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UVU's New Engineering Dean Arrived on Day One to Find the Future Already Under Construction

UVU's New Engineering Dean Arrived on Day One to Find the Future Already Under Construction

Spencer Magleby spent 30+ years at BYU applying folding paper techniques into spacecraft. Now he leads UVU's Smith College of Engineering and Technology.

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At StartFest, Traeger's CEO Argues Utah's Soul Is Its Real Competitive Edge in the AI Era

At StartFest, Traeger's CEO Argues Utah's Soul Is Its Real Competitive Edge in the AI Era

Twelve hours after Utah Republican voters ended the political career of the most powerful dealmaker in the state, a man Clint Betts publicly named as a likely future gubernatorial candidate walked onto the StartFest stage at 8:45am and made the case that Utah's partnership between business and government is its single greatest asset in the age of AI.

The packed house at Mountain America Event Center in Draper knew what had happened the night before. Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Salt Lake City-based Traeger, addressed the future anyway.

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At UVU's HITLAB Innovation World Cup, a Maternal Health Startup Took Top Honors

At UVU's HITLAB Innovation World Cup, a Maternal Health Startup Took Top Honors

HITLAB's Innovation World Cup brought 1,277 applicants and a $96K prize pool to Utah Valley University. A retired Army officer's maternal health startup won the pitch competition. A team of builders took home the hackathon bounty.

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Utah's Chief Privacy Officer Wants Your Digital Identity to Actually Be Yours

Utah's Chief Privacy Officer Wants Your Digital Identity to Actually Be Yours

Christopher Bramwell stayed on the floor of Utah Valley University's HITLAB Healthcare Innovation World Cup and Hackathon until 9:30 p.m. the night before final pitches, fielding questions from teams who'd been building since the day before. Bramwell is Utah's Chief Privacy Officer and Director of the Office of Data Privacy, and he wasn't there for a photo op.

"It would be the hackathon, specifically the two bounties we put forward are related to state endorsed digital identity and AI agents, and then another one on AI orchestration to create data governance models," Bramwell said. "So that's why we're here."

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At UVU, Hackers Built AI Tools for Utah's Hardest Problems. The State Plans to Use Them

At UVU, Hackers Built AI Tools for Utah's Hardest Problems. The State Plans to Use Them

The teams had 24 hours. By the time the judges gathered Wednesday afternoon in the new Smith Engineering Building at Utah Valley University, they had built working software — tools to manage government data rules, verify identity without exposing personal information, and reach new mothers struggling with postpartum depression.

The HITLAB x UVU World Cup Innovation Pitchday and Hackathon ran June 17–18, 2026, drawing more than 200 people to UVU's campus over two days. Teams competed for a share of $96,000 in prizes. Industry representatives from Dell, Salesforce, Google, Motorola, and Goldman Sachs were in the room. So was Utah's Chief Privacy Officer — and he didn't leave early.

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UVU Research Finds Deepfakes Shift Voter Opinion as Effectively as Real Media

UVU Research Finds Deepfakes Shift Voter Opinion as Effectively as Real Media

A video surfaces on your social media feed the day before an election. A candidate appears to confess something damning. It looks real. It sounds real. According to new research from Utah Valley University, there is roughly an 84% chance you would believe it, even if you consider yourself well-informed about artificial intelligence.

With Utah's competitive primary election set for June 23, UVU's Emerging Tech Policy Lab (EMTECH) and the Gary R. Herbert Institute for Public Policy released findings Thursday from a follow-up study on AI-generated deepfakes and their potential to influence elections. The conclusions were stark: deepfakes change voter opinion just as effectively as authentic media, no demographic group can reliably detect them, and — perhaps most unsettling — people who believe they can spot a deepfake are the most likely to be fooled.

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47G Brings Defense, Capital, and Startups Together to Close America's Critical Minerals Gap

47G Brings Defense, Capital, and Startups Together to Close America's Critical Minerals Gap

On June 17, 2026, the 47G Institute hosted Critical Ventures: Investing in National Security Materials at the Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Building at the University of Utah. The full-day event drew 195 attendees and brought together investors, defense researchers, startup founders, and policy leaders from organizations including DARPA, JPMorgan, the World Resources Institute, the Utah Mining Association, Idaho National Laboratory, Park City Angels, and the University of Utah. Five companies presented at the event: Universal Technical Resource Services, Quantum Critical Metals, Grid Metals, Critical Minerals Americas, and Defense Metals — a cross-section of the domestic critical minerals sector ranging from processing technology to junior exploration.

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$96K in Prizes Up for Grabs at HITLAB x UVU Hackathon

$96K in Prizes Up for Grabs at HITLAB x UVU Hackathon

The HITLAB World Cup Innovation Pitchday and Hackathon, a two-day competition, takes place June 17–18 at the new Smith Engineering Building at Utah Valley University.

Participants compete for a share of $96,000 in prizes and awards. Every in-person attendee is automatically entered to win an NVIDIA-powered laptop presented by Dell. Organizers have added last-minute challenge bounties ahead of the event, expanding the prize pool opportunities.

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GoForth Foundation Uses AI to Put Every Sacred Place on Earth Online

GoForth Foundation Uses AI to Put Every Sacred Place on Earth Online

GoForth Foundation, an American Fork, Utah nonprofit, built an AI pipeline that takes a sacred site from research to published page in 15 minutes. It has its sights set on every temple, cathedral, and holy site on earth.

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At Women Tech Council Summit, Utah Leaders Say AI Is Reshaping Jobs, Not Erasing Them

At Women Tech Council Summit, Utah Leaders Say AI Is Reshaping Jobs, Not Erasing Them

On June 4, the Women Tech Council packed the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point with executives, engineers, HR chiefs, data scientists, and career re-entrants who all came for the same reason: AI is no longer a future problem, and Utah's tech community is done treating it like one.

The "AI Won't Wait"-themed Innovation Summit drew leaders from Pattern, Waystar, Zions Bank, Tab Bank, AvidXchange, Utah Valley University, SAP, Leland, BambooHR, Domo, Slalom, Safety Chain, and many others. The throughline across every panel, demo, and keynote was the same: the companies pulling ahead aren't the ones with the most advanced models. They're the ones that have figured out how to change what their people do, and fast.

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Living Computers, AI Coaches, and Thirty-Second Pitches Packed the House at Silicon Slopes in Lehi

Living Computers, AI Coaches, and Thirty-Second Pitches Packed the House at Silicon Slopes in Lehi

Four Utah startups — building living computers, AI health coaching, topical pain relief, and eye-based anemia detection — pitched at Silicon Slopes' Third Thursday, drawing a standing-room crowd of investors and entrepreneurs.

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Utah Invites the World to Build Its New Digital Identity System — A Hackathon Preview

Utah Invites the World to Build Its New Digital Identity System — A Hackathon Preview

Utah's landmark Senate Bill 275 creates SEDI, a state-endorsed digital identity system built on a legally binding "Duty of Loyalty." A World Cup hackathon at UVU on June 17–18 invites global teams to help build it.

Christopher Bramwell, Utah's Chief Privacy Officer and Director of the Office of Data Privacy, explained the system in a roundtable discussion at UVU on May 29. He was joined by George McEwan, a Privacy Architect with the state; Justin Jones, Executive Director of UVU's Gary R. Herbert Institute for Public Policy, which hosted the roundtable discussion; George Rudolph, Professor and Chair of Computer Science at Utah Valley University; and Barclay Burns, Chief AI Officer and Assistant Dean of the Smith College of Engineering and Technology.

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iHub Graduation: Eight Companies Building Their Way Out

iHub Graduation: Eight Companies Building Their Way Out

Last Thursday, the Innovation Hub of Utah held a graduation luncheon honoring eight startup companies that have outgrown the 50,000-square-foot incubator on Freedom Boulevard in Provo. The event, marked by remarks from industry veterans and a keynote from one of Utah's most recognized entrepreneurs, was one of the clearest signs yet of what the two-year-old nonprofit has become: a place where companies don't just survive their early years. They outgrow the room.

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Utah’s Data Privacy Push Moves From Promise to Practice

Utah’s Data Privacy Push Moves From Promise to Practice

Utah officials used the second annual Data Governance Summit at Utah Valley University to deliver a clear message: the state’s privacy agenda is no longer centered on passing laws. It is now focused on making them work.

Held in the Grand Ballroom of UVU’s Sorensen Student Center, the event convened lawmakers, privacy officials, local government representatives and technology leaders who all agreed that Utah has now entered a more operational phase of data governance — one defined by compliance deadlines, digital identity infrastructure, shared services and the practical challenge of helping public entities build sustainable privacy programs.

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UVU to Host Global Competition for Healthcare, AI and Digital Identity

UVU to Host Global Competition for Healthcare, AI and Digital Identity

Utah Valley University and HITLAB are launching a healthcare AI hackathon and innovation competition aimed at connecting startups, students, researchers, and healthcare leaders to accelerate commercialization of emerging technologies in digital health, applied AI, and digital identity systems.

