Glenn Lutman (standing) and riding partner Dillon Ladendecker celebrate after winning the full-size bone stock event at Friday’s Monroe County Fair Demo Derby. See more photos by clicking here. (Corey Saathoff photo)
Another capacity crowd filled the grandstands of the main arena Friday night for the annual Monroe County Fair Demo Derby in Waterloo.
Even with an additional 1,000 seats this year, the stands were packed in the perfect late July evening weather.
This year’s derby began with a bang, as the black OU1 car of Greenville’s Levi Trentman drove Brady Stumpf of Columbia’s spotted 71 car into the corner and over the concrete wall to knock Stumpf out just more than a minute into the 18-car full-size bone stock event.
This one came down to Glenn Lutman of Ellis Grove – who won the truck derby late Wednesday night – and derby veterans Brad Yearian of Fults and Pat Seymour of Waterloo. Lutman’s engine outlasted the others to take the top trophy.
The next event was the mini-car bone stock class, which featured 21 entries. In the end, first-time derby driver Derek Kempen of Valmeyer in his black D14 car outlasted the yellow 95 car of Freeburg’s Ben Scanlan to win first place. Nate Huelsmann of Waterloo won the Mad Dog Award in his 88 car.
“That was awesome,” Kempen said after winning in his first derby try. “I’m definitely doing this again.”
The mini-weld class featured 23 cars, most of which flashed some speed on this muddy main arena track. The large field was eventually whittled down to the 34e car driven by TJ Ervin of Columbia, the 01 car driven by Kory Johnson of Waterloo and the 21 car driven by Scott Nanney, among others. Ervin placed first. Nanney won the Mad Dog Award.
The final event of the night was a battle of heavyweights in the full-size semi stock class. It featured 18 cars and lasted more than 45 minutes before the 46 car of Waterloo’s Tony Ahrens emerged victorious over the likes of local derby vets Jake Riebeling, Pat Seymour and Dylan Allscheid.
For more photos from this year’s demo derby, click here.
Derek Kempen of Valmeyer (right) and riding partner Brandon Davis celebrate winning the mini-car bone stock event Friday night. See more photos by clicking here. (Corey Saathoff photo)
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Exactly one week before the CrossFit Games, CrossFit announced their 2022 season demo team, which included Australian athlete Royce Dunne. Just a day later, Dunne took to social media and announced, “unfortunately, I will not be making my way to Madison to participate on the Demo team at this year’s [CrossFit Games].”
Morning Chalk Up’s Lauren Kalil sits down with Dunne to discuss how his vaccination status ultimately prevented him from traveling to the U.S., why last year he was able to travel to the U.S. without a vaccination and the ups and downs this season has brought.
Show Breakdown:
1:12 – Emotions of not qualifying to the Games
2:44 – The landscape of Oceania only having 3 Games spots
6:52 – CrossFit asks Dunne to be part of the Demo team
8:38 – Thoughts when he was asked to be on Demo team
10:28 – Why Dunne won’t be on the Demo team
12:55 – How he made it to the Games last year
13:47 – Could CrossFit have helped get clearance
16:00 – Insight to the Demo team
18:20 – Diversity of the Demo team each year
19:32 – The bottom line
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Brian Alvarez-Bailey, founder of fintech firm Allison, will represent Tampa Bay in Miami after winning the Black Founders Demo Day regional pitch competition.
Networking platform Plain Sight is hosting the inaugural Black Founders Demo Day in Miami Dec. 1 to increase exposure and mitigate some of the challenges that minority startup founders regularly face. According to its website, the event will feature entrepreneurs hand-selected by tech, venture and entertainment leaders from across the country as they showcase their companies to potential customers and investors.
Tampa’s Embarc Collective, in collaboration with PS27 Ventures and Florida Funders, hosted area startups for the regional competition on July 26. With his winning pitch, Alvarez-Bailey received a guaranteed spot in the Miami competition, a $3,000 travel stipend, the chance to compete for over $1 million in investment opportunities and priceless exposure.
“Whether I won or whether I didn’t – it was a great success because of all the folks that I got to connect with,” said Alvarez-Bailey. “The people that are like, ‘hey, however I can support you, just let me know.’ That stuff is better than money.”
Alvarez-Bailey said he was initially skeptical of the regional competition after participating in the pitch “circuit” with mixed results. He believes founders should focus on building their businesses rather than pitching concepts at various events.
