For some university researchers, summer is a time to catch up on projects postponed during the often-hectic spring teaching semester, get started on grant proposals, travel to conferences, or just take a break away from the demands of campus life for a while and reconnect, restore, and recharge.
At the Bureau, we’re doing all the above this summer, and more.
BBR Senior Research Scientist James Jarrett is planning for the next cohort of the Readiness Training Program for Historically Underutilized Businesses (RTP for HUBs), a capacity-building program sponsored by Travis County, the City of Austin, and Capital Metro. Since 2021, the RTP for HUBs has trained approximately 200 entrepreneurs in the Austin region to compete successfully for government contracts by local and state government agencies
Bureau Senior Research Scientist Matt Kammer-Kerwick is attending an AI / health equity residency program in the UK to better understand how to make large language models, on which many AI health databases rely, more equitable. On a related topic, Matt is fielding a survey of healthcare clinicians and practitioners in Texas. Sponsored by the Episcopal Health Foundation, the survey will understand attitudes toward AI and the ways in which healthcare practitioners are currently using AI tools in their work.
The BBR team is also working on a project for the Public Utility Commission of Texas evaluating the potential economic impact of small modular nuclear reactors on the Texas economy.
And I am teaming up with three colleagues to lead a group of 15 UT Austin students on a trip to Northern Ireland to explore the well-being economy and hopefully create future leaders for peace. By learning from teachers, experts, leaders, and former combatants in that conflicted corner of the UK, the students will be returning to Austin filled with ideas on how to bridge generational divides and heal historic wounds — lessons that could be applied to other parts of our world. The trip is funded by the President’s Award for Global Learning.
From all of us at the Bureau, we hope your summer is rejuvenating and restorative. Drop me a line (bkellison@ic2.utexas.edu) and let me know we can help with your research needs now or in the future.
Best,
Bruce