@theU

Stephen C. Jabobsen, engineer, roboticist and biomedical pioneer passed away at 75.

Jacobsen, Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of Utah, was at the forefront of robotic and biomedical device design.

He was the biomechanical engineer behind a number of firsts in medicine: The first artificial heart implanted in a human, the first artificial wearable kidney and the Utah Arm, which allowed amputees to precisely control an artificial arm with tiny twitches of a chest or shoulder muscle.

Like Tony Stark, the inventor-entrepreneur in “Iron Man,” Jacobsen often took on whimsical design challenges just for the fun of it. His most successful company, Sarcos (now Raytheon-Sarcos), founded in 1983, built mechanized dinosaurs for the Universal Orlando “Jurassic Park” ride and the animatronic pirates for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disney theme parks. His company was also commissioned by Wet Design to engineer the robotic controllers for the spectacular Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas.

Click here to read more about Jacobsen and his accomplishments.

It took him 25 hours and 53 minutes, but after running for more than a day straight, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law Dean Bob Adler successfully completed the Zion 100 ultramarathon in Southern Utah in support of student scholarships and a goal to increase bar passage and employment rates for graduating law students.

Adler’s story was chronicled in a previous @TheU article.

Adler has also received media attention from U.S. News & World Report, Trail Runner magazine, the National Law Journal, the Deseret News and other local news outlets.

Adler chronicled his training for a blog on the S.J. Quinney website.

We are pleased to update the campus on the efforts in response to the town hall meeting, An Open Dialogue on Racial Climate, that took place on Nov. 20, 2015.

On Dec. 10, 2015, three weeks after that town hall meeting, we, together with Kathryn Bond Stockton, associate vice president for Equity and Diversity, composed the following list of 13 immediate responses to the Open Dialogue on Racial Climate. Because we pledged to foster swift and meaningful change in the wake of this dialogue, we proposed immediate actions that promise impact. Next, we sought advice and feedback from our students. Stockton met with the university’s many student groups, who work on issues of social justice, to gather their responses to these strategies for change. She has completed this process and she and Senior Vice President Ruth Watkins have just reported back to interested students in a town hall sponsored by ASUU on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, as part of the Conference on Diverse Excellence organized by ASUU student leaders.

In addition, the list of initiatives has been discussed with many other campus groups including, but not limited to, the Council of Academic Deans, the Academic Senate and the President’s Cabinet.

Read the full story and list of the 13 initiatives here.

Out of more than 400 submissions, a university committee has narrowed the field to nine top designs. Now it is up to you to choose the next UCard design.

Click here to see the top designs and vote for your favorite. You can vote once a day through Wednesday, April 27, 2016.

In addition to seeing their design on the UCard, the first-place winner will also receive an iPad. The second-place winner will receive a $200 gift card from the Campus Store and the third-place winner will receive a $100 Campus Store gift card.

The winner will be notified Friday, April 29, 2016.

Do you enjoy taking Selfies? Are you a #selfiepro? Participate in the “U Selfie Contest” and win exciting prizes. Snap a selfie at your favorite U location and get the chance to win $25 worth movie/event tickets.

Sign up by clicking this link and follow the instructions. Four winners will be chosen through a lucky draw.

Contest Deadline: May 13, 2016.

The contest is being conducted as part of a research study at the David Eccles School of Business.

Free spots available now for the June 10-11 “Word as Gesture” event at the Marriott Library. Explore expressively painted pages and discover the power of the calligraphic stroke to create unusual compositional elements. Using sumi and walnut ink, gesso and watercolor, participants fill book spreads with layers of color, producing surprising results. Louona Tanner introduces several basic and useful alphabets and gives participants the license to use unexpected tools to dramatically twist and turn letter forms. Watch the letters come alive and reveal the beauty of their repetition and form, and then bind the completed sheets into a book.

This course is open to all levels from accomplished calligraphers to first-time painters and binders. Join us for a combination of color, brush marks, personal style and fun.

Free spots are limited; please apply here. The application deadline is April 27, 2016.

