University Helps Fund a Global Education

PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

She studies traditional Indian dance and Spanish, worked toward proficiency in Arabic and spent time studying British law and politics at Oxford. For Katie Silina (left), being a student at the university has meant a world of opportunities.

A political science major who will graduate next spring, Silina did her best to take advantage of all Maryland has to offer—while maintaining a 3.98 grade point average and waitressing at least 30 hours per week to meet her financial need. Her hard work has been rewarded with numerous scholarships and awards, several made possible through donor gifts. These include the Behavioral and Social Sciences Future Alumni Awards and Maryland General Honors Scholarships in 2005 and 2006 as well as the Mary Elizabeth Roby Scholarship in 2005.

“Really, I’m not exceptional,” says the Eastern European native. “I just applied. The money is out there.” Recently, she received a General Honors Scholarship that helped fund her trip to England.

Silina wants to study international law and/or policy, eventually winding up as a professor in the field. This semester, she is enjoying a graduate seminar on post-Soviet eastern European politics by government and politics professor Vladimir Tismaneanu.

One of the reasons she found Maryland attractive is its diversity, in coursework and in people. She participated in a graduate seminar on Islamic political philosophy. And as a self-declared “in between,” Silina appreciates the large community of people like her who are of more than one culture.

Both of her parents have doctorates, so Silina had higher education in her sight from the beginning. She initially expected to study piano at a music conservatory. Why did she choose college? “Because it was not based on not breaking my pinky,” she says with a laugh. She did spend some time working as an accompanist at the university’s School of Music.

The American Dream, she says, of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps can be difficult to attain because “not everyone is starting from the same place.” However, she appreciates the financial assistance she’s received, including three College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Future Alumni awards, supported by friends and alumni of the college.

“When I graduate, I’m going to give to the university, for other students.” -MAB

Development Teamwork Leads to a Quantum Hire

by Nancy Grund

University officials, college faculty and donors teamed up to attract a quantum star. A researcher in the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences’ Joint Quantum Institute, Christopher Monroe is a world leader in single atom physics and quantum information science.

One of the world’s leading experts in the field of single atom physics and quantum information science, Christopher Monroe joined the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences this fall, thanks to a recruitment effort that pooled development resources across the university to attract the rising star.

Following Monroe’s own highly collaborative style, the university’s success in recruiting him represents a joint effort between the university, the college, an individual donor and the University of Maryland, College Park Foundation. Monroe will hold the Gus T. Zorn and Bice Sechi-Zorn Professorship in experimental physics. The Zorns were both professors in the department of physics and astronomy. Additional funds were provided by University of Maryland Regent Barry Gossett and the foundation to assist Monroe in his transition to Maryland.

Monroe will be part of one of Maryland’s newest collaborative initiatives: the Joint Quantum Institute, a research institute that pairs the quantum physics expertise of the college with that of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (nist) and the National Security Agency.

“Attracting internationally recognized experts away from well-established labs is a challenging task,” acknowledges Chris Lobb, professor of physics and co-director of the institute. “While the presence of other top scientists at College Park is an inducement, much more is required. We were able to attract Chris through a coordinated effort of various units at the university, and that effort has really paid off.”

Professor William Phillips, a nist scientist and Nobel Prize winner, agrees. “Our ability to attract a faculty member of the stature of Chris Monroe demonstrates how the Joint Quantum Institute has become the place to conduct research in the rapidly expanding area of quantum coherent phenomena. This appointment adds a lot of luster to an already brilliant collection of research teams at the institute.”

Monroe’s long-term goal matches one of the thrusts of the institute: the development of a large-scale quantum computer network, where complex entangled states of multiple atoms and photons store and process information in ways that could eclipse the performance of any conventional computer. A quantum computer could make huge differences in many areas of our lives, such as revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry by allowing researchers to simulate pharmaceutical compounds, whose molecules are quantum systems, which could dramatically reduce drug development times, according to Lobb.

