The 2012 University of Maryland Student Poster Competition in Optics and Photonics was a resounding success. This event is co-sponsored by the University of Maryland College Park [UMDC] chapters of the Optical Society of America [OSA], the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers [SPIE] and the European Physical Society [EPS], as well as the Baltimore and DC-Northern Virginia chapters of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE] and the Capitol chapter of OSA.The poster session saw the submission of sixteen posters from area universities, prepared and presented …