However, after reading the list of fellow founders, judges and supporting companies, he “had a change of heart.”
The event’s hosts and sponsors, said Alvarez-Bailey, made a concerted and sincere effort to highlight Black founders and their companies. He called the regional Demo Day an opportunity for founders to showcase the fruits of their labor and said it exceeded all expectations.
While winning played a part in that sentiment, he said he would have walked away with the same “zeal” regardless. “The feeling in the room was infectious,” he added.
Alvarez-Bailey launched Tampa-based Allison in September 2021 to match fintech companies with “Middle-America community banks.” He said the platform allows small financial institutions to increase potential depository revenue by augmenting and improving existing technology.
He explained that Allison is an add-on service to existing banking infrastructure that allows the utilization of non-traditional merchants in fintech and Web3 to increase financial depository opportunities. According to its website, the platform facilitates those products and services while alleviating the need to write a significant amount of code.
Alvarez-Bailey named his startup after Alice Allison Dunnigan, the first African-American female journalist to receive White House credentials.
He expressed that “on a human level,” it is difficult for anyone to build an innovative product, “to create something today that did not exist yesterday.”
“That being said, being a Black founder offers an additional set of challenges,” said Alvarez-Bailey. “It doesn’t mean that the journey is any easier for non-Black founders – it just means that journey can get more complex when you are a Black founder.”
However, he noted a bright side to that sentiment is that fellow entrepreneurs and founders realize those difficulties and are typically empathetic to those complexities and want to help.
That is why Tuesday night’s event was such a success for Alvarez-Bailey, who is trying to build and strengthen relationships with as many community banks and credit unions as possible. “The connections will be huge,” he said. “We feel that Black Founders Demo Day enabled us to broadcast a wide net to the folks that work for, and with, these types of banks.”
Alvarez-Bailey said he splits time between Florida and Michigan but has called Tampa home and the base of Allison’s operations for the last two years. He called the Tampa Bay community “ridiculously supportive and kind” to him and his team.
He added that support is a testament to the tech and startup ecosystem established before he moved to the region and said he hopes to help its continued cultivation.
Winning in Miami, said Alvarez-Bailey, would provide an even higher level of visibility for Allison due to its notoriety as a leader in the fintech, Web3 and blockchain industries.
“But, just in general, it will be a continued validation that what we’re doing isn’t so crazy, right?” he said. “What I’m doing is sound enough to keep continuing, and I think a win in Miami would be that next notch in our belt.”
As promised by publisher Bandai Namco last week, the playable demo for SD Gundam Battle Alliance is available to download now on PS5 and PS4. It weighs in at roughly 10.3GB, and features a decent amount of content that should give you a good grasp on the game's mechanics. What's more, any progress that you make in the demo can be carried over to the full release, should you buy it following its launch on the 25th August.
If you're sitting there wondering what SD Gundam Battle Alliance actually is, here's the short version: it's an action RPG that spans loads of different Gundam timelines. You complete missions, unlock new suits, and then level them up. It's probably safe to assume that those who are already familiar with Gundam will get the most out of this one, but based on what we've seen of the game so far, Battle Alliance looks like it could a lot of fun play even if you don't know your RX-78 from your Acguy.
Will you be giving SD Gundam Battle Alliance a shot? Show us your Newtype potential in the comments section below.
Intel’s Ryan Shrout has returned to extol the virtues of the Arc A750 graphics card. In a short video, we get to see gameplay in Death Stranding at 1440p, another section of the game played on a high-end HDR QD OLED monitor, and some information about HDMI 2.1 support. In the demo, this particular Arc graphics card ran Death Stranding at about 90fps at 1440p.
The first section of the new Intel 'Talking Graphics' video concerned Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) features and performance on Arc GPUs. Shrout fired up Death Stranding on a PC system packing an Intel Arc A750 graphics card. The GPU was connected to a 4K 120Hz monitor from Acer, which supports VRR via DP.
(Image credit: Intel)
Even though the monitor was 4K (2160p), Shrout played the game at 1440p full screen with VRR on. Shrout explained that the frame rate varied between about 80 and 100fps depending on scene complexity. He then went on to point out that his system had been configured to show the game engine frame rate in the upper left and the monitor refresh rate in the upper right. Due to Adaptive Sync technology in play, these two numbers moved in harmony. Thus poor quality gaming experiences caused by out-of-sync rendering and display (tearing, stuttering) were eliminated.
