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Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center

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Joshua Cyr, interim director of the Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter), was recently named Paul J. Holloway Entrepreneur of the Year. Pictured (L to R) Lisa Keslar, lecturer of management and entrepreneurship, Cyr, and Paul College Dean Lucy Gilson.

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Granite State Systems Earns Top Prize at Holloway Competition

arq32 — Wed, 07 May 2025 00:28:15 +0000

A team that developed a system that reduces electricity costs for cold-storage warehouses through predictive pricing and strategic pre-cooling earned the $15,000 grand prize at the 37th Paul J. Holloway Prize Innovation to Market Competition.

Granite State Systems secured the victory following the final round of the competition on May 6, where six teams of student entrepreneurs from across UNH pitched their business plans to a panel of esteemed alums and industry-leading judges.

Granite State Systems leverages novel sensor technology and a proprietary algorithm to integrate machine learning into heating, ventilation and air conditioning units to optimize energy consumption by pre-cooling or pre-heating cold storage warehouses during periods of lower electricity prices.

The team included Brett Schultz ’25, a finance and sustainability dual major; Shea Garland ’27, a finance major; and Rowan Baptista ’27, a mechanical engineering major.

“I participated in this competition as a freshman and a sophomore, and I did not make it to the final round either year,” Schultz says. “This is my third and final year at UNH, and to make it to the finals and win, I have goosebumps.”

Named in honor of Paul J. Holloway, an accomplished business leader and successful entrepreneur, the Holloway competition is USNH's premier business plan competition for undergraduate and graduate students across the university system.

UNH President Elizabeth Chilton said hosting the competition is something that UNH takes pride in.

“The Holloway Competition is more than a contest. It's a reflection of who we are here at UNH and where we're headed,” Chilton says. “Our commitment to entrepreneurship at UNH has never been stronger, and now with Paul College proudly serving as the new home for the UNH Entrepreneurship Center, the future is bright and full of possibility.”

Paul College Dean Lucy Gilson said that every team that competes in Holloway has an opportunity to positively impact New Hampshire and beyond. She also noted the interdisciplinary nature of the competition, with all UNH colleges represented at the start of the competition and three represented in the finals.

“Entrepreneurship is alive and well at UNH,” Gilson says. “Look at how many freshmen we had competing this year and last year, and the number of different colleges and disciplines represented – that is truly what entrepreneurship is. Entrepreneurship does not reside in any one place.”

The top prize in the Holloway competition continued a trend of growing success for Granite State Systems. Four companies have committed to testing Granite State’s technology, and pilot tests in both a mini fridge and a walk-in freezer demonstrated a 16% reduction in electricity costs and a 12% decrease in overall operating expenses.

The team also recently secured a grant from the UNH Entrepreneurship Center and will be working on the product full time in the months ahead.

Dominic Rainville from Thrival

“We have folks that want to buy it, we just needed capital to make the product and ship it out, and now we have it,” Schultz says.

Second Place

Thrival, a self-massage tool focused on deep tissue therapy, earned the $10,000 second-place prize and the $2,000 People’s Choice Award.

Thrival was co-founded by Dominic Rainville ’25, a finance major and UNH alpine ski team member. Rainville started the company with Cam Smith, a competitive skier from Boston College.

Third Place

Aerial Perspectives, LLC, a business that provides drone services and education, earned the $5,000 third-place prize.

The business was founded by Ryan Guerette ’26, a homeland security and justice studies major, and offers private and commercial services, along with thermal search and rescue, while its educational programs include flying lessons and an overview of drone rules and regulations.

The three runner-up teams, each earning $1,000, were:

Ryan Guerette from Aerial Perspectives, LLC.

QuickQuery AI: An AI-powered assistant for local government websites that can help citizens locate the proper forms and create citizen newsletters. The business was founded by Arthur Murphy ’27, a business administration major.

QuickQuery AI also earned the Embrace New Hampshire Award. The award recognizes ventures, regardless of where they place in the competition, that would significantly impact the New Hampshire community and economy if successfully launched.

