UConn Today – When Brian Paganini ’03 (BUS) and the team at Quantum Biopower proposed building a food waste-to-energy plant in Connecticut about 10 years ago, there were plenty of cynics.
“The challenges we faced were too many to list,’’ Paganini says. “We had to figure out the logistics of developing, constructing, and operating a new technology platform that had not existed in this country at that point.’’
UConn Today – With almost six decades of experience in technology and innovation, including as an Executive Vice President ushering an era of dramatic change at IBM, Nicholas M. Donofrio knows a great deal about transformation and strategy.
Donofrio, a scientist and engineer, is also the author of a 2022 book titled, “If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes: The Nick Donofrio Story,’’ which offers a combination of personal anecdotes, business insight, and wisdom, woven in with the advice and guidance from 37 other, extraordinary business leaders.
UConn Today – Five UConn School of Business alumni, who have excelled in fields as diverse as college basketball, power-tool manufacturing, and complex financial services, will be inducted into the School of Business Hall of Fame this spring.
UConn Today – Just a year ago, Amelia Martin ’23 (CAHNR) was an undergraduate student with a great idea for creating an eco-friendly surfboard, but little idea how to bring it to the marketplace.
Today she is an entrepreneur and the owner of Mud Rat, a company creating organic surfboard cores from the mycelium of mushrooms. The material can replace Styrofoam, which produces toxic dust, and takes hundreds of years to decompose.
UConn Today – If Connecticut is afforded the opportunity to develop the most advanced technology in the world—technology that would save lives, create jobs, strengthen the economy, and revolutionize many industries— how could it not vigorously pursue it?
That was the question that Rajeeb Hazra, an international quantum-computing expert, and the keynote speaker at Thursday’s “Imagining a Quantum Future’’ event, posed to the audience of more than 150 academic, government, and industry leaders.
UConn Today – More than a dozen UConn students put Hartford under the microscope this semester, assessing the city’s strengths, scrutinizing its shortcomings, and strategizing ways to increase its vibrancy.
UConn Today – If you graduated from the School of Business a decade or more ago, you probably wouldn’t recognize some of the curriculum today.
“Our students are exploring newer areas of study, including entrepreneurship, data analytics, and financial technology, as they prepare to enter a rapidly changing workforce,’’ said Dean John A. Elliott. “This is a remarkable and exciting time at the School of Business and I’m eager to talk about what has changed and why.’’
UConn Today – The University of Connecticut unveiled an inaugural, student-created beer on Tuesday, with a celebration that drew more than 350 alumni, friends, and other brewmasters, all eager to sample BrewConn, a double dry hopped hazy IPA.
The event, at Kinsmen Brewing Co. in Southington, capped off a semester of hard work for nine students, mostly chemical engineering majors, who learned the craft of brewing, literally from the ground up.
Luis Quisumbing’s eyes light up as he talks about his membership in the student-run UConn Formula SAE race car organization. The latest car took first place for acceleration in a recent college competition, beating more than 100 other entries. The technology and innovation it incorporates might also be applied to other fields, including the defense industry.
Aria Penna is developing expertise in investing, and is particularly intrigued by companies developing technology that can make the world more green. She has become more knowledgeable about sustainability, and can quickly identify promising startups.
Although five decades separate the two business students from UConn alumna Antonietta ‘Toni’ Boucher ’02 MBA, their perspective is the same: Who better than UConn students and alumni to create, support, bolster and lead companies that are going to change the world?
“When I talk to these students, I see my own children, I see my own grandchildren. The School of Business is a place of innovation. There is wonderful talent here,’’ said Boucher, a former Connecticut state legislator who served for 22 years.
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UConn Today – OPIM professor Chen Liang, a prolific researcher who is always willing to mentor students, has received a prestigious award, recognizing her as a promising young scholar who is likely to make outstanding contributions to the field.