Not for publication
Media invited to tour on-campus interactive experiences during UNC-Chapel Hill Innovation Summit
(Chapel Hill, N.C.—Oct. 7, 2015) – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites media representatives to join Chancellor Carol L. Folt, along with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other thought leaders, as they tour six interactive on-campus experiences, during “Outside In: 2015 Chancellor’s Innovation Summit” on Friday, Oct. 9.
Each installation will highlight a challenge such as preventing the spread of infectious disease, economic dislocation or environmental protection. Assembled and curated by student teams, the experiences tell stories of Carolina innovators seeing a need, responding to it with inventive solutions and making those solutions real.
The projects, which will be showcased in displays made from materials that will later be donated to Habitat for Humanity, include:
- Malaria and Pregnancy: Tiny Parasite, Enormous Impact – The Infectious Diseases Evolution and Epidemiology Lab (IDEEL) Team at Carolina addresses the diversity and scope of one of the world’s most persistent parasites and its impact on the world’s poorest populations. IDEEL is studying malaria and pregnancy, relapsing malaria, drug resistant malaria, the diversity of malaria antigens and drivers of malaria transmission—all areas that will help improve the efficiency of vaccines and play a key role in the goal of completely eradicating the parasite.
- Overburden: Appalachian community battling for their land and livelihood – Professor Chad Stevens, UNC School of Media and Journalism, has spent 10 years in remote Whitesville, West Virginia documenting the community struggle as those for and against mining and the practice of mountaintop removal face each other. Stevens wove himself into the fabric of the community, illuminating the problems and helping forge the way to change and improve lives.
- Next Level: One World, Many Beats – Professor Mark Katz, director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences, and his team travel the world conducting music workshops using hip hop and dance as a universal language between cultures. Next Level works with underserved communities, and since 2013 the group has traveled to Bosnia, Bangladesh, India, Senegal, Serbia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe using hip hop to foster cultural exchange, entrepreneurship and conflict resolution.
- Listening to Oysters – Professor Bernie Herman, chair of the Department of American Studies and George B. Tindall Professor of Southern Studies, is discovering the economic impact of restoring the historic oyster populations of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. He believes that oyster culture and other local foodways possess a powerful means for positive environmental and economic change.
- Unlocking the Universe – Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton, associate professor of Physics and Astronomy, has revealed new findings about the existence of black holes that may challenge our understanding of the origins of the Universe. Her research, taking place on UNC-Chapel Hill campus, and that of her colleagues like Dr. Jack Ng, Kenan Professor of Physics, is part of a legacy of Carolina’s directive to explore space.
- Helping Hands: Not Just a Senior Project – UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Jeff Powell completed a senior project for his biomedical engineering degree that has developed into a non-profit called The Helping Hands Project, which provides free of charge 3-D printed mechanical hands for children with disabled hands. Powell’s hands can be printed on a standard, at-home 3-D printer and cost around twenty dollars, which makes them not only an innovative solution, but also a cost-effective one.
The installations will be open to media from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Polk Place, in the center of Carolina’s campus on Oct. 9. Select University leadership, Summit participants, UNC-Chapel Hill innovators and student teams and Summit curators will be available for interviews during this window:
Friday, Oct. 9
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET
Polk Place
UNC-Chapel Hill Campus
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Media Check-In: Media must check-in at the steps of South building on Polk Place no earlier than 9:45 a.m. MC VanGraafeiland (Cell: 646-345-2802) will be the on-site contact.
Media Parking: A limited number of spaces will be available for press in lots near Polk Place. Contact MC VanGraafeiland (mc.vangraafeiland@unc.edu) by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 to reserve parking.
More about “Outside In” here: https://uncnews.unc.edu/2015/10/05/unc-chapel-hill-invites-thought-leaders-to-innovation-summit/
-Carolina-
Communications and Public Affairs contact: MC VanGraafeiland, (919) 962-7090,