Kudos

Judah Ronch Named Professor of Practice for the Erickson School
Judah Ronch, vice president of Resident Life, Mental Health and Wellness in the Erickson Health System, has been selected as a professor of practice at the Erickson School at UMBC. Ronch founded and served as executive director of LifeSpan Developmental Systems, a mental health consulting company that provided services to the elderly.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-hs.names19jan19,0,4489821.story?coll=bal-health-headlines
Two Companies Join techcenter@UMBC
techcenter@UMBC recently added two new biotech companies, Tradezyme and Biomedica Management as tenants. Formerly known as GeneTrade, Tradezyme is developing a registry and exchange for plasmids, which are specially designed pieces of DNA used in scientific research. The company will also provide a gene-cloning service to biotech companies and academic labs. Biomedica, which will relocate from its facilities in Michigan, helps scientific investigators obtain and manage funding, pursue patents and market the commercialization.
http://www.umbc.edu/techcenter/news/index.html
January 19, 2007
Stephen Auvil, OTD and ACTiVATE, to Speak at FemStart Conference in Germany
Stephen Auvil, director of the Office of Technology Development and co-investigator for the ACTiVATE Program, will speak at the FemStart Conference in Stuttgart, Germany from Feb. 14-15. ACTiVATE (www.umbc.edu/activate) will be featured as a best practice for training women to commercialize technology out of universities.
FemStart is an initiative funded by the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technology within the Science and Society Priority. It will initiate a public debate in European countries on how to motivate female scientists to start their own businesses after graduating from a university.
For more information about FemStart, visit www.femstart.eu.
Jordan Hadfield, SGA, Named Manager of Dundalk Main Street Project
The Dundalk Renaissance Corp. has named SGA president Jordan Hadfield as the manager of the Dundalk Main Street Project, an initiative that seeks to revitalize the town’s downtown business area. Hadfield will work part-time while completing his final semester at UMBC, where he is earning a dual degree in ancient studies and political science.
http://dundalkeagle.com/articles/2007/01/18/news/news02.txt
UMBC Visual Arts Faculty and IMDA Graduate Student in Creative Alliance’s Film Festival
Short films produced by UMBC’s Assistant Professors of Visual Arts Cathy Cook and Fred Worden will be featured at the Highlandtown Creative Alliance’s “Solo Cinema: Independent Visions in Film, Jan. 18-20. Also, imaging and digital arts graduate student Phil Davis curated a series of short films that will conclude the event on Saturday evening. For more information on the screenings, visit creativealliance.org.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/bal-to.moviecal12jan12,0,1784732.story
January 12, 2007
ACTiVATE Is Finalist for the Stevie Awards
UMBC’s ACTiVATE program is a finalist for the Stevie Awards in the “Women Helping Women” category for empowering women into high-tech entrepreneurship. The Stevie Awards were created to honor and generate public recognition of the efforts, accomplishments and positive contributions of companies and business people worldwide.
(http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/women/awards/282_1943_13636.cfm)