UAB Briefs: Students win cash in Blazer Innovation Challenge
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 jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
BLAZERS ‘IN THE TANK’
Three inventive UAB students were awarded a total of $8,500 to develop and promote their business ideas in the third annual Blazer Innovation Challenge on Nov. 15, according to a UAB news release.
The “Shark Tank”-style competition was presented by the Collat School of Business and IBERIABANK at the school’s Nielsen Innovation Lab.
The five teams or individuals who made the finals presented their ideas to a panel of judges using one-minute videos.
The $5,000 first-place prize went to Jared Sluss, a senior public health major who seeks to create a nonprofit organization called Link and Loan to match the homeless with rental properties.
Link and Loan would connect homeless people with landlords who have vacant rentals and lend the money needed for security deposits to people who receive regular government checks from disability, Social Security or the Veterans Administration.
“We de-risk the whole process by pre-vetting tenants and implementing automatic drafts from these stable government checks,” Sluss said in the release.
Sunny Nguyen, a senior marketing major, won the $2,500 second-place prize for his business, Studio King Media, which would provide social media-focused video services for businesses.
Andy Curry, a biomedical engineering postdoctoral candidate, won third place, worth $1,000.
Curry’s business, UFix Garage, would allow people who lack access to a closed garage to rent climate-controlled bays where they can service their own vehicles.
The five judges at the competition included Collat School of Business alumni Alan Dean, co-founder of Targeted Technology Funds.
The winners will also benefit from mentoring and other resources from the Commercialization Accelerator at the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship during the remainder of the 2018-19 academic year.
FIRST IN THE STATE
Dr. Lanning B. Kline, a professor and former chair of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, was recently awarded the prestigious Life Achievement Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, according to a UAB news release.
Kline is the first ophthalmologist from Alabama receive the award, the release states.
The AAO, with 32,000 members, is the world’s largest association of eye doctors and surgeons.
The Achievement Award — the highest honor an AAO member can receive — recognizes professionals who take part in the scientific programs at the organization’s annual meeting.
FEDERAL GRANT
UAB researchers have won a $597,000 federal grant to support up to five doctoral students in the university’s materials science program.
The three-year award, from the U.S. Department of Education, is called the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, or GAANN, grant.
“The grant will help UAB recruit, educate and graduate a diverse group of high-quality scientists,” said Yogesh Vohra, an associate dean in the Department of Physics and one of three project directors for the GAANN grant.
Materials science blends disciplines, including physics, chemistry and engineering, to study the applications and properties of such materials as metals, ceramics and polymers.
The grant pays a graduate stipend of up to $34,000 per year, with an additional allowance of nearly $16,000 for tuition, health insurance and various research-related expenses.
The UAB Graduate School will provide additional matching support of up to 25 percent.
“This will sustain and enhance our capacity to produce materials scientists who are skilled in teaching and research in advanced manufacturing, biomaterials for implants, tissue engineering, drug delivery and materials for energy applications,” Vohra said.