Is ~90fps at 1440p good performance in this game? Death Stranding isn’t one of our gaming benchmark suite titles, but a quick nose around the internet reveals that it is on a par with GPUs like the GeForce RTX 2070 Super, RTX 3060, or Radeon RX 5700 XT. Those comparison frame rates were achieved at max quality settings, but we aren’t sure about the Arc A750’s game graphics quality selection.
Intel Arc supports VESA Adaptive Sync monitors, which should make it easy to pick from the multitude of monitors out there now which have adopted this spec. However, Intel is going to “go the extra mile” and validate 100+ top-selling VRR monitors for VRR on Arc – so you can have another logo on your monitor box and bezel, as well as some specific assurance of compatibility.
(Image credit: Intel)
HDR Support
Next up, the Intel Graphics marketing exec talked about HDR support on Arc graphics. Just like on other platforms, users will need an HDR capable monitor as well as their modern HDR supporting GPU. HDR was demoed here, in Death Stranding again, using a sizable Alienware ultra-wide QD OLED screen. It looked like the Alienware AW3423DW Gaming Monitor we reviewed back in April.
HDR gaming action was shown running at 3440×1440, which is the native resolution of the Alienware OLED screen. This monitor can sync from 48-175 Hz, but Intel didn’t share any performance indicating FPS counters in this test.
(Image credit: Intel)
Of course it is difficult to demonstrate HDR quality through the medium of Camera > YouTube > your screen, so Intel brought out its ‘HDR Tester Man’ to confirm “that’s like super-bright.”
HDMI 2.1 Support
The Intel branded A-Series GPUs like the A750 and A770 Special Editions will support HDMI 2.1 out of the box. However, it will be left up to partners whether they support greater than HDMI 2.0. Intel said that all that is needed is a PCON chip, to convert the DisplayPort 2.0 to HDMI 2.1, but some OEMs might not go down this route. If HDMI 2.1 support is important to you and you are looking at Intel Arc GPUs with Interest, you can steer your eyes towards the Intel Special Editions or be vigilant in spec checking if the charms of partner cards take your fancy.
No more hints were dropped about launch timing or pricing of the Arc A750. If you wish to know more about Intel’s full range of Arc GPUs, while you wait, please check out our Intel Arc Alchemist: Release Date, Specs, Everything We Know article, which we frequently update.
With the release of NBA 2K23 on the horizon, the gaming community has a lot of questions, one being whether there will be a demo for the new title in the franchise.
Although we haven’t heard anything really definite yet, talks of an NBA 2K23 demo are still out there. One has been mentioned in several news reports, and in this piece, we will take a closer look at that and try to find answers.
Additionally, we will also touch on the game’s pre-order bonuses and the release date, just so you know when and how to get your hands on the game.
It may not come as a surprise that many people are interested in playing NBA 2K23 as soon as it becomes available for pre-order, especially with the confirmed editions and cover athletes. Here is information on the NBA 2K23 demo’s potential existence.
Even though there are many numerous opinions about the NBA 2K23 demo, there won’t actually be one.
Unfortunately, it uses the same format that NBA 2K has been using for a while. For the 2K22 edition of the game? Players didn’t get a demo.
Most recently, free demos for NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K21 were made available in August, a week or two before their official releases.
Although the demos had very few choices, they did give players a taste of Quickplay and even the MyPLAYER Builder. But it was before NBA 2K divided into versions for current-gen consoles and next-gen ones, which 2K23 seems to confirm.
NBA 2K22 lacked a demo; 2K reportedly stated at the time that they preferred to “concentrate on delivering fully-functional games” for the two generations of platforms. However, no plans for a demo have been made public as of yet for 2K23.
Although pre-ordering does not give you early access, it does, however, grant you access to additional bonuses.
The Artists’ Studio in the Foothills (ASiF) will host their second Summer Open House – Open Studio Night Thursday, July 28, from 5 – 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Join ASiF artists for an evening of fine art, food, wine and live music. Visual art demonstrations in a wide range of media will be offered in each of the artists’ private studio spaces and in the center’s three community classrooms. A gallery exhibit representing 14 resident artists and instructors will also be on display.
