha Wang Ph.D. ’14 Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices President’s Distinguished Service Award Recognizing exceptional performance, leadership, and distinctive contributions by staff to the operation of a campus unit Teresa Moore Dean’s Office - - - - - In Memoriam Luz Martínez-Miranda (1956–2026) was a professor of materials science and engineering at Maryland and a cherished member of our campus community. She was deeply committed to our students, serving as an undergraduate adviser and mentor, and—through her involvement in organizations like the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists—helping ensure that anyone who wanted to pursue engineering had that opportunity. She was also a fixture at Clark School Commencement ceremonies, where she proudly volunteered as a faculty marshal. Martínez-Miranda was an internationally recognized expert in liquid crystals and their engineering applications, ranging from displays to photovoltaics, as well as X-ray scattering techniques for liquid crystals, nanoparticles, and composite materials. She was an elected Fellow of the American Society for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society (APS), received the APS Edward A. Bouchet Prize, and was selected for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to work at the University of Chile. Martínez-Miranda was a prolific author, with over 90 journal publications and a book titled “Liquid Crystals in Photovoltaics: An Introduction.” For these and other achievements, her work set trends that have shaped the course of her field. - - - - - Tiny Engineering. Big Impact. Meet five Maryland engineers working at the nanoscale to improve everyday lives and livelihoods. By Michelle Z. Donahue The mighty nanometer— one billionth of a meter—is 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The act of engineering at this tiny scale requires remarkable patience, sophisticated tools, and (above all) experimental imagination. Fueled by curiosity and driven by a desire to improve the human experience, Terp researchers are inventing and applying new ways of seeing and engineering the near-invisible. Drawing on Maryland’s deep interdisciplinary expertise, they combine technical rigor and fearless collaboration to design faster electronics, detect diseases earlier, deliver medical therapies more effectively, and more. See it for yourself: how five Maryland engineers are making super-sized discoveries at the edge of what’s visible. Pinpointing Pollution Measuring the nanoscale chemistry of airborne particles Akua Asa-Awuku Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Affiliate, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices When Akua Asa-Awuku gazes into the sky, she is looking for more than signs of the day’s weather. She is searching for the universe of tiny solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air: aerosols. More numerous in our planet’s atmosphere than all the stars in the sky, nanoscale aerosols influence everything from cloud formation and weather to air quality and human health. In 2023, Asa-Awuku—a longtime researcher of volatile organics that contribute to air pollution—recognized the rare opportunity signaled by hazy skies from record-setting Canadian wildfires that year. She collected samples over five days from a rooftop on UMD’s College Park campus, then set about analyzing the particles contained within. The results were surprising: Asa-Awuku and her team reported the presence of aeruginosin KT608A, a cyanobacterial compound associated with harmful algal blooms in lakes and other large bodies of water, alongside 300 other types of particulate matter that had traveled an impressive 1,000-plus miles by the smoke. Where exactly did those particles come from, and how do they impact air quality and human health? By documenting aerosol particles’ size, shape, and chemical behavior—particularly when they encounter water—that’s exactly what Asa-Awuku’s work aims to answer. Asa-Awuku develops experimental methods that improve how atmospheric particles are measured and characterized. By combining electrical mobility measurements with newer aerodynamic classification techniques—tools that distinguish particles according to electrical and physical behavior as they move through the air—her lab produces a more complete picture of aerosol particles’ size, shape, composition, and reactivity to water. “Water is the most underappreciated molecule on Earth,” necessary for life but also highly chemically active, she says. Her research examines how particles evolve as they travel through the atmosphere, revealing how changing chemistry alters interactions with water, sunlight, atmospheric cases, and other particles. Those insights improve scientists’ ability to predict how certain aerosols behave, from cloud formation to air quality to human exposure. “We have models and equations to explain the ‘divine systems’ around us, but people make assumptions to make the math easier,” Asa-Awuku says. “Some of these assumptions need to be reassessed to get to better science and engineering, to be able to take faster, smaller measurements. That’s the forefront of what we do.” Russ Dickerson, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic science and close collaborator at UMD, says Asa-Awuku has “helped us understand aerosols—things not-at-all easy to measure—with much greater precision.” Her measurements, he adds, help grow an essential catalog of knowledge with radically broad applications: better air quality sensors; improved models for weather prediction and air pollution exposure; refined ocean- and air-sensing satellite instruments. Asa-Awuku says her lab is “spreading its wings” into investigations of even more particles, from inhaled nanoplastics and aerosol concentrations in hospital rooms to particles escaped from additive manufacturing, sintering, and 3D metal printing processes. “Air is such an interesting medium: When you eat or drink something you’re adverse to, you feel it right away—but if you inhale polluted air, you don’t get sick right away,” Asa-Awuku says. “Awareness of air issues, whether indoor or outdoor, has such an impact on people’s lives.” Photo By John T. Consoli; 3d Illustration By Ella Maru Studio Mobilizing Mucus Harnessing a viral inspiration for treating respiratory disease Gregg Duncan Associate Professor, Bioengineering; Affiliate, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices It often starts with a tickle , in the back of the throat, somewhere up in the sinuses. Within a day or two, the drip begins: mucus, the body’s front-line defender against viral invaders. For many, gunk from a cold is a temporary discomfort. For others—including hundreds of thousands born with a gene alteration that causes cystic fibrosis, or the estimated 23 million U.S. adults who suffer from asthma—mucus can be life-threatening. Growing up with severe asthma, Gregg Duncan knows all too well the dangerous downsides of mucus. Today, his research is fueled by understanding how to work with mucus rather than against it: defining how mucus is structured, how pathogens evade it, and how to use that knowledge to design bioengineered materials for treating respiratory disease. “We really only worry about mucus when it causes us problems,” Duncan says, “but it has so many capabilities.” His work, of course, requires mucus, so his lab manufactures it, produced by mouse and human epithelial cells grown in the lab. The precious drops from these mock lungs provide the essential testbed for Duncan’s primary work: engineering tiny particles able to navigate this mucusy matrix. Viruses like influenza are, on average, just 100 nanometers across; about 1,000 influenza viruses stacked end-to-end would fit within the thickness of a standard piece of copy-print paper (only .01 millimeters). Because they are small enough to evade mucus’s sticky web of sugar-coated proteins to reach target cells on the other side, Duncan’s group marks viruses with fluorescent tags to track their journeys and understand how mucus hinders or helps their passage. Duncan is evaluating two classes of nanoparticles as therapeutic delivery vehicles: polymer-based and lipid-based. For the polymer type, Duncan modifies particles by coating them with different formulations and densities of polyethylene glycol, or PEGs. These coatings help the particles slip through sticky mucosal networks much like viruses; PEG surface structures can also facilitate delivery of therapeutic payloads, including vaccines. Lipid nanoparticles, synthesized by mixing negatively and positively charged components that self-assemble into what he describes as a “squishy ball,” can also be modified with segments of DNA or RNA. These sorts of particles could be powerful agents as inhalable vaccines or genetic therapies for disorders like cystic fibrosis. And because mucus is in more places than just the lungs, Duncan’s work applies to potential therapies for many other body systems: in cancer and corneal disease; treating sexually transmitted infections; addressing inflammatory bowel disease. Mucus itself also represents a powerful therapeutic; Duncan’s lab is working on developing mucus-inspired sprayable gels that can stick to nasal tissues to deliver medicines. Alexa Stern, a doctoral student in Duncan’s research group, says that appreciating viruses, mucins, and therapeutics as materials helps unlock the rules by which they operate. “Understanding the interplay of properties in these materials helps us engineer them to play to their benefits for delivering therapies directly to cells,” she says. Photo By Ambi Narula; 3d Illustration By Ella Maru Studio Instant Diagnosis Detecting a single super-small virus with a super-sensitive biosensor Kevin Daniels Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Fellow, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices; Affiliate, Institute for Research in Electronics & Applied Physics By the time a lab test confirms avian influenza in a poultry farmer’s chicken house, it’s usually too late to sort out the vector; the whole flock must be culled. But a sensor equipped with a sheet of material just one atom thick could one day flag an infected bird the moment it crosses the barn’s threshold, accelerating early detection from days to just seconds. Kevin Daniels is working to develop just these sorts of electronic devices. The key ingredient: graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms synthesized directly from a silicon carbide base. Graphene’s highly ordered crystal structure allows an electron current to glide smoothly along the surface; anything that comes along to disturb the lattice changes the electrical resistance that can be translated into an instant sensor reading. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniels and his research group became curious if graphene could serve as a faster or more sensitive virus-sensing platform than the gold standard of detection, PCR (polymerase chain reaction). He and collaborators devised a way to enmesh SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with the surface of his lab’s experimental graphene platforms. Applying viral sample droplets smaller than a grain of salt, Daniels’ sensor immediately registered a positive. “It worked almost too well,” Daniels says. “We’re talking about a microliter, with fewer than four copies of the antigen; we thought something had to be wrong.” PCR requires around 100 copies of a virus in a starting sample for detection; Daniels’ sensor can precisely detect one. Just as a tiny gnat snared in a thin strand of web alerts a spider to its prey, the strain from a virus binding to an antibody on the engineered graphene surface creates enough strain on the atomic lattice to change electrical resistance, registering as a positive reading. “We were getting a whole order of magnitude better detection,” Daniels says. Daniels’ work has launched a small industry of student-fueled enterprise: Four of his current students and John Rzasa, Fischell Institute chief engineer, are working with colleagues, including UMD Professor of Environmental Health Donald Milton, on a human flu-specific sensor, while lab alums like Michael Pedowitz ’19, Ph.D. ’24, now a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, are exploring even further expansions of the technology: in neurotransmitter signal detection to enable real-time visualization of neural networks in action. While expansions of the sensor’s power for human health applications are in active development—such as for detecting Lyme disease, tuberculosis, or hantavirus—for flu, initial market research revealed a reluctance by physicians to adopt the technology for viruses. For Daniels and his team, the insights opened the door to deeper exploration of non- human applications. “In human health, it’s very hard for people to give up tried-and-tested sensing methods,” Pedowitz says, who worked with Daniels on a National Science Foundation grant to explore commercialization for flu sensors. “That is understandable, but it helped us to expand our outlook on what we can sense with this technology to other areas, like veterinary medicine.” Daniels says that animal stakeholders are eager to put the technology to use. Poultry farmers want it for global surveillance to avoid expensive flock testing; horse racing interests need a faster way to detect equine herpesvirus before and after events; wildlife managers see great potential in improved contact tracing for avian influenza. “Everyone we have spoken to is ready to adopt this technology,” Daniels says. 3d Illustration By Ella Maru Studio; Photo By Sage Levy Outrunning Heat Keeping the world’s smallest, most powerful electronics cool Ashutosh Giri Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Like many people, Ashutosh Giri found himself frustrated by overheated electronics as a master’s student in 2010; his overworked smartphone kept stalling and shutting down. Well over a decade later, heat still bedevils electronics. As ever-more circuitry and transistors are packed into ever-smaller spaces—with growing expectations for performance and speed—traditional materials like silicon are less able to keep up. Giri, who joined UMD in January 2026, cites those early phone incidents as motivating his current work: investigating the mechanical action of heat in electronics materials at the smallest scales, and unlocking the potential of next-generation semiconductor materials. Ultimately, his work could be used to keep electronics as varied as smartphones, electric vehicles, and high-powered radio-frequency communications devices cool. “So much progress has been made, but we’re still trying to understand the nanoscale physics of how energy carriers interact with each other and with the environment,” Giri says. “Everything is limited by heat transfer.” In classical physics, heat disperses in a predictable gradient from hot to cold; at the nanoscale, however, heat disperses in synchronized atomic vibrations called phonons. When a phonon is unable to smoothly transition between two materials—such as the dozens to hundreds of ultrathin films at the core of every modern electronic device—some of the phonon’s energy scatters, creating heat. “Think about the problem of shuttling heat like improving a rickety rope bridge over a river. All you can do is change the strength of the rope; that’s what we’ve been doing for the last 100 years,” says Patrick Hopkins, who was Giri’s doctoral adviser at the University of Virginia. “Ash comes along and says: Why not build a new bridge, but five times as wide and made of steel? That’s the kind of