Category Archives: BioEngineering

Wednesday, Sep 28, 2022 Neph Rivera : Contact

Gabriela Wilson (left) and Jon Weidanz

The University of Texas at Arlington is playing a key role in training the future of the biotech industry in North Texas.

Through an $8.8 million grant awarded to Dallas College by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, UTA will work with Collin College, Dallas College and Tarrant County College to create a new regional career training pathway in biotechnology, biomanufacturing and bioinformatics.

The partnership will create BioWorks for North Texas, an introductory boot camp to train 800 participants from historically underserved North Texas communities for entry-level biotech employment. UTA will recruit and train 100 of those participants while working with employers to develop biotech training and education programs.

We are excited to be part of this very important project that will enhance UTAs high visibility in biotechnology and health informatics, said Gabriela Wilson, professor of kinesiology, co-director of UTAs Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics (MICHI) and leader of UTAs BioWorks efforts. Through this industry-led project and our collaborative efforts, we will contribute to addressing systemic barriers to academic and workforce access and success by building targeted biotechnology training and employment opportunities in a growing industry sector in North Texas.

UTA will also leverage the resources of its Career Development Center, providing participants access to job and internship opportunities, organizing employer panels and hosting students on-site to learn about workforce culture and gain hands-on experience.

This grant demonstrates both UTAs commitment to growing the biotech sector here in North Texas and its collaborative spirit and desire to work with other institutions in our region, said Jon Weidanz, associate vice president of research, professor of kinesiology and bioengineering, and director of MICHIs biotechnology and systems biology division. The funding will, in part, provide resources for UTA and MICHI to develop biotech training programs and train a technically competent workforce.

Seven major North Texas health care employers, including UT Southwestern Medical Center, Childrens Health Medical Center and McKesson, have already committed to hiring 1,100 entry-level biotech workers, providing living wages along with health care, retirement and other benefits.

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UTA teams up to grow biotech workforce - News Center - The University of Texas at Arlington - uta.edu

I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to last weeks newsletter, African and Latin American tech unite. Interestingly, it was mostly VCs who reached out, keen to signal what seems to be a new age in their investment theses.

Venture capital firms exist to go out on a limb and invest in innovative new solutions. Deep or frontier tech tends to grab headlines with its revolutionary breakthroughs in technologies that have not permeated our societies yet, like advanced AI or bioengineering.

Latin America and most emerging regions do not feature much in the global frontier tech discussion. A few honorable mentions exist: companies like NotCo, the Chilean biotech powerhouse, and Argentinas affordable satellite company, Satellogic. Both have notably reached the point where they have at least partially relocated to the U.S., Israel, or other regions to continue growing and acquiring the talent they need.

So why were many emerging market funds so interested in South-South investment?

In part, it is hard-nosed pragmatism. A developed frontier tech ecosystem in Latin America is a long way off. Hernn Fernndez Lamadrid, partner at Angel Ventures, a Mexican VC firm, believes the government needs to take a lead in further stimulating R&D, but Latin Americas state investment in that sector is still miniscule. Worse still, Rob Ryan, founder of Latin America-U.S.-focused relationship capital firm GrowthHax, worries that, in Mexico, publicly funded research is banned from being commercialized, decoupling innovation from investment.

Latin American investors are thus left to focus on adapting preexisting tech. Luckily for them, the market for basic technological solutions is huge and growing, so VCs have turned their attention to countries with similar demographics and problems. Thats how you get Mexican used-car unicorn Kavaks expansion to Turkey. It is also what incentivized the Mexican-South African founding team of FlexClub, a car subscription service for delivery drivers, to use their recent VC investment to expand across the Atlantic and not within their own regions.

But, South-South technological cooperation and co-investment is also an opportunity that goes beyond a few VCs bottom lines. By testing their products and adapting their technologies to similar markets beyond their own regional neighborhoods, companies can grow at a greater pace while helping bridge the technological divide within these countries.

It bears remembering that famous tech companies, like Uber, or Colombias last-mile delivery unicorn, Rappi, often start out mixing and matching existing technologies only to grow large enough to innovate further on their own account. A counterintuitive but intriguing backdoor path to innovation.

More:
A new investment thesis for the Global South - Rest of World

Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK -0.18%) is known for its aggressive bets on the cutting-edge companies of tomorrow. Between its holdings in lesser-known businesses with big potential, like Ginkgo Bioworks(DNA -0.32%), and its investments in more familiar names like Tesla(TSLA -1.10%), there's a lot to appreciate about Wood's approach to buying stocks.