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What the World's Top Causal Researchers Said in Salt Lake City — and What Utah Plans to Do About It

What the World's Top Causal Researchers Said in Salt Lake City — and What Utah Plans to Do About It

Brian Knaeble, UVU professor of computer science and president-elect of the Society for Causal Inference (SCI), opened a free networking session he had organized for Utah's broader tech and data science community. Graduate students sat next to working engineers. A health IT specialist described a feedback loop problem in EMS care. A recent data science grad wondered aloud how to bring what he'd just learned back to his company. A UVU undergraduate asked where to even begin. A BYU team showed up to weigh in and share their perspectives.

It was a sincere conversation: people without tenure or speaking slots trying to figure out what four days of doctoral-level mathematics actually meant for them.

What had just happened in the final plenary session was worth understanding.

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UVU Students Walk 52 USHE Auditors Through Building Their Own AI Agents

UVU Students Walk 52 USHE Auditors Through Building Their Own AI Agents

Fifty-two internal auditors from across the Utah System of Higher Education gathered at Utah Valley University on May 5 expecting a briefing. What they received was a masterclass in practical artificial intelligence, delivered by two university interns young enough to have grown up alongside the technology they were teaching.

Mohamed Maiga and Ivan Diaz spent roughly an hour demonstrating not just what AI can do in audit environments, but specifically how to build, deploy, refine, and validate AI agents using tools most professionals already have access to. By the time they finished, the auditors in the room, some with thirty years of experience, had a working blueprint for rethinking how they do their jobs.

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The American Causal Inference Conference Comes To Salt Lake City

The American Causal Inference Conference Comes To Salt Lake City

ACIC is one of the largest causal inference conferences in the world. Parallel regional events include the European Causal Inference Meeting, held at Oxford this year, and the Pacific Causal Inference Conference, held in China. The Salt Lake conference draws international attendance — researchers from Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world.

The programming is rigorous. Most sessions are pitched at a doctoral level in mathematics or statistics. Monday, May 11 features introductory short courses for those seeking foundational exposure before the main sessions begin. The main conference runs Tuesday through Thursday, May 12–14.

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UVU Students Build $400 AI Device That Detects Knee Implant Infection Without Surgery

UVU Students Build $400 AI Device That Detects Knee Implant Infection Without Surgery

Carter Wilkes, a Physics undergraduate at Utah Valley University, has developed DIFFRAX — a laser-and-AI diagnostic device that detects bacterial infection in knee implants without surgery. Built from repurposed 3D printer parts and off-the-shelf components for under $400, the device achieves 99.2 percent accuracy in approximately five minutes, without a single incision.

Working in UVU's CIBEAM lab under faculty advisor Dr. Vern Hart, Wilkes trained a neural network to identify bacterial biofilm patterns invisible to the human eye. The research was presented at the 32nd Annual Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium Fellowship Symposium.

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Built at UVU: Inside the Second Annual SCET Student Expo

Built at UVU: Inside the Second Annual SCET Student Expo

The second annual Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET) Student Expo brought together more than 50 projects from across the college — Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Digital Media, Architecture and Engineering Design, and more — into a single, high-energy showcase. The range was wide: some projects tackled pressing human needs, others leaned into pure delight, and a few did both at once. What follows is a look at three that were hard to walk past.

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Utah's Education System Is About to Face Its Biggest Test. How Leaders Plan to Meet It.

Utah's Education System Is About to Face Its Biggest Test. How Leaders Plan to Meet It.

At the Envision Utah Higher Education Summit (Millcreek, UT), education leaders confronted converging pressures — demographic decline, AI disruption, and eroding public confidence — but emerging data and reforms suggest Utah is uniquely positioned to respond.

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Utah's SEDI Summit Points Toward a Different Future for Digital Identity

Utah's SEDI Summit Points Toward a Different Future for Digital Identity

For two days this week at Utah Valley University's Thanksgiving Point campus in Lehi, state leaders, tech and healthcare executives, civil liberties advocates, and local government officials gathered for the SEDI Summit 2026 — a working forum built around a deceptively simple premise: the United States has not yet decided what digital identity should look like, and that window is closing fast.

What emerged was less a technology conference and more a policy reckoning — one that touched on healthcare infrastructure, child safety, rural government services, civil liberties, and the question of whether America's fragmented identity systems can actually be fixed.

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Utah Quantum Initiative: Connecting Utah’s Quantum Ecosystem to the World

Utah Quantum Initiative: Connecting Utah’s Quantum Ecosystem to the World

Utah’s quantum ecosystem is no longer quietly emerging—it’s actively connecting, aligning, and building momentum. At the helm of this statewide effort is Jefferson Moss, the visionary leader driving the Utah Quantum Initiative and Executive Director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity and the Executive Director of the Nucleus Institute where he leads and drives key initiatives.

