During the Celebration of Science week (April 11-15) there were number of activities in addition to the Grand Seminar event in our campus all focusing on science and how it is connected to the our word.  This produced the opportunity when the Loyola Robotics Club held their first ever robotics tournament on April 12, 2016. This tournament showcased all the different robots the club members had been working on this past year. The feature event was a mini-Sumo competition where the object is to push the opposing robot out of the competition ring first. Three teams entered this event. Following an intense round-robin competition, the team of Chris Kelble and John Miller won the finals event, taking home thecrown of mini-Sumo champions this year.

The club also showcased their Sparki Robots for obstacle detection and removal. In this event, the robots were judged on how fast they can remove randomly placed objects from the competition ring.

In sum, an enjoyable time was had by all the participants and spectators who attended the inaugural event.

The Robotics club plans to have another competition in the Fall 2016 semester with more teams and robots involved.

The mission of the Robotics Club is to encourage students and faculty to discuss, prototype, and test robots that they choose to create on their own or with others. The club is mentored by Dr. David Hoe in the Engineering department and Dr. Roger Eastman in the Computer

Science department. The club meets regularly on Friday afternoons in the Robotics Lab (DSC 143). Please contact John Selle (jtsellejr@loyola.edu) or Christopher Kelble (cjkelble@loyola.edu) for further information.

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How could surgery experience be HIP?  The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has identified the High Impact Practices (HIPs) as; learning community, community-based project (service-learning), undergraduate research, co-op, internship, field experience, student teaching, clinical placement, study abroad, and culminating senior experience such as capstone course, senior project or thesis, comprehensive exam, portfolio, or other similar learning opportunities.   One of our bright students, Sarah Trent, creatively combined two of the HIP practices; undergraduate research and study abroad during the summer 2016.  Sarah’s blog tells the story of her journey and summer research experience abroad.  Sarah is biology major (class of 2018) and Spanish minor from Medford, N.J. At Loyola, Sarah is involved in Health Outreach Baltimore and a member of the Honors Program and the women’s swim team.

Bahram Roughani
Associated for the Natural and Applied Sciences
Loyola University Maryland

This summer, I won a scholarship through the German Academic Foreign Exchange Program (DAAD) to research at Heidelberg University Hospital, an institution regarded as one of the leading teaching hospitals and medical schools in all of Germany. I found the scholarship through the Office of National Fellowships here at Loyola. At Heidelberg, I Participated in surgical education research, specifically in minimally invasive surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a type of surgery in which the surgeon makes small incisions, no larger than the size of a penny, and uses long, thin instruments to perform the procedure. A small camera called an endoscope is inserted into an incision to project the image of the operating field onto a monitor. MIS provides great benefits to patients by reducing tissue trauma, wound complications and scarring as opposed to open surgery. However, MIS surgeons encounter limitations such as indirect view of the operating field and restricted degree of motion. It is difficult for new surgeons to become proficient in MIS, as MIS instruments are complex and unfamiliar to new surgeons and thus yield steep learning curves. MIS of the abdomen is specifically called laparoscopy. My MIS research focused on laparoscopic training.

MIS Developments

During my summer in Heidelberg, I assisted in the development of a sensor- and expert-model based laparoscopic training system. The device specifically targets task training in intracorporal suturing and knot tying (ICKT).
Optical tracking devices and sensors, specifically NDI Polaris, Microsoft Kinect v1 (more recently we’ve incorporated the v2) and electromyography, were used to record performance data from experts in the field of laparoscopy. This data was plotted to construct expert motion models with an optimal curve for each task or procedure. The same sensors can record a trainee’s motions and compare them to the expert models, thus providing continuous individualized, real-time feedback to the trainee. Ultimately, the goal of the system is to shorten the learning curve of complex laparoscopic skills.

MIS Research

I also worked on a study that explored the best methodology for teaching and training laparoscopy. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Halsted’s classic surgical training dogma, “see one, do one, teach one,” with Peyton’s Four-Step Approach, which consists of demonstration, deconstruction, comprehension and performance, in teaching ICKT to medical students. [Fun Fact: Halsted was from Baltimore!] After analysis, Peyton’s Four-Step Approach appeared to be the preferable method for learning complex laparoscopic skills like ICKT. The publication of this study will be my first co-authorship!

Thank you Heidelberg, DAAD, and Loyola for allowing me the opportunity to take my first step into medical research and to get a taste of what it takes to be a surgeon.

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By Meghan Reynolds, Engineering major, 2017 UIF

Around the time I entered fourth grade the fictional worlds of princesses, jungles, and schoolhouses started to fade away.  I no longer spent my days pretending to be a mom or a mermaid and I found it more difficult to wander around the world while playing in my backyard.  And, around the same time, I wrote myself off as non-creative.

In school I enjoyed math and science.  I wanted the straight forward answers that equations provided.  Dread would slowly creep through me when we were assigned creative writing prompts during English class or art projects that highlighted my lack of drawing skills.  I pigeon-holed myself based on these feelings and decided that anything that required any degree of creativity was not for me.

So, naturally, anytime someone mentioned innovation or entrepreneurship I would pay little attention.  Me? An entrepreneur?  I had no novel inventions or grand ideas for a startup.  Leave the I&E ecosystem for those whose creative juices were never lacking.  I was not in the league of the Mark Zuckerbergs or Elon Musks – so why would I bother with such an initiative?  Then came UIF.