The event will go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 10-11 in the Marriott Library’s Book Arts Studio.

Get the skills you need to set yourself apart in today’s job market in this hands-on program. Learn how to craft a personal value proposition and strategically answer interview questions. Practice professional nonverbal skills that will leave a lasting impression and earn you the top of the advertised salary range.

Register now for Career Essentials: Business Fundamentals For the Emerging Professional.

The program runs from May 23-27 from 5-9 p.m. and is $749 per person. For more information, visit careeressentialsutah.com.

Campus Recreation Services is hiring Personal Trainers to meet the demands of our patrons.

If you are interested in working with us in the Eccles Student Life Center, please send your resume to Cflatley@crs.utah.edu. Qualifications: Must be a current student, have PT Certification and have prior experience.

Seeking participants to help us learn more about links between risk for suicide and the ways that partners in committed relationships couples have conversations about their relationships and what they find meaningful in life.

Eligible participants:

• Are in a committed relationship of at least one year in duration where one or both partners are in the Utah Army National Guard
• Currently living together and having done so for the past six months
• Live within 25 miles of the University of Utah
• Are at least 18 years old
• Have reliable internet access at home
• Speak fluent English

Additionally, both you and your partner must be willing to participate in the study for either of you to be eligible.

Participation requires a 2.5 hour meeting in the BEHS building on the university’s main campus, 2.5 hours of data collection at home and brief assessments six and 12 months later.

You will be asked to have several conversations with your spouse and to complete several questionnaires while you wear physiological equipment to monitor your breathing, heart rate and sweat gland activation. Study procedures will be video and audio recorded.

Compensation will be offered. The study is sponsored by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Please contact us at closelab.utah@gmail.com or at 801-251-6928, to receive more detailed information about the study and to determine your eligibility. Make sure to tell us the best way to get in touch with you and also whether it is OK for us to leave a message for you if you’d like for us to contact you by phone.

With tax season wrapping up, please be cautious of scammers targeting university students.

The Salt Lake City Field Office of the FBI is again warning students to be on alert for a phone scam that spoofs the FBI’s phone number on the victim’s caller ID. A similar warning went out to students a couple of months ago about these same phone scammers targeting University of Utah students.

The FBI has received multiple calls from U students and their parents complaining of someone who claims to be representing the U.S. government or IRS and threatens to arrest them if they fail to pay thousands of dollars.

There have been reports of similar scams at universities in other states and in each case, the threats are associated with false claims ranging from money owed for student loans to delinquent taxes and overdue parking tickets.

It is not uncommon for scammers to obtain personal information such as names, personal cellphone numbers and emails from social media sites. Students should know that the FBI will not call private citizens requesting money. The caller will likely address you by name, but do not give out personal information to any unknown callers.

The number the scammers are using is masked as the number for a local FBI office in Utah. In some cases, the fraudsters will direct students online, claiming they can “verify” the caller ID phone number in an attempt to keep victims on the phone and legitimize the scam.

If you receive a call that seems suspicious, you should disconnect immediately and notify your local law enforcement.

Don’t let yourself fall prey to the scammers. If you receive these calls, do not follow the caller’s instructions. Rather, you should:

• Notify your banking institutions.
• Contact the three major credit bureaus and request an alert be put on your file.
• Contact local law enforcement agencies if you feel you are in immediate danger.
• File a complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

Student Media at the University of Utah has two primary missions: First, to engage, provoke, inspire and connect campus by telling the compelling stories of the University of Utah community; and second, to provide a hands-on experiential learning environment in media where students can put into practice skills and ideas from the classroom.

The council oversees a student fee that helps support the Student Media department, and runs The Daily Utah Chronicle, K-UTE, DigitalU, University Media Sales and Student Media Marketing. By becoming a student member of the Student Media Council, students can play an active role in helping administer this student fee. Student voices are also vital in helping establish how Student Media grows and develops and best serves the campus community. The council is currently looking to fill multiple vacant student position.

To apply and for more information, click here.

The deadline is April 25 by 5 p.m.