Wellness Points Flyer

The Wellness Challenge aims to motivate students to develop and maintain healthy habits. Participating in the challenge is as simple as just  submitting photos of yourself engaging in healthy activities to earn points. The more points you have, the more prizes you receive!

The challenge will run from October 5th to November 20th for the Fall 2020 semester. All Storrs students (on-campus and online) are welcome to participate!

The prizes vary from different tiers, such as

Tier 0: Registration Wellness Points Laptop Sticker (mailed to you immediately after registration)
Tier 1: 50 points $5 Gift Card to Starbucks, Dunkin’, etc.
Tier 2: 120 points Water bottle
Tier 3: 200 points T-Shirt
Tier 4: Points Leader $100 Amazon Gift Card

Visit https://studenthealth.uconn.edu/wellness-points/ for more information!

Dr. Michael Harbour is an Executive Director and team leader at Merck, Michael is known for his assistance in helping develop of HIV and HCV medicines. Michael’s expertise is in medical and scientific affairs, all phases of pharmaceutical medicine development (I-IV), treatment adherence, patient-centered innovations in clinical trials and healthcare information technology.

Michael was also invited to the White House by President Obama, for World Aids day in recognition of his contributions. He is also the recipient of the Joseph and Rose Kennedy Scholarship for Bioethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Today, Michael practices HIV/AIDS Medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. He also serves as the Chief Medical Officer of a public-private partnership specializing in Digital Health with the University of Berkley School of Public Health.

Join us this Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 3:30pm-4:45pm to learn more about Dr. Michael Harbour.
Link: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/23270d6a8de74eec85270e132b2d7b74 

Get Seeded 20-21

Mark your calendars : Get Seeded Kickoff this Tuesday!

 

Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur or want to learn more about different innovations and businesses coming out of UConn? Well join us virtually this Tuesday September 29th at 6:30pm for our Get Seeded Kickoff! 

 

Get Seeded gives students a platform to move their business ideas and inventions forward by providing them with seed funding, mentorship, and connection to 

potential team members. The program comprises a kickoff event, pitch nights, workshops and a Demo Day concluding the program. All events in 2020-2021 will be held virtually.

Apply to be a McNair Scholar! 

McNair Scholars are STEM majors who are first-generation college students, from low socioeconomic households, and/or self-identify as underrepresented racial or ethnic groups in higher education. 

The McNair scholars  program aims to provide year-round, academic and holistic support to help students establish undergraduate research projects early in their undergraduate career.  Their ultimate goals are to equip students with the tools to be competitively considered for graduate school admission, and to ensure retention and graduation from UConn.

The application deadline is Wednesday, October 14th at 12:00pm. For more information visit here.

 Funding Programs 2020-21

Every year the UConn Undergraduate department of research launches different award programs and grants helping all students engage in different research projects in which students can find innovative solutions to solving problems as well as doing more research on a field/concept they enjoy! Below are the two award programs that are taking applicants for the Fall 2020 cohort of students!

 

Change Grants – UConn Co-op Legacy Fellowship Program 

 

Application Deadlines: Monday, October 5, 2020; Monday, February 10, 2020 

 

UConn Co-op Legacy Fellows engage in projects that represent the legacy of the UConn Co-op’s commitment to public engagement, innovation, and social impact, including service initiatives, creative endeavors, research, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship. Fellows receive up to $2000 to support project expenses. Applications are accepted twice per year in October and February. 

 

UConn IDEA Grant Program 

 

Application Deadline: Wednesday, December 9, 2020 for summer funding; Monday, March 8, 2021 for academic year funding 

 

This UConn IDEA Grant program provides funding and support for student-designed projects, including artistic and creative endeavors, research projects, prototyping and entrepreneurial ventures, and service initiatives. There are two application cycles per year, with deadlines in the fall and in the spring.  Students can apply individually or as part of a small group working collaboratively on a project. Grants of up to $4000 per student are available. 

ucsas2020 aka ( UCONN SPORTS ANALYTICS SYMPOSIUM) organized by the Statistical Data Science Lab at UConn, aims to: showcase sports analytics to students at an accessible level;

train students in data analytics with application to sports data; and foster collaboration between academic programs and the sports industry.