Nuelife: All-natural skin serums crafted with sustainability in mind. It offers a clean, eco-friendly alternative to the synthetic ingredients commonly used by major brands and meets the growing consumer demand for natural, environmentally responsible skincare solutions. Nuelife was founded by Aiden Bondaz ’28, a mechanical engineering major.

Obscura AI: A privacy tool that protects your digital fingerprint from being used against you. Founded by Shaun Devan, ’28, a computer science and cybersecurity major, and Xander Cogan ’28, a computer science student.

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Additional student finalists also make impressive business pitches

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Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center

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Granite State Systems won the Holloway Competition Finals on May 6. Pictured (L to R) Rowan Baptista ’27, Shea Garland ’27 and Brett Schultz ‘25.

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Ultralight Aircraft Built by Student Team Takes Flight

ket1007 — Tue, 06 May 2025 14:09:09 +0000

After pouring so much time and effort – an estimated 6,000 man-hours – into a single project and spending what seemed like every waking minute as close to it as possible for the last year, five UNH students found themselves watching the ultimate culmination of that work from about a quarter mile away.

The more distant vantage point, though, did little to dampen the adrenaline – or the significance of the achievement.

Five UNH engineering students watched the ultralight electric aircraft they conceived, designed and built officially take flight last month, marking the successful completion of a senior project so ambitious and groundbreaking that faculty adviser Ivaylo Nedyalkov said it has “redefined what's possible.”

It is believed by Nedyalkov and the students to be the first time ever that an undergraduate student team conceived, built and flew its own custom-designed electric aircraft, all within the span of one academic year.

“Very few student projects – at UNH or worldwide – can match the scope, technical depth and level of completion we saw with this ultralight aircraft,” says Nedyalkov, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering. “This team has set the bar exceptionally high. They’ve shown that with the right mix of vision, drive, discipline and teamwork, students can take on challenges that many would consider out of reach.”

Marcus Herold ’25 works on the ultralight aircraft ahead of the first test flight.

For the students – Marcus Herold ’25, Ethan Tillinghast ’25, Seth Chartier ’25, Philip Mather ’25 and Brian Viscido ’25 – watching the first test flight take off and land safely was an energizing culmination of months of hard work and long hours. Though they had to view the flight from a distance for safety purposes, little could have changed the gravity of the moment.

“We were more than a quarter mile away from it, so it was kind of hard to see what was happening, but you could tell it got off the ground. It was pretty unreal,” says Herold, the team lead and visionary of the project. “Everybody dumped a lot of their time and energy into making this happen. It’s been a long-term goal of mine – I’ve always wanted to build a full airplane – so to see it happen was quite awesome.”

The aircraft was flown by Zach Yeaton ’26, a fellow UNH student who has his pilot’s license. Yeaton guided the ultralight down the runway before lifting off, getting about 10 feet off the ground and flying for just over 10 seconds – the proposed height and duration parameters proposed for the flight due to safety considerations – before touching down safely (you can see the test flight and hear from team members in this video.)

It was the initial test flight for the students after spending so much time crunching numbers and revising specifications to ensure maximum safety.

“What made it even more remarkable was that they succeeded on the very first day they brought the plane to the airport,” Nedyalkov says. “More than anything, I felt genuine joy for the students. They worked hard and fully earned that moment of celebration.”

It was a long time coming. After the team pitched the idea at the beginning of the spring semester in 2024 and Nedyalkov signed off, the members dived into the process by composing a detailed proposal before building a functional quarter-scale model (“making a strong case that this wasn’t just an ambitious idea – it was a realistic and achievable goal,” Nedyalkov says).

From there, they set out to complete the official structure. The entire project, start to finish, was designed by the students, and they also manufactured and assembled essentially all of the parts. Aside from a few components like the motor, propeller, wheels, brakes and battery cells, the students built everything themselves – including the wings, fuselage, empennage, landing gear and control surfaces.

Many of the parts were made using a 3D printer, they said, while others were created with a waterjet cutter that cuts out pieces of sheet metal that can be bent into any necessary shapes. The students also cut pipes by hand and welded them together to form parts of the frame and did a lot of woodworking, as well.