Utah Quantum Initiative is a statewide effort to assess Utah’s quantum technology landscape, identify critical gaps, and develop a coordinated roadmap for establishing Utah as a national leader in quantum science and quantum-enabled industry.

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BYU's Roger Macfarlane on What We Have — and Haven't — Found in the Herculaneum Papyri

BYU's Roger Macfarlane on What We Have — and Haven't — Found in the Herculaneum Papyri

Roger Macfarlane walked to the front of a Clarke Building lecture hall at UVU and did something unusual for a man who has spent 35 years working on one of the great unsolved puzzles of the ancient world. He warned the audience not to get their hopes up.

"The Latin papyri are in pretty uniformly wretched condition," he said, with the cheerful candor of someone who has made peace with a very hard problem. "There's one that's okay. But more on that in a bit."

The caveat, it turns out, is not despair. It is precision. And precision, in the field of Herculaneum papyrology, is everything.

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UVU Hosts Researchers Who Are Unlocking a 2,000-Year-Old Library Buried by Vesuvius

UVU Hosts Researchers Who Are Unlocking a 2,000-Year-Old Library Buried by Vesuvius

A Kentucky computer scientist, Brent Seales, spent 25 years cracking open carbonized scrolls buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD. Now, AI and X-ray imaging are reading them for the first time — and an entire ancient library may follow.

The Herculaneum scrolls are one of the great unsolved problems of the ancient world, and Brent Seales has spent the better part of his career trying to crack them. When he spoke at UVU's symposium on ancient papyri, it was the kind of talk where you realize midway through that you're watching someone recount a genuinely world-historical achievement — in a conference room in Orem. Just another Wednesday at UVU.

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In the Arena: UVU Sandbox Students Pitch 25 Startups

In the Arena: UVU Sandbox Students Pitch 25 Startups

Twenty-five student-built startups from the sixth Sandbox cohort (SB05) pitched to a packed audience at Utah Valley University’s Sandbox Demo Day, capping a year-long entrepreneurship program that is quickly becoming one of the most productive student accelerators in the state. The pitches ranged from AI-powered tax preparation to mesh networking for stadiums.

The event was hosted by Tyler Jennings, who leads the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem under the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and also runs the UVU Sandbox program in an adjunct role. He set the tone early by calling out a former Sandbox student in the audience.

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In the News

Filter by Type

UVU's New Engineering Dean Arrived on Day One to Find the Future Already Under Construction

At StartFest, Traeger's CEO Argues Utah's Soul Is Its Real Competitive Edge in the AI Era

At UVU's HITLAB Innovation World Cup, a Maternal Health Startup Took Top Honors

Utah's Chief Privacy Officer Wants Your Digital Identity to Actually Be Yours

At UVU, Hackers Built AI Tools for Utah's Hardest Problems. The State Plans to Use Them

UVU Research Finds Deepfakes Shift Voter Opinion as Effectively as Real Media

47G Brings Defense, Capital, and Startups Together to Close America's Critical Minerals Gap

$96K in Prizes Up for Grabs at HITLAB x UVU Hackathon

GoForth Foundation Uses AI to Put Every Sacred Place on Earth Online

At Women Tech Council Summit, Utah Leaders Say AI Is Reshaping Jobs, Not Erasing Them

Living Computers, AI Coaches, and Thirty-Second Pitches Packed the House at Silicon Slopes in Lehi

Utah Invites the World to Build Its New Digital Identity System — A Hackathon Preview

iHub Graduation: Eight Companies Building Their Way Out

Utah’s Data Privacy Push Moves From Promise to Practice

UVU to Host Global Competition for Healthcare, AI and Digital Identity

What the World's Top Causal Researchers Said in Salt Lake City — and What Utah Plans to Do About It

UVU Students Walk 52 USHE Auditors Through Building Their Own AI Agents

The American Causal Inference Conference Comes To Salt Lake City

UVU Students Build $400 AI Device That Detects Knee Implant Infection Without Surgery

Built at UVU: Inside the Second Annual SCET Student Expo

Utah's Education System Is About to Face Its Biggest Test. How Leaders Plan to Meet It.

Utah's SEDI Summit Points Toward a Different Future for Digital Identity

Utah Quantum Initiative: Connecting Utah’s Quantum Ecosystem to the World

BYU's Roger Macfarlane on What We Have — and Haven't — Found in the Herculaneum Papyri

UVU Hosts Researchers Who Are Unlocking a 2,000-Year-Old Library Buried by Vesuvius

In the Arena: UVU Sandbox Students Pitch 25 Startups

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