Artist demonstrations and exhibits in ASiF’s main gallery and studios will include: Ceramic Sculpture, Pottery, Oils, Acrylics, Watercolor and Pastels by Eric Bevel, Roseanne Burke, Andrea Caturegli, Cheri Guerrette, Barbara Harris, Kristanne Heaton, Claudia Jeffers, Jill Mahanna, Susan Michalski, Amanda Paoletti, Deborah Ries, Andrew Sellery, Rose Shulman, and Kathryn Wronski.
Art demonstrations and activities in the classrooms will include a multi-color reduction relief printmaking demo’ by Lani Zila representing ASiF’s new Young Artist Programs (YAP) featuring classes in a wide range of media for kids — now in session and to be continued this fall; a watercolor demo’ by Cheri Guerrette representing her popular painting classes for Adults and kids; and a clay art demo’ and Q & A session offered by instructor Claudia Jeffers’ Mud Hut program representing her year round series of Adult & Teen Hand building classes which feature instruction in a wide range of techniques through culturally diverse thematic course work.
This will be the second of three Summer Open House – Open Studio Night events at ASiF being held on the final Thursdays in June, July and August.
ASiF is located at 940 Idaho Maryland Road, in Grass Valley. The gallery is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. or by appointment. For more information go to http://www.asifstudios.com or call 530-274-7000.
Source: Artists’ Studio in the Foothills
Instructor Lani Zila prepares her Printmaking Demo' for ASiF's Summer Open House - Open Studio Night on Thursday, July 28 from 5 - 7 p.m. Submitted photo
ASiF's Summer Open House - Open Studio Night features art exhibits and demonstrations by 14 artists, wine, food and live music. Submitted photo
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WASHINGTON — A burgeoning U.S. Army effort to ensure command posts are suited for fights teeming with sensors and combatants using advanced technology could soon be ready for a demonstration.
While the Mobile And Survivable Command Post project is still in the early stages of development, those closely involved are already eyeing a “significant, fully integrated” exhibition in the fiscal 2026-27 timeframe, possibly as part of the annual Project Convergence exercises.
“Project Convergence is probably in our future,” Tyler Barton, a computer scientist and MASCP project lead with the C5ISR Center, said during a July 21 roundtable with reporters. “Probably not next year.”
Project Convergence is the Army’s capstone test of cutting-edge kit and inter-service communications in furtherance of the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control vision for seamless and speedy information sharing on the battlefield. This year’s event, referred to as PC 22, will for the first time directly involve allies, Australia and the U.K. included.
MASCP is one of several Army ventures meant to modernize command posts, which can be cumbersome to move and produce noticeable amounts of heat, noise and electronic artifacts, making them targetable.
The mobile-and-survivable project digs into the science and technology realms to find solutions. They include remote antenna systems, resilient data storage, enhanced camouflage techniques and materials, and self-sufficient power generation and banking. Considerations must also be made for distance and connectivity; all the speed in the world does not matter if communications and data sharing go bust.
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“The more mobile and survivable the posture of your command post, the more challenging being effective is, both from a technology and systems standpoint, and just from a human standpoint of being dispersed from the staff you’re used to working with closely,” Barton said.
“The problem we’re seeking to get after is redesigning our command posts to survive competitive threats. That’s the bottom line,” he added. “We have a good understanding now of threat capabilities, how that maps to the vulnerabilities of command posts today.”
Scientists, engineers and other experts tested several preliminary MASCP capabilities this summer at the Network Modernization Experiment, or NetModX, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.
Much attention was paid to signature management and mobility. Barton said the testing at NetModX, assisted by industry, “very much benefitted our program.” MASCP will return to the weekslong experiment next year.
“They have resources up there that would be incredibly challenging for us to do without that being set up ahead of time,” he said. “The ranges, the frequency availabilty, the infrastructure, like towers for us to elevate our emitters, spectrum sensors on hand for us to utilize, the integration teams they have up there are all great.”
Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its NNSA — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.
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Questions surrounding an NBA 2K23 demo continue to circulate although we haven't learned anything too concrete yet.
There has been some news alluding to the potential of one, which is what we'll go over today. We'll also take a look at the pre order rewards and release date.
Table of Contents
Let's finally answer the question surrounding the demo.
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Will there be an NBA 2K23 demo
There are so many different ideas surrounding the NBA 2K23 demo but the truth is that there won't be any demo available.
It's unfortunate but it mimics the same format that NBA 2K has done for quite some time. We also didn't receive a demo for last year's installment.