During the fall of my sophomore year I was informed of an opportunity arising on Loyola’s campus known as the University Innovation Fellows (UIF).  The program was just being launched at Loyola and freshmen, sophomore, and junior year students were asked to apply as members of the university’s first cohort.  Individuals who were interested in making a lasting impact on Loyola’s campus and had some background in innovation, entrepreneurship, or the sciences were asked to consider the opportunity.  As an engineering major with the desire to make positive changes at Loyola I decided to apply (without knowing much else about the program).  And now, a year down the line, I am extremely humbled and grateful to have been chosen to become part of this team.  My experience in UIF has been unforgettable and has completely reshaped my view on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Last spring I, and the rest of Loyola’s University Innovation Fellows, took part in UIF’s six week online training program out of Stanford University’s d.School.  Throughout the training we had to complete weekly assignments that made us familiar with Loyola’s existing I&E ecosystem and also got us accustomed to the design thinking approach to change.  Design thinking is all about failing fast and failing often.  Once a problem is identified you brainstorm as many ideas as you can generate and then choose the best to prototype.  The prototyping is done cheaply and quickly to find the errors and weaknesses in your design as fast as possible.  From here you modify and adapt based on your results and the process continues.  Using this mindset innovation becomes a creative process and environment that is open to everyone.  Already my opinion of innovation and entrepreneurship was changing but the real 180 took place at the UIF Silicon Valley Meetup – the culmination of our training experience.

Our cohort was extremely privileged to be able to travel to Palo Alto this past spring to partake in a global conference of the hundreds of University Innovation Fellows that had been trained in 2017, as well.  At this four day event the UIF staff had us partaking in design thinking activities, creative ice-breakers, and touring some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial companies existing today (such as Google and Microsoft).  However, it was not the grandeur of these experiences and places that impressed me but their diversity.  I found that at all of these companies and within the UIF community itself there was no one characteristic defining the innovators and entrepreneurs.  We were all from diverse backgrounds with different skill sets – from engineers, to accountants, to human resource workers.  Yet, everyone had something to add in the collaborative process, which is truly what defines innovation and entrepreneurship.

From my experience I have found that innovation is not creating the next flying car, entrepreneurship is not starting a multi-billion dollar startup, and creativity is not limited to artists and musicians.  Instead, the I&E ecosystem is best represented by individuals who can identify a problem in their environment and aim to fix it.  In order to change the problem currently in place one must think of a new, out-of-the-box solution.  This environment, therefore, is non-exclusive.  However, like myself, so many individuals write themselves off as not being creative enough to participate.  To fix this problem we must show that we can all be “intrapreneurs” – those that change the world around them and make a huge difference along the way.

With this new mindset is becomes apparent that everyone on Loyola’s campus can take part in the ever changing and growing I&E ecosystem.  And if you feel as if the University Innovation Fellows is a program you’d be interested in, I urge you to apply to Loyola’s next cohort.  All that is needed is a short video (3 minutes max) stating what you would innovate at Loyola if given the chance.  A whole new outlook on creativity may be in store for you, as well!

Are you interested in being a leader of change at Loyola?  Submit a brief video (3 minutes max) answering the question “What would you innovate at Loyola?”  Post your video on YouTube or a similar and easily accessible platform and send the link to sciences@loyola.edu with subject line “UIF application” by 8 am on Monday, October 16, 2017.  Learn more at http://universityinnovationfellows.org.

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Contributed by Courtney Hastings, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Loyola University Maryland

This fall, Loyola will welcome Dr. John Warner to campus as the 2017 Grand Seminar speaker. Dr. Warner is a pioneer in the field of Green Chemistry, and a prolific researcher who has had an enormous impact in a variety of fields. He defined the principles of Green Chemistry in his groundbreaking book Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, and established the first Ph.D. program in Green Chemistry at UMass Boston. As a fellow researcher in Green Chemistry, I couldn’t be more excited that Dr. Warner is our Grand Seminar speaker this year. In fact, I saw Dr. Warner give a seminar once before when I was a graduate student, and that seminar was a big part of why I ended up doing Green Chemistry research myself. In this blog post, I’d like to explain some of the ideas behind Green Chemistry and John Warner’s vital contributions to this field.

Dr. John Warner will present the keynote address at Loyola University’s Fall 2017 Grand Seminar.

Before we talk about Green Chemistry or Dr. Warner, it might be helpful to talk about the “dark ages” of chemical industry, prior to the establishment of the EPA in the 1970’s. During this time, chemists who were developing a new product would investigate different molecules to find one that performed well and was commercially viable, but would typically ignore safety. So, if a company was developing fire-resistant couch cushions, they would look for a substance that didn’t burn, was comfy to sit on, and was cheap enough to sell profitably. But they probably weren’t doing testing on the safety of long-term exposure to their product. In terms of manufacturing, they needed a process that was reliable and cheap. Companies were not particularly concerned if the manufacturing process produced hazardous byproducts, because there were no laws concerning waste disposal. Often a company would release waste into waterways or bury it in steel drums underground. These irresponsible practices led to a series of public health and ecological catastrophes. These include the effects of products that are harmful to human and ecological health (like DDT and lead paint) and areas ruined by chemical waste from manufacturing (like Love Canal and The Valley of the Drums). Public awareness of these issues led to the establishment of the EPA and passage of numerous environmental laws.