impactful and disruptive shift his work offers to this discipline.” Using ultrafast femtosecond laser pulses, Giri studies a class of lightweight, porous semiconductor materials known as covalent organic frameworks that represent a sort of unicorn for electronics because they can move heat with unexpected efficiency. The semiconductor material gallium nitride—which is able to carry more voltage than silicon and is more tolerant of high-temperature environments—is a particular focus. He uses this data to create atom-scale computer models that simulate the performance of novel combinations of materials. Giri’s theoretical work suggests a radically faster, more efficient way to transfer heat across these material interfaces: via a quasiparticle known as a polaron (a phonon coupled to an electron). He’s also experimenting with lasers as heat carriers. While his immediate work is tightly focused on diverting heat to improve electronic performance, he said harnessing heat at the nanoscale is an even more exciting prospect with even broader implications. “Heat transfer and thermal management are at the center of every big engineering challenge,” Giri says. “So much of our energy generation is wasted on heat, in buildings, in powering everything. What if we could capture that wasted heat and convert it to something useful?” 3d Illustration By Ella Maru Studio; Photo Courtesy University Of Virginia Zooming In Taking a closer look to understand the nanoscale physics of “everything” John Cumings Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering; Affiliate, Physics; Advisory Board Chair, Maryland NanoCenter We’re all made of stuff,” says John Cumings. “If I can understand that stuff, then I can understand everything. “My tool of choice for that is electrons.” Electrons are the ‘yarn’ that knit atoms together into ‘stuff.’ Zooming in reveals a teeny-tiny weave: the angle at which atoms are bound; how patterns repeat; how molecular structures gain order as they phase from gas to liquid to solid. Cumings uses beams of electrons from a transmission electron microscope to see how liquids become more structured at a nanoscale interface or how they behave when confined to spaces only a few billionths of a meter wide. Measuring and describing this behavior is at the core of his work, with implications for everything from better lithium batteries to improved device and industrial coatings, such as antifouling paints for ships and boats. “I want to look at and understand, exactly, what happens when material moves to form a structure—as it transitions, what’s going on in a fluid at an interface,” he says. “Symmetries start to emerge. Material acquires order. I’m looking at those first patterns.” Though Cumings’ work is foundational in nature, its insights readily translate into practical technologies: informing improvements to materials already in use, including thin films for nanoelectronics and advanced filtration membranes, and guiding the development of new technologies. His expertise in electron microscopy and materials characterization has made him a sought-after collaborator with partners across the Maryland community and worldwide. In one collaboration with Aleksandr Noy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, Cumings investigated how dissolved ions in water moved through two-nanometer-wide boron nitride nanotubes embedded within membranes. They found that the chemical structure of the nanotube’s interior allowed easier passage of positively charged ions. The finding could eventually help inform the design of improved desalination membranes, systems to harvest energy from seawater, and next-generation biosensors. Advancing battery design is another direct application of Cumings’ research on how ions behave in liquids as they order themselves. With Maryland Engineering colleagues Keith Gregorczyk and Daniela Fontecha, Cumings collaborated on research to grow an ultrathin battery material one atomic layer at a time. Careful control of its composition and crystal structure produced a film that efficiently transports lithium ions, a step toward creating miniature solid-state batteries for electronics, sensors, and medical devices. Cumings’ approach to electron microscopy bridges the gap between the artificially closed conditions of traditional electron microscopy and the “messy reality of how materials actually behave in use,” says Hsin-Yun “Joy” Chao Ph.D. ’21, a graduate of Cumings’ lab who is now a staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Chao cites water availability, which affects all of humanity, as an example. “How water organizes itself at a nanoscale interface is not a distant application,” she says. “Freshwater scarcity is one of the defining infrastructure challenges of the century, and understanding the fundamental physics of how water behaves at surfaces is a necessity.” Photo By Maximilian Franz; 3d Illustration By Ella Maru Studio - - - - - COMMUNITY: Students A New World of Play Students create and install therapy swing for Harford County girl. Clark school students spent two years designing and building a custom motorized therapy swing for a 13-year-old Maryland girl with special needs and then delivered it to her front