‘Awakening UND’ showcases Nistler, strategic plans, technologies and partnerships








Nearly 400 Guests Fill UND Memorial Union Ballroom for “Morning Show”

Laughter inside the UND Memorial Union Ballroom early Tuesday was the real deal – no laughter needed – for live recording “Awakening UND: The Morning Show.”

Nearly 400 guests became part of a “live studio audience” with a sold-out breakfast celebrating UND’s success story and partnership with the Grand Forks community and Grand Forks Air Force Base. Thousands watch online for the annual event hosted by the University and the Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce/East Grand Forks.

Following last year’s successful parody of the late-night talk show “Wake Up to UND,” this year’s show takes the form of a morning news show, UND President Andy Armacost and Student Union President Faith Wahl behind the anchor station.

Against a backdrop of bright green banners featuring beautiful images of the UND Eternal Fire, the Adelphi Fountain and the new Memorial Union, Armacost said at the start of the show: “We’ve got a great show for you today!”

The future will be the UND’s strategic plan, the new Nistler School of Business and Public Administration and the partnership agreement between the UND and the Air Force Base, and the competitive world of drone racing.

Some highlights…

Blake Rafferty, an UND atmospheric science major and a television meteorologist, provides weather forecasts for the day and homecoming week. Photo by Mike Hess/UND Today.

Let’s talk about the weather first. UND junior and trainee meteorologist Blake Rafferty took the stage to share the 7-day Grand Forks weather outlook.

“I do weekend weather for Fargo’s KVRR every other weekend, but it’s definitely different,” Rafferty told UND Today after the event. “I’ve made predictions in front of the production crew at the station, but I’ve never done it in front of hundreds of people. And we only had one test run yesterday.”

Even so, the no-frills Rafferty looks less like a student and more like a seasoned pro. His call for clear skies and high tides for Homecoming weekend in the ’70s probably didn’t hurt his ratings.

Strategic Plan. As co-chair of the planning process, Lynette KrenelkaExecutive Director, School of Teaching Transformation and Development, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of History Jim Mochoruk According to reports, the response was overwhelming.

“We received input from many different individuals and groups,” Krenelka said. “It’s really been a wonderful process. If you count the number of people in the work group, it’s 200 people, so that’s pretty broad. I feel like we’ve included a lot of voices in this program. The people’s plan.”

Mochoruk added: “We hope this will be a truly living document with many great ideas that can continue to emerge within the framework of the work we have already done. The purpose of this document is to help UND move forward, That way people will know what we want to achieve, where we’re going and maybe a way to get there.”

In the form of a morning news program, UND Student Union President Faith Wahl (right) interviewed Amy Henley, Dean of the Nistler School of Business and Public Administration, about the features of the new building opening for the school’s fall semester. Photo by Mike Hess/UND Today.

Montage of Nistler: Guests watched a montage showing their brand new images nistler college of business and public administrationand live interviews Dean Amy Henry.

Henley shared that UND has long been recognized for the success of its students both in and out of the classroom.

“It is so special to have such a strong relationship with our community. We are proud to say that Mayor (Brandon) Bochenski is one of our economics graduates, but we have many other partners. I think the prime example One is the city’s $1.3 million investment in Nistler Hall. We are proud to have the Grand Forks Workforce Development Center on the first floor in a student-facing area.”

“Students from all over campus can come and see what opportunities are available in Grand Forks and different organizations in the city,” she added.

UND President Andy Armacost (right) discusses the university’s recent Grand Forks Air Force Base partnership agreement with Will Semke (left), associate dean of the School of Engineering and Mines, and Lt. Colonel. Mike Dunn, director of the GFAFB North Spark Defense Laboratory. Photo by Mike Hess/UND Today.

Work hand in hand with GFFAB. Lieutenant Colonel.Mike Dunn, director of the North Spark Defense Laboratory at Grand Forks Air Force Base, and William SemkeUND Associate Dean for Academic Affairs School of Engineering and Minesshares some of the ways the university and Grand Forks AFB are working together to achieve their goals.

“This is a great opportunity to consolidate and forge permanent agreements on projects of mutual interest,” Semke said. “It gives us an infinite structure that will last through different mandates and through different generations of teachers and students. labyrinth.”

Pilots are already practicing how to draw the Global Hawk using a virtual reality system – a very challenging task. The goggles keep working and they make all the right moves without making a mess.

UND student Jerry Fuller, a member of the university’s Drone Club and a researcher at the Autonomous Systems Institute, demonstrated the flight of a small drone for President Armacost and guests present. Photo by Mike Hess/UND Today.

Oops, kinda oops. President Armacost also had the chance to fly a tiny drone called Whoops above the crowd, but before that, UND student Jerry Fuller, a member of the UAS Remote Control Club, asked, “Have you ever piloted any of these things?”

“Yesterday…I crashed twice,” the president replied to the crowd’s laughter.

Ultimately, Armacost successfully demonstrated that he had steered down, manoeuvring the drone in a full circle in a 90-degree turn. As for the landing…let’s just say it takes a little more practice.

Source link