Amidst efforts to remediate toxic sites and regulate harmful chemicals, a new generation of scientists wondered if there was a better, safer way to design and manufacture chemicals. What if products were intentionally designed to be both effective and safe to use? And instead of cleaning up pollution from chemical manufacturing, would it be possible to avoid making pollution in the first place? These questions led to the emergence of Green Chemistry as a scientific field in the 1990’s. A key point for the discipline came in 1997, when Dr. John Warner, along with co-author Dr. Paul Anastas, wrote the highly influential book Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice. This book outlines a set of twelve principles for improving chemical products and manufacturing, and is a practical “how-to” manual for preventing pollution in chemical manufacturing. Even now, nearly two decades after its publication, this book is highly relevant and is a valuable guide for practicing chemists.

So what does Green Chemistry look like in the real world? One of the Principles of Green Chemistry is to design new products with human and ecological safety in mind. One recent example of this principle is a firefighting foam developed by the Solberg Company called RE-HEALING foams. For years, these foams were formulated with fluorinated surfactants; these molecules are great for fighting fires, but after the fire is put out they contaminate groundwater, bioaccumulate in wildlife, and cause health problems in people. This is a classic example of optimizing a product for performance and cost without thinking about long-term safety. In Solberg’s RE-HEALING foams, the fluorinated surfactants have been replaced with carbohydrates and non-fluorinated surfactants ingredients that are non-toxic and biodegradable. Importantly, the performance of these products equals or exceeds the fluorinated foams, and Solberg’s foams can be used with standard firefighting equipment.

Here’s another recent example of Green Chemistry that involves the manufacture of a chemical product rather than the product itself. Most chemical waste is generated during the manufacture of chemicals, so eleven out of the twelve principles of green chemistry involve different aspects of chemical manufacturing. In this case, the product is a gasoline additive called alkylate, which makes up ~10% of gasoline and helps car engines run smoothly. It is produced on a gargantuan scale, 30 billion gallons/year, by combining two chemicals in the presence of an acid catalyst. The typical catalysts are hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid – both of these substances are extremely corrosive and end up mixed together with the newly-produced alkylate, requiring an expensive separation step once the reaction is over. In addition, hydrofluoric acid is extremely toxic, making it expensive and dangerous to work with.

Companies have been searching for an alternative catalyst for decades, one that is safer, less corrosive, and easier to separate from the alkylate product – until recently all of these attempts have been ineffective and too expensive. The companies Albemarle and CB&I have recently developed a zeolite catalyst that is safer to use and produces purer alkylate than the traditional process, with no separation step required at the end. This new technology is currently producing ~20 million gallons/year of alkylate at a significant cost savings to the manufacturer.

Many people believe that green products are inherently less effective than non-green counterparts, or that there is always a trade-off between performance and environmental impact. Looking at these two examples (and many many others), it is clear that this is not the case at all. With the firefighting foam, the green product is safer and superior to the product it was designed to replace. In the case of gasoline alkylate, the greener manufacturing process is making the exact same product as before – the only difference is that it is cheaper, safer, and produces less pollution.

If you want to see how chemists are working to reduce pollution through Green Chemistry, I highly recommend this year’s Grand Seminar! Dr. Warner is an exciting and fun speaker, and this topic couldn’t be more important or interesting. The event is free and open to the public, and you can register here. Hope to see you there!

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The University Innovation Fellows (UIFs) program is a program run through d.school at Stanford.  The UIF website states that “We believe students can change the world.”  Their goal is to empower students to become leaders of change in higher education. Fellows are creating a global movement to ensure that all students gain the necessary attitudes, skills and knowledge to compete in the economy of the future.  Loyola University joined this program in 2017 and the second cohort of Loyola UIFs attended the UIF Silicon Valley Meetup during March 15-19.  I enjoyed being part of this meetup as a UIF faculty mentor or champion for the second cohort of Loyola UIFs. This meetup was engaging, and no one was complaining about the minimum of 14 hours per day of activities from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm, some of which are described below by our UIFs.  As faculty, I enjoyed ideas and demos related to engaging learning spaces, flexible classrooms and furniture, and engaging activities that can empower faculty to become the “guide on the side” and design courses and learning activities that are creative and collaborative, while using problem solving approaches that are not limited to a specific discipline and leveraging design thinking to tackle different problems from social to environmental to technical and everything in between.

Three different configurations of Studio 1 at Stanford’s d.school

The picture shows three different configurations of Studio 1 or Stanford’s d.school.  We were able to transition from one configuration to the other in just a couple of minutes.  The d.school is part of mechanical engineering at Stanford, and this is created by turning the old garage into an engaging learning space that serves all disciplines and has great emphasis on interdisciplinary work. At d.school offices and spaces are not assigned to faculty or staff, but are assigned to projects for the duration of each project. Faculty interested in teaching a course through d.school form an interdisciplinary team and participate in a 60 second pitch to attract interested students to sign up for their classes.

So, how might we create enough flexible spaces at Loyola to enhance engaged, collaborative, and interdisciplinary teaching and learning activities in our campus?

~Bahram Roughani – Associate Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences

Below is a recap by the Loyola UIFs based on their Silicon Valley Meetup experience.

Thursday:

After setting our alarms for 3:00 am and making our way to BWI airport, we made it to the plane and began our 6-hour journey to California. Once we landed, we settled into our hotel and bee-lined it to the nearest In n’ Out Burger. Then we ventured out into Palo Alto and explored Apple’s new campus, Apple Park, spending time at the visitor’s center and the outlook area upstairs. Afterwards, we ventured to Stanford and explored the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford’s d.school), where we would be spending most of our time over the next few days.

We began our official UIF events Thursday evening, and had the opportunity to eat dinner and network with all of the fellows. Over the course of the evening, we met fellows from around the world, from countries as far as Australia, India, Switzerland, Peru, Uruguay, and China.

