March 29, 2024

Computer Science Pathway Program Celebrated

From left to right, UMW students Steven Deverteuil, Arsalan Ahmad, Meghan Cooke, Dylan Meyers and Suad Parvez gathered in Farmer Hall Tuesday for an event recognizing students either accepted to or interested in a master of engineering in computer science pathway agreement between UMW and Virginia Tech.

From left to right, UMW students Steven Deverteuil, Arsalan Ahmad, Meghan Cooke,
Dylan Meyers and Suad Parvez gathered in Farmer Hall Tuesday for an event recognizing students either accepted to or interested in a master of engineering in computer science pathway agreement between UMW and Virginia Tech.

Dannette Beane, assistant vice provost of enrollment management for strategic initiatives at Virginia Tech, visited UMW’s Computer Science department on Tuesday, March 29, to recognize students accepted to or interested in a partnership program in computer science and applications.

Part of Virginia’s Tech Talent Pipeline, the “4+1 pathway” pairs foundational and dual-credit coursework, preparing UMW students for early admission to grad school and the possibility of earning a master’s degree from Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering in less than two years. As many as six Mary Washington credits count also toward the master’s degree.

Senior Stephen Deverteuil, the first UMW student admitted to the computer science pathway program, joined fellow students Arsalan Ahmad, Meghan Cooke, Dylan Meyer and Suad Parvez for the event. UMW College of Arts and Sciences Dean Keith Mellinger and Assistant Dean Betsy Lewis, as well as Computer Science Chair Karen Anewalt, also attended.

From left to right, Virginia Tech's Dannette Beane, UMW senior Steven DeVerteuil, UMW College of Arts and Sciences Dean Keith Mellinger, UMW senior Meghan Cooke and UMW Department of Computer Science Chair Karen Anewalt.

From left to right, Virginia Tech’s Dannette Beane, UMW senior Steven DeVerteuil, UMW College of Arts and Sciences Dean Keith Mellinger, UMW senior Meghan Cooke and UMW Department of Computer Science Chair Karen Anewalt.

The group gathered in Farmer Hall to pose for photos wearing Virginia Tech T-shirts!

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Scanning Through History

It’s the ultimate combination of old and new.

Decked out in full body armor as a gladiator from the ancient Roman Empire, Senior Harry Rol clamps on his helmet and steps onto a 3-D printing scanner in the University of Mary Washington’s 21st century classroom known as the ThinkLab.

“You really look the part,” said Associate Professor of Classics Joe Romero, as Rol strikes a pose, knees bent with shield and sword at the ready.

Scanning Through History

Students relive the past using 3-D technology.

A Thirst for Theatre

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Taking on Twitter

Is it a human or a Twitter bot?

Researchers from the University of Mary Washington and the Naval Surface Warfare Center want to know for sure.

UMW computer science majors Bryan Holster and Chris Zimmerman, under the guidance of Professor Stephen Davies, have teamed with scientists at the center’s Dahlgren division to get to the bottom of this sometimes perplexing social media mystery. The partnership is one of several ongoing collaborations between the University and the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Taking on Twitter

UMW students team with Dahlgren scientists to conduct research.

UMW Showcases STEM Activities

Small drones buzzed overhead as more than 600 people viewed the latest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the Anderson Center at the University of Mary Washington on March 29 during the third annual  STEM Summit 16. Click to view slideshow. Showcasing the achievements of the region’s students, educators and businesses, the event featured more than 50 booths, including the UMW departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and environmental science, geography, mathematics, physics and the admissions office. Germanna Community College, the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren and a variety of regional schools also showcased 3-D printers, experiments and robotics among other STEM-related technologies. Missy Cummings, director of the Humans and Autonomy Lab and associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University, delivered the keynote address. One of the U.S. Navy’s first female fighter pilots, Cummings discussed drone technologies and human-machine collaboration. The Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual event is sponsored by Central Rappahannock Regional Library (FredTech) and Lockheed Martin. A few steps away in the Goolrick pool, five local school teams – from elementary to high school – competed in the regional SeaPerch competition. The SeaPerch program, funded by the Office of Naval Research, is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Teams guided their remote-controlled submersibles through a series of tasks, including navigating an underwater obstacle course and retrieving weights. Teams also presented to a panel of judges about the overall projects. Two teams, both from the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity Dahlgren School, won the competition and will go on to a national SeaPerch competition in Mississippi. A different buzz could be heard further down Campus Walk during the 8th Annual UMW High School Calculus Tournament. Six local high school teams, consisting of 23 students, competed in a jeopardy-style competition and used individual buzzers to signal the correct answers. The Paul VI High School team from Fairfax took home the championship title with team members Christina Wulff, Stephanie Ibanez and Stephanie Keener. The Mountain View High School team from Stafford finished second. Thomas Sheehan, also from Paul VI High School, earned the top individual score of the tournament. More than $600 in prizes were awarded to the student winners as well as the schools represented by the top two teams. The event was sponsored by Dynovis.

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STEM Summit Showcases Area Technology

The second annual FredTech STEM 16 Summit brought together more than 350 educators, students, community members and business leaders at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday, April 20. Click here to view the embedded video. The day-long event featured seminars on STEM programming in school districts and women in technology, as well as a STEM career panel.  The summit also included more than 45 projects from UMW, regional elementary and secondary schools, Germanna Community College, and local and regional businesses and nonprofit organizations. Six UMW offices and academic departments were represented at the summit, including the Department of Biological Sciences, the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Mathematics, the Office of Admissions and a 3D printing demonstration. UMW computer science student David Peworchik was honored with the “SWIFT Scholarship in Computer Science” Award for the 2013-2014 academic year, which provides a merit scholarship to a top computer science major in the region. The scholarship is funded by the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunications, Inc (SWIFT). In addition, UMW students, Alex Gilley, Zach Goodwin, Jerome Mueller and Russell Ruud , were named as SWIFT Student Research Fellows for the 2013-2014 year.  They received funding from SWIFT and UMW to attend the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) conference  in San Diego in July.  The students will present their part of an interdisciplinary research project in the area of pharmaceutical discovery.  Their work with supercomputers and data analysis may lead to new treatments for diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis, according to Associate Professor Karen Anewalt, chair of the Department of Computer Science. In conjunction with the summit, UMW held a titration competition and its seventh annual calculus tournament. In the team competition of the calculus tournament, the team from Paul VI High School in Fairfax came in first place and the team from the Commonwealth Governor’s School came in second place. In the individual competition, Jack Sweeney of Paul VI High School won first place and Lina Hong of Paul VI High School won second place. In the titration tournament, members of UMW’s honors general chemistry class won first place, followed by senior chemistry majors in second place. The summit culminated with a keynote lecture by David Kerr, a program lead in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Communications.