The Next Big Thing
Sure we’ve spent this year celebrating our 150th Anniversary, but that doesn’t mean we’re resting on our laurels. We asked students, faculty and other Maryland supporters to predict what they thought would be the “next big thing” to spring forth from the university. Answers ranged from the lighthearted (the College of Chemical and Life Sciences discovering the formula for love) to the dead serious (eradicating infectious diseases through rapid and inexpensive testing).
Here, for your prognosticating pleasure, are a few predictions that may or may not come true in time for our bicentennial festivities:
- A team of soccer-playing robots crafted by students at the A. James Clark School of Engineering will win the World Cup.
- A system of tunnels, moving sidewalks and “teleportation” will help students and staff navigate an
ever-growing campus.
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- The Robert H. Smith School of Business will develop holographic 3-D imaging to enhance mentoring,
networking and academic programs.
- Maryland alumni will serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and in the White House.
- We’ll have hovercrafts for all!
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By 2056, you may see a lot of older-than-average Terps enjoying all that new technology. Several people predicted the human life span would increase to 150. We can attest that’s definitely a great age to be. —KM
Do you have your own university predictions? Share them on the Terp Blog at terp3101.squarespace.com/predictions.
Maryland Takes the Cake Literally
President Dan Mote (right) and his wife, Patsy, are joined by Pastry Chef Jeff Russo for the cuting of
the 150th Anniversary cake.
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What’s the recipe for the “world’s largest” strawberry shortcake—big enough to serve 50,000-plus slices—and celebrating our 150th birthday on Maryland Day?
Take 1,000 pounds of flour, mix in 1,249 pounds of sugar, 21 pounds of salt, 62.44 pounds of baking powder, 667 pounds of eggs, 999 pounds of milk, 499.5 pounds of cake shortening and 3.5 quarts of vanilla extract. Mix well and bake.
For the frosting, take 1,530 pounds of confectionary sugar, 1 quart of vanillin, 387.6 pounds of icing shortening and 40.75 gallons of warm water and mix well.
Between the three layers, spread 1,440 pounds of strawberry filling.
To keep moist, pour 43 gallons of strawberry simple syrup directly on the cake (actually, 170 cakes that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to create the 16 ft. by 24 ft. by eight inch high masterpiece).
For the crowning touch, take 90 pounds of white chocolate, 40 pounds of piping gel and 70 pounds of red, yellow, orange and black food coloring paste and arrange until it looks like the University of Maryland logo.
Begin baking (then freezing) those cakes three months in advance. Gather a team on Hornbake Plaza in the wee hours of April 29th to assemble each carefully marked piece.
Watch the 5,040-pound cake containing an estimated 6,500,000 calories, disappear—every last crumb— by 4:18 p.m. on Maryland Day.
For the Dining Services team that produces more than 50,000 cupcakes, 12,000 cakes, 395,000 scoops of ice cream, 700,000 dinner rolls, 45,000 éclairs, and a million cookies each year, you might say it was a “piece of cake.” —DB
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