UT Arlington

UTA Professor Gets $800K To Develop Drone Computing Platform for First Responders

by | Aug 21, 2023
Electrical Engineering Professor Yan Wan has received $800,000 in National Science Foundation funding to develop an open-networked airborne computing platform for drones used by first responders. Networking a system of "robots in the air" can help find disaster victims, guide rescuers, and more. Her work could also be used for drone delivery and other commercial applications, UTA says.
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Founders Arena WealthTech Accelerator Coming to Arlington in September
The Founders Arena WealthTech Accelerator—a 10-week program aimed at early- to growth-stage startups—will be offered beginning September 4. It aims to connect participants with potential customers and investors while supporting "the creation of innovative products that banks and wealth management companies can use to better serve their clients." Broderick Green, executive director of the Arlington EDC, calls the accelerator "a first of its kind not only for Arlington but globally."
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Shirin Nilizadeh, a University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working on the vulnerabilities of AI to online misrepresentation. Misrepresentation is part of the word cloud that depicts artificial intelligence challenges. [Sources: DI, Illustration Rob Wilson/Shutterstock]
UTA Researcher Gets $568K NSF Grant To Explore AI Systems’ Vulnerability to Misinformation
by | Jun 8, 2023
The whole world's abuzz about the wonders of ChatGPT, Bard, and other generative AI systems. But there's also buzz about AI's many dangers. See how adversaries might try to "poison" these systems with false information—and what UT Arlington's Shirin Nilizadeh is doing to protect the systems from attack.
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UTA Team Gets Nearly $3M From DOE To Develop Data Center Cooling Tech
by | May 16, 2023
Some things you just gotta keep cool: your temper on the Tollway at 8:45 a.m., your drink after work, and—maybe we should've put this first—data centers. All those endless rows of servers generate heat, which is why cooling accounts for nearly half of a data center's electricity usage. Now a team led by UT Arlington's Dereje Agonafer is developing hybrid cooling technology that could save "a massive amount of money in energy costs" for both current and future servers.
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Safer Crossings: UTA Researchers Deploy Lidar Pedestrian Safety Tech in Arlington and Irving Intersections

by | Apr 26, 2023
Crossing the street shouldn't be a life-or-death activity, but it often is. Nearly 7,500 pedestrians were killed in 2021, the most in four decades. To test a way to save lives, UTA's research team has deployed the Helius Smart Lidar System at two North Texas intersections, using real-time 3D object detection and tracking to analyze pedestrian behavior. They've also deployed a dynamic flashing yellow arrow system that can change the way traffic lights work when pedestrians are detected.
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In a Texas First, UT Arlington Team Is Using Plastics To Repair Roads
by | Feb 8, 2023
"One word: plastics." That's the famous career advice from the movie The Graduate. A professor at UT Arlington must have gotten the same message, because 56 years later he's making history by using plastics to repair and stabilize roadways in the DFW area. Dr. Sahadat Hossain—a UTA civil engineering professor and director of the school's Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability—got a grant of around $950,000 from the Dallas district of the Texas Department of Transportation to achieve the first use of “plastic road” material in Texas. The project will begin with work on roads near Kaufman, southeast of Dallas.
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The Last Word: UTA’s Maria Konsta-Gdoutos on Getting a $1.5M NSF Grant to Turn Concrete Into a Clean Source of Energy
Konsta-Gdoutos is exploring a way to turn one of the world's biggest polluters—concrete, which accounts for at least 8% of global energy-related CO2 emissions—into a source of clean, renewable energy. “We will pioneer TE-CO2NCRETE, a thermoelectric carbon-neutral concrete, that will exhibit a high carbon dioxide uptake potential and storage capacity,” Konsta-Gdoutos said in a statement. “Engineering the nanostructure of concrete also will allow the material to capture thermal energy from the surroundings and convert it into usable electrical energy, leading to the development of a novel technology for renewable electricity and higher efficiency power source.”
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DI People: Globe Life, Keurig Dr Pepper, ORCA AG, and More Make Leadership Moves
by | Oct 28, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from National HME, Brinker International, Robin Autopilot, GlassView, TPG, Weitzman, and others.
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Students Get $185K in Funding for Fledgling Businesses at UT Arlington’s MavPitch Competition

by | Oct 19, 2022
UT Arlington students have bright business ideas—from hydrogen-powered drones to 3D-printed concrete homes to K-pop themed T-shirt lines. The university shone a light on 10 of them—along with $185,000 in total funding—at the finale of the MavPitch Business Competition. “We use the generous awards and other resources to encourage, grow, and mentor these fledgling student-run firms,” says UTA's Jeffrey McGee.
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UT Arlington Researcher Takes a Page From Ancient Romans to Reinvent Concrete
by | Oct 6, 2022
UT Arlington civil engineering researcher Warda Ashraf is looking to the past to create a concrete-like material for the future—one that could reduce the carbon emissions created by today's construction industry. The ancient Romans used volcanic ash to make structures that still stand today. With $747,000 in DARPA funding, Ashraf's team found a workable substitute—super-heated clay hydrated with lime and seawater—and is preparing to test it in the Corpus Christi Bay area. “We have the recipe. We tested that in the laboratory," Ashraf told Dallas Innovates. "Now, let's put it in the field and see what happens.”
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Schneider Electric Names Dallas-Based Joshua Dickinson as Its North American SVP and CFO
Schneider Electric—a France-based global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation—brands itself with the message "Life Is On." Now it's tasking Dickinson with responsibility for all its financial operations in the $8 billion North American region—from driving microgrid innovations to helping Schneider achieve a "real energy transition." "The company is doubling down on its commitment to building a more sustainable and electrified future," Dickinson told Dallas Innovates.
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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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DI People: EarthX, Match Group, Bonton Farms, and More Make Leadership Moves

by | Sep 9, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from Ribbon Communications, Texas Brand Bank, Evolve Biologics, and COMSoverign Holding Corp., Warrior Connection, T.D. Jakes Foundation, Mindzie, the City of Fort Worth, UT Arlington, Allied Electronics and Automation, KTA Media Group, My Possibilities, and more.
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Dallas Startup Von Perry Looks to Raise $2M to Build More 3D-Printed Homes Across Texas
by | Aug 31, 2022
Von Perry's first 3D-printed geopolymer concrete home is slated for completion in October in the small town of Nevada, Texas. As the startup prepares to kick off its $2 million fundraising effort on the StartEngine crowdfunding platform, it's planning six other custom projects in Texas—and thinking big. “We are actually building real houses using 3D printers, and that is a jaw-dropping moment for [people]," says Von Perry's co-founder and CTO. "Because they don't even believe it is possible."
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UT Arlington, Texas A&M Partner to Advance Aerospace Manufacturing in Texas
by | Aug 11, 2022
From Lockheed Martin to NASA to SpaceX, Texas is a hotbed of aerospace activity. Now UT Arlington and Texas A&M want to make that hotbed even hotter—by collaborating to advance the state's aerospace defense manufacturing community.
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DI People: DART, UT Arlington, PepsiCo, Nanoscope, Magellan Health, and More Make Leadership Moves
by | Jul 8, 2022
In this week’s roundup of hires, promotions, and accolades in North Texas, you’ll also find news from Integrity Marketing, Tauro Capital Advisors, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Ashton Woods, Cariloop, EisnerAmper, Mosaic, Gore Range Capital, One Day, and others.

You'll also find CDFI Friendly Fort Worth's first board appointments, Texas Women's Foundation's newest board members, and North Central Texas Council of Government's new president.
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