Konstantinos Oikonomou has always been passionate about promoting environmental consciousness. When he began his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the Utah Smart Energy Laboratory (U-Smart) at the U, he was introduced to gaps in the use of water and energy globally. “The problem that water and power utilities face is that they have been designed […]
Modern Dance & Social Injustice
Aileen Norris is a senior at the University of Utah double majoring in English and modern dance. For her honors thesis, Norris explored how movement can act as an activist role, and in what ways dance can impact the social justice movement. “In the dance community, it’s a very tricky realm to navigate. It can […]
Alexis Rausch, a fine arts student at the University of Utah, is bringing elements of psychology into her art in order to emphasize the beauty that can be found in ugly concepts. “I make work about the way we consume violence and violent media as a society, and what role we play as perpetrators or […]
In fall 2019, the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and the School of Music launched Jazz at the Cafe Lassonde to bring live music to Lassonde Studios. This collaboration provides students across campus the opportunity to hear great jazz music, some for the first time. It also gives performance experience for jazz majors and allows young musicians […]
Making Breastfeeding More Comfortable
Started by University of Utah MBA student Nana Ewusi-Emmim two years ago, NipaYe is a breastfeeding-help company focused on assisting mothers to produce milk for their babies. With help from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, she is developing a tool she hopes will be more comfortable and easier to use than what is currently on the […]
Making Diagnoses Simpler
To diagnose patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an inflammatory disease that disrupts the esophagus, current medical knowledge requires anesthesia and an endoscopy. This time-consuming and invasive process, combined with the low likelihood of a patient having EoE, leads doctors to sidestep testing for it. However, professor Christopher Gregg’s lab at the University of Utah didn’t […]
A Futuristic Privacy Garment
Anyone who has squeezed into a crowded airplane knows that travel can be a serious invasion of privacy. The average person reserves a 12-foot radius for social space, and ever-shrinking travel accommodations rarely leave room for a personal bubble. Jackson Kerbs, a junior studying multi-disciplinary design, combined his interests in product design and fashion to […]
When Torle Nenbee was 11 years old, her family came to Utah as refugees. “I started school in the sixth grade,” she said. “People didn’t understand why I couldn’t speak — if you don’t quite know the language, people think you’re stupid.” This barrier didn’t stunt Nenbee — it motivated her. She taught herself English […]