Dallas, TX
Dallas College Team Advances to National Community College Innovation Challenge Finals
The American Association of Community Colleges, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, announced that it has selected 12 finalist teams to advance to the June 2024 final round of the Community College Innovation Challenge—and one of the teams is from right here in North Texas.
A team from Dallas College is among the 12 finalists, advancing to the final round for its project “Autonomous Monitoring for Blaze Emergency Response (AMBER).”
An early detection system that can spot fire risks before they get out of hand, AMBER uses infrared cameras and sensors to alert farmers and local authorities. When it’s combined with a third-party drone provider, AMBER can quickly track and mobilize a rapid fire response, preserving agricutural land from potentially devastating destruction.
Teams will attend an ‘Innovation Boot Camp’ in June
Now in its eighth year, the CCIC competition seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial thinking among community college students by challenging them to develop “STEM-based solutions to real-world problems.” It also enables students to “discover and demonstrate their capacity to use STEM to make a difference in the world and translate that knowledge into action.”
Teams consist of two to four students and a faculty or administrator team mentor. Finalists—including the Dallas College team—will attend an Innovation Boot Camp in June and interact with entrepreneurs and experts in business planning, stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, and marketplace dynamics.
The boot camp will culminate in a Student Innovation Poster Session on Capitol Hill with STEM leaders and congressional stakeholders.
A final pitch presentation will determine the first, second, and third-place winning teams.
“Congratulations to the 2024 CCIC finalists,” Walter G. Bumphus, president and CEO of AACC, said in a statement. “Once again, I’m inspired by the incredible level of talent and creativity our community college students showcase through the CCIC. Along with our partners at the National Science Foundation, we know this program is a foundation for future scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers and are very proud to shine the spotlight on these talented future leaders.”
Other finalist teams this year presented solutions for addressing clean water, renewable energy, HIV treatment, healthcare, and assistive technology devices.
The other 11 finalists are:
Coalinga College (California)
Project: Got Calcium: The New Battery Innovation
The Coalinga College team seeks to switch from lithium to calcium batteries to improve cost-effectiveness, safety, and battery performance offering an eco-friendly alternative for energy storage solutions.
Columbus State Community College (Ohio)
Project: Aquavive’s Ripple Effect: Transforming Water Protection
Aquavive is a groundbreaking pollution detection buoy system that offers pristine, potable water accessible to all. Combined with a user-friendly app, Aquavive promotes environmental monitoring and STEM education with the goal of uniting communities to invest in clean water.
County College of Morris (New Jersey)
Project: Using Molecular Solar Thermal Systems as a Solar Alternative
The County College of Morris team proposes to safely and efficiently increase the world’s energy supply through a molecular solar thermal system. This system is non-toxic, cost-efficient, and can capture light energy as heat, and then convert stored heat as energy.
Henry Ford College (Michigan)
Project: Stay Vigilant with Source Alert
Source Alert is an application that connects to internet search engines and word/image processing services to detect the source of information and display it to the user in real-time. Source Alert can serve to raise public awareness to potential misinformation.
Houston Community College, TX
Project: The MaxCap Supercapacitor
MaxCap offers an energy storage technology solution for the electric vehicle market by introducing metal oxide-vertical polyaniline hybrid supercapacitors, which provide greater performance, sustainability, and cost-efficency than current energy storage options.
Hudson County Community College (New Jersey)
Project: S.E.E. (Sound Enabled Emplacement)
S.E.E. is an assistive technology device designed to guide visually impaired individuals to key areas in their home. Through the use of remote, users activate speakers to emit sounds for navigation, which allows for safe, confident, and independent movement.
Itawamba Community College (Mississippi)
Project: ViruShield: Next-Generation Care for HIV Patients
ViruShield is a subcutaneous pump that tests for HIV viral loads and administers doses of medication to an HIV-positive patient to help increase treatment compliance and prevent AIDs.
Perimeter College at Georgia State University (Georgia)
Project: Georgina Care
The Perimeter College team seeks to redesign cervical cancer screening by offering a noninvasive alternative to the speculum. This alternative makes screening more accessible and has the potential to impact cervical cancer mortality rates, especially in low-income countries.
Red Rocks Community College (Colorado)
Project: Bloom Buster
In all 50 states, harmful algae blooms represent an environmental issue that impacts human health and aquatic ecosystems. The Bloom Buster system can effectively remove suspended particles, algae, and other contaminants from lake water leading to water quality improvement.
