UTA In The News — Friday, February 24, 2023
Student bridge competition
Students at UT Arlington’s College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs redesigned the bridges crossing over Cooper Street to better connect campus and remind drivers they’re cutting through Mav Country, KERAnews.org reported. Patricia Cerda was part of the first place team, Mav Tracers, which drew inspiration from Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park. She said the group’s design was also influenced by UTA’s 2005-2020 Master Plan, which proposed a plaza over Cooper Street. UTA President Jennifer Cowley said, “This bridge is not just about UTA, it’s about our community as a whole and making sure that our community feels like they’re getting a gateway.” The Fort Worth Report also ran the KERA story.
Personalized cancer treatment
George Alexandrakis , a UT Arlington bioengineering professor, is leading a state-funded project that will try to identify what T-cells are detecting in cancerous cells to better craft a personalized cancer immunotherapy, News-Medical, AZO Life Sciences, Targeted News Service, U.S. Fed News and Archynetys reported. He was awarded a $250,000 Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant that will use sensors to see what it is the T-cells are being attracted to when they decide to invade a tumor.
DEI discussion
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office sent out a letter to state agencies and public universities warning them to stop diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the hiring process, calling it illegal, KXAS NBC 5 and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Jandel Crutchfield, a UTA assistant professor of social work and director of DEI in the School of Social Work, said that DEI initiatives have tons of benefits for business, agencies and universities, and she’d be interested in seeing the violations of those policies.
Parking help
Sharareh (Sherri) Kermanshachi, a UT Arlington associate professor of civil engineering, has partnered with Modii (formerly known as Spot Parking), the UTA Department of Parking and Transportation Services and the North Central Texas Council of Governments to secure a $500,148 two-year grant to develop and evaluate a digital map for UTA parking lots that will allow motorists to electronically access available parking spaces, GCN, Globe Newswire and Newswire reported.
Landscape architecture podcast
Diane Jones Allen, UT Arlington program director for landscape architecture, discussed food deserts, transportation access and the American Society of Landscape Architects Climate Action Plan on the Streetsblog USA podcast.