Research

Bio-Adhesive Alliance of Greensboro topped the field of 19 finalists to win the $25,000 grand prize of the Charlotte Venture Challenge.
The company, a spinout from N.C. A&T University, has developed an innovative technology to produce liquid asphalt from pig manure.
“This technology provides a sustainable and cost-effective solution to swine manure treatment while reducing pavement construction and maintenance cost,” said company officials.

Ying Zhu, a doctoral student in computing and information systems in the College of Computing and Informatics, will defend “Social and Location-based Routing in Delay Tolerant Networks” at 2 p.m., Thursday, May 16, in Woodward Hall, Room 338. Yu Wang is the dissertation advisor.

Greg Wiggan, a faculty member in the College of Education, had the co-authored work “Following the Northern Star: Caribbean Identities and Education in North American Schools” released by Nova Publishers.

Jonathan Walz, assistant professor of anthropology at Rollins College, will speak on “Africa and the Indian Ocean: A Critical (Re)View and New Archaeological Perspective from Northeastern Tanzania” at 5 p.m., Monday, April 22, in the Denny Building, Room 200. This talk is part of the 2013 Spring Colloquium on African Civilization sponsored by the Africana Studies Department.
In an illustrated presentation, Walz will showcase historical research that is opening up insights on how Africans shaped ancient globalization in the Indian Ocean.

Seven-acre Van Landingham Glen is one of the largest public rhododendron gardens in the Southeastern United States, and it showcases native plants from around the Carolinas, too. Prominent Charlotte stockbroker and philanthropist Ralph Van Landingham provided the financial support for the glen, which was dedicated in his honor on Sunday, April 27, 1966.

More than 50 interactive, hands-on activities and displays will be featured during the UNC Charlotte Science and Technology Expo, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, April 21, on the plaza near the Student Union.
This free, public event will offer something of interest for virtually every member of the family, according to expo organizers.
Examples of expo activities include:

Nineteen finalists for the Charlotte Venture Challenge (CVC) have been selected from among 95 entries, and one start-up company will receive the $25,000 grand prize as the winner of the 12th annual event on Wednesday, May 1. Category winners will share $50,000 in prize awards funded by the Hauser Family Fund.

Presenters from Singapore, Macao, Nigeria, Egypt and Poland will join a Microsoft executive at the third annual Global Research Conference set for Friday, April 26, in the Barnhardt Student Activity Center.

As the world seeks ways to reduce energy costs and speed access to alternative energy solutions, UNC Charlotte researcher Deborah Strumsky is leading a team that will use modeling to forecast optimal investments for the array of solar energy technologies that are emerging.

Yi Shen, a doctoral student in computing and information systems in the College of Computing and Informatics, will defend “Structural Learning for Large Scale Image Classification” at 11 a.m., Friday, April 12, in Woodward Hall, Room 155. Jianping Fan is the dissertation advisor.