While a conventional computer processes information using bits that can be either zero or one, a quantum computer uses quantum bits or “qubits” that can store both zero and one at the same time. In 1995, while working at nist laboratories in Boulder, Colo., Monroe and colleague David Wineland demonstrated the first two-qubit quantum logic gate using trapped beryllium ions. Related work was most recently honored with the 2006 Scientific American “50” Award, which recognizes outstanding technology leadership in research, business and policymaking.

“About that same time, mathematicians showed that a fully developed quantum computer would be able to efficiently tackle a mathematical problem called factoring, which could be used to break codes,” explains Monroe, who received his bachelor’s in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his doctorate in physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, under the tutelage of Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman. For the last seven years, Monroe served as a professor of physics at the University of Michigan where he led the university’s trapped ion quantum computing group and directed a National Science Foundation Physics Frontier Center.

Months before he arrived at Maryland, Monroe engaged in discussions with college faculty and working partnerships ensued. “I like having the freedom to work with lots of collaborators. It advances the whole group as a community,” he says.

A fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics, Monroe views his work in relatively simple terms, much like that of an auto mechanic or machinist who works on intricate systems. “What we really do on a daily basis is turn wrenches, build custom electronics and turn knobs on lasers to manipulate individual atoms,” he notes.

He is quick to point out the fruits of his research may be many years down the road. “The fields of quantum information and quantum computing are very speculative,” admits Monroe, who also will teach undergraduate and graduate courses. “Much of the thrill in doing risky research like this is that it’s like playing the lottery.”

The university is betting that Monroe’s teaching and research contributions will boost the college’s burgeoning reputation in the field of quantum physics and attract greater numbers of highly qualified students to participate in 21st century physics. TERP

Helping Scholars with Tax-Free IRAs

A provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows donors who are 70 1/2 years and older to make tax-free charitable gifts of up to $100,000 from their IRAs. The provision expires on December 31, 2007, and charitable contributions from an IRA apply to the minimum distribution requirements.

Charles Irish Sr. ’52, member of the A. James Clark School of Engineering Board of Visitors and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees, established a scholarship in civil engineering a few years ago. After learning about the IRA provision, he saw the opportunity to contribute additional funds to the scholarship by making a tax-free withdrawal from an IRA.

The Clark School alumnus went to Maryland on the GI Bill following World War II. Knowing the value of a college education unencumbered by tuition bills, Irish says, “this is an investment in future civil engineering students.”

Irish, who is senior vice president and chief operating officer of Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, is very proud of the caliber of students the university produces. Also, impressed with former provost William Destler, and new provost Nariman Farvardin, both former deans of the Clark School, Irish says, “it gives me a certain amount of satisfaction to know that I am contributing to a very good school.”

Like Irish, donors can take advantage of the IRA charitable distribution provision, under which qualified gifts are not taxable withdrawals. But don’t delay since the provision is available only through the end of this year. To learn more about taking advantage of this opportunity to give IRA funds, contact your financial advisor or John McKee, director of gift planning at 866.646.4umd or giftplanning@umd.edu, or visit www.giftplanning.umd.edu. -DCJ

Innovator Emilio Fernandez ’69

At an early age, electrical engineering alumnus Emilio A. Fernandez ’69 was already tinkering with electronics when he made a simple radio receiver. When he was 11 years old, Popular Electronics magazine published his invention and called it “the world’s simplest receiver.” Two decades later, Fernandez and Maryland classmate Angel Bezos ’69 jointly founded Pulse Electronics Inc., an engineering-based company. Since 1996, Fernandez has served on the A. James Clark School of Engineering Board of Visitors, and he recently joined the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees.

BORN: Havana, Cuba RECENTLY READ: The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley FAVORITE FILM: “A Beautiful Mind” HOBBIES: Skiing and flying private planes. PROFESSIONAL CREDO: An idea without a plan is nothing but a dream. PERSONAL CREDO: Less planning and more spontaneity. MOST INNOVATIVE PROJECT: I co-developed low-cost data gathering devices used in the transportation industry to improve safety and reduce fuel consumption. MEANINGFUL MARYLAND MOMENT: I had the opportunity to address the 1994 graduating class of the Clark School at the school's centennial, which was also the 25th anniversary of my graduation. On the same day, Bezos and I were inducted into the school's Innovation Hall of Fame. -DCJ

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