Notre Dame Research

There's just one week left until student entrepreneurs come together for a competition like no other! This year's ACC InVenture Prize will take place on the evening of Wednesday, April 2 at the University of Notre Dame. Register now to attend the event, hosted by Faith Salie: https://lnkd.in/e67RUxD8 Student innovators from ACC universities will pitch inventions and businesses to esteemed judges, including Sri Divakaruni, M. Cole Jones, and Adrienne Watson. Watch a new promotional video below, and register to enjoy the excitement and support these students in person! https://lnkd.in/e67RUxD8

“At the University of Notre Dame, our researchers work to serve our nation in countless ways. They are developing innovations like semiconductor chips that are the backbone of our economy. They’re protecting us from emerging infectious diseases and formulating the next generation of wireless technology. They’re ensuring we have artificial intelligence that is safe and trustworthy. They are bringing people together and informing public debates. In these and other ways, they live out our mission to be a ‘powerful means for doing good in this country.’ And the strong partnership we’ve always had with the federal government has been key to this.” —Jeff Rhoads, Vice President for Research

??? With an eye toward understanding speed and accuracy, Matthew Robison (‘13) studies the links between a steady gaze and performance. Robison, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, leads the Controlled Attention and Memory (CAM) Lab,?which includes over a dozen precision instruments for tracking eye movement and pupil dilation. These devices — which capture images of the eyes every four milliseconds — recorded the gazes of nearly 400 participants who performed a series of mentally demanding tasks. The superior performers were those with a “quiet eye” — the ability to hold a steady gaze in the moments just before being called upon to complete a task. This phenomenon sparked another research inquiry for Robison: Would it be possible to train individuals to perform better by helping them develop a steadier gaze? Funding from the Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global) will help Robison make “the benefits of 'quiet eye' available to anyone who wants to learn them.” Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eGUSJt4W

Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. A team from the University of Notre Dame, Massachusetts General Hospital and the The National Institutes of Health has leveraged decades of cancer research to study tuberculosis-affected lung tissue and improve treatment. ?? ?? ?? On this #WorldTBDay, learn more about the role that cancer therapies can play in combating tuberculosis. This connection has been at the forefront of Meenal Datta's research for years, driving discoveries into “pathophysiological similarities” between the diseases, including dysfunctional blood vessels and limited drug delivery. Datta is an assistant professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame, and is affiliated with the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health, Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame, Harper Cancer Research Institute, Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, Notre Dame Nanoscience & Technology (NDnano), and the Warren Center for Drug Discovery. https://lnkd.in/gTYCXjAq

Although seas and oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, most of the world turns to smaller freshwater sources for everyday needs — including drinking, washing, and irrigation. In freshwater, even relatively small temperature shifts can lead to blooms of toxic algae, contamination from disease-carrying pathogens, a rise in invasive species, and more. As we prepare for #WorldWaterDay, Notre Dame Research celebrates innovative efforts to predict and control these ecosystem changes. A cutting-edge capability at the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility (ND-LEEF) allows scientists to manipulate water temperatures while closely simulating natural conditions. This system, known as ND-LEEF-LETS, contains a heat pump as a key component, which uses just one sixth of the energy consumed by more conventional heating methods. ND-LEEF-LETS is part of the University's Environmental Change Initiative. Learn more about the new discoveries this work can enable:? https://lnkd.in/eka75np9

Congratulations to six innovators from the University of Notre Dame, who are featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2025! Seniors Zachary Brown '25 and Liam Redmond '25 earned places in the “Youngest” and “Transportation & Mobility” categories for co-founding Yelo, an innovative social ride network that aims to revolutionize how students connect and travel. Alumnus Royce Branning ‘18 and his co-founder Oliver Hill were also named to this year's list. Their app, Clearspace, intercepts opens of social media apps and requires users to do something — breathing exercises, pushups, or squats, for example — to continue. Kevin Mekulu, MS ‘18, was featured in the healthcare category for his innovative technology DementiAnalytics, which utilizes smart devices and is capable of generating a cognitive assessment of a patient in under five minutes, based on speech, eye tracking, and vitals. A commitment to justice, healing, and peace drives Krystal McLeod, JD ‘21, who was included in the education category for her work as director of New York University’s Center on Violence and Recovery. Brandon Wimbush ‘19 was included in the sports category for his role in co-founding MOGL, a marketplace that helps businesses connect with college athletes to form name, image, and likeness (NIL) marketing deals. Learn more about the honorees: https://lnkd.in/er3-bfYX

Our inaugural Global Health Day Symposium is coming on Friday, March 28, in Jordan Hall. We?invite you to an afternoon of presentations, dialog, research, and imagery focused on advocating for health?as a fundamental right?in an evolving global landscape. If you are a leading investigator, student, community member, or simply curious to learn more about the health challenges disproportionately affecting the poor and marginalized, we hope you can join us. For registration and programming details, please visit our website:?https://lnkd.in/gr-sCwz7 Notre Dame Research University of Notre Dame - Keough School of Global Affairs University of Notre Dame - College of Science

Voting is close! Will you help Shahriar Mobashery and his Notre Dame Research team advance to the Sweet 16 of #STATMadness? Create an account and cast your vote (you can vote up to 5 times) and help us bring this message of hope for #MRSA treatment. https://lnkd.in/e5SDKQKC

Fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks bring users more rapid upload and download speeds, lower latency, and greater reliability on their mobile devices. But steep energy costs have accompanied 5G's rollout. In response, researchers at the University of Notre Dame are producing an antenna that can deliver 5G performance while using one-tenth of the energy of current systems. “Our initial idea was simple: What if we could design similar capabilities into just one very wideband antenna by letting the physics of materials do the work normally done by many power-hungry chips?” said team lead Jonathan Chisum, an associate professor in the University of Notre Dame, Department of Electrical Engineering and an affiliate of Notre Dame's Wireless Institute. Funding from the U.S. Army makes this innovation possible, and industry partnerships will transition this solution to field settings. Learn about the small, lightweight “5G-on-the-move” solution: https://lnkd.in/eFdXaQ6G Photos: Angelic Rose Hubert

“Notre Dame is a uniquely mission-driven place. But that doesn't mean our aspirations or innovations should be small.” —Toni Akintola A junior at the University of Notre Dame, Akintola will compete against the best student entrepreneurs in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in pursuit of the ACC InVenture Prize. The competition will take place on Notre Dame's campus on April 2, and tickets can be reserved here: https://lnkd.in/e67RUxD8 At the event, Akintola will pitch èxodo, a platform that helps connect migrant workers, blue-collar workers, and refugees to job opportunities that will allow them to improve life for themselves and their families. He began work on èxodo during his second year at Notre Dame alongside Carlos Espinoza Banegas, a 2022 graduate of the University of Notre Dame ESTEEM Graduate Program. Learn about the journey to come for entrepreneurship at Notre Dame. https://lnkd.in/emuN27Tc