The Synapse

The March issue of "The Synapse" includes news about the success of our students and faculty, and an invitation for your participating in the "Celebration of Science Week". The highlight of this week is the NAS Student Excellence Event planned for 3-5 pm on Friday March 31. Our NAS faculty have planted the seeds of knowledge and they have fostered the intellectual growth of our amazing graduating scholars because they believe in the future of our students.

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. – Audrey Hepburn

Share your news, photos, inspiring stories, and upcoming events for a future issue. Please send any feature suggestions to Hizbullah Baryal at hbaryal@loyola.edu

This year's Celebration of Science week is planned for the week of March 27. We welcome your contributions and participation in this program. Please contact Sciences@loyola.edu with suggested ideas and activities that you could help with such as student club activities, pop up classes, lectures, and other engaging activities. During this week we will also celebrate the success of the graduating Haig Scholars, Hauber Fellows, the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal (NAS Divisional medal) recipient and finalists and CPaMS scholars during the NAS Student Excellence reception.

We are delighted to share the news that Professor Timothy Clark (Department of Mathematics and Statistics) has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Faculty Award for Excellence in Transformative Teaching.

The transformative teaching award recognizes a colleague who makes use of innovative approaches, assignments, and activities that significantly enhance the student learning experience. Nominations were from faculty peers, and the selection was made by the Committee on the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.

This award will be presented at the Maryland Day Convocation on Friday, March 24, at 2 p.m. in McGuire Hall.

Congratulations to Professor Raenita Fenner (Chair of Department of Engineering) and Emily Hunt (senior mechanical/materials engineering) and Abby Lambert (junior philosophy major), who presented Loyola team for achieving the second place in a two-day Engineering Ethics Competition sponsored by Lockheed Martin.

The competition occurred at Lockheed Martin's Headquarters in Bethesda, MD. With seventy-one schools competing including engineering schools like Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Columbia, UMBC, and more. In this single elimination format Loyola competed against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, American, College of Charleston, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Florida Institute of Technology in successive rounds, leading to Loyola attending the championship round against the Air Force Academy.

Especial thanks go to Professors Rob Bailey (Engineering) and Graham McAleer (Philosophy) for the competition dry run they did with the Loyola team.

The 2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal will be presented to Sylvia Lei (Biology) and Patrick John McGinnis (Biochemistry and Theology). This is the very first time that the selection committee has awarded the medal to two of our finalists. Three other brilliant and highly accomplished NAS students who were the 2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal finalists were Ashley E. Dwyer (Physics), Emily Hunt (Engineering: Mechanical and Materials), and Hannah Mannering (Computer Science & Data Science).

All five 2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal finalists will be recognized during the Student Excellence Event planned for March 31, 3:00-5:00 pm at Program Room, when they will receive a plaque for their achievements. Other NAS students being recognized during this event include graduating Haig Scholars, Hauber Fellows, and CPaMS scholars.

As part of the celebration of Engineering Week, the IEEE club hosted a pop-up class at the library on February 23rd. Participants learned how to interface a color LCD display to an Arduino microcontroller and to write the code to create interesting graphics on the screen. The IEEE club meets regularly on Thursdays at 4:30 to 5:30 pm in DS 155. Follow all the club activities of the Engineering department at: https://www.facebook.com/LoyolaEngineers. Learn more about IEEE club during the Celebration of Science week' activities by visiting IEEE club table at campus center near Bowlder during 11:30 am-1:30 pm on Tuesday March 28.

The 23rd annual Undergraduate Student Research and Scholarship Colloquium will be held on campus this year during the Academic Excellence Weekend in April. This event is designed to feature work of Loyola undergraduate students from across all divisions and disciplines. We encourage NAS students to participate in this event based on their research work as an oral presentation or as a poster. You may present your work individually or with a team of students. Research projects may be from on- or off-campus projects, including research projects conducted during the academic year, summer internships, and class projects.

The in-person Colloquium will take place on Friday, April 21st, 2023, during 2:30-6 pm. Details about the individual presentation sessions will be posted on the Colloquium website.

Student proposals are due on Friday, March 17th, 2023. Students should hear feedback on their abstracts by March 27th. You may submit your proposal through the online application portal that consist of a project abstract and contact information.

On Thursday, March 23 at 6 PM in the Loyola-Notre Dame Library Auditorium we the Baltimore Environmental Film Series will be screening and discussing the film “Kiss the Ground.” This is part of the mission week events. For the discussion panel we are fortunate to have Julie Dougherty (Oxbow Farm) and Marvin Hayes (Baltimore Compost Collective) participating. The panel will be moderated by the professor Bernadette Roche (Biology) who is the Director of Environmental Studies.

Have you ever wondered what regeneration of soil has to do with urban air quality and environmental racism? If so, consider joining us to discuss how soil really is the solution.

For more information on the film series and upcoming events, please visit https://www.loyola.edu/join-us/environmental-film-series

Opportunity for NAS majors: This in-person career fair is a great opportunity for any NAS major to meet with reputable employers eager to hire Loyola students and learn about current full-time, part-time, and internship opportunities. Whether you are eager to meet representatives from specific companies, or are early in your career development, exploring options, the LOYOLA READY Internship & Job Fair 2023 is a fantastic opportunity to learn and connect.

Students register on Handshake.

Here is a link to Tips for A Successful Career Fair. It’s has great tips on how to prepare and attend the fair.

The Bridge

Visit The Bridge for upcoming campus meetings and events.

Training and Development Opportunities for Employees and Students

OUTLoyola SafeZone Training

Green Bandana Brigade

Academic Calendar

• 2022-2023 Academic Calendar

Coronavirus Resources

• Loyola Coronavirus Updates - General university information for all students, faculty, staff including reopening plans, COVID-19 dashboard, FAQs, policies, and resources

Student Support Resources

• Counseling Center
• Campus Ministry
• Office of Student Life
• Center for Community, Service, and Justice

Employee Support Resources

• Human Resources website
• Employee Assistance Program
• Financial Crisis Assistance Program
• Employee Return to Work on Campus Guidelines & Training