In the past, treatment for brain aneurysms has been difficult and unreliable. University of Louisville neurosurgeons are now offering Woven EndoBridge, or WEB device surgery, which requires only a small incision and one night of recovery in the hospital. UofL’s Dr. Robert James is the first in the region to perform this type of surgery.

“This is a game changer for the treatment of aneurysms using minimally invasive techniques,” James said.

As for Steinhilber, she can live without fear of an aneurysm bursting and killing her.

“I’ve been through my procedure and apparently I’m fixed and all set for the rest of my life I hope.”

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Those products are then displayed during the Engineering Design and Innovation Showcase, attended by members of the community at the end of the spring semester. Speed Smart toilets and sensor sensitive shower doors are a few of the products the students produced this year.

“This (event) really helped integrate it all and give a better picture of how everything we’ve learned in school can actually be applied to the real world,” said Emily Snyder, engineering student.

That is exactly the point, according to Speed School Dean Emmanuel Collins.

“As a Speed School, our product is our students and how well we train them to do real engineering design,” he said.

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Each new officer received a commission certificate, then family members or friends pinned bars to the service members’ uniforms. The tradition of the first salute followed, in which the new second lieutenant presented a silver dollar to the first enlisted person who rendered a salute.

Newly commissioned officers were also assigned to their branches during the Cardinal Battalion Army ROTC ceremony, which took place in Middleton Auditorium.

“It takes a village to teach, coach and mentor these young men and women to where they are today,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jessica Murnock, professor of military science.

Murnock added that the overall GPA of the cadets recognized today is 3.4. 

The guest speaker during the commissioning ceremony was UofL President Neeli Bendapudi.

“You are what I want every student at the University of Louisville to be like because you have shown that you have the physical, the emotional, the mental, the spiritual strength to be here today,” Bendapudi said.

The following Army cadets were promoted: Brayden Bereznay, Alec Hayes, Stephen Schaltenbrand, Morgan Cornell, Zachary Michael, Derick Davidson, Elaine Reitan, Patrick Stewart, Duy Tran, Alexander Jones, Samuel Best, Keith Johnson, Kenneth King, Scott Peters, Joshua Wray, Taeisha Wynder and Omar Cham.

UofL’s Army ROTC has commissioned more than 400 officers during its 37-year history.

In a separate ceremony, four UofL students who were members of the U.S. Air Force’s 295th Air Force ROTC Cadet Wing were also commissioned. 

Promoted were: Kevin Burdette, Nicolas Ferrara, Raymond Palazzo and Dax Parker.

These researchers are studying the molecular make-up of whiskey, including Kentucky’s signature bourbon. UofL engineering professor, Stuart Williams, calls their discoveries “whiskey webs.” Williams is looking at different bourbon brands under microscopes to see what their unique web looks like, something like their own DNA.

“We have 66 American whiskeys that are commercial and 65 of them produced a web… and of course, the scientific question is why?” Williams said.

Williams believes this research could lead to better counterfeit identification. By examining the bourbon, researchers are able to tell if it is actually a cheaper bottle being sold as a higher-priced knock off.

“What we are also finding out, and we’re still investigating, is maturation. There are a lot of companies that are trying to rapidly age their bourbon or products, whatever it may be, not just restricted to whiskey,” Williams said.

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This process allows them to see what works best in a classroom setting rather than by just learning from a textbook.

“What I like about the class is that we do get to take the class in a middle school,” said Chris Miller, a UofL student in the teaching program. “So it’s not like you’re just reading out of a book and then expected to go into these classrooms and know what you’re doing.”

The program is giving these future teachers an idea of what they are getting themselves into and what their future careers will entail. It is allowing them to interact with middle schoolers on a personal level and learn how they think and work in a classroom setting.

“Being able to interact with them one-on-one and see what a classroom looks like, gave me a better idea of what I was getting myself into and what my career was going to look like,” said Andrea Wyatt, a UofL graduate and Westport Middle School teacher.

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“Mentally, emotionally, it is so stressful. It’s unreal,” said 58-year-old inmate Anthony Trotter. “I was just here two years ago and the difference in two years is astronomical to me.”

Despite reform efforts, Kentucky’s inmate population is rising, along with the average inmate age. They are getting treated for problems that may be more expensive and tougher to address on the outside. Looking at older inmates’ medical and mental health issues, when they are released and what their circumstances are for returning to prison is helping determine if they are actually a danger to the community.

“The better their health is on the way out, along with sustainability in the community, the more likely they will be healthy over time, so that can also contribute to reduced costs,” said Stephanie Prost, an assistant professor at the Kent School of Social Work.

Prost’s research is being done in connection with the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

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“It’s a problem because the epidemiology shows that the more plaque you have, the more you increase your risk for having a heart attack,” Conklin said.

Conklin says e-cig cartridges are flavored, and that flavors like mango and blackberry pie appeal to the youth because they are more tasteful and fun than old-fashioned tobacco products. This creates the issue of developing a new generation of people addicted to nicotine products.

UofL Envirome Institute director Aruni Bhatnagar is overseeing the research. “It is important because you want to prevent a new generation of youth from being addicted to nicotine and nicotine products,” Bhatnagar said. “And, if there is a harm associated with the use these products, we should know what those harms are so that we can minimize it or we can appropriately regulate the use of tobacco products.”

“Where there is nothing growing, we can turn this soil that’s not useful into something that we can use for crops,” Himes said.

Himes’ students, who are undergraduates, have dug up soil samples from a plot on university property where hemp and kenaf plants are growing. The samples are then taken to a lab to see if they can determine which helpful bacteria might grow under certain conditions. The research could prove to be an economic boon.

“We can make use of land that is right now not useable and hopefully that can be an economic boost for the state” Himes said.

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