Photo courtesy UAB.
Blazer Innovation Challenge judges (top row) stand with the 2017 finalists after a "Shark Tank"-style competition at the UAB iLab.
Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email us at jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
Turning cool ideas into businesses
“At UAB, we are really serious about taking intellectual property and turning it into new businesses,” said Eric P. Jack, dean of the Collat School of Business.
The Collat School demonstrated that commitment when it awarded a total of $8,500 in prize money to three UAB students at the second annual Blazer Innovation Challenge -- sponsored by IberiaBank -- at the UAB Innovation Lab (iLab) on Nov. 16, according to a UAB news release.
The students, who presented their ideas to a panel of Birmingham business leaders at the “Shark Tank”-style event, will use the money to pursue and promote their ideas, which are intended to solve existing product, service or process problems.
First prize
Venu Kunche, a senior majoring in computer science and minoring in entrepreneurship, won $5,000 to conduct market research for a nutrition bar made from the moringa plant found in India and some other Asian countries.
Second prize
Heath Jackson, a senior majoring in both industrial distribution and marketing, won $2,500 to further develop his proposed distributive business model for microbreweries.
Third place
Owen Stallworth, a psychology and philosophy double major, won a $1,000 prize for his proposed franchise business model for mental health professionals.
The winners will also receive mentoring and coaching at the iLab throughout the remainder of the 2017-2018 school year.
Two other finalists, Briannah Smith and Haifa AlHarrasi, made pitches to the judges.
Smith seeks to create an “Ecology” mobile app to incentivize recycling, and AlHarrasi would like to develop a “Pocket Mechanic” mobile app to diagnose car problems and estimate repair costs.
Go ethics team, go!
The UAB Ethics Bowl debate team will compete against finalists from 10 regions across the nation in the national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition in Chicago from March 3-4, 2018, according to a UAB news release.
The team -- it consists of senior and team captain Danielle Madsen and freshmen Aleena Khan, Karen Wang and Mohammad Waqas -- won their spot in Chicago by taking fourth place in the Southeast Regional Ethics Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on Nov. 4, beating 16 other teams.
This is the fourth time in 10 years that UAB has made the finals. In 2010, UAB won the national championship.
Sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, the Ethics Bowl allows student teams to argue and defend their moral assessments of complex contemporary issues.
At the competition in Tampa, the UAB Ethics Bowl team argued cases about such topics as euthanasia, fake news and President Trump’s travel ban.
“The team developed compelling arguments and presented them with finesse in Tampa,” said Josh May, the team’s coach and an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy.
Senior Clara Wan helped coach the team.
Fighting to stop AIDs
UAB will celebrate World AIDS Day on Thursday, Dec. 7, with an informational session on how Alabama can achieve the 90-90-90 goal established by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, or UNAIDS, by 2030.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases and co-director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research, and Dr. Aadia Rana, an associate professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases, will present the “Pathway to Achieving the 90-90-90 Goal in Alabama” in the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel ballroom at noon, according to a UAB news release.
Their presentation will be followed by an information fair featuring area partners and organizations.
The session will address the HIV epidemic in Alabama, including such topics as strategies that are working, populations that are not being served and improvement of access to HIV care.
“Currently, almost 40 percent of all individuals infected with HIV in Alabama are still not suppressed, meaning their virus is not under complete control with medication,” Marrazzo said in the news release.
The UNAIDS 90-90-90 goal, if achieved, would mean 90 percent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 percent of people who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral treatment and 90 percent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads, keeping them healthy and reducing the risk of HIV transmission.
This goal was adopted by many organizations and governmental entities worldwide with the signing of the Paris Declaration in August.