While her flagship ETF is underperforming the market over the last three years, her investing style is worth learning about because it's a great contrast to other famous investors like Warren Buffett. In particular, there are three principles Wood uses to select stocks that you'll benefit from understanding, so let's dive in.

The pillar of Cathie Wood's approach to investing with her company ARK Invest is to find businesses that are creating disruptive innovations. Disruptive innovations, in her conception, can take several forms, including technologies that significantly slash costs, technologies that change more than one industry or geographical region, and breakthroughs that enable other follow-on innovations in a handful of different product segments.

In practice, that means she invests these days in a lot of companies that are competing in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, DNA sequencing, energy storage, 3D printing, and blockchain technology.Focusing on potentially disruptive innovators explicitly means not paying much attention to entrenched competitors. It means investing in players that are pioneering new business models or pioneering new fields entirely.

Take Ginkgo Bioworks, for instance. Its idea is to use robotics and other forms of automation to streamline the process of designing and manufacturing custom-built microorganisms for use in the biotechnology, agriculture, and food industries, among others. Management claims that with its expertise in automation, it'll be able to benefit from economies of scale that drive down costs compared to other ways of accomplishing the same bioengineering and biomanufacturing tasks.

For the moment, Ginko Bioworks is unprofitable but rapidly growing. But if it succeeds, it'll be a favorite collaborator in multiple industries, and its stock will soar over the course of years. And that's why it's a Cathie Wood favorite.

Cathie Wood likes to invest in businesses that have the potential to become huge over the next three to five years or so as a result of their mastery of their markets, and enabled by disruptive innovations. In short, she doesn't much care for businesses that can make consistent and incremental progress on their earnings year after year as they're more likely to be less innovative competitors.

And exactly how big are the returns Wood is looking for? There's no single answer, but here's an example. In late August of this year, before Tesla's latest stock split, its price was near $891. A month before, in late July, Wood had set an ambitious price target: Tesla shares would be worth $4,600 by 2026. That means within three and a half years, she anticipated that shares would grow by around 416%.

Therefore, if you want to follow Cathie Wood's approach, look for businesses that could boom if their disruptive innovations are realized to their fullest potential.

It's officially part of ARK Invest's screening process to evaluate stock valuations. But evidence indicates that pricey valuations are seldom a deal breaker for Cathie Wood, and that other factors, like a company's potential to grow, are far more important when it comes to what makes the cut.

For example, in the first quarter of 2022, she bought shares of Tesla on numerous occasions. At the time, Tesla's trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was between 343 and 219. For reference, the market's average P/E since 1990 is a little over 23, so Tesla's valuation was (and still is) on the very high side in comparison. That doesn't deter Wood, though -- with the run-up she anticipates, it makes complete sense to keep buying shares of an "overpriced" stock.

So, if you want to invest like Cathie Wood, don't get fixated on valuations today. Tomorrow's valuations are far more important to whether your investment is profitable.

Continued here:
Want to Invest Like Cathie Wood? Use These 3 Principles. - The Motley Fool

College of Engineering students and members of Team Hklele prepare for a rocket competition in 2021.

Engineering programs at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa have been accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), confirming that they meet standards essential to prepare graduates to enter STEM fields in the global workforce.

The following programs are accredited:

In addition, construction engineering, which was launched in fall 2019 by the College of Engineering, retroactively earned accreditation from October 2019.

We are extremely excited about our accreditation renewals as well as our newest accredited degree program in construction engineering, College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka said. This is a clear indication of the confidence ABET has in the hard work by our faculty and staff in providing the kind of educational experience and development of professional skills our students will need to be productive and highly skilled engineers and leaders upon graduation.

SOEST Interim Dean Chip Fletcher added, These programs have been accredited because they are readily accessible to Hawaiis high school graduates, provide excellent education opportunities, and are globally recognized for cutting-edge research on issues that matter to the people of Hawaii.

The rigorous ABET accreditation process ensures the quality of our biological engineering degree program, which is a critical component of CTAHRs transdisciplinary approach to deliver sustainable food systems and ecosystem health solutions to the people of Hawaii, CTAHR Interim Dean Ania Wieczorek said. I thank the biological engineering students, faculty, alumni, industry partners, and the UH Mnoa ABET team for their work to achieve this result.

For the accreditation process, UH Mnoa faculty and staff completed an extensive self-study and hosted a site visit with an ABET accreditation team in November 2021.

