Leadership

The World is His Oyster

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Graduate student Keegan Jalbert ’23 (CLAS) ’27 MS has always been interested in agriculture, food, and innovation. Today he is finding new ways to grow oysters and share his love of seafood with customers who live far from the ocean.

Jalbert is the founder of AccessFlora, a sustainable aquaculture company with a proprietary omega-3 aquafeed for raising oysters in purified water at a hatchery. The outcome is a larger and healthier shellfish that isn’t confined to the coast nor dependent upon favorable ocean conditions.

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UConn Scientists’ Startup Seeks to Advance Women’s Reproductive Healthcare

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – As a scientist, researcher, and now an entrepreneur, Xingyu Wang Ph.D. ‘22 strongly believes that advanced technology should be used primarily to improve the health and happiness of humankind.

Wang, a post-doctoral researcher, and two of his professors from the College of Engineering, are striving to do that with their newest invention. EVA is a smart-sensing device, embedded in a menstrual pad, that collects data from menstrual blood or vaginal fluid to assess reproductive-health information.

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Father-Daughter Entrepreneurs Plan to Introduce Refreshing, Non-Alcoholic Beverage for Life on the Water

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Father-daughter entrepreneurs Bill Smith ’78 (BUS) and Lindsay Smith are both experienced boaters who love a day of adventure on Long Island Sound or cruising on the ocean.

But an exhilarating day on the water can leave boating enthusiasts dehydrated because of a combination of heat, sun, and wind. To combat it, they’ve created SEAWELL, a sparkling, non-alcoholic juice drink with essential electrolytes, a crisp taste, and only 40 calories per can.

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Undergraduates Create a New Method to Help Warn of Skin Damage During Radiation Therapy

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – When patients are undergoing radiation therapy for cancer, one of the unwelcome side effects is skin damage, including redness, dryness, tingling, swelling, and peeling.

Radiation dermatitis can progress to more severe skin injury and may contribute to treatment disruptions and reduced quality of life. In its most extreme form, dermatitis can cause permanent changes in skin color, scarring, or even ulcers that appear months or years later.

Some 90 to 95% of patients undergoing radiation experience a skin reaction, and it can be more difficult to detect in people with darker skin.

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AI for ImpaCT: UConn Launches University-Wide Initiative to Drive AI Innovation Across Connecticut

Posted on by Alex Lohrey

UConn Today – Artificial intelligence (AI) has raised big questions for higher education, employers, policymakers, and communities. How should AI be used in the classroom? What skills will students need in an AI-enabled workforce? How can organizations take advantage of new technologies while addressing concerns about privacy, ethics, and trust? Answers to these questions are already being explored across UConn, the state’s flagship, land- and sea-grant university.

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Innovation Quest Selects Five Top Startups, Ranging from Manufacturing Innovation to New Hair-Care Option

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – The Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurship competition crowned five new champions on April 20, with innovations that included a novel manufacturing innovation, a system for making tuition payments easier, and tool to help protect creative endeavors from being usurped by AI.

The students ranged from a second-semester freshman to a ready-to-graduate Ph.D. candidate. Together, they shared $35,000 in prize money.

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Business Woman, Legislator, Philanthropist and Alumna Toni Boucher Describes Her Journey from Poverty to the American Dream

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Growing up as an impoverished child in Southern Italy, Antonietta ‘Toni’ (Iannuzzi) Boucher ’02 MBA never attended school. She and her brother were often left home alone, supervised by the family dog, while their parents worked in the fields. Her only toy was a “doll’’ consisting of a stone wrapped in one of her mother’s dishtowels.

At age 5, her family left their modest farmhouse, with its dirt floor, no running water, and no bathroom, and embarked on a new life in America.

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‘It Stands for Excellence’ – A Conversation with UConn’s Azzi Fudd and Interim Provost Pamir Alpay

Posted on by Jaclyn Severance

UConn Today – For UConn women’s basketball standout Azzi Fudd ’25 (CLAS) ’26 MBA, learning in school is the same as playing defense.

“It’s effort,” says Fudd, the recently named 2025-26 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. “What you put in is what you’re going to get out.”

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Five Outstanding Alumni to Be Inducted into UConn Business Hall of Fame

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – UConn legend and NBA standout Emeka Okafor ’04 (BUS) is well accustomed to standing ovations and thunderous applause from an enthusiastic crowd.

But for the other four alumni who will be inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame alongside him on Friday, April 24, the roar of the crowd at the reception may be more novel, despite their remarkable achievements.

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Funding, International Trade, Artificial Intelligence Top Priorities for New Small-Business Champion

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – Dorian Zwierewicz, a Connecticut native with more than a decade of award-winning experience assisting small businesses, is the new state director of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC).

He most recently served as the regional director of the Florida Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. That organization received two awards of excellence last year.

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