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MONDAY, NOV. 11 – SUNDAY, NOV. 17     

RESEARCH

NASA, UA STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIP FOR POTENTIAL WORK ON IN-SPACE MANUFACTURING An agreement between UA and NASA will enhance inventive research assisting space exploration and strengthening education of tomorrow’s aerospace workforce. UA President Stuart R. Bell and Jody Singer, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, recently signed a memorandum of understanding that builds on significant and ongoing collaborative projects in the broad area of additive manufacturing and its potential application with in-space manufacturing. In-space manufacturing includes making the materials needed for the mission using components brought from Earth or gathered from the moon or Mars. For more information, contact Adam Jones, UA communications at 205-348-4328 or  adam.jones@ua.edu.

COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISISTwo UA faculty members and their teams recently received a combined total of more than $3.8 million to fund their work in fighting opioid use disorder. Dr. Mercy Mumba, UA assistant professor in the Capstone College of Nursing, was awarded more than $2.7 million from the National Institutes of Health’s “Helping to End Addiction Long-Term” initiative. Dr. Rebecca Allen, UA professor of psychology, received more than $1 million through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Graduate Psychology Education Program to educate and train psychologists to combat opioid use disorder in underserved populations. For more information, contact Chris Bryant in communications at 205-348-8323 or chris.bryant@ua.edu.

BEST BETS

STUDENTS EXPLAIN RESEARCH IN LIGHTNING ROUND COMPETITION — Fifteen UA graduate students will compete for a chance to win scholarships and monetary awards in the finals of this year’s Three Minute Thesis. The UA Graduate School hosts the competition, and the finals be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at the Bryant Conference Center. It is free and open to the public. The competition challenges graduate students to present a compelling talk on their thesis or dissertation topic, explaining its significance in three minutes using lay language. For more information, contact Richard LeComte in UA communications at 205-348-3782 or richard.lecomte@ua.edu.

LOOKING AHEAD

RIVER PITCH HIGHLIGHTS LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS – A Nov. 19 competition at the Tuscaloosa River Market allows UA students and members of the Tuscaloosa-area community to pitch their business ideas to judges for a chance to win one of eight $1,000 prizes. Participants will also receive idea feedback. River Pitch, from 5-9 p.m., is a joint effort of the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute, the EDGE Entrepreneurship Center, UA’s Culverhouse College of Business, the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and the City of Tuscaloosa. For more information, contact Zach Thomas, director of marketing and communications, UA Culverhouse College of Business, zthomas@culverhouse.ua.edu or UA communications, 205-348-5320.

STUDENT VETERANS MARCH TO BRING AWARENESS TO VETERAN SUICIDES – While many UA students will drive or fly to their destinations for the Thanksgiving break, one group of student veterans will march to theirs all the way from Tuscaloosa to Auburn. Almost 80 students and support personnel from UA’s Campus Veterans Association and Auburn’s Student Veterans Association will take part in Operation Iron Ruck, Nov. 27 – Nov. 30. In addition to supporting a national veteran suicide awareness campaign, each student veteran will carry 22 pounds of donations in their rucksacks for the Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City and Three Hots and a Cot, an organization that assists homeless veterans. Watch for an upcoming news release. For more details, contact Shane Dorrill in UA communications at 205-348-8319 or shane.dorrill@ua.edu.

SEE A LIST OF CAMPUS EVENTS AT https://www.ua.edu/events/.

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