As the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the nation’s colleges and universities in a matter of days in mid-March, it scattered students and forced a chaotic switch to remote learning for the thousands now displaced by the virus.

Geisel Software, a Massachusetts-based custom software development firm, and University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) are pleased to announce they have been awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The award will support the development of a solution that will allow for collaborative mobility and manipulation in a heterogeneous robotic environment.

Geisel Software, a Massachusetts-based custom software development firm, and University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) are pleased to announce they have been awarded a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The award will support the development of a solution that will allow for collaborative mobility and manipulation in a heterogeneous robotic environment.

Even after Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Legislature moved to eliminate $25 million in funds meant to kickstart construction of a long-planned building for the UNLV School of Medicine, the company overseeing its construction says groundbreaking could happen at least two months ahead of its February 2021 deadline.

The Nevada Legislature will get off to a slow start on Tuesday after lawmakers stayed up late to approve steep construction spending cuts and a one-year waiver of Millennium Scholarship requirements for students negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Silver State is set to stall or scrap at least a dozen major construction projects in an ongoing effort to dig out of a $1.2 billion budget hole caused by the coronavirus.

More than a dozen construction and public works projects, including a $20 million advanced engineering building at UNLV, would be scaled back or canceled under Gov. Steve Sisolak’s plan to plug the massive $1.2 billion gap in the state budget.

While Nevada eases back into business amid the COVID-19 crisis, construction, while an essential business, has not escaped the impact of the pandemic.

Nevada is a big player in renewable energy. But while it ranks among the top five states for both solar and geothermal energy production, it lags well behind in wind energy production, where it falls 33rd.

UNLV is stepping in to help produce much needed equipment for local healthcare workers. Faculty, students, and staff from the engineering program are leading this effort.

Typically at this time of the spring semester, engineering labs would be filled with faculty and graduate assistants working on research projects, student groups gathering to design their next rocket or robot, and senior design teams making the final tweaks to the prototypes for their capstone competition.

Typically at this time of the spring semester, engineering labs would be filled with faculty and graduate assistants working on research projects, student groups gathering to design their next rocket or robot, and senior design teams making the final tweaks to the prototypes for their capstone competition.