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Executive Summary: Delivering the Promises

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Accomplishments and Initiatives

Delivering the Promise of Excellence through Outstanding Faculty and Programs with High Impact

Research Leadership

The investment we make in our faculty and programs of high impact is leveraged into significant external funding and national/international recognition. Some of the notable faculty hits of the past year are described below.

  • Researchers at the University of Maryland are taking the first steps to develop a 21st-century interactive supply chain system for the U.S. military-one that will return repairable military equipment back into battle sooner and at lower cost. With a new $2.1 million grant, an interdisciplinary team led by the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise will develop a prototype Web-based supply network to quickly acquire and deliver replacement parts on an as-needed basis. The demonstration project will involve maintenance of F/A-18 Navy fighter jets, and will link together a series of advanced technologies, all integrated through a secure Web portal.

  • The Maryland-led Deep Impact mission of NASA was a smashing success heard around the world. On July 4, 2005, a spacecraft collided with comet Tempel 1 about 82 million miles from earth. The Principal Investigator, Professor Michael A'Hearn, and his university team led this spectacular mission, the first astronomy experiment in history. Our partners were NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. The Ball Corporation's Web site transmitted nearly a half terabyte of information in less than two months to 167 countries from the Keeling Islands to Vatican City. Almost 800 online news sources worldwide covered the mission. The goal of the mission is to determine the composition of the comet's interior and to shed light on the formation of the solar system. This impact will be investigated for decades to come as data from the collision are analyzed and the comet is studied anew every two years when it returns.

  • Following 9/11 and the realization that America needs more expertise in other languages, Congress created the National Flagship Language Initiative (NFLI), which offers students at select universities like Maryland a chance to immerse themselves in a specific language and culture for two years at no cost, in return for two years of subsequent government service. Nationally, there are currently NFLI programs for Arabic, Russian, Chinese and Korean. Maryland hosts one of two Arabic Flagships in the country, plus a share of the Russian Flagship. The University has been selected to host a third program, the Persian National Flagship Language Initiative. Also known as Farsi, the Persian language is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain and other countries of the Middle East. Maryland was selected to host these programs because of its faculty expertise in these languages and in the second-language-acquisition field.

  • In May 2005, the National Science Foundation (NSF) renewed the grant for our Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning for $10.3 million over five years. We are the lead university with Penn State and Delaware. What is most impressive, even surprising, is that NSF is phasing out this program, and UM's center is the only one that was renewed.

  • In May 2005, the University of Maryland Center for Firefighter Safety Research and Development, located at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI), received a $750,000 FIRE Act grant. This amount is the highest award that can be allocated in a single grant. The award will fund research on firefighter safety, especially use of technology to locate firefighters, and monitor their health and safety during emergencies. The collaborators on this project are the departments of Fire Protection Engineering, and Computer Science.

  • The Maryland Center for Integrated Nano Science and Engineering was ranked first in the nation for nano-science and engineering by Small Times magazine because of its integrated approach; its large and growing faculty; high productivity in published research; and number of research grants, facilities and educational programs. The University's micro-technology research program was ranked second in the nation by that same magazine.

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