To qualify as an ultralight, the aircraft had to weigh less than 254 pounds – a challenge made even tougher by the team’s commitment to making it electric (gas-powered planes lose weight as they fly as fuel burns off, while electric components can be heavier and remain a static weight).

The team noted that so many other modes of transportation – like cars, trains and bikes – had successfully implemented electric power, so aviation was the next logical, albeit daunting, frontier.

“Electric aviation is in the near future. It’s not as far away as people might think it is,” says Tillinghast. “Our main goal was to prove that it can be done and be done at a relatively reasonable cost.” The project cost about $8,000 in total, he says.

Adds Herold: “That certainly made it a much larger engineering challenge. There would have been lots of benefits as far as the engineering side to make it gas-powered, but we really wanted to try to show that it could be done, that you can fly with an electric power system. I also think it puts a good foot forward for the university, thinking about sustainability and looking toward the future.”

As the aircraft came together, the challenge of keeping the weight down landed more and more on Chartier’s shoulders, as he was responsible for constructing the landing gear and making it maximally safe while adding as little heft to the design as possible.

Ivaylo Nedyalkov with students Marcus Herold ’25, Ethan Tillinghast ’25, Seth Chartier ’25, Philip Mather ’25, Brian Viscido ’25 and Zach Yeaton ’26.

“I did a lot of different designing, and I was constantly trying to shave off as much weight as I possibly could while still making sure it could withstand the impact,” says Chartier, who during that process adapted the design to move from steel springs for suspension to bungee cords.

“It got to the point where that was the only thing we could change to save weight. He kept giving us new designs and we kept handing them back and saying, ‘we need you to make it lighter.’” Tillinghast quips.

The focus on maximum safety also required making the frame a little heavier than it otherwise could have been, as the team opted for a sturdier roll-cage style frame to protect the pilot that “came at a cost of a little bit of range,” limiting the distance the aircraft could fly before touching down.

All the calculations and revisions and the late nights making sure everything was in order were worth it to see the aircraft fly, the team says. It was a particularly bold venture – Herold noted that other student teams around the country have retrofitted electric aircraft, pulling the original gas-powered engine out of an existing structure and adding electric components, but there is no record of a team designing and building one from the ground up in a single academic year.

Nedyalkov backs up the assertion that the project was truly trailblazing, and he remains in awe of what the students were able to accomplish.

“I can’t overstate how impressive this project is—not just for UNH, but globally. This is the kind of hands-on experience that defines a top-tier engineering program and shapes the engineering leaders of tomorrow,” Nedyalkov says. “We’re fortunate to have students with this level of talent and ambition, and I’m proud that UNH provides an environment where even the sky isn’t the limit.”

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Trailblazing senior project 'redefined what's possible,' according to professor

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Tuesday, May 6, 2025 - 10:00am

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Zach Yeaton ’26 in the cockpit of the ultralight aircraft built by a team of UNH engineering students.

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Diliang Chen Wins 2025 Innovator of the Year Award for Work in Wearable Technology

ket1007 — Tue, 06 May 2025 13:56:14 +0000

Diliang Chen, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNH, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 J. Brent Loy Innovator of the Year Award for his groundbreaking work in wearable technology.

Chen’s innovative research in wearable technology has the potential to significantly advance health and safety applications, making a profound impact on both the academic community and the public. His work includes the development of smart sensor technologies such as rings, glasses, and insoles, which have broad applicability in the medical device field and the potential to improve lives through long-term, reliable data collection.

“Our faculty innovators not only advance knowledge and discovery, but they also inspire and elevate our entire community,” says Marian McCord, senior vice provost for research, economic engagement and outreach. “UNH is in the top 10 among institutions without a medical school in active licenses and we generate higher licensing revenues than most of our regional peers.” Faculty innovations not only further the field with new discoveries, but UNH's patented innovations, like those Chen is being recognized for, can generate significant public health improvements and economic benefits for the university and the state.

Chen has a distinguished career marked by significant contributions to the fields of wearable technology and human-centered computing. He has been actively involved in research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancements and practical applications. His innovations have previously been advanced through the UNH Innovation Fund, which supported the development of his early-stage technology.

