UNLV Engineering team's robot shaking hands with student

UNLV Newsmakers 2022: November

A roundup of students and faculty whose innovation and expertise made news headlines.

A robot built by UNLV College of Engineering students and faculty shakes hands with team member Son Tran during a test run ahead of November's ANA Avatar XPRIZE, a worldwide competition to create a humanoid robot. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV)

November has come and gone in a flash, but UNLV students and faculty delivered some amazing accomplishments that will long be remembered and have left us with much to be thankful for.  

A UNLV College of Engineering team showed Rebel spirit at an international robotics competition, while Office of Economic Development staff opened a new satellite office to assist underrepresented community members with their entrepreneurial dreams. Faculty experts offered hopeful insight on the region’s and nation’s economic outlook, while university scientists helped explain the marvels of outer space. And the world helped UNLV celebrate and remember the bright light of a late campus icon.

For these stories and more, check out the latest installment of UNLV Newsmakers.

Dollars and Sense

  • Amanda Belarmino, a hospitality professor and consumer behavior expert, weighed in on the influence of inflation on holiday shopping, travel, dining out, tipping, and gift-giving. She also chatted with media outlets about plans for a new hotel at the Town Square shopping center, as well as announcements that the Formula One race and NCAA Men’s Final Four will be coming to Las Vegas.

    CNBC, News Nation, Fox 5 Vegas (twice) (thrice) (four times), KLAS-TV: 8 News Now, Travel Weekly, Las Vegas Review-Journal
     
  • The Lee Business School’s Center for Business and Economic Research released its annual fall Outlook report, which forecast only a mild slowdown for Southern Nevada’s economy over the next 6-12 months despite concerns about a looming recession. CBER director Andrew Woods and research director Stephen Miller lent insight on jobs, inflation, tourism, and holiday season predictions.

    Vegas Inc, Finnish Broadcasting Company, KSNV-TV: News 3, KVVU-TV: Fox 5 Vegas, KLAS-TV: 8 News Now, Las Vegas Review-Journal (twice) (thrice) (four times), Nevada Independent, KNPR, Casino.org
     
  • On the gaming side, historian David G. Schwartz chimed in on the rise in casino profits despite inflation. But gaming odds and statistics expert Ashok Singh warned that the current economic situation could impact some gamblers by resulting in a huge chunk being taken out of potential Powerball winnings.

    Associated Press, KSNV-TV: News 3, Legit Gambling, KSNV-TV: News 3

Earth and Space

  • Astrophysicist Jason Steffen explained the significance of NASA’s Artemis launch to the Space Race via Gizmodo, Science Times, and KSNV-TV: News 3. He also spoke to USA Today (twice) about the flat-earth conspiracy theory.
     
  • Economic geologist Simon Jowitt and CBER director Andrew Woods were featured in a KVVU-TV: Fox 5 Vegas piece on lithium mining and Nevada’s role in America’s energy future. Jowitt also spoke to Mongabay about the potential for LED lights to contribute to carbon reductions, and with Newsweek about carbon and fossil fuels.
     
  • Eos interviewed geoscientist Arya Udry about Martian meteorites.
     
  • Interesting Engineering covered UNLV College of Science researchers’ discovery of a rare mineral that comes directly from Earth's lower mantle.

University Business

  • A team of UNLV engineering students and faculty placed 11th in the $10 million ANA Avatar XPRIZE, a global challenge that draws top tech talent to create a humanoid robot that pairs with a human counterpart through wearable technology controlled in real-time: Las Vegas Review-Journal and KLAS-TV: 8 News Now
     
  • KLAS-TV: 8 News Now and the Las Vegas Review-Journal highlighted UNLV’s Military & Veteran Services Center, which just celebrated 10 years.
     
  • President Keith E. Whitfield described how UNLV is transforming the communities that surround and define it on an episode of Higher Digital.
     
  • Fortune penned a piece for prospective UNLV School of Nursing students on the best ways to score a spot in the online master’s program.
     
  • The Office of Economic Development launched an igniter to help Historic Westside residents follow their entrepreneurial dreams, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KNPR.

General Roundup

  • UNLV College of Fine Arts instructor Clarence Gilyard passed away at age 66. The beloved actor was known for roles in Die Hard, Top Gun, Walker, Texas Ranger and many more: AP, Today, CBS News, People, CNN
  • Two UNLV School of Nursing professors spoke to media outlets about maternal health. Jennifer Vanderlaan did a live interview with KNX News Radio about the rise in home births, and nurse midwife Kate Woeber spoke to Forbes about C-section recovery.
  • As much as people like to hope the pandemic is over, COVID-19 (and the flu, and RSV) are still circulating in the community. Public Health professor Brian Labus spoke with KNPR, KVVU-TV, Verywell Health, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal
  • Is remote work to blame for lower productivity? Communication studies professor Rebecca Rice chimed in via the Society for Human Resource Management.
  • UNLV Immigration Clinic director Michael Kagan talked to USA Today and El Espectador about the impact of immigration reform on the country’s food supply. He also talked to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education about a Dreamers deal for undocumented students.
  • BBC interviewed computer scientist and cybersecurity expert Yoohwan Kim for a story about the impact of hacking on small firms.
  • Marketing professor Marla Royne Stafford’s comments about Olympic mascots were featured in the Wall Street Journal.
  • Mashable tapped communication studies professor Natalie Pennington for a piece on friendship “levels.”
  • Anthony Cabot, a gaming law fellow with the William S. Boyd School of Law, offered comments for a New York Times story about a casino executive.
  • A Best Life Online story featuring psychology professor Brenna Renn’s comments on activities to slow cognitive decline was picked up by Yahoo. She also talked to Forbes about a new platform to help find mental health providers.
  • Neuroscientist Dustin Hines chatted with Healthline about Alzheimer’s risk.

Topics:

newsmakers

Campus Units:

William F. Harrah College of Hospitality,  Lee Business School,  Department of Economics,  Department of History,  College of Sciences,  Department of Physics and Astronomy,  Department of Geoscience,  Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering,  Department of Mechanical Engineering,  Military and Veterans Services,  School of Nursing,  Office of Economic Development,  College of Fine Arts,  Department of Theatre,  Greenspun College of Urban Affairs,  Department of Communication Studies,  William S. Boyd School of Law,  Department of Computer Science,  Department of Marketing and International Business,  Department of Psychology,  College of Liberal Arts

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