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+ 3
A SLAM DUNK: NBA 2K22 went over well but what about NBA 2K23
With no NBA 2K23 demo, we'll just have to wait until the release date to get to check out the game ourselves. Unfortunately, there isn't any early access either.
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Although you can't pre order for early access, you can grab some extra rewards with a pre order.
Before that day, we'll have a ton of reveals during the August content schedule. Along with the gameplay reveal we'll learn about MyTEAM, MyCAREER, The City and more.
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CONTENT INCOMING: There are about to be a ton of reveals for NBA 2K23
Without an NBA 2K23 demo to play, these content drops will give us all of the looks we need at the game before it releases.
NBA 2K23 Content Schedule August
Gameplay Trailer
Jordan Challenge
MyNBA
MyTEAM
MyCAREER
The City
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Once the content is unveiled, we'll be sure to keep you up to speed right here.
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advisor Circle, a product and content studio for the financial services industry, in partnership with Ritholtz Wealth Management, is pleased to announce an elite group of finalist presenters for the first Future Proof FintechX Demo Drop. These innovators will present their new and innovative technologies live in front of a captive audience of wealth management executives at Future Proof, the inaugural wealth festival taking over Huntington Beach, CA, during Sept 11 – 14, 2022.
Future Proof’s FintechX presenters were hand-picked by a selection committee of industry experts. Each applicant was graded on creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and the ability to create a real impact for attendees of Future Proof. The honorees were chosen from among a range of burgeoning bootstrapped start-ups, to new products from established firms, in addition to significant features enhancements for widely adopted technologies. These firms all demonstrated to the committee that they are taking novel approaches to chronic issues facing the financial services industry and the investors it serves.
The FintechX nomination process was extremely competitive with Future Proof fielding more than 100 applications.
Future Proof will feature the FintechX demos on Tuesday, September 13th. The FintechX Demos will be delivered by:
DFD Partners, an AI-based distribution platform enabling diverse fund managers to scale efficiently
Entrustody, a new asset custodian platform for financial advisors
Hubly, practice management technology platform that allows growing financial advisory firms to deliver an exceptional client experience
Onramp Invest, digital asset platform for financial professionals
Practifi’s Propel, a data analytics platform built specifically for wealth management executives
Skience’s Surveillance, a highly-configurable self-service compliance solution for enterprise wealth management firms
Venn By Two Sigma, cloud-based risk analysis tool and workspace solving for the increased demand for digital assets within multi-asset portfolios
VRGL, vertical SaaS technology that offers institutional-grade analytics and automated data extraction to empower wealth management firms to accelerate the client acquisition, proposal management & retention process
WealthAccess, a unified digital experience platform for enterprise wealth companies and their clients
“Our inaugural FintechX honorees clearly demonstrated the caliber of their businesses and technologies, re-imagining how our industry will serve clients in the future,” said Michael Batnick, Managing Partner atRitholtz Wealth Management. “These new tools and services will empower their users to become future-proof.”
“I’ve never been more excited about the future of the wealth management industry,” said Matt Middleton, CEO of Advisor Circle. “Those attending the FintechX demos presentations will have a front row seat to the technologies and trends reshaping our industry.”
Every year the FintechX Demo Drop will recognize tools and technology submitted by applicants who meet high standards of innovation with a focus on preparing the industry for the future. There was no cost to apply and honorees will enjoy free admission to Future Proof.
Advisor Circle is a product and content studio for the financial industry, designing live events, podcasts, online communities and other connection points for financial professionals looking to learn, grow and adapt to change. The firm was founded in 2020 by Matt Middleton, John Swolfs and Matt Hougan, who have successful track records of driving some of the most meaningful, well-attended events for the financial advice and ETF industries over the last decade. Follow Advisor Circle on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Future Proof is a groundbreaking new wealth festival set to bring together the world’s most prominent figures and emerging minds to explore the intersection of money, tech, culture and impact. The event brings together an entirely new community of financial advisors, institutional investors, asset managers, fintech startups, financial creators, activists, artists, musicians and other key stakeholders around an unprecedented experience and agenda. Future Proof will provide an unmatched opportunity for conversation and collaboration that will serve as a catalyst in developing the future of wealth.
The four-day citywide event will be held September 11-14, 2022, in Huntington Beach, California. More than 3,000 attendees including 1,500+ financial advisors and institutional investors, as well as over 150 sponsor companies are expected at the inaugural event. Follow Future Proof on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Black and brown startup founders had the chance to pitch their big ideas in a live “Shark Tank”-style event held in Jacksonville on Tuesday evening.