According to ABET, graduates from an ABET-accredited program have a solid educational foundation and are capable of leading the way in innovation, emerging technologies, and in anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public. To date, ABET has accredited 4,361 programs at 850 colleges and universities in 41 countries.

For more about ABET and its accreditation criteria, visit ABETs website.

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UH Mnoa engineering programs earn accreditation | University of Hawaii System News - University of Hawaii

The Faculty of Engineering presented its Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Of The Year award at the staff BBQ last week.

The annual award recognises the integral role our GTAs perform within the Faculty, and offers an incentive for GTAs to strive for excellence in their teaching. Each year, all engineering departments select their top GTA, and from these nominees the Faculty chooses an overall winner.

Eugenie Ducoin from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering was named overall winner of the award for 2022, and Georgia Smith, Department of Bioengineering, received the highly commended award.

Eugenie completed her undergraduate studies in our department in 2019 and is now pursuing a PhD in power electronics.

Nominating staff Professor Tim Green and Dr Phil Clemow praised Eugenie as a vital member of their teamon our Power Electronics and Power Systems module.

They commended her for her pro-active engagement with undergraduates, as well as her subject knowledge and the appreciation of students learning styles which have been essential in helping design, test and refine lab experiments.

Eugenie's nomination highlights her dedication to the student experience, and her thoughtful and approachable teaching methods in both the lab and problem class sessions.

Professor Green said: Eugenies passion for our subject is evident to all, and combined with her careful and caring approach to teaching, her contributions are highly valued by our students.

"She has a quiet confidence in the teaching setting, and is highly approachable and listens well to students as they explain their workings or difficulties. She responds with a thoughtful and assuring style to give students just enough help to get started again on the problem, and adeptly adjusts her responses to the needs of the student, either just giving gentle hints or going back to the fundamentals.

Eugenie is keen to pass on her love of the subject to our undergraduates, she explains:

Students sometimes shy away from power electronics because they find the subject uninteresting or irrelevant, but it is essential to solving the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow. Being a GTA both in the lab and in class has allowed me to share my passion, and I will never tire of seeing the excitement of students when they begin to understand a topic. I hope I have encouraged some students to pursue power engineering the same way Professor Green and the lab GTAs inspired me when I was an undergraduate.

Teaching has also helped me to communicate and share my research more effectively, as I have learnt from explaining something in several different ways to fit each students learning style. I recommend all PhD students to get involved in teaching; it might surprise them how rewarding it is.

I am very grateful for the recognition that winning this award represents. With the invaluable help of Professor Tim Green and Dr Phil Clemow, I have improved my teaching skills over the past three years, and I am glad to have received such appreciation from the Faculty of Engineering.

Our congratulations to Eugenie and all this year's nominees from across the Faculty.

Find out more aboutgraduate teaching assistants.

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EEE PhD student awarded Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year - Imperial College London

Autonomous technology and automation are proving disruptive across numerous verticals, including the agriculture industry. Cutting-edge solutions such as driverless tractors, Internet of Things (IoT) temperature and moisture sensors, GPS, and drone technology allow farmers to be far more efficient than if the technologies weren't made available to them.

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Although the future appears bright, there are a few issues that need to be addressed, including risk management, legislation, and safety protocols. Safety is a significant area of concern, as farming can be inherently dangerous - but rapid advancement in technology could create potential safety risks for human workers sharing their work environment with these newer technologies.

As noted by Dr. Salah Issa, assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department: "The introduction of mechanization in agriculture in the early 1900s transformed farms and surrounding communities. We expect digital technologies to lead to a similar transformation on farms and in many rural areas."

To discuss how technology is disrupting the agricultural industry, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host the Safety for Emerging Robotics and Autonomous Agriculture (SAFER AG) workshop November 9-10.

Much of the innovative solutions are still in the research and testing phase, so there is room to adjust before they're commercially available. Every product designed to be labor-saving offers both opportunities and possible concerns, which is what the workshop is designed to discuss - pros and cons of the ongoing changes are fair game.

The agricultural robot market is expected to reach almost $36 billion by 2030, as their use expands to cover a wider range of day-to-day activities. Everything from irrigation management, harvesting crops, soil management, dairy management, and other tasks become automated to assist farmers become more productive while tending to their crops and livestock.

In addition to reducing physical human effort, these robots can lower production costs, increase crop yield, and maximize crop quality.

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Autonomous, other tech disrupting the agricultural industry - TweakTown