University of Arkansas at Little Rock

A team of graduate students who work for the Institute for Economic Advancement in the UALR College of Business is one of five teams in the country selected by Microsoft this spring to compete in the company’s Imagine Cup Software Development Initiative National Finals next month.

Mentored by Dr. James Parrish, assistant professor of management information systems, the Imagine Cup team, Team MedRx, includes December MBA graduate Jenish Pahari, originally from Kathmandu, Nepal, before coming to UALR from Indian Head, Md.; and three students in the master of science in computer science program Akheel Ahmed of Little Rock, Travis Bennett of Calico Rock, and Mujeeb Abdul of Hyderabad, India, who graduated in December.

Team MedRx’s submission is the Collaborative Unified Research Enhancement Database (CURED), which leverages the power and scalability of cloud computing to provide a platform that will provide medical researchers unprecedented access to research datasets from around the globe.

Cloud computing is the style of computing in which functionality is provided as a service over the Internet or an internal/external, location-transparent, centralized facility. Cloud computing attempts to provide access to the infrastructure as a utility service, resulting in decreased cost and increased agility. It may represent the biggest paradigm shift in the delivery architecture of information services since the invention of time-sharing or the introduction of the client/server network.

“By harnessing the power of global collaboration and combined data sets, CURED will literally change the face of medical research and findings around the world through the use of a technologically-supported brain trust never before tapped,” Parrish said.

Dr. Janet Bailey, associate professor of management information systems, is also helping prepare the team for the U.S. finals round of the competition.

Parrish and Bailey coached eight College of Business teams in the Imagine Cup semi-finals last year — breaking the previous record of teams for a university in the semi-finals. It was the first year for UALR to compete in the worldwide contest.

In 2009, two of the College of Business teams qualified for spots in the national competition. The team of graduate management information systems students won second runner-up and was selected among five teams in the world to compete for the H.E. Susan Mubarak Special Award at the Software Design Initiative Finals in Cairo, Egypt.

“It is our most sincere hope that the lessons we learned during last year’s competition will help us reach even greater levels of success this year,” Parrish added.

Team MedRx joins two other UALR teams to compete in the U.S. Finals in Washington D.C., in April. The Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology had two teams, CDSS-AI – Artificial Intelligence-based Complex Decision Support System and Mogollar, are among the five teams selected as Software Design U.S. Fall Finalists.

Now in its eighth year, the Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s largest competition attracting more than 200,000 students from more than 100 countries. Contests are conducted in categories including Software Design, Game Design, and Web Design.

The Institute for Economic Advancement in the UALR College of Business will host the Arkansas Economic Developers 2010 Spring Conference with a theme of “Red Flags in Industry” March 18 and 19 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development on the UALR campus.

Recognizing the importance of the grassroots level efforts in industrial development, Arkansas Economic Developers in partnership with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Institute for Economic Advancement, and Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions will present the conference to focus on the early warning signals of observation, research, conversation, rumor, etc. cueing when to pay attention to the needs of existing employers.

“The importance of our existing companies cannot be underestimated,” said Maria Haley, director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “It’s vital to know the signs of a company that needs help. Early assistance can change the outcome for a company facing layoffs or closure, to one that is healthy and expanding.”

Community leaders concerned about business closures and layoffs or worried that other businesses are in jeopardy and community income will be significantly eroded will be interested in this conference. Anyone involved in economic development is invited to attend.

Haley encourages local leaders to make time for this event. “The knowledge gained will allow you to make sure your existing businesses have the tools needed to remain and expand in your community.”

Managed by Eric P. Canada of Blane, Canada Ltd., a workshop and field work will give participants the opportunity to explore the critical warning drivers as well as individual red flag issues. Canada is a nationally recognized authority on business retention and existing business strategy and has built the largest active laboratory of business retention research in North America. He actively works with more than 150 economic development organizations in 35 states and 32 large regional development organizations on all aspects of business retention program design, implementation, and problem solving.

The conference fee is $100. To register, contact Susie Marks at the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce at 501-210-4206, or go to aed-arkansas.org.

The second Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series videoconference, coordinated by the Institute for Economic Advancement (IEA) in UALR’s College of Business, will focus on Arkansas’ infrastructure March 17.

With about 150 people attending the videoconference from the host location at the Acxiom headquarters in Little Rock, a panel of speakers will begin at 7 a.m. addressing some infrastructure issues, followed by local discussion sessions to conclude by 9:15 a.m. Topics will include:

• What are the goals and priorities for maintaining and building highways and bridges in Arkansas? How do we pay for it?
• What is the status of federal stimulus spending (ARRA) on Arkansas infrastructure projects?
• How can we improve high-tech infrastructure around the state? What are our options for improving high-speed internet connectivity?

Panel participants include Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan and a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance (chair, New Revenue Subcommittee); Michelle Stockman, director of the Broadband Entrepreneurship Program at Arkansas Capital and vice president of Connect Arkansas; and Keesa Smith, representing the Gov. Beebe’s Office of Recovery.

The program will also include a brief economic update report by Michael Pakko, state economic forecaster at IEA, and Kathy Deck with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

An important aspect of the event is public participation, according to IEA Director Jim Youngquist. After the panel discussion, individual events at universities around the state will include time for attendees to participate in conversations about unique local and regional aspects of the issues. Feedback from participants at these local discussions will be summarized on the Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast website.

The Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series held once in the fall and spring is designed to encourage economic development in the state through the dissemination of high quality information and analysis to business, community, and government leaders. The event links people across Arkansas via videoconferencing technology and provides an interactive setting for learning about the latest economic trends that affect businesses in Arkansas. This opportunity is the result of collaboration among higher education institutions in Arkansas and an understanding that Arkansas citizens must leverage their resources to compete successfully in the global economy.

The series coordinated by UALR’s IEA is in cooperation with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University, the Economic Research and Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and Southern Arkansas University. The series is sponsored by Arkansas Business.

Register online for any of the breakfast series locations held at the host site in Little Rock and participating campuses. For more information, contact Neva Wayman at IEA at (501) 569-8551 or nfwayman@ualr.edu

Professional Edge Series – Dress for Success

Workshop – Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (12:30pm to 2:30pm)

• 1 hour presentation on appropriate attire in the workplace
• 55% of another person’s perception of you is based on how you look!

*All workshops will take place in the Reynolds Building Atrium/Lobby

*Please RSVP for the workshops by Monday, March 15, 2010 in Room 205 or you can email Brian Henderson:bwhenderson@ualr.edu or call 501.569.3359.

Presented by:

Dress for Success

The UALR International Business Student Association will present a Visa and Immigration Panel Discussion on issues of interest for UALR International Students from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 in the Reynolds College of Business room 103. A panel of visa and immigration experts will offer their insights and advice on student visas, OPT, visas for after graduation work experience, working visas, and immigration visas. Please RSVP to Steve Edison at swedison@ualr.edu

The application deadline for 2010-2011 is March 1, 2010. A complete application packet must be turned into the Dean’s Office, Reynolds Busines Center (RBUS), Suite 304. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact Patrice Sims at (501) 569-3048.

If you are applying for a scholarship that lists financial need as part of the criteria, you must apply for federal student aid by March 1, 2010. Federal student aid applications are available at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. The UALR school code is 001101.
Applications must be typed, signed, and dated.

Scholarship application:Scholarship Application