UNT

Sweden-Based Skanska To Build $87M Research Building at University of North Texas

by | Sep 20, 2024
The new building will expand UNT's research space across the fields of biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, physics, data science, and computer science and engineering. "Experiential learning opportunities for students" are also part of the plan.
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Telepresence Tech: Two Dallas Digital Pioneers Team Up to Launch Life-Size Peer-to-Peer Streaming Platform
by | Jul 24, 2024
Glass-Media founder Daniel Black and 900lbs founder Steve Deitz are bringing human scale to conversations—wherever you are—with PeerVsn. "Life-size scale provides more impact and focus than a half-filled browser window," Deitz says.

The duo plans to leverage their "second-mover advantage" to improve video conferencing and telepresence across industries.
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North Texas Cities Crush List of Best Real Estate Markets in U.S.
by | Aug 22, 2023
McKinney and Frisco rank No. 1 and No. 2 of 300 U.S. cities on WalletHub's list of "2023's Best Real-Estate Markets." See how close Denton and Allen came to the top in a list that tracked everything from home value forecasts to housing affordability to job growth rate.
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‘Grandmother of Juneteenth’ Opal Lee Receives Honorary Doctorate at UNT Commencement
by | May 15, 2023
It wasn't the first time Lee walked the stage at the university. Way back in 1963, she earned a master's degree in education at what was then known as North Texas State University.
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Why Are There 750,000 Unfilled Job Openings in Cybersecurity? UNT Researchers Are Getting Up to $750K to Find Out

by | Dec 6, 2022
The grant award supports a new online platform to find out why cyber jobs are going unfilled—and make it easy for employers to find talent through an online database. UNT's Ram Dantu and Mark Thompson are principal investigators on the project. Dantu says foreign governments are "spying on us all the time,” and threats like ransomware attacks and cyber attacks abound. "We need a large workforce to combat this, and we don’t have the workforce,” Dantu says.
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UNT, Workforce Commission to Use $12.7M Grant to Create Texas Beacons of Excellence
by | Nov 28, 2022

University of North Texas Workplace Inclusion & Sustainable Employment (UNT WISE), in partnership with Texas Workforce Commission, announced it will use a $12.7 million grant to create the Texas Beacons of Excellence to help employers enhance their skills in recruiting, retaining, and accommodating employees with disabilities....

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The Last Word: UNT’s Calvin Henard on Engineering a Bacteria that ‘Eats’ Greenhouse Gases
In his lab at the BioDiscovery Institute, Henard engineers methanotrophic bacteria to convert methane gas into bioplastics, biofuels, and other products. While they're at it, the methanotrophs also consume carbon dioxide, another key ingredient causing climate change. With a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a national labs consortium, Henard has begun a three-year study into the beneficial bacteria, which can lead to a more sustainable way to produce fuels, plastics, and chemicals than by using petroleum.
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UNT Geographers Get $1.5M NSF Grant to Explore Tech’s Impact on Urban Forests

University of North Texas faculty members Alexandra Ponette-González and Matthew Fry will soon launch a a five-year study—backed by a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation—to explore how digital tools like i-Tree influence urban forest sustainability and equity....

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Dr. Venu Varanasi, pictured in his lab,an associate professor and lab director at UT Arlington, won the pitch competition.

UT Arlington Researcher Takes Home Pitch Competition Prize for Bone Regeneration Work

by | Sep 26, 2022
After a rigorous process, the top six applications to the Tech Transfer Office Showcase at BioNTX's iC3 life science summit were invited to pitch live at BioNTX's life science summit. Industry experts rated, graded, and discussed the technologies prior to the pitches "We want to cultivate technologies that are coming out of the university ecosystem here—and we want them to stay here," said Chad Ronholdt, managing director at NVB Ventures.
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UNT Dallas’ New Ryan Tower Is a Beacon of Promise in Southern Dallas
by | Sep 14, 2022
The 180-foot Ryan Tower stands at the heart of the UNT Dallas campus and can be seen for miles in every direction. Funded by a $2 million gift from UNT benefactors Amanda and G. Brint Ryan, the tower is meant to serve as "an icon of the university, a symbol for higher learning, and a prominent symbol of the community it serves." "For me, it symbolizes the heights our students and our future students will attain," UNT Dallas President said at the tower's ribbon-cutting.
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China’s NetDragon Has a New Robot CEO—and North Texas Ties
by | Sep 1, 2022
When the University of North Texas launched its NetDragon Digital Research Centre in 2018, it saw great things for the future. But one thing it may not have foreseen: Last week NetDragon—a Chinese mobile and online gaming developer—appointed an AI-powered virtual humanoid robot as its "Rotating CEO."
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The Last Word: Artist Dan Lam on Why She Moved to Dallas
Lam, who has bachelor of fine arts from UNT and a fine art masters from Arizona State, moved to Dallas three years ago. After teaching and doing workshops, she broke out as a successful artist by squishing away assiduously at her squishy art works in her studio, applying for residencies, establishing a great website, and conquering Instagram. 
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Frisco Startup Lands First U.S. Authorization for COVID-19 Breathalyzer Test

by | Apr 18, 2022
Frisco-based InspectIR received the FDA emergency use authorization on Friday for its breathalyzer test, which tests for organic compounds associated with COVID-19 in a person's breath. According to a study, the tests are more effective than the rapid antigen tests available for free from the U.S. government.
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Frisco EDC’s First Director of Innovation Will Focus on Startups, Tech, and Venture Capital
by | Mar 25, 2022
Entrepreneur Jasmin Brand will take on the newly created role. The goal? To make Frisco a “major national hub” for venture capital and innovation.
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From Automated Airport Parking to On-Demand Rides, North Texas Boosts Autonomous Vehicle Capabilities
by | Mar 24, 2022
NCTCOG's Regional Transportation Council believes autonomous vehicles are part of the solution to North Texas' future.

From autonomous parking at DFW airport to self-driving DART shuttles to medication deliveries in McKinney—along with local hubs for Kodiak Robotics, Aurora, and TuSimple—the region could prove to be the "most robust, automated, and connected vehicle ecosystem in the country," says one official.
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Amazon Partners with Four North Texas Colleges and Universities on Fully Funded Tuition for Its Employees
by | Mar 3, 2022
Amazon's "Career Choice" partnerships with 140 universities and colleges across the country will provide fully funded college tuition opportunities to its 750,000 hourly U.S. employees. Today's announcement is part of Amazon's Upskilling 2025 pledge—a $1.2 billion commitment to upskill more than 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025.
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