At the age of 16, Sam Hirsch became a social entrepreneur when he founded CleanFare — a mobile app that gives points to people using clean transportation by walking, biking and taking the train or bus. The app allows users to log in and get points and achievement awards as it tracks their mileage of […]
If you suffer from bruxism, you know the symptoms. Gnashing and grinding your teeth in your sleep causes sensitivity and teeth to flatten and chip. The standard of care for this condition is to just treat the symptoms — aspirin for the pain, a teeth guard for the tooth damage. That is, until now. A […]
Watching positive videos helped fourth-year dental student Alex Piedra stay motivated for exams, which gave him an idea. Frustrated with a lack of cutting-edge technology in mental health, he asked himself, “Why isn’t there an app that only gives positive feedback?” With support from faculty at the School of Dentistry, Piedra helped create MoodPal, a […]
As his senior research project, bioengineering student Stuart Loertscher is fixing problems of the heart with Lucas Timmins, the principal investigator at the Cardiovascular Pathomechanics Laboratory, a multidisciplinary group of researchers studying the role of biomechanics in cardiovascular disease. Using FEBio, a finite-element modeling software developed by the University of Utah’s Scientific Computing and Imaging […]
When the opportunity came to use new DNA sequencing technology, Thomas Sasani, a graduate student in the Department of Human Genetics, stepped up to the challenge. The traditional approach to sequencing DNA can be a very laborious process. Researchers extract DNA, cut it into tiny fragments and read each tiny piece, slowly attempting to put […]
Buildings consume huge amounts of energy, and as they become more wired and connected, it’s increasingly important to be able to predict how much energy they will use and when. Aowabin Rahman, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, is helping solve this problem by using machine learning. “We are creating a model that can adapt […]
Labs across campus and the world study zebrafish, a freshwater fish that can be found at pet stores, to learn more about genetics and human disease. Strange as it seems, fish and humans have very similar development cycles, especially in the early stages of development. Current research involves studying and understanding the development of zebrafish […]
In August, 2017, Kaitlin McLean’s mom sent her a Facebook video about crocheting plastic yarn. McLean had been avoiding her mom’s hobby for years, but after reading an article about the number of deaths in Salt Lake City every winter due to cold temperatures, she thought she’d try it out. That month, McLean began crocheting […]
Roots is a student startup that wants to teach literacy to inmates by using music. “Reading is such an important skill to have in the modern world, and more than 60 percent of inmates cannot read above a fourth-grade reading level,” said Brendan Cody, a student and company founder. “Roots is trying to change that […]
During the first six months into her intensive dance training as a freshman, Jessica Baynes suffered a traumatic brain injury. “I slipped on both feet forward, fell backward,” she said. “I underwent rehab. I went through speech therapy, I couldn’t exercise.” Eager to dance nonetheless, Baynes discovered adaptive dance therapy through “Grey Matters: A Dance […]
