News & Events
In the News
A team of students in UMD’s Global Terrorism Studies minor program recently won the national Invent2Prevent competition, an experiential learning program encouraging high school and college students to design and implement creative solutions to prevent targeted violence, hate, or terrorism in their communities. The UMD team won a first-place $10,000 prize.
Dr. John Beieler has been named the new Executive Director of the University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS), one of 15 designated Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) in the U.S., and the only UARC dedicated to intelligence and national security.
Soon-to-be 10-year-old Stella Stakolosa received a birthday gift unlike any other on Tuesday, when students at College Park Academy presented her with a lacrosse stick they’d designed just for her: hot pink, bendable and wheelchair-mounted.
The University of Maryland received a new contract with a $500 million ceiling from the Department of Defense to support the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) and its mission of tackling complex national security problems using a multidisciplinary approach. It is the largest research contract in UMD’s history.
Shop Made in Maryland opens Friday in a similar location, just past the south entrance to the University of Maryland. Located on the first floor of College Park’s City Hall building, the store features jewelry, artwork, ceramics, food and beverages, stationery, clothing and more—all created by Maryland-based artists and makers.
The Washington Commanders announced on Friday that the team will move business operations from FedExField to the University of Maryland’s Discovery District in early 2024 to meet greater demand for suites at the stadium while expanding the franchise’s footprint in the state of Maryland.
The FBI's arrival in Prince George's County will create new opportunities for UMD students and faculty, and it will help to strengthen the region. Proximity to the university’s growing Discovery District and possible connections with UMD initiatives like PROGRESS, a gun violence reduction community research project, make the timing of this announcement especially exciting.
Eight years after launching a grand vision to reimagine how a university and a city can work together to strengthen their shared community, local leaders and University of Maryland administrators gathered for a broad-ranging discussion of dynamic projects and objectives—completed, under way and in the planning stages—in and around College Park.
The $15 million College Park Community Preservation Trust, a program of the College Park City-University Partnership, purchased and resold the house to its longtime renter in the Calvert Hills neighborhood, as part of a commitment to bolster affordable housing opportunities.
Nearly 800 volunteers picked up litter, installed pollinator gardens, painted storm drains and distributed free hot meals throughout College Park and surrounding communities for the 12th annual Good Neighbor Day on Saturday.
The University of Maryland on Tuesday announced the grand opening of the National Quantum Laboratory (QLab), a groundbreaking quantum research center developed in partnership with College Park-based IonQ, a leader in the quantum computing industry.
UMD announces a significant addition to its Discovery District with acquisition of 22.23 acres of land and 107,274-square-foot office building, representing a $35 million investment.
The Maryland Business Opportunity Center (MBOC) hosted its inaugural Showcase, where Program Director Dr. Dana Hauanio-Lore and MBOC consultants thanked U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for their role in supporting MBOC's mission to assist underserved entrepreneurs in Maryland.
With nine quantum research centers and over 200 campus-based researchers, UMD is an international powerhouse in quantum research and applications. UMD’s close partnerships with the federal government include embedded collaborations on campus with the National Institute on Technology and Standards (NIST) and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences in the globally recognized Joint Quantum Institute.
A parking lot-turned-housing project is on deck for College Park, where the University of Maryland's real estate arm is zeroing in on an $85 million development near its Discovery District,
Medcura CEO and President Jim Buck spoke with the WJLA team about the innovations coming out of this startup and the ongoing support of TEDCO.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) hosted University of Maryland President Darryll J. PInes for a discussion on how the university’s research mission and NGA can address the grand challenges together. Hear President Pines' response to how academia, research, national security and intelligence are developing new tools to meet these challenges in this one-minute NGA video.
In December 2022, IonQ established a professorship in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences thanks to a $1 million gift which was matched by the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative. “The IonQ Professorship will be held by a faculty member in either the Department of Physics or the Department of Computer Science who conducts quantum computing research” according to the announcement in Maryland Today.
Discovery District Newsletter
The Department of Defense awarded UMD the largest research contract in the institution’s history to support the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). Established in 2018 to combat complex national security problems by utilizing a multidisciplinary approach,“ARLIS bridges social and technical sciences to address pressing national security needs in the areas of cognitive security, supply chains, technology engagement and insider risk”. Read more in Maryland Today.
The Discovery District is the proud home of the National Quantum Laboratory (QLab), a first-of-its kind quantum research center, launched through a strategic university-industry partnership between UMD and IonQ. The QLab will empower researchers, innovators, and experts from many disciplines to come together to leverage one of the most powerful quantum computers in the world to solve some of the most challenging problems of our time.
A grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on September 19th at IonQ where Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, IonQ CEO and President Peter Chapman, UMD President Darryll Pines, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and Alex Khan, CEO and co-founder of ZebraKet, celebrated the QLab's opening. Read more about the new QLab in Maryland Today.
According to the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey, widely recognized as the preeminent national ranking for universities engaged in sponsored research, which was released on December 15th, the University of Maryland ranked 10th among all public institutions and 17th overall nationally in research and development spending in fiscal year 2021.
The University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore are linked as one research enterprise in the survey and reported combined research expenditures of $1.14 billion, an increase of about $39 million from the previous year. Read more about the UMD’s commitment to research excellence in Maryland Today.
On November 3rd, members of the university, local community, elected officials, and economic development stakeholders gathered at a parking lot near the College Park Airport and adjacent to the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTTC) to celebrate the announcement of Aviation Landing, a transformational development anticipated to break ground in the next two years. The project will include more than 900 residential units, open space, retail and commercial research and innovation space. The first phase is slated for completion in four years. Read more about this future addition to the Discovery District in Maryland Today, The Diamondback, Patch, and WTOP.
With the opening of the National Quantum Lab at Maryland (Q-Lab), this new user facility which is a partnership between the University of Maryland and IonQ, further expands UMD’s footprint as the ‘Capital of Quantum.’ Franz Klein, who serves as a high-performance computing engineer in UMD’s Division of Information Technology has also been appointed to lead the Q-Lab.
Last month, the Washington Business Journal published a profile on Greater College Park titled “The District of Discovery.” This special edition insert highlights many of the recently completed and underway projects in the research park, as well as spotlights Discovery District members IonQ, Medcura, The Shed, Visisonics, The Hall CP and The Hotel at the University of Maryland. A feature on climate, defense and food science within the insert covers ARLIS, FDA, ESSIC, and the Joint Global Change Institute. Several exciting updates on area infrastructure projects are prominently covered throughout the publication, as well.
Over the last several weeks, the University of Maryland has announced several appointments of key leadership positions working in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship. Dr. Gregory F. Ball has been appointed to serve as the Vice President of Research, leading the $1.3B research enterprise of the University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore campuses. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Ball served as Dean for UMD’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. The VPR position was previously held by Dr. Laurie Locascio, who stepped down in 2021 after being nominated by President Biden to serve as Under Secretary for Standards and Technology in the Department of Commerce.