After getting acquainted with our fellow fellows (no pun intended), we could already see how the University Innovation Fellows program truly has a global network and impact.

The UIF cohort in the shuttle to the airport! (from left to right: Grant Versfeld ‘21, Chris Carangelo ‘20, Emily Cebulski ‘21, Alex Santarelli ‘21)

Getting ready to take off on the airplane! (from left to right: Grant Versfeld ‘21, Alex Santarelli ‘21, Chris Carangelo ‘20, Emily Cebulski ‘21)

Visiting Apple Park (left to right: Alex Santarelli ‘21, Grant Versfeld ‘21, Emily Cebulski ‘21)

Friday:

Friday’s sessions were held at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, where we learned how to work together to create a culture of innovation to support others and try to solve “moonshots,” large game changing ideas that will change the world. Presentations on these topics were led by Frederik Pferdt, Google’s Chief Innovation Evangelist; Viola Gauci, Program Lead of Google X; and Dan Stratford, Program Manager of Google Education.

Google is famous for thinking with a “10X” mindset. We learned that innovators at Google work to create a 10 times improvement instead of a 10 percent improvement in their projects. They elaborated by teaching us how they go about creating a product, with initial brainstorming, focus sessions, flare up stages for moonshot ideas, and then fast prototyping that helps inspire design of their final products.

We learned a “Yes, and” and “What if” mindset that encourages positive reactions to new ideas instead of negative responses such as “Yes, but”.

What if we start getting students to think about Moonshots for our own campus?

The UIF Cohort at Google! (left to right: Faculty Advisor Bahram Roughani, Emily Cebulski ‘21, Alex Santarelli ‘21, Chris Carangelo ‘20, Grant Versfeld ‘21)

Our names on the board during the introductory presentation in the Noogler room at Google!

Visiting Pier 39 in San Francisco with a new friend (left to right: Alex Santarelli ‘21, Emily Cebulski ‘21, Rebekah Nagy – St. Louis University ‘19, Grant Versfeld ‘21)

Saturday:

On Saturday, our sessions moved to the Stanford d.school (Design School). Between sessions on design thinking and working with empathy in mind, we attended special workshops that encouraged positive interactions with others and how we can learn to love ourselves.

These workshops included learning “stokes” – activities using improvisation that allowed us to get to know each other better as people and collaborators. We also participated in a dance workshop that taught us not only to step outside of our comfort zones, but also to prioritize eye contact and meaningful connections with others as individuals. Afterwards, we participated in an “Inspiration Walk” that allowed us to reflect individually on aspects of our lives and draw inspiration from the world around us.

We finished the day with an “Unconference,” a mini conference in which many small, group conversations are held simultaneously instead of one large lecture. The Unconference allowed us to create our own topics to share with other fellows, such as “Giving meaning to ‘How are you?’”, “Aerospace Engineering”, “How do apps affect your campus?”, and “Social Justice and Technology, Social Media, and Education.”

How might we use activities like Stokes, the Unconference, and the Inspiration Walk to better connect with our community here at Loyola?

UIF Lead Leticia Cavagnaro leading a session at the d.school

Sunday:

Sunday was also at the Stanford campus, but instead of introductions we went in depth into design thinking. Some specific activities included walking through the process of creating a design thinking program – including everything from proposing it to figuring out effective ways to prototype it.

In the first half of the day we were assigned to teams within the d.school’s studios. With those teams we applied the lessons we had learned in the previous days to a problem the group faced in everyday life. We empathized, defined the problem, ideated, prototyped, and tested our idea. In the afternoon we repeated that process with our cohort at Loyola around the projects and problems we identified while going through the online course.

After a long day of work, some of the student advisors (affectionately known as “Fabs”) hosted inspirational “Ignite Talks” about their experiences creating impact on campus. We then had an impromptu dance party while we ate dinner, and everyone celebrated a successful meetup for the UIF family.

How might we use the design thinking skills that we have learned to influence others and effect change on campus?

2018 UIF Silicon Valley Meetup at d.school

Our cohort and a group of new friends/fabs at the d.school!

Monday:

After a busy weekend of 12-hour workshops, we spent our last morning taking reflective walks that allowed us to process everything that we learned throughout the program. We were given a variety of options to explore and learn more about the bay area, and when deciding which trip to go on, our cohort split. Alex and Chris took an in-depth tour of Stanford, while Emily and Grant traveled to the Baylands Nature Preserve. After the trips ended, each pair went off on their own explorations before meeting back at the airport Monday night.

In the Stanford trip, we stopped at their dedicated meditation center where electronics, and studying are not allowed. This is an area for students to meditate and reflect. With very soft lighting and beautiful artwork on the walls this is a great place to go on campus to de-stress and take a break from the busy life of a college student. After leaving Stanford, Chris and Alex wandered around Palo Alto and worked in a co-working space called HanaHaus that also had a Blue Bottle coffee shop.

In the Baylands trip, Grant and Emily walked around the trails with a small group of fellows and discussed our gratitude for the weekend that we just experienced. Afterwards, we ventured to San Francisco with the Danish UIF Cohort and biked along the Golden Gate Bridge before heading back to the airport and returning home.

How might we inspire students on our campus to embody a more innovative and empathetic mindset?