“Wearable systems are able to collect the unique data that is very difficult with a traditional system. I believe that new data will lead to new solutions to address healthcare challenges,” says Chen. “I noticed there was a research gap in this field, [and] the problem lies in the challenge of the reliability in wearable systems when using for long-term measurement. My research at UNH focuses on developing reliable wearable systems that can ensure accurate measurement over time in a real-world environment.”

“Chen's smart wearable technology, where sensors, AI and robotics come together, really has the potential to change lives,” says Marc Eichenberger, associate vice president and chief business development and innovation officer.

Looking ahead, Chen plans to collaborate with industry partners to bring his wearable technologies to market, aiming to make them accessible to a broader audience. For information about licensing this intellectual property, contact unh.innovation@unh.edu.

The Innovator of the Year Award was presented to Chen on April 28 at the annual celebration recognizing UNH researchers and scholars, which honors faculty members, graduate students and Extension staff who received prestigious external awards and accolades for their scholarly achievement. See the full list of honorees.

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Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering honored at April 28 event

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Diliang Chen, winner of the 2025 J. Brent Loy Innovator of the Year Award, is flanked by Marian McCord, senior vice provost for research, economic engagement and outreach (left) and Marc Eichenberger, associate vice president and chief business development and innovation officer (right).

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Former Chief Economist of Dept. of Labor Delivers Hogan Lecture at Paul College

arq32 — Fri, 02 May 2025 16:31:17 +0000

Girls growing up today are surrounded by images of successful women, like Taylor Swift, that reflect a world of opportunity.

While not everyone can be Taylor Swift, the images are far from those of the 1950s, where women were often portrayed in domestic settings. Economist Betsey Stevenson says this isn’t just a cultural shift — it’s an economic revolution that has enabled women to move from constrained domestic roles to diverse and influential positions that drive the labor market.

"Economics has a lot to tell us about how that transition happens," Stevenson says. “Because families and the labor force are connected. In economics, each decision you make creates an interdependency that shapes the constraints for the next decision you're going to make."

Stevenson delivered the 2025 John A. Hogan Distinguished Lecture at the UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics on May 1. A professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor and member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, Stevenson traced the interconnected forces that transformed women’s choices around work, education, marriage and family.

Her lecture, "Women's Evolving Role in the Labor Market: Families, Work, and Gender Equity in the 21st Century," outlined three significant forces driving the change: technological advancements, legal reforms and global trade.

In the home, innovations like washing machines and prepared foods reduced the need for skilled domestic labor, while trade made once-expensive goods like clothing more affordable and eliminated the need for tasks like sewing and mending.

Stevenson also pointed to policy milestones — like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and Title IX — as pivotal in removing women's work and education barriers. Access to birth control and changes in divorce laws further reshaped decisions around marriage, parenthood and career planning.

The Changing Nature of Marriage and Family

In previous generations, marriage was often seen as a prerequisite to stability — something to secure early in adulthood. But that urgency has faded, Stevenson explained, as the marriage model has shifted. No longer rooted in economic specialization where one partner worked outside the home and the other managed domestic life — modern marriages are more likely to be partnerships based on shared goals, interests, mutual enjoyment and couples spending more time together overall.

“We're getting an increase in the age of first marriage, particularly among those with greater market skills, because now I'm looking to marry somebody who has a lot of the same interests as me, so it's more optimal to wait until I actually know what my adult interests are going to be, because people evolve in their 20s,” Stevenson says. “Hint, hint, hint for all of you in your 20s.”

These evolving dynamics have also reshaped family life. Although birth rates initially declined as women delayed marriage and parenthood, Stevenson shared data showing a rebound in completed fertility. Women today are waiting longer to have children, but many are ultimately having more children than previous generations.

Women Surpassing Men in Education

Stevenson’s data showed that women outpace men in education at nearly every level. They comprise 59% of doctoral degree recipients, including 61% of those in health and medicine. Undergraduate enrollment trends show a similar pattern, with girls significantly more likely to pursue postsecondary education.