door. Avaleigh has autism and a rare genetic condition known as USP9X depletion syndrome that causes developmental delays; she walks independently but can’t ride a bike or play sports like her younger sister and brother do, said her mother, Danielle. Avaleigh communicates through American Sign Language and attends a school for kids with special needs. Thanks to mechanical engineering principal lecturer Vincent Nguyen ’03, M.S. ’05, Ph.D. ’11 and the nonprofit IMAGE Center of Maryland, Avaleigh now has a motorized swing that responds to her movements, providing an opportunity for play to a girl who’d never been able to use standard swings found in playgrounds and backyards. Over the years, the IMAGE Center has received a number of requests for mechanical swings. “Swing therapy is super common among the clients that they see,” said Nguyen, because it can help with core muscle development, engage the vestibular system (responsible for balance), and have a calming effect. But designing a swing that could work for various users was deceptively tricky. It would need to withstand a variety of weather conditions plus accommodate a wide range of people—adults and children—who might use the swing. So Nguyen put his students on the case: Together, they created a swing that would work almost anywhere, for almost anyone, as part of Nguyen’s undergraduate class “Entrepreneurial Design Realization for Projects of Positive Impact.” Once it’s turned on, Avaleigh’s swing calibrates itself based on the user’s weight. A sensor attached to the seat measures forward and backward movement, and a small motor atop the swing’s frame pulls the chains accordingly. “This is something that’s for her, that she can go out and do on her own,” Danielle told WMAR-2 reporter Taylor Epps in May. “It’s pretty awesome.” After Avaleigh’s first test of the device on her porch, she gave it a thumbs up and passed out hugs and fist bumps to the UMD team. Then she asked her aide if she could swing on it again later. Teddy Hersey ’26, a mechanical engineering major, helped install the swing at Avaleigh’s home. “It’s just amazing to finally be able to deliver this project after four semesters of teams working on it,” he said. “It’s very rewarding.” Photo By John T. Consoli - - - - - Apple Comes to Maryland Clark School engineers selected for elite mentorship program. A highly selective program that pairs undergraduate students with Apple engineers for one-on-one mentorship in hardware, software, and manufacturing has welcomed 10 Terp engineers as its inaugural UMD cohort of Next-Gen Innovators. The Clark School is one of only 25 engineering schools in the U.S. selected for the seven-month Apple Next-Gen Innovators Mentorship Program, which also offers technical and personal development workshops and networking opportunities to help launch participating students’ careers. “Maryland Engineering and Apple make a great team,” Clark School Dean Samuel Graham said at an April 2 event celebrating the Maryland students selected for the program. “This partnership will give our students more real-world experience and access to leaders in the field and ensure our curriculum meets the needs of a constantly changing marketplace.” UMD’s Apple Next-Gen Innovators above from left to right: Manuel Gondolesi, bioengineering and electrical engineering; Zoe Edwards, mechanical engineering; John David Paulenich III, electrical engineering; Nandini Bhattaram, materials science and engineering; Santiago Lorenzi, mechanical engineering; Michelle Twene, mechanical engineering; Zehra Syeda, bioengineering; August van Geertruyden, computer engineering; Madaleine Tewey, computer engineering. Not pictured: Natalie Venginickal, electrical engineering. Photo By Mike Galczynski - - - - - Top Honors for Terps The National Society of Black Engineers recognized UMD’s Black Engineers Society with two awards—Region 2 Large Chapter of the Year and National Large Chapter of the Year—at its 2026 Annual Convention in March. Photo By Olugbenga Famodu - - - - - COMMUNITY: Alums Dean’s Circle Spotlight AI’s Next Frontier Terp alum and Crux AI CTPO honors his father’s legacy with a cutting-edge professorship at Maryland. Bikash Koley M.S. ’97, Ph.D. ’00 always looked up to his father, a professor of animal genetics at the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences in Kolkata. “He taught me to be curious and was the reason I got so interested in science,” Koley says. With that curiosity and his technical mind, Koley pursued a career focused on networking and digital infrastructure. In his 16+ years at Google, culminating in the role of vice president of global infrastructure, he oversaw the physical infrastructure that delivers Google products to customers worldwide. (He was recently announced as the chief technology and product officer at the Blackstone–Google joint venture, Crux AI.) Koley says he also values other, less literal kinds of “networks”: cross-disciplinary research collaborations and partnerships among academia, industry, and government, which were essential to his own graduate work at Maryland. Koley has served on the Clark School of Engineering’s Board of Visitors for seven years, building vital connections between the