Stanford Meditation Center

Palo Alto co-working space with coffee shop

Grant Versfeld ‘21 and Emily Cebulski ‘21 with other fellows and mentors in the Baylands Nature Reserve

Grant and Emily biking across the Golden Gate Bridge with Fellows from the University of Twente in the Netherlands

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Loyola University Maryland Physics Professor Joe Ganem’s op-ed “America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Science” published in Scientific American explores the paradox of corporate and political America’s attack on science and simultaneous push for STEM education.  Dr. Ganem writes, “Given their [political and corporate leaders] financial interests, they do not see how they can live with many inconvenient scientific truths, but they also know that they can’t live without science because otherwise, economic progress would grind to a halt. Their solution to their self-made conundrum is to promote views of science that aren’t really science and views of education that aren’t really education.”

Dr. Ganem goes on to note several examples of attacks on science to promote corporate and political interests followed by examples of a push for STEM education while marginalizing the humanities and the difference between scientific skills and scientific thinking.  He concludes, “The reality is that the liberal arts/STEM divide is a false choice. Science is a liberal art. Sciences and the humanities are bound together by a common goal—the search for truth—and they need each other.”

Read Dr. Ganem’s op-ed in its entirety at https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/americas-love-hate-relationship-with-science/

Professor Ganem is also the author of The Robot Factory: Pseudoscience in Education and Its Threat to American Democracy.

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Madeline Fischer, class of 2020, wrote the following essay for WR 301: Writing about Science.  In late 2017, Maddy attended a “toxic tour” of Baltimore, which was arranged by Dr. Elizabeth Dahl, Associate Professor of Chemistry. The tour took students through some of South Baltimore’s distressed neighborhoods, revealing that some of our city’s poor and low-income residents have no choice but to live side-by-side with industrial pollution. Maddy was profoundly moved by this experience, and she began following news stories about Baltimore’s air quality and informing everyone she knew about the environmental injustices in our city. Maddy’s essay, “The Real Wheelabrator,” which she wrote for her spring 2019 seminar, WR 301: Writing about Science, reveals how deeply she has internalized Loyola’s vision and core values. Maddy exercises leadership through her practice of eloquentia perfecta, applying her skills and talents to advocate on behalf of others.

Terre Ryan
Associate Professor, Writing Department

The Real Wheelabrator

By Madeline Fischer, ’20
Marketing major, Environmental and Sustainability Studies minor

In December 2017, I found myself breathing in the crisp air that up until that point, I had no reason to second guess. I was attending the “Toxic Tour,” which is as daunting as the name suggests. Coordinated by Dr. Dahl, this tour takes students around Baltimore to showcase different points in the city and highlight areas that contribute to why Baltimore has the most polluted air in Maryland. After attending this tour, my eyes have been opened to issues I never considered before.

Wheelabrator, an unassuming smokestack, was one of the focuses of the tour. What appears to be a standard industrial eyesore to the commuters driving on I-95 is actually the largest polluter in the whole city. Wheelabrator is an incinerator that burns waste collected from Baltimore City and surrounding areas. It alone contributes 36% of all pounds of industrial air pollution in Baltimore. For comparison, the second runner up is the Grace Chemical Plant, which is responsible for only a third as much pollution.

Despite the substantial amount of pollution caused by this incinerator, it is recognized as a Tier 1 energy source by Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standards. This categorization gives the incinerator extra funding to continue operating as a “waste-to-energy” facility, meaning that the trash burned at the Wheelabrator can, in turn, be used to power the city. Although idealistic in theory, that is not the reality of Wheelabrator. A nuclear reaction would be necessary to truly turn waste into useable energy, so the use of this term is greatly misleading. Even more misleading is the impression that this is the best option when in reality, recycling and composting the same materials would save three to five times more energy than the trash incinerator claims to create by burning them. Yet, the policymakers who set these standards allowed incinerators to be included as a top tier energy source, therefore preventing more funding from being allocated towards actual sustainable options, such as wind or solar energy.
Trash incinerators are actually the most polluting way to manage waste at all. Thirty percent of the waste burned at the Wheelabrator becomes ash and will be deposited in the Quarantine Road Landfill anyway, and the other seventy percent is released into the air as air pollution.

According to Wheelabrator Technologies, Wheelabrator Baltimore collected and burned 693,146 tons of trash this past year. That’s 485,202 tons worth of air pollution being deposited in Baltimore city! Typical air pollutants that are products of incinerators include carbon monoxide, hydrochloric acid, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxide, and particulate matter, which is any mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets.

These harmful chemicals floating around in the air affect the citizens of Baltimore greatly. The average life expectancy for residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Wheelabrator is less than 70, which is almost a full decade lower than the state average. Of course, there are so many other factors that can be blamed for the discrepancy in life expectancies, but many local groups argue strongly that this is at least partially a direct result of the pollutants that Wheelabrator releases. Another, more direct, finding is that residents who live in Westport are two times as likely to die of lung cancer as residents living in more northern areas of Baltimore.

Further, the Baltimore City Department of Health reports that asthma is a bigger problem for Baltimoreans than it is for others, afflicting “12.4% of Baltimore City adults…compared to 8.4% statewide and 8.6% nationally.” But Baltimore City’s children suffer most, with asthma rates “more than twice the national average—20% vs. 9.4% respectively.”

Our tour guide, Dante Swinton, a representative from Energy Justice Network, did more than just tell us these facts and numbers about polluters in Baltimore. We were able to see firsthand how pollution affects the environment and in turn, the community.
Swinton introduced the term “environmental racism” to us, meaning “the unequal protection against toxic and hazardous waste exposure and the systematic exclusion of people of color from environmental decisions affecting their communities.” Learning that term changed my perception of Baltimore; I couldn’t go anywhere in the city without now thinking of it. Whether it was the lack of polluting factories in a wealthier neighborhood or the obscene number of them in the more impoverished areas, I noticed it.
Understanding environmental racism is key to seeing how unethical it is to keep the Wheelabrator active in Baltimore, since it affects directly the lives of the residents who don’t have a means of advocating for their own environmental justice. That’s where Energy Justice Network comes in.

