Advanced AirMobility

UNT, industry partners collaborating on future of transportation.

UNT and its partners took a step toward next generation air travel in Octoberwith a successful live test fight of emerging Advanced Air Mobility technologies including future airspace system automation, advanced communications infrastructure, a surrogate electric Vertical Take-Of and Landing aircraft and a simulated air route between Hillwood’s AllianceTexas Flight Test Center in Justin and UNT’s Discovery Park in Denton.As part of the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign Project, the exercise involved the work of 15 entities including NASA as well as Bell Textron, Unmanned Experts Inc.,AAMTEX, Hillwood and the Federal Aviation Administration. UNT’s portion of the research is part of its Center for Integrated Intelligent Mobility Systems (CIIMS).

CHECK OUT UNT’S AMAZING NEW YOUTUBE SERIES, THE LAB, WHERE RESEARCHERS BREAK DOWN HOW THEIR RESEARCH IN SCIENCE, ART AND TECHNOLOGY IS REVOLUTIONIZING OUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

The director of the UNT Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program in Chile, on discovering a new terrestrial bird species, Subantarctic Rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica), along with UNT alumnus Ramiro Crego (’17 Ph.D.) and a team of international collaborators in the Diego Ramírez Archipelago.

BIO-BASED SOLUTIONS

College of Science assistant professor Calvin Henard (above) earned a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the Agile BioFoundry, a consortium of national laboratories committed to accelerating biomanufacturing.

His work will further study developing a methanotroph that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by eating carbon dioxide and methane. The project will create more advanced genetic tools that will reduce the genetic modifcation time of methanotrophs from months to a matter of weeks.

The proposal was one of only six selected nationwide for this inaugural funding opportunity. The research is part of UNT’s BioDiscovery Institute, which includes an interdisciplinary team of researchers focused on developing innovative bio-based solutions.

Sweet Creativity

Research published by Lidan Xu, assistant professor of marketing, and her co-authors in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes shows that just a taste of something sweet can boost your creativity.

It’s not due to a sugar rush to the brain, but is related instead to the positive experiences people tend to associate with a sweet taste.

“We often associate sweet things with a positive and safe environment,” Xu says. “When we are in this environment, we are more willing to take risks.”

Xu says this research is a frst step in understanding how people’s food choices can infuence their thoughts and behavior, which could be valuable knowledge for employers to use in boosting innovation in their companies.

Indusrial Assessment

UNT is helping regional manufacturers bring more efectiveness and sustainability to their operations as the frst university in the North Texas region to join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Center program.The UNT Industrial Assessment Center (UNTIAC) housed in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Discovery Park is funded through a $1.75 million U.S. Department of Energy grant that will be eligible for renewal every fve years. In addition to providing assessments and conducting research in the energy and manufacturing areas, the center also will involve students in conducting its work, training the next generation of engineers and leaders in these areas. UNTIAC complements the existing Center forAgile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing at the university.

Advances in Hearing Loss

Researchers in UNT’s Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in the College of Health and Public Service are working to understand how factors such as emotions,psychological wellbeing, social relationships and stress impact whether adults continue to use hearing aids once they’re purchased. The study by Erin Schafer, Sharon Miller and Boji Lam — supported by a grant from the Hearing Industry Research Consortium — includes 40 participants, between the ages of 50 and 85,who purchased hearing aids from the UNT Speech and Hearing Center.

Separately, Miller took part in the research of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Coverage Analysis,which led the federal agency to update its cochlear implant candidacy criteria and provide coverage for a broader spectrum of hearing loss.