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U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Commanding Officer, Capt. Ricardo Vigil (top left), and NRL Director of Research, Bruce Danly, Ph.D. (bottom left), and Gerald M. Borsuk, Ph.D., (bottom right) associate director of research for NRL’s systems directorate joined University of Maryland’s Ronald Walsworth, Ph.D, director, Quantum Technology Center for a virtual signing ceremony Sept. 1.

Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast and New Orleans on August 29, 2005, forced a rethink of the ways we protect against catastrophic weather events—but fifteen years later, some of these lessons have not been fully applied, say UMD engineering experts who have helped lead efforts to overhaul the system. Moreover, serious inequities are baked into flood protection systems nationwide, with poorer communities—including many with predominantly Black populations—receiving inadequate or in some cases zero protection.

Computer scientists at the University of Maryland, College Park, are collaborating with child behavioral specialists at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, to improve telehealth services for children living in rural areas of the state, who are now even more isolated due to COVID-19.