University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville (Arkansas)
Project: IntelliCline – Smart Ramp
IntelliCline is a smart ramp solution that can adjust slope, height, and temperature to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities. By eliminating common barriers, IntelliCline improves quality of life and creates more inclusive communities.
Virginia Western Community College (Virginia)
Project: Plastic Up Cycling
The Virginia Western team proposes an affordable and sustainable way to reuse plastic through the development of a 3D filament printer, which turns recyclables into reinforced filament. The filament is being used to create specialized materials to rebuild a local school playground.
For updates about the 2024 Innovation Boot Camp and the winners, you can follow @Comm_College or visit www.aaccinnovationchallenge.com.
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DALLAS – Slow-moving thunderstorms brought localized flash flooding to parts of North Texas on Tuesday evening, blocking highways near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and dropping several inches of rain in portions of Tarrant and Parker counties.
Flash Flood Warnings
Local perspective:
Flash flood warnings are in effect for Hopkins, Hunt, Rains and Van Zandt counties until 7:45 p.m.
Flooding was reported along Texas 183 near Valley View Lane south of DFW Airport, where stranded vehicles and water-covered roadways created hazardous travel conditions.
A flash flood warning remained in effect near the airport, although rainfall rates had begun to diminish as the storm weakened.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
The National Weather Service also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Hood County, citing the potential for gusty winds and small hail. Forecasters reported hail ranging from pea-sized to marble-sized in parts of Hood, Parker and Denton counties.
Forecasters attributed the weakening storms in Denton County to an outflow boundary, a meteorological feature that can disrupt thunderstorm development.
The warning area was reduced as the storm weakened near sunset.
LIVE RADAR
What they’re saying:
FOX 4’s Kylie Capps said the storms moved unusually slowly from east to west, allowing heavy rain to accumulate over the same areas for several hours.
Rainfall estimates showed some locations in eastern Parker County and western Tarrant County received nearly 5 inches of rain during a six-hour period, while areas near DFW Airport recorded more than 2 inches.
Elsewhere in North Texas, northern Rains County received nearly 5 inches of rain.
7-Day Forecast
What’s next:
Forecasters expect a quieter overnight period, with only isolated showers lingering into the evening. Additional thunderstorms are possible Wednesday afternoon, though coverage and the threat of severe weather are expected to remain limited.
Temperatures are forecast to reach about 90 degrees Wednesday.
Rain chances are expected to continue through the remainder of the workweek and into the weekend as an upper-level low-pressure system sends multiple disturbances across North Texas.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 4’s Weather Team
Monday was a wild day for the NFL with two blockbuster trades. First was Myles Garrett, who both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were rumored to have interest in.
Cowboys fans never bought into these rumors, knowing that Jerry Jones was unlikely to make such an investment. The Eagles, however, have been known to get aggressive. Thankfully for Dallas fans, they didn’t make the move as the Cleveland Browns sent Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Verse and a package of picks.
Not long after that trade was finalized, the Eagles did wind up making a trade. After months of speculation surrounding A.J. Brown and the New England Patriots, the two sides made it official as Brown was reunited with Mike Vrabel in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
Dallas Cowboys could take the NFC East crown in 2026
The writing has been on the wall all offseason regarding Brown, who has been unhappy with the Eagles for a while. His departure seemed confirmed when they traded up with Dallas in the 2026 NFL draft for USC receiver Makai Lemon.
While Lemon has the tools to be a difference-maker, he won’t be able to perform at the same level as Brown during his rookie season. The Eagles do still have DeVonta Smith at receiver as well as running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
That said, there’s no denying that they’re weaker this season than they were with Brown. Just as important, however, is the fact that general manager Howie Roseman didn’t pull off a shocking move for Garrett, which would have made them the overwhelming favorites in the division.
Cowboys chances hinge on defensive changes
Another reason the Cowboys are confident they can hang with Philadelphia this season is the presence of Christian Parker, who they hired as their defensive coordinator after he spent the past two seasons as the passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach with the Eagles.
Parker brings in a new scheme and plenty of confidence, but more importantly, he has several new weapons at his disposal. Dallas traded for veterans Rashan Gary and Dee Winters, signed Jalen Thompson and Cobie Durant, and selected Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence in the draft.
Those are just some of the moves they made on defense, and they’re banking on that to be enough to help propel them past the team that has won the division the past two seasons.
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