Support Engineering Student Initiatives Through Launch UMD

Students from the A. James Clark School of Engineering are looking to the community for support in making their ideas into reality. Using the university's crowdfunding platform, Launch UMD, each team has a specific goal in mind:

• The Black Engineers Society, UMD’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), is raising money to send members to the society’s annual convention in California. While there, students will have the opportunity to attend professional development workshops, network, and learn from panel discussions.

• In an effort to bring STEM education programs to local public schools, members of the College Park Scholars Science Technology and Society Program (STS) have been running during and after-school robotics programs since September 2011. They are hoping to continue and expand their program with the help of Launch UMD.

• Each year, seniors from the Fischell Department of BioEngineering (BioE) design and build medical devices as part of their capstone project. Working closely with faculty and physicians from the University of Maryland Medical Center, the students’ inventions aim to improve patient outcomes and health care while lowering costs. The funding they receive will be used for supplies and equipment to create prototypes of their work.

• The Engineering Alumni Network is preparing for the Alumni Cup: an annual engineering design competition where teams of students from each department compete against one another in a week-long challenge. The Cup is a unique opportunity for students to gain applied learning experience and fosters relationships within the engineering community. This year, with Launch UMD’s help, the event will feature the largest student-alumni networking reception ever held at the Clark School.

Learn more about each group and how you can help by visiting the Launch UMD website.

Published November 3, 2014