 

What: UCONN SPORTS ANALYTICS SYMPOSIUM (UCSAS) 2020

When: Saturday, October 10, 2020

Where: Virtual through WebEx Event

 

About UCSAS

While there are many well established sports analytics conferences, they are often not accessible to students due to technical level, cost, or space limitations. UConn, recognized nationally for its teams in sports such as basketball, baseball, and hockey, among others, hosts the UConn Sports Analytics Symposium (UCSAS), which will focus specifically on undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in sports analytics.

Opening Speaker flyer

Dr. Catriona Wallace is the CEO of Ethical AI Advisory (https://ethicalai.ai/) and is also the Founder & Director of Flamingo AI (https://flamingo.ai/), an Artificial Intelligence software company based in the US and Australia and she loves robots! She also believes that thinks they will likely take over one day.

Catriona is regarded as one of the most influential women in business and entrepreneurship. She is also an Adjunct Professor and is known to translate really nerdy topics into everyday language. Coming from a police officer and nightclub owner background, Catriona is now one of the world’s most cited commentators on AI, Ethics and Women in Leadership. Catriona is a philanthropist, human rights advocate, environmentalist and mother of five.  Join us on October 7^th at 7pm EST, through a Youtube livestream to hear more about Dr. Catriona Wallace and her story. 

Over the past two years, the UConn Wellness Coalition, Student Health and Wellness has brought together UConn students, staff, and faculty from across campus to work towards creating a culture of wellness. The UConn Wellness Coalition has teamed up with OPIM Innovate to host the 2nd Annual Innovate Wellness Challenge: this year’s challenge addresses student stress. 

On Wednesday March 4th, UConn competing students from various academic disciplines took part in the Innovate Wellness poster challenge, in which they showcased their ideas for the Innovate Wellness challenge that were broken up into 3 stages; Empathize, Define, & Ideate. The idea’s proposed varied from sleep rooms, to different lighting apparatus, to rooms designated for stress relief. 

Stresswell, a team trying to bring back a once popular “Wellness Station” said the event allowed them to do some additional market research, and hear about student wants before they finalized an idea. “A lot of the feedback we’ve been getting showed that students want a designated spot for their mental well-being.” 

Students and staff were invited to judge the presentations as well, Ajshae Zulfi, Junior at UConn placed first last year for her idea “Wellness Points”, Ajshae judged some of the teams, and said she likes the idea of decreasing student stress. Ajshae also wants to advise this year’s competitors to “remember who their audience is, and to know that it has the potential to be utilized and impact lives.” 

Our next event is on March 26th, in the Student Union ballroom. All students, staff and faculty are welcome! For more information about the challenge visit: innovatelabs.uconn.edu/wellness-challenge.

On March 6th, 2020 OPIM Innovate hosted their Applications to Machine Learning Workshop part of their spring workshop series. Students learned the different perspectives around Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students also learned several direct search methods such as Nelder and Mead, Shor’s r-Algorithm and random search. Students learned how these methods use reinforcement learning strategies in machine learning. 

The workshop was taught by Nadia Udler, a Computer Science and Engineering professor at UConn Stamford. Udler has a background in Computer Science and applied mathematics. Udler was intrigued by Artificial Intelligence because she always thought computers could do more, she says “AI is like a child trying to learn, it’s that simple!” Udler believes the future of AI is up to our imagination, she teaches a Contemporary Issues in Computer Science and Engineering course where students discuss the different types of AI and how this technology will both help and disrupt our society.  

Dharani Rangthale, a Finance major at Uconn, said she enjoyed the workshop because it answered a lot of the questions she had regarding ML and AI. Dharani thought it was interesting learning about derivatives during the workshop because it made her realize how important math was in learning ML.