That trend is reshaping the labor force. After decades of gains and a setback during the COVID-19 pandemic, female labor force participation has not only recovered but reached new highs, according to Stevenson.

“Women are working more than ever before. They're getting more education than men … they're out-earning their husbands,” Stevenson says. "America's comparative advantage is high-skilled workers. Who are high-skilled workers? They're female workers.”

More Progress Needs to be Made

Despite decades of gains, Stevenson says the structure of work and public policy still hasn’t fully adapted to modern family life's realities. Issues like inadequate parental leave, expensive childcare and inflexible work schedules make it harder for families to thrive.

“Today's families are continuing to struggle with workplace norms and public policies designed for households in which one person is responsible for all the life outside of work and raising children,” Stevenson says.

Stevenson is optimistic that artificial intelligence and the next wave of technological change will become tools for creating more flexibility in how we work.

“My hope is that we can finally use this new technological innovation to take the time that we want to be with our families,” Stevenson says. “I want those AI robots to give you the space to be able to enter and exit work as it suits your lifestyle instead of feeling like you have to make a decision that is for now and forever.”

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Betsey Stevenson shares how economics reshaped women's choices and changed the labor market

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Monday, May 5, 2025 - 11:00am

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Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, discusses how economic shifts opened new doors for women and altered the landscape of work during the Hogan Lecture at Paul College on May 1. (Photo by Kayla Vine)

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Paul College Students Research Economic Challenges Facing New Hampshire

arq32 — Thu, 01 May 2025 18:49:48 +0000

The major challenges facing the local and national economy were at the top of students' minds when presenting at the UNH Paul T. Paul College of Business and Economics Undergraduate Research Conference.

Whether it was the cost of housing, food or challenges facing local businesses, students used their research to dig deeper into issues that impact us all.

What’s Forcing Small Businesses in N.H. to Change?

Nathan Brennan ‘25, a business administration and management major, designed a research survey to learn what factors drive change in small businesses and how businesses respond to these pressures.

Using organizational change theory and previous national research as a foundation, Brennan categorized external pressures into six areas: supply chain, economic, environmental, sociocultural, competitive, and technological. He then distributed a 40-question survey to more than 3,600 small businesses across New Hampshire, receiving 275 responses from all 10 counties.

“I really wanted to get a pulse on the small business ecosystem in New Hampshire,” Brennan says.

Among his findings:

Economic pressures — including interest rates, revenue changes, and margin compression — were among the most cited challenges.
Supply chain issues — such as rising input costs — were particularly severe for food and beverage companies.
Environmental regulations emerged as a primary concern for construction firms.
Service-based businesses felt competitive pressures, highlighting the need for quick adaptation to shifting consumer demands.

“The goal of my research is to create a practical toolkit for managers,” Brennan says. “Say you run a bakery and you're losing customers to a new shop down the street — that’s competitive pressure. My data helps you identify your challenge and shows the most common and effective response. In this case, the data might suggest a financial investment.”

Brennan says he was struck by how enthusiastically the small business community embraced his project.

“They loved the fact that a student was going out and doing the research,” he says. “Compared to larger organizations that have departments to do stuff like this, many small businesses operate in what feels like a fog.”

Brennan worked with the NH Small Business Development Center and the Family Business and CEO Center to refine his survey. He hopes the project can continue beyond his graduation — with future students building a year-by-year picture of how New Hampshire’s business environment evolves.

Emily Abrusci

Exploring Food Affordability on the N.H. Seacoast

Emily Abrusci ‘25, an environmental conservation and sustainability major, analyzed the price differences between locally sourced farmers’ markets and grocery store goods, including both conventional and organic options.

She conducted market research across grocery stores and farmers’ markets in Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Durham. On average, she found that farmers’ market goods were 16% more expensive than the cheapest grocery store prices.

However, Abrusci says the figure can be deceiving when you factor in that inflation has raised grocery store prices by nearly 23% over the last four years, narrowing the gap between grocery store pricing and farmers’ markets. Her research also found that farmers’ market goods were 5% cheaper than grocery store organic produce.

“Farmers' market goods do tend to be more expensive on average, but that number