Tech Roundup - October 22, 2021

Fri, 10/22/2021

Welcome to ‘Tech Roundup,’ where we highlight some of the most significant tech news items from Nebraska and the surrounding area. If you have a news item you would like to see in the Roundup, please email neil.rutledge@unl.edu.


 

Local/Regional 

University startup tech can clean polluted groundwater

Nebraska Today

  • As city managers contend with environmental pollution, a university startup company is developing technology to clean contaminated groundwater.
  • AirLift Environmental is co-founded by Steve Comfort, professor of natural resources, and Mark Christenson, a Nebraska alumnus. The idea for the technology began with Christenson’s graduate research on chemical oxidants, which are commonly used to treat pollution.
  • Chemical oxidants are usually injected into the ground, but as groundwater moves, these chemicals disperse quickly — making it hard to treat areas long enough to eliminate pollution.
  • To address the problem, the Nebraska team developed an industrial-sized rod filled with wax and chemical oxidants that is drilled into contaminated areas. Once underground, the wax prevents oxidants from dissolving all at once. The slow-release method includes a plastic tube that bubbles air to the surface, continuously circulating oxidants in a polluted aquifer.

 

Husker ecologists forge international network focused on ag, climate resilience

Nebraska Today

  • Two University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers are playing leadership roles in establishing a “network of networks” that unites some of North America’s most forward-thinking, interdisciplinary collaborations focused on agricultural and climate resilience and food and water security.
  • By sharing data, resources and expertise, affiliated researchers will generate new research paradigms that address the diversity and complexity of farming and agriculture in North America at a larger scale than was previously possible.

 

UNO Expert: Supply Chain Issues Will Make System Better Long-term

Nebraska Public Media

  • A supply chain expert at the University of Nebraska at Omaha thinks the product back-log we’re seeing right now could lead to important fixes and safeguards in the system.
  • Dr. Anh Ta is an assistant professor of supply chain management at UNO and said what we’re seeing now is the result of a perfect storm; a pandemic, production shutdowns, an upcoming holiday and fewer truck drivers. We’ve heard the warnings about the availability of toys and other seasonal products, but Ta said this probably won’t last long.
  • Ta said supply chain logistics can be fragile and more companies are building in safeguards, including more emergency stock available when things get tight.

 

Researchers from Nebraska, Ethiopia rethinking the coffee ‘cherry’

Nebraska Today

  • Researchers from Nebraska and Ethiopia are exploring how the discarded elements of coffee “cherries,” which have tremendous nutritional value and could be an important source of economic gain for coffee farmers, could be utilized. Repurposing coffee cherry processing waste means that some of the micronutrients and trace minerals missing from the diets of many Ethiopians, including vitamin A, iron, zinc and potassium, can be provided to communities in need, perhaps in a new supplement or product.

 

Speaking of Nebraska: Mixing and Matching COVID Boosters Could Boost Immunity

Nebraska Public Media

  • A CHI infectious disease doctor said taking different brand of a COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot does have some benefits.
  • Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan, division chief of infectious disease at CHI Health - Creighton, said Thursday she expects the CDC recommending committee to approve the method. “I think the real benefit is that, let’s say, when you go to a pharmacy or clinic and you want a booster shot, and if they don’t have Pfizer, you don’t have to be turned away," she said. "They could give you a different vaccine, and that boosts your immune system. So, I think that is the right thing to do, mix and match.”

 

Researchers to support $25M contract for strategic deterrence, nuclear threat reduction

Nebraska Today

  • Husker expertise is expected to help support a new $25 million contract between the University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
  • The National Nuclear Security Administration, a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains and enhances the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile while working to reduce the global danger from weapons of mass destruction. The agency is a principal partner of U.S. Strategic Command, which sponsors NSRI as a university-affiliated research center of the Department of Defense.

 

Students develop biosecurity plans for Nebraska cattle producers

Nebraska Today

  • A trio of Huskers recently helped protect Nebraska producers from the threat of disease outbreak in cattle herds.
  • Working with the Great Plains Veterinary and Educational Center near Clay Center, the three University of Nebraska–Lincoln students assisted producers by developing operation-specific, secure beef supply plans to safeguard livestock and the economic health of the operations.
  • The project, which protected nearly 850,000 head of cattle under Secure Beef Supply plans, was completed by students Neligh Andersen, Tatiana Jones and Ashtin Kaumans. In the event of a contagious livestock disease, the plans help producers limit exposure to disease, safely transfer cattle to another location and maintain business continuity.

 

Regional Startup Spotlight

Loophire secures $300,000 funding in seed round

Silicon Prairie News

  • In its first open round of seed funding, Omaha startup Loophire recently secured an investment of $300,000 from Nebraska Angels to support the disruptive recruitment model that Loophire CEO and founder Chris Jones believes will shake up the recruitment industry.
  • “It came to me in the middle of the night,” Loophire CEO and founder Chris Jones said. “I went and wrote on my white board in my office, ‘If you can build consistency, checks and balances, and traditional best practices for recruitment enhanced with technology, you can create a utopia of hiring.’”

 

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