university and industry. Now, he has established the Dr. NP Koley Physical AI and Emerging Intelligent Systems Endowed Professorship in Engineering to honor his father’s legacy by supporting interdisciplinary research at Maryland. “AI has created a new golden era of cross-disciplinary research,” Koley says. “The next frontier is building the most intelligent systems that can touch all aspects of engineering." Koley became interested in networking in the last year of his undergraduate program at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. He continued his studies at Maryland because of its strong optical networking program, bolstered by collaborations among the university, industry, and government agencies. Electrical and computer engineering faculty such as his Ph.D. adviser, Professor Mario Dagenais; Distinguished University Professor John Baras; and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus Edward Ott imparted technical skills—more importantly, Koley says, they taught him how to think, reinforcing lessons from his father. “My professors and mentors were all experts in their fields, but they were focused on what was not known,” Koley says. “They taught me that learning how to ask the right question is more important than the answer itself.” Koley’s generosity will encourage Clark School faculty and students to ask questions that will advance physical AI: artificial intelligence that operates in the three-dimensional world rather than in software alone. Take, for example, self-driving cars, which are equipped with both the reasoning made possible by large language models as well as an understanding of spatial relationships and the rules of physics. Physical AI systems can take in data about their surroundings via sensors, combine that data with their knowledge of how the physical world behaves, and adjust their behavior in real time. They can support equipment as small as a humanoid robot that helps with household tasks or as large as an entire factory assembly line. With Koley’s gift, the Clark School will turn the curiosity of Terp engineers into exactly that kind of AI innovation. “Physical AI is only possible through interdisciplinary research, as it involves multiple engineering disciplines and even other fields of science,” Koley says. “It can have numerous outcomes, but those I care deeply about are advancements in medical science, drug discovery, and medical instrumentation. My dad was a professor in genetics, and AI has an incredibly important role to play in genetics.” Did You Know? AI can analyze genomic data to find patterns linked to cancer, which can yield earlier diagnoses and more personalized treatment plans for patients. It also can analyze electronic medical record data to identify patients who might have a particular genetic condition that has been overlooked. The Dean’s Circle recognizes those who have committed $100,000 or more during their lifetime to the Clark School. To learn how your charitable donation can make a significant difference in the future of Maryland Engineering, contact Jennifer L. Schwartz, assistant dean for advancement, at 301-405-0317 or jschwar2@umd.edu. Photo courtesy of Bikash Koley - - - - - Terps to Watch Amazon’s first quantum computing chip. Next-gen wood that’s stronger than steel. AI systems that improve healthcare access and delivery. The Artemis mission to return humans to the Moon—and prepare for Mars. Keep an eye on these engineering Terps who are innovating at the forefront for the public good. On Sept. 18, the Clark School’s Early Career Distinguished Alumni (ECDA) Society welcomed 24 engineering Terps to its ranks. Inductees were welcomed back to campus for a day of networking with fellow alums and campus leaders and behind-the-scenes tours, culminating with a reception and ceremony. 2026 ECDA Society Inductees From left to right: Ian Higgins M.S. ’08 (aerospace engineering); Levi DeVries M.S. ’13, Ph.D. ’14 (aerospace engineering); Victoria Pillitteri ’08 (electrical engineering); Adam Behrens ’10 (chemical engineering), Ph.D. ’15 (bioengineering); Yedukondala Narendra Dwith Chenna M.S. ’17 (electrical and computer engineering); Brandon Litt ’10 (aerospace engineering); Sumeet Jeswani M.S. ’18 (telecommunications engineering); Nitin Raghu ’14 (aerospace engineering); Rosalie Hrybyk ’13, M.S. ’15 (fire protection engineering); Sylvie DeLaHunt ’14, M.S. ’16 (aerospace engineering); Michael Wittner ’19 (computer science), M.Eng ’21 (cybersecurity engineering); Carol Wong ’08 (mechanical engineering); Rajat Shivacharan ’13 (bioengineering); Victor Nwaneri ’09 (mechanical engineering); Shahriar Aghaeimeibodi M.S. ’18, Ph.D. ’20 (electrical engineering); Sarah Adams ’17 (materials science and engineering); Adil Zuber ’09 (chemical engineering); Quinn Kupec ’20 (aerospace engineering); Bilal Naved ’15 (bioengineering); Jiaqi Dai Ph.D. ’18 (materials science and engineering); Anthony Coburger ’12 (physics), M.Eng ’16 (reliability engineering) Not pictured: Thomas Brodrick ’09, M.S. ’10 (mechanical engineering); Marshall Schroeder ’10, Ph.D. ’15 (materials science and engineering); Daniel Wang ’17 (bioengineering) Photo by Mike Morgan - - - - - COMMUNITY: Puzzle Code Mode By Stella Zawistowski Across 1 Part of an old radio 5 ____ metabolic rate 10 “____ obliged, thanks!” 