CCEI

Camaraderie, Enthusiasm Punctuate Wolff New Venture Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

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.

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UConn Alumni, Car Fanatics Creating Marketplace for Second-Hand Auto Parts

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – When they were college students at UConn, Kyle Mayers ’13 (BUS) and Wally Namane ’13 (BUS), ’18 MBA both drove identical older, red BMW coupes. Friends used to confuse them as they zipped around campus, until one of them finally connected the two men on Facebook.

Mayers and Namane had a great deal in common. They were both ambitious, both car enthusiasts, both first-generation college students.

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Medical Startup Soleia Biosciences Aims to Eliminate Severe Pain–Without the Opioids

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Surgeons perform almost 800,000 total-knee replacements, and more than a half-million hip replacements, in the United States each year.

And while those procedures are typically life- and mobility-enhancing, the initial post-surgical pain can be very unpleasant for some patients. Opioids remain among the most popular prescription medication to combat orthopedic post-surgical pain, but two UConn Health faculty members think they’ve found a better solution.

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Startup ‘Vamos’ Seeks to Help Companies Thrive—Even When Their Employees Live Thousands of Miles Apart

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Niko Zurita ’10 (BUS) remembers how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every human resource executive in America tried to arrange a “Virtual Happy Hour” in an effort to keep employees connected.

And while it was better than nothing, those end-of-the-workday gatherings, conducted through a computer monitor, were clearly no substitute for an in-person event, Zurita says.

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Alum Roars into Children’s Toy Market with Colorful Plush Dinosaurs, Plans for Complementary Books

Posted on by Scott Slater III

UConn Today – As a UConn student, Lyla Andrick ’24 (CAHNR) created about 2,000 brightly colored dinosaur stuffed animals in her dorm room, while also juggling schoolwork and a job at a veterinary clinic.

The plush animals have become so popular that the small New England boutiques where they are sold can’t keep them on the shelves.

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A Marriage of Land & Sea: UConn Agricultural Startup Seeks to Slow Food Spoilage

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Who hasn’t purchased a pint of mouthwatering strawberries and two days later had to toss it in the trash because the berries became mushy and moldy?

A staggering one of every three pieces of fresh produce ends up in the garbage, a frustration for farmers, grocers, and consumers alike.

But a team of UConn scientists think they have a solution. Their startup, Atlantic Sea Solutions, is using seaweed extracts as a coating for peaches, berries and other fresh produce. They believe the natural ingredient can double the shelf-life of perishable foods by reducing shrinkage and spoilage. The seaweed-coating can be applied without changing the flavor or texture of the food.

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Beloved Family Dog Inspired South Windsor Family to Become Entrepreneurs

Posted on by Scott Slater III

UConn Today – The Cecchini family’s entrepreneurship story began with an extraordinary love for their English Bulldog, Tank.

Unlike his two canine brothers, Tank suffered from unrelenting food allergies and painful ear infections. The South Windsor family developed a healthy, all-natural, grain-free dog biscuit just for him. When friends and family kept asking for samples, they recognized they were onto something big. They created their business, The Dog Bone LLC, in 2016.

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Innovation Quest’s Three Winning Teams All Passionate About Human Health

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Although personal health-tracking devices have proliferated in recent years, entrepreneur John Toribio, a Ph.D. candidate at UConn, believes his innovation is far superior to what’s available on the market today.

Toribio Labs is the winner of UConn’s 2024 Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurship competition and has received a $15,000 award.

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Sustainable Dinosaurs, Seaweed, and Accessibility: Diverse Cohort Selected for CCEI’s 2024 Summer Fellowship – UConn’s Startup Accelerator

Posted on by Scott Slater III

UConn Today – Atlantic Sea Solutions is a startup that develops edible coatings from seaweed that can extend the shelf life of fresh produce.

Another startup, Webquity, is working to ensure that students with disabilities and neurodiverse learners have equitable access to online content.

Yet another startup – Happy Dinosaur – is looking to grow and scale a line of sustainable and handmade plush dinosaurs that, up until now, have all been made by the startup’s founder individually and by hand.

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Artificial Intelligence-Savvy College Students Introduce New Skills to Business Professionals at Hartford AI Day

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Sophomore Samarth Gupta ‘26 stood in front a room filled with business leaders at Hartford AI Day and explained why artificial intelligence can dramatically improve everyday life.

MIT has created ICU Intervene, which predicts what treatments will be most effective for critically ill patients, he said. Paypal uses AI to analyze transactions to curtail cybersecurity fraud. And Amazon is using image detection to support a ‘smart store,’ which eliminates the need to wait in checkout lines.

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