The Energy Justice Network is a group that campaigns for environmental justice all over the United States. They are the ones who put on the Toxic Tour, and they are the reason my eyes have been opened to the environmental racism that happens so frequently in Baltimore and elsewhere. And, as of March 7, 2019, they are responsible for the signing of the Baltimore Clean Air Act.

This act will raise the emissions standards for incinerators in Baltimore that have a capacity of 25 tons or more, require monitoring of 20 major pollutants that are released from incineration, and require qualifying facilities to install pollution controls to minimize their emissions. Due to these strict guidelines, the Wheelabrator will not be able to comply and will be forced to shut down in the near future.

I have been studying environmental sustainability at Loyola for three years now, and still, Wheelabrator and the environmental racism occurring in this city have been the most immediately concerning matters to me. I followed the progress of Energy Justice Network for nearly two years as they strived to get the Baltimore Clean Air Act passed, and I participated alongside, though in a much smaller role, through informing as many people as I could about these issues. Now that the act has finally passed, I am hopeful that Baltimore’s air quality can change for the better, and that these improvements will act as a precedent to get other incinerators shut down. And until the day when there are no incinerators left, I am happy to spread the truth behind the real Wheelabrator.

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The first weekend of November, two of Loyola University Maryland’s University Innovation Fellows (UIFs), Emily Cebulski (2018 cohort) and Jenna Bower (2019 cohort), attended a regional meetup at James Madison University in Virginia.  They returned to campus energized with fresh ideas for continuing to build a culture of innovation at Loyola.  Read more about Emily and Jenna’s experience in their full report below.

Inside the Mid-Atlantic Regional UIF Meetup Hosted by JMU and VT

By: Emily Cebulski and Jenna Bower

Friday 11/1

After checking into our AirBnB and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed to the X Lab located in James Madison’s Lakeview Hall. We were greeted by the JMU fellows and received some pretty epic swag for the weekend ahead. Once settled in, we got to work in the X Lab, creating costumes and prototyping with materials in the lab. The X Lab is a collaborative space for all JMU students to utilize. It is full of various types of prototyping materials including pipe cleaners, markers, post-it’s as well as more technical equipment like drills, saws, and sanders. The space overall resembles a garage with a large door that can be opened to accommodate large projects. Our prototyping was inspired by a local folk artist which created a relaxing and accepting vibe that encouraged creative thinking and taking risks. We wrapped up the night by eating ice cream with the fellows and getting to know everyone a little bit better.

X Lab collaborative space at JMU

Saturday 11/2

Morning
We arrived at Lakeview Hall once again to be welcomed by the University President and get the day formally started. More fellows from Virginia Tech and the University of South Carolina arrived for the rest of the meetup. A campus club called the Outriggers came by to lead some fun team building activities that increased the comfort level across the group and energized us for the busy day ahead. This was followed by a design thinking workshop led by some of the VT fellows. We worked with other fellows to identify and collaborate to solve various issues that all University students face, including healthy food access, time management, identifying intersectionality and relevance between various courses. After this workshop we participated in an inspiration walk that allowed us to pay attention to the importance of perspective when tackling issues that we face.

Afternoon
We headed downtown for lunch at Beyond, an Asian fusion restaurant. Continuing our tour of Harrisonburg, we ventured to three different companies to get a glimpse of how they use technology and innovation to be leading change agents in the community. First, we went to Generate Impact where we heard from the founder and Director of Innovation, Chiedo John. Chiedo spoke about his journey of launching a startup while still in his undergraduate studies, and the various peaks and valleys that come with the design and iterative process in the generation of products being pushed to the consumer market. Next, we visited Jenzabar, a company of about 450 employees that specializes in launching technological products for higher education institutions to optimize housing, scheduling, and grade reporting. Each floor of Jenzabar’s workspace was lined with whiteboards and collaborative meeting rooms for project teams to work together on their educational products. Jenzabar’s workspace aligned with its goals to empower its employees to effect change at all levels, whether that is through interns or senior managers. We wrapped up our tour at the courthouse where we met with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Chaz Haywood. His work is centered around the preservation of history in Harrisonburg through the restoration and digitization of many records so that they are easily accessible to the public. It was inspiring to see the innovative work of an individual that isn’t completely submerged in engineering or coding; innovation is integral to every discipline’s success. He also gave us some cute gavel pencils to take as a souvenir.

Evening
After eating dinner back at the X Lab, we listened to a talk about the importance of incorporating design thinking and innovation as a means to progressing within a career from guest speaker, Andras Szakal, an executive at IBM. We wrapped up our night with an activity called “If tomorrow” that focused on building psychological security between groups by asking questions of various levels of depth to encourage others to open up and be vulnerable amongst the group. This exercise emphasized the importance of trust and openness in the bonding of teams of people that may be collaborating on a common goal. Our night ended in “The Tank” where we bonded with other fellows by playing video games and Heads Up. In this space, all of the tabletops were whiteboards, and the TVs on the walls folded down to be tablet surfaces where students could digitize their ideas. This creative space could be used for all types of groups, whether pop-up classes, club meetings, or general hangouts.