14 A Big Ten rival of Maryland 15 Bring your ____ (deliver your best effort) 16 Instrument in the UMD Symphony Orchestra 17 Rear part of an airplane 18 Faraday ____ (enclosures that block electromagnetic fields) 19 Naysay 20 Energy process studied at nanoscale by Associate Professor Ashutosh Giri 23 Word used before a person’s birth surname 24 Easton Hall, for example 25 Subatomic particle studied by Associate Professor John Cumings 30 ____ around (snooping) 34 Alice B. Clark, to A. James Clark 35 Menu listings 37 Goat’s sound 38 Historic British record label 39 One of Bolivia’s capitals 40 Formal agreement 41 Opposite of frequently 43 Bird that can run up to 30 MPH 45 Topic in acoustics 46 ____ grant (early funding source) 47 Detection device being developed at nanoscale by Associate Professor Kevin Daniels 49 Felt concern 51 From ancient times 52 Form of nanoparticle studied by Professor Akua Asa-Awuku 55 Biological product studied at nanoscale by Associate Professor Gregg Duncan 59 Device for FaceTiming 60 Nearby 64 Vein with minerals 65 What to do at Yahentamitsi Hall 66 South ____ (Seoul’s country) 67 Atop 68 Performs in a play 69 Biological cooling method 70 Repair Down 1 Handout from the GOAL Program 2 “The Pitt” star Wyle 3 Toddler’s boo-boo 4 State with zero net force 5 Organism a biomolecular engineer might observe 6 Medium in which a 5-Down might grow 7 Long, long story 8 Change for the better 9 Sections of curricula 10 Some connectivity hardware 11 Very, in slang 12 Nerdy gathering, for short 13 “You there!” 21 Vietnamese holiday 22 To and ____ 25 Milk-producing sheep 26 Green citrus fruits 27 Skip the paper IRS return 28 Not requiring an Rx 29 Moon of Neptune, or a mythical sea nymph 31 Apple desktops 32 ____ cheese 33 Swamp reptile, for short 36 Office note 39 Fizzy beverages 40 Type of harmonic oscillator 42 Removes encryption from 44 Group that entertains troops: Abbr. 47 Roar like a bull 48 American ____ (deciduous tree native to Maryland) 50 Geologist’s samples 52 Opera set in Egypt 53 Homer’s Odyssey, for example 54 Angry tirade 56 Manage somehow 57 Thick Japanese noodles 58 Email button 61 Mineral-bearing rock 62 Deep-____ exploration 63 Have something at IDEA Central Café Send a photo of your completed puzzle to em-editor@umd.edu for a chance to win swag! We'll choose the lucky gamers on February 26, 2027. (Looking for the puzzle solution? You can find it at go.umd.edu/em-magazine.) - - - - - COMMUNITY: Snapshots Cheers! To Terrapin Pride Engineering a work of art: On March 25, Clark School alums, staff, and faculty gathered with their fellow Terps at Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Halethorpe, Md., for a networking reception with Dean Graham. Their pints contained something special: “stouties” branded with a Maryland Engineering wordmark. The drink printer used to create the custom foam design works just like a regular ink jet printer—except in this case, the “ink” is roasted barley. Photo by Mike Morgan Solve For The Future Transforming classroom learning into real-world impact: Clark School students combined technical rigor with do-good creativity in 143 projects presented to industry experts, alums, family, and friends at the 2026 Capstone Design Expo, held May 6 at UMD’s Xfinity Center. Among the head-turning projects at the senior showcase were a series of smart submersible marine vehicles to detect, collect, and report data. Photo by Mike Morgan Hats Off To You, Grads Ready for what’s next: Earning a Maryland Engineering degree is a remarkable achievement that speaks volumes about our students’ potential. Clark School graduates celebrated this feat with their peers, family, and friends at the May 21 commencement ceremony at UMD’s Xfinity Center. The Clark School conferred more than 1,583 engineering degrees earned in August and December 2025 and May 2026, including 969 bachelor’s degrees, 447 master’s degrees, and 167 doctorates. Photos by Lisa Helfert Terps Come Together Donors who make a difference: Each spring, scholarship donors are invited to campus to meet the engineers supported by their generous philanthropy. At the annual Engineering Scholarship and Fellowship Luncheon, students share how scholarship dollars add up to impact their experience and, ultimately, their success. Donors also have the chance to catch up with one another, Clark School faculty and staff, and even Testudo. Photos by Branden Camp - - - - - Terps Abroad Tony Cao ’26 (civil engineering) stands in front of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, holding a copy of some favorite reading material from Maryland. He was there to participate in the “Summer in Taiwan: Global Perspectives in Chip Technology & Intercultural Leadership” program, where students cultivate a profound understanding of the connections between Taiwanese culture and the semiconductor ecosystem. Where do you read E@M magazine? Submit your photo: go.umd.edu/your-photo - - - - - University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering 3110 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building 8228 Paint Branch Drive College Park, MD 20742-2831