Venture capitalist group PS27 Ventures put on the first-ever event, called Black Founders Demo Day, in which five local startups vied for a chance to win a $1 million investment in their company.
PS27 CEO Jim Stallings said the event is focused on minority founders in part because they have been historically left out of the venture capital world.
“This is the first of its kind, this is an opportunity for young startup founders to get in front of some judges and investors and a big crowd to cheer them on and compete for a million dollars,” Stallings said.
The event essentially brings the investors to the startup founders. Some have been working full-time jobs and also working on their projects on the side for years.
“This will change their life,” Stallings said. “This really will give someone an opportunity to step up to another level and get discovered.”
The competition starts in Jacksonville, then they move on to the semifinals in Miami. After that, they go to Atlanta.
“They win in at Atlanta, and it’s a million dollars plus a ton of prizes,” Stallings said.
Allie Davenport wants to help others improve their mental health and well-being. This is the principle behind her company, StarMind, a self-development brand whose first product, The Guide, is a mindset journal that introduces self-development principles through integrative QR codes, daily logs, and reflective activities.
“The concept of self-development and mental health has hit home for me for a long time,” Davenport says of the inspiration behind StarMind. “I wanted to create a product that can help others get introduced to the self-development world.”
Davenport’s concept was the winner of this year’s Get Seeded Demo Day, held April 19. In its second year, Demo Day is the culminating event of UConn’s Get Seeded program.
“Demo Day started in 2021 as a way to celebrate our entrepreneurial ecosystem and leverage our Get Seeded program at the end of the academic year,” explains Jennifer Mathieu, executive director of the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI).
Get Seeded holds a series of pitch nights throughout the academic year. These events give student entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their innovative ideas, with the chance to earn seed funding. At Demo Day, five teams who pitched at one of the pitch nights are invited back to present to a panel of alumni judges in a competition to earn additional seed funding.
Demo Day also offers students a chance to assess their personal growth as they refine their concepts and develop their entrepreneurial skills, says David Noble, director of the Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
“It’s an opportunity for students to showcase the progress they’ve made since they were first awarded money from Get Seeded,” he says. “It’s a chance to stand in front of people and show that they are doing as opposed to talking about things.”
Davenport, who is also part of the pilot cohort of the Werth Innovative Leadership Development Program’s Freshmen Female Founders, says that seeing her progress has given her a confidence boost.
“I participated in a pitch night for the Freshmen Female Founders, the Get Seeded pitch night, and Demo Day,” she says. “It’s cool to see how far I’ve come in a year, refining my pitch, sharpening my communication skills, and gaining a level of confidence. My ideas are valuable, and I have a seat at the table.”
The alumni judges play a key role in the Demo Day experience, offering insights, feedback, and support. This type of mentorship is critical, says Mathieu.
“I do not believe that an entrepreneur can be successful without a team of advisors and, most importantly, mentors who have helped them along their journey,” she says. “I believe that mentorship at the very early stage of entrepreneurship, especially in programs like Get Seeded, is imperative.”
Noble agrees. “The Werth Institute and CCEI provide access to many different types of mentors,” he says. “Those relationships change over time, but they are absolutely the most important aspect of student entrepreneurship.”
Natalie Lacroix and Eva Quigley—who won Demo Day in 2021 with their product, Reach Bar, a nutritional and protein bar—say they felt well supported as student entrepreneurs at UConn.
“Through the Werth Institute, CCEI, and the learning community program, everybody at UConn just wants you to succeed,” says Quigley.
“UConn was the perfect ground for us to just dive right in, give us that safety net, where we could explore and figure out new things,” Lacroix says. “It’s given us all these resources and the perfect opportunity to grow and build and prepare us for a great future.”
“I think it’s so imperative to invest in the future of our entrepreneurs both at UConn and beyond,” says Mathieu. “If you are interested in providing support both with time and with resources, I can’t think of a better way than with Get Seeded: Demo Day.”
Detroit's demolition program is still dealing with fallout from an explosive investigation that ended with three companies banished from the program.
Catch up quick: The Inspector General's investigation uncovered how a prominent asbestos removal company in the demolition program skirted environmental rules by setting up shell companies with concealed ownership.
The program has a spottyrecord of following environmental regulations put in place to ensure demolition sites don't endanger residents' health.
