Director's Message to UMIACS April '25

New ideas in science and technology—that pretty much defines the existence of UMIACS.

Our newsletter this month showcases some of those ideas that have come to fruition: leading to novel ways to better inform the public about NASA satellite data, innovative training tools for the medical community, and new standards for post-quantum cryptography.

All these projects, and many others underway in our institute, start with a bold vision: How can we advance new knowledge and technology that will have a positive impact on science and society?

UMIACS is proud to support these ideas, offering superb technical support and administrative resources needed to make these projects flourish.

We also promote activities that encourage our UMIACS research community to interact with others. The recent microbiome meet-up, where participants from 10 higher education institutions, two research institutes, four federal institutions and one professional organization all met to explore topics related to innovation and translation in microbiome research, is but one example.

The common thread for all these endeavors is people. People that have ideas they discuss with colleagues and others and then act decisively to advance their research. I continue to be amazed at the level of ongoing research and scholarship in our institute.

Part of that level of excellence is due in no small part to people like Howard Elman, who steps down in late June from his full-time role at the University of Maryland after a 40-year career here, including two years as interim director of UMIACS.

During his time in UMIACS, Howard's bold ideas included expanding our computational infrastructure and actively recruiting faculty from other departments like linguistics, business, and electrical and computer engineering.

His vision of passionately promoting stronger ties between computer science and applied mathematics has greatly enhanced research and scholarship on the University of Maryland campus, and beyond. Thank you, Howard, for all that you have done!

—Mihai Pop, UMIACS director