UConn Today – The Hartford Business Journal’s “40 Under Forty’’ award will be presented in September to 40 business standouts, including four who are affiliated with the UConn School of Business.
The recipients include: Haley Heslin, Director of Human Resources at LAZ Parking and a student in the UConn MBA program; Thomas “Tommy’’ Hyde ’19 MBA, Chief of Staff at AdvanceCT; David Steuber ’08, ’21 MS, and Andrew “Drew’’ DiSilvestro Jr. ’15 EBV Cert., President of AmeriTech Contracting.
UConn Today – When former President Joe Biden revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer, the news rattled UConn’s Reza Amin ’18 Ph.D., ’19 MS.
Amin is the CEO and Founder of Bastion Health, the first and largest virtual urology group in the country. Bastion, a UConn startup, addresses men’s health care through at-home diagnostics, specialist-led care, and elimination of impediments to medical attention.
UConn Today – When graduate student Dmitrii Tuzov ’26 MS heard about an opportunity to learn about decentralized AI (deAI) from experts in the field, and potentially create business-enhancing technology, he couldn’t have been more excited.
“My first reaction was, ‘Definitely! That’s what I want to do,’’’ he says. Now in the early stages of the project, he and four other UConn graduate students are learning technical skills, setting goals, and defining the scope of their work. “The deeper I dive, the more I see how big this opportunity is.’’
UConn Today – A friendly competition between two teams of UConn student brewers ended with one victor – but with everyone who got a chance to sample both beers a winner.
The UConn Brewing Innovation initiative – a multidisciplinary hub that partners the College of Engineering, School of Business, and College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources – has been showing students how the beer brewing process works from the ground up since 2023, in collaboration with Connecticut breweries.
UConn Today – Three impressive teams of entrepreneurs, whose startups range from more robust seafood to healthier laundry detergent to a great place for artists to share their talent, won this year’s Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurship challenge.
The winning teams split $30,000 in prize money and will continue to develop their businesses in an advanced summer entrepreneurship incubator program at UConn.
UConn Today – The first time AI Day was offered in Hartford in 2022, it drew a small but enthusiastic group of 68 participants. It was before the release of ChatGPT, and both the capabilities of the technology and its potential impact on business and society were not widely recognized.
This year, some 800 people are expected at AI Day events spread across two days – a kickoff and thought leadership keynote on Tuesday, April 22, and a day-long learning forum on Wednesday, April 23.
UConn Today – Several of UConn’s online graduate programs are highly ranked for the quality, value, and flexibility they offer to veterans, including one that recently earned the top spot nationwide in U.S. News & World Report’s annual review.
The UConn School of Nursing’s programs were named No. 1 for veterans wishing to pursue online graduate studies in that field, along with high rankings for others: the School of Business (no. 8); the College of Engineering (no. 22); and the business school’s MBA program (no. 62).
UConn Today – UConn alum and swimsuit entrepreneur Hayley Segar ’17 (CLAS) impressed ABC’s “Shark Tank” judges, and left the entrepreneurship competition with a business deal with two of them.
Despite a case of nerves prior to the segment’s taping, Segar was confident and composed when describing onewith, a women’s swimsuit startup that eliminates seams and other uncomfortable features of swimwear. Segar has repeatedly described her business as a UConn-fueled company.
UConn Today – Women’s swimsuit entrepreneur and UConn alum Hayley Segar ’17 (CLAS) will appear on next week’s segment of “Shark Tank,’’ the competitive entrepreneurship TV show with almost 3 million viewers.
Segar, whose swimsuit company onewith came to fruition with the support of UConn entrepreneurship programs, will appear on the show at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24 on ABC.
UConn Today – A novel treatment for long-term pain management that could revolutionize post-operative care and eliminate the need for opioids for many, won the first-place, $30,000 grand prize at the Wolff New Venture Competition last week.
Professors and esteemed UConn Health researchers Lakshmi Nair, Ph.D. and Yusuf Khan, Ph.D. say they were both surprised and thrilled that their startup, Soleia Biosciences, received the award. With the financial and business support they’ve received, they hope to advance the treatment that has been in development for 10 years.