CCEI

Unique, Creative Startups Win $30,000

Posted on by Claire Hall

2017 Innovation Quest Awards

Innovation Quest Tops Participation Record; Winners Present Vastly Different, Creative Startup Ideas

The winners of this year’s Innovation Quest (iQ) competition had a unique set of people to credit for inspiring their success, including:

  • A friend with a teddy bear tattoo, emblazoned with his ex-girlfriend’s name;
  • A waitress who was trying to handle a mad-house of customers during a blizzard, when the rest of the wait staff didn’t show up;
  • A little brother who leaves his EpiPen home because it is too bulky to carry;
  • Americans who have very polarized beliefs about political events, depending on which news source they follow.

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A Connecticut Marine Reflects On His Mission In Iraq

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

WNPR – Connecticut U.S. Marine Michael Zacchea had a job to do in 2004: train and lead the first Iraqi Army battalion after the U.S. disbanded the country’s military post invasion.

This hour, we revisit our conversation with Zacchea, and co-author Ted Kemp about their book The Ragged Edge which details the challenges Zacchea faced leading a diverse group of Iraqis.

Nursing Students Tackle Real-World Healthcare Needs

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

UConn Today – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome can strike fear in the heart of a new parent – something Olivia Briggs ’17 (NUR) knows well. When her nephew was a newborn, her sister obsessively bounced in and out of his room to make sure he was still breathing, she recalls. Not long before, a friend of her sister’s lost her baby to SIDS, the cause of 4,000 sleeping-related deaths annually in the United States, according to the American SIDS Institute.

‘Like Building an Airplane in Mid-Flight’

Posted on by Claire Hall
U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Michael Zacchea, director of the School of Business' Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, director of the School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) will be signing copies of his book, “The Ragged Edge” on April 25 at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford. Proceeds from books sold that evening will benefit the EBV. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

UConn’s Mike Zacchea Describes Many Challenges He Faced as First U.S. Military Adviser to New Iraqi Army

In his new book, “The Ragged Edge,” set for release on April 1, U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA shares the staggering hardships and unique challenges of the U.S. mission to build an Iraqi Army virtually from scratch. Continue Reading

Growing New Ventures at UConn

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

UConn Today – Mostafa Analoui joined UConn as executive director of venture development last October after an extensive national search, and now also serves as head of the UConn Technology Incubation Program. He has previously worked in academia, the corporate world, and investment banking, as well as launching a startup that is still in business today.