Why it matters: More asbestos companies in the program are now under scrutiny for possible ties to the business banished by the inspector general.
The city now expects a brief slow-down in demolitions as companies find new asbestos removal subcontractors.
Driving the news: In a contractor's meeting last week, demolition director LaJuan Counts advised contractors in the program to avoid using Detroit Environmental Solutions and City Abatement Services because they may be affiliated with companies or individuals the inspector general debarred.
Counts didn't describe the potential affiliation.
The other side: "Everything they said about my company is 100% false," David Gillespie, owner of Detroit Environmental Services, tells Axios.
City Abatement Services could not be reached.
The intrigue:The two companies can contact the city inspector general "to prove that case otherwise," Counts said at the contractors meeting.
The inspector general's office declined to comment.
Between the lines: The pool of demolition companies available to tear down vacant buildings keeps shrinking because companies have been suspended, expelled or simply left the program after dealing with too many headaches.
Fewer companies means costs could rise and the pace of demolitions could slow.
The big picture: Detroit claims its demolition program is the nation's largest, having removed more than 22,000 buildings since Mayor Mike Duggan took office in 2014.
The program spent more than $250 million in federal dollars and now relies on proceeds from a $250 million bond issue voters approved in 2020.
LONDON – In a recent turn of events at the Farnborough Air Show, the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that it is granting permission to execute a demonstration flight of “Proteus” – the unmanned VTOL craft designed by Italian aviation giant Leonardo.
As per the announcement by the Leonardo group, the UK MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support’s (DE&S) Future Capability Group (FCG) has awarded a multi-layer four-year contract to Leonardo to deliver the Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) valued at €71 million (£60 million).
Under this contract, the Leonardo RWUAS’ Technology Demonstration Programme (TDP), the “RWUAS CCD Phase 3” which has been funded through the Defence Innovation, will include the flight of an advanced uncrewed VTOL prototype referred by the UK MoD as “Proteus.”
This will be a key element of the Royal Navy Future Maritime Aviation Force (FMAF) vision for Anti-Submarine Warfare support, as stated by the Leonardo press release.
The future of Royal Navy aviation is looking to transform following the signing of a £60m contract for an unmanned helicopter. Leonardo will design and develop a three-tonne demonstrator, which could provide an innovative alternative to existing aircraft.https://t.co/o6NWKkUX1npic.twitter.com/1Bbgh9NTku
Leonardo further stated that this contact award by the MoD supports the strategic goal of the company’s site at Yeovil, Somerset, which is referred as the ‘Home of British Helicopters’. Their strategic goal is to become the UK’s hub for uncrewed military VTOL aircraft.
On the international platform, Leonardo has acclaimed its position at the heart of forward-thinking with its uncrewed research and innovation program. This ranges from advanced air mobility to uncrewed combat air, counter-UAS technologies and uncrewed traffic management.
In recent months, the company has showcased its expertise and capabilities in the UAS segment during major European exercises including Unmanned Warrior, Italian Blade and OCEAN 2020.
With its longstanding relationship with the UK MoD, the company has seen significant investments from the MoD in research of uncrewed military capabilities onshore.
As per this research efforts, the Yeovil facility has witnessed specialized helicopter design and engineering skills, which has made the site and the facility a prime focus for uncrewed systems.
Adding to this, Leonardo has asserted that it has previously conducted various advanced research projects under RWUAS program in phases-1 and 2, and Phase-3 of the program. This will sustain and grow this onshore design and technology development capability by readying a brand-new uncrewed prototype for its maiden flight in near future.
Speaking on this remarkable day, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters (UK), Adam Clarke said that “Uncrewed VTOL aircraft will transform military capability whilst also having application in other market sectors, both in the UK and around the world.”
“This contract represents a major step towards our future in next generation uncrewed military technology and the sustainment of unique engineering skills onshore.”
The Road Ahead
Leonardo has further asserted that, beyond learnings and technology developments through the first two phases of the RWUAS CCD program, Phase 3 will see them create an up to 2-3t demonstration aircraft that will have modularity at its core.
As per the program briefs, the dual-use adaptable RWUAS prototype will be an adapter to deliver a wide range of roles in the military and parapublic domains. The roles of which will extend across intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, maritime specific missions and logistic supply, stated the brief.
The unique high payload and volume capabilities combined with its ability to operate in harsh and extreme conditions in both terrain and weather makes it potentially of interest to wide range of users.
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