The University of Utah encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and entrepreneurship. Excellence in education is paired with the support needed to pursue ideas through hands-on experience. Inside “Student Innovation @ the U,” you’ll see how incredible students at the University of Utah, and their ideas, are prospering in this environment. You’ll also find many tips and ideas […]
Category: Student Innovation @ the U
“Student Innovation @ the U” is an annual publication celebrating student innovators and entrepreneurs from across campus. Read to see what students are inventing, and get inspired!
Higher-Speed Internet
Most smartphones are capable of smoothly streaming five high-definition videos at one time. Ever experienced that? Probably not. It might be because we all share the same cellular tower to receive internet on our phones. Jonathan Hedstrom and George Yuen, U electrical engineering student/graduate, have been working to improve wireless connectivity for everyone. “We’re not […]
A Fresh Coat of (Spray) Paint
Every day, Danny Stephens, a U art teaching graduate, walked through the same Park City tunnel on his way to work and saw the potential for something great. It wasn’t until he took an “Art Teaching Practicum” class that an idea came alive: he was going to start an art project with a cause. Stephens […]
A Helpful Reminder
It’s noon, your phone buzzes, and you’re reminded that this time tomorrow you should be in the doctor’s waiting room. Samuel Vincent, a nursing PH.D. student, identified that most members of the homeless population have no access to such modern convenience. Vincent, together with a team of U undergrads spearheaded by capstone student Hannah Hendrickson […]
New Experience in Latin American Film
Karem Orrego, a U film and media arts student from Lima, Peru, showed dedication to storytelling by founding the Crisol Film Initiative, “a place to see different experiences, and learn something from them,” Orrego said. “Crisol,” a Spanish word for crucible or melting pot, is an intercultural version of Sundance. Orrego’s successful production congregated intercultural […]
Different Kind of Learning Abroad
In fall 2015, 12 students graduated from the U’s new Case Management Certificate online program while living in refugee camps in Africa. They are the first cohort to complete the program offered by the College of Social Work. The certificate takes nine months to complete and consists of the same curriculum taught onsite at the […]
Better Communities Through Banking
A team of U students went from knowing very little about community banks, which serve local communities, to winning a national case study competition and meeting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Team members included Jenny Flatberg-Lambson, Changsu Lee, Kurt Alan Moore, Brett Welker and Brent Uberty, working with business professor Jack Brittain. They researched how […]
Empowering Refugee Women
When refugee families arrive, the husbands find a job and the children find a school, but the women often get left with nothing to do. Abby Bossart is working to make sure that does not happen in Salt Lake. Bossart, an aspiring medical student at the U, is part of Women of the World (WOW), […]
For the Love of Animals
Standing six feet tall with intricate tattoos, including the titular character of the Roald Dahl classic, “The BFG” (The Big Friendly Giant), U student Natalie Blanton is full of unique personal and academic determination. Raised around animals in Heber City, Natalie has used her time as an undergraduate and now graduate student in sociology to […]
From Warehouse to Tibetan Community Center
When approached by U President David Pershing to work with the Tibetan Community Center, architecture professor Lisa Benham had no question in her mind that this was the project her community architecture students would tackle. “It is rare that you get a project so focused and so crystallized,” Benham said. The project, initiated by Pema […]