The Tank, another creative space for students at JMU

Sunday 11/3

Morning
The day began with a nine-person alumni panel that spoke to their experiences in pursuing their passions despite obstacles and setbacks, as well as giving advice to students who may not be sure exactly what they’re interested in yet. These alumni were all connected with the UIF program in some way, whether fellows, program coordinators, or faculty champions.

Afternoon
Following lunch, we listened to a talk from Faculty Champion Leigh Lally of Virginia Tech about being future shapers in using the design thinking strategies and entrepreneurial mindsets we all have developed. This talk culminated in an activity that encouraged us to consider seemingly impossible ideas we’d like to see happen, and then looking at their primary and secondary consequences, both positive and negative. It was interesting to see that even the most well-intended ideas had some negative consequences. The meetup closed out with a tour of JMU’s campus where we were able to get a glimpse of other innovative spaces on campus outside of the X Lab. We walked through the Student Success Center as well as a couple of the Industrial Design buildings to view the spaces within them that encourage creativity and collaboration among students, these spaces including galleries and student run spaces that offer the opportunity to show off work. Overall, it was incredible to see the hands-on work that students are able to engage in through their majors at JMU. Overall, our main takeaway from the trip included the importance of equipping students who may not be directly involved with UIF or innovation on campus with innovative and collaborative spaces that encourage creativity and design thinking amongst their projects and passions. It was interesting to see how a much larger institution such as JMU approaches the implementation of an innovative environment, and how despite the size difference of our universities the places in need of innovation amongst higher education are the same. This fosters an inherent connection amongst all changemakers, that spans beyond the walls of university settings, and into the passion-filled endeavors that fuel our desire to share what we have learned through the UIF program with others.

We would like to thank Loyola for sponsoring our participation in this incredible program and the fellows at James Madison University and Virginia Tech for planning, hosting, and welcoming us into their collaborative space. We look forward to working with them in the future to use our shared knowledge to make our universities the best that they can be.

Taking What We’ve Learned Back to Loyola

As we toured many of the spaces on JMU’s campus, it occurred to us that the success of an innovative environment relies on the presence of collaborative spaces with materials for students to truly engage their creative minds. Many of JMU’s study spaces and meeting rooms were filled with furniture that could easily be moved around the space to change its layout or general purpose. For example, much of the conference was contained in one room, which was organized in many different configurations to accommodate a panel of speakers, dinner, an epic dance party, and a traditional lecture hall. This, when combined with surfaces that students can write on, and add sticky notes to, is essential for promoting collaborative thinking and innovation ideation within the space.

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During Loyola University Maryland’s 2020 Commencement, the Natural and Applied Sciences academic division awarded for the first time the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal to an outstanding graduating senior who has shown remarkable commitment to diversity and community service during their time at Loyola.  We are proud to share with you the reflections submitted by the finalists, nominated by their faculty and departments, in this series of posts. 

Reflection from Loyola biology major Sarah Kujala, ’20 on fostering community and advocating for others

By Sarah Kujala, ’20, Biology major, 2020 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medalist

I stepped onto Loyola’s campus as a quiet, reserved student. I never imagined that I would start a club or accomplish what I have in these past four years. During my time at Loyola, I learned a great deal about myself and how I fit into the bigger picture of the Loyola community, as well as the surrounding Baltimore area. As a first year, I tried to participate in many clubs and service initiatives, but there were few that resonated with me. I was very interested in helping those with special needs because my brother is on the autism spectrum. I spent the majority of my first year fully immersed in my academics adjusting to the transition of college. During my second semester I attended an event called “One Question” hosted by a class on campus exploring opportunities of the disadvantaged. They displayed a video with the one question “What would you change about yourself?” and had a panel of special needs adults from the Arc Baltimore. Almost all of the adults at the Arc answered the question with, “to be a better person.” It was the most genuine answer someone could give; they were living out Magis without even trying. The participants on the panel then told us about their lives and what they loved to do, and in that moment, I saw a need. The Arc allowed them to do things they would most likely never have the chance to do. That night I learned so much about how people feel about what they can do in the special needs community.

I thought about my brother and the experiences he would not have because of his disability. My brother previously attended Kennedy Krieger High School (KKHS), a special needs high school. I wondered why Loyola did not have any connections with them, considering Ridley Athletic Complex shares a parking lot with the school. Loyola’s mission emphasizes service and community, which fostered a sense of community in me. I wanted to do more, I wanted to make these students a part of our community too.

This inspired me to grow a connection with KKHS, and after many months of gathering contact information and emails to both KKHS and Loyola, I was finally able to meet with administrators from KKHS. I met with Ms. Miller the KKHS educational director and a group of teachers multiple times to discuss plans for what a potential Loyola club would look like. My vision for this club was aimed at building these connections between the students at both schools. Many of these students do not have the opportunity to attend college or pursue a collegiate degree. This is due to financial difficulty, family struggles, and a lack of support in the college academic setting. Some KKHS students also receive a certificate of completion instead of a high school diploma, disqualifying them from the normal college application process. Ms. Miller and I decided to name the club Next Step because it would allow them to have college like experiences, like the next step in their lives. We as Loyola students have the privilege of receiving a higher education and experiencing all the fun things that college has to offer such as sporting events and the ability to meet and make friends. I knew I had the power to provide KKHS students with fun experiences and social opportunities through this partnership with Loyola. Through hard work in establishing this partnership, I learned how to communicate with community partners, organize meetings, and learned the value of persistence. This exact persistence has aided me in my studies, research, and job searches. It also takes persistence to continuously ingrain volunteerism in my life. Moreover, because I wanted to be involved with the Baltimore community, I learned to balance service and extracurriculars with a heavy academic load.

I ran the majority of this club alone because I struggled with recruiting help. However, I started to organize inclusive events for the KKHS students by contacting campus departments to create affordable events. After some more emails I connected to a couple Loyola departments such as athletics and student activities on campus. They were excited to help me bring my event plans to life. Families from KKHS were invited to sporting events to sit with Loyola students. As I looked around the bleachers during a basketball game, every KKHS student in attendance spent the whole game smiling and cheering on the Greyhounds. One of them even got selected for “fan of the game.” We also connected Loyola ROTC with their Young Marines program and had them present the Colors at soccer and basketball games. Those students got to participate and experience a school that they could see from their classroom window. After being surrounded by the Loyola community, one student asked his parents if it was possible for him to attend school here. The inspiration and passion for the Loyola community ignited his application process, and he now sits in the Hound Town bleachers—as a student. I could not have imagined the type of impact this club would have, and even though this is only one student, I know that fostering a sense of community provided him with the knowledge that he could do something as big as attending Loyola. I started this club because I wanted to give to the community that was so close. KKHS is full of students who show passion in everything they do, and they deserve to share that with those around them. This year we were just starting to set up other events. For example, KKHS students would be able to take a tour of the athletic complex and meet the Loyola athletes. We also wanted to connect their science classes to take a field trip to see a real Loyola laboratory. By providing these events and experiences, I wanted these students to really understand that they could be a part of the diverse Loyola community.

I found myself trying to foster community in other service I took part in during my time at Loyola. Outside of this club I participated in Alpha Sigma Nu the Jesuit Honors Society, Tri-Beta, the biology honors society which is very dedicated to service, and I worked as a volunteer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. As a student, I found myself immersed in the surrounding Baltimore community in so many different ways. I began to understand how many people the “community” included, whether it was the students on campus, those living right next door, or those in the hospital fifteen minutes down the street from our beautiful campus. I was living the Magis and Loyola’s mission and every day I volunteered or created an event. The persistence, communication skills, time management, and all the small things in-between are what allowed me to grow as a person intellectually and physically during my time at Loyola. Loyola’s mission became a part of who I am in every aspect. Every moment from these experiences will be with me as a persist on into my career in the medical field. I know I can help those who are disadvantaged and not just those who are disabled, because I have these values ingrained.

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During Loyola University Maryland’s 2020 Commencement, the Natural and Applied Sciences academic division awarded for the first time the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal to an outstanding graduating senior who has shown remarkable commitment to diversity and community service during their time at Loyola.  We are proud to share with you the reflections submitted by the finalists, nominated by their faculty and departments, in this series of posts.

Jennifer Valencia, ’20

Reflection from Loyola chemistry major Jennifer Valencia, ’20 on “cura apostolica,” care for the community.

While I have learned about cura personalis, or “care for the whole person,”over the past four years, I was introduced later to cura apostolica, or “care for the community,”in a conversation with one of my friends. These Jesuit values go hand-in-hand and are both necessary for the growth as an individual and as a community. At Loyola, I credit much of my personal and intellectual growth to the experiences that I have shared with others, some of which include my involvement in the Center of Community Service and Justice (CCSJ) and the Evergreen Orientation Staff.

To learn about the city as a first-year student, I attended a series of student-led seminars that discussed the history of racism that the black community of Baltimore suffer from. These seminars introduced me to the discrimination, both subtle and overt, that our own neighbors experience. Having discussions with my peers inspired me to take part in service programs through CCSJ. As food deserts are prominent in Baltimore, I volunteered in programs, such as farmer’s markets and soup kitchens, that extended fresh produce into the reach of impacted communities. These early experiences laid the foundation for my learning and engagement in social justice and diversity work at Loyola.

This past year, I was chosen as a student coordinator at CCSJ. I prepare and run the Last Sunday Meal Program at St. Vincent de Paul’s Beans & Bread, a soup kitchen where participants serve meals restaurant-style to those experiencing homelessness or hunger in the community. A lesson that I have learned through my supervisor is that the meal is one part of the program; relationships and community are most important. Providing a meal at Beans & Bread is simply a way in which our community can connect and get to know one other. Through CCSJ, my idea of community service shifted to community engagement. The days at Beans & Bread are opportunities where my participants and I can share our life experiences and listen to the unique experiences of others over a meal.

As part of my training for CCSJ, I participated in weekly Racial Justice Formation Training sessions to define and differentiate the types of racism, to share and listen to experiences in both combined and affinity groups, and to brainstorm various actions we can take to address racial justice issues. Each person came with their own life experiences, beliefs, and questions. These weekly discussions for the past year have enriched my understanding of racial justice inequities and have equipped me with the tools needed to take action in my community.

In addition to my involvement with CCSJ, I also served as a member of the Evergreen Orientation Staff for two years at Loyola. While in this role, I organized individual meetings with my fifteen first-year students to get a sense of their transition to college and to introduce resources to enhance their experience. In addition to Enrichment Hours, I coordinated off-campus activities, such as visiting the Baltimore Museum of Art and the famous Hampden Christmas lights. As an Evergreen, it was important for me to not only build a sense of community within the class of fifteen students, but also to spark a sense of appreciation for their new home in Baltimore.

These meaningful experiences were fueled by the Jesuit education I received at Loyola that has emphasized the importance of not only the care for oneself, but also the care of the community. The past four years have been filled with lessons that I will carry with me and share with others as I move forward in the world. And, I look forward to the days when it is safe, and we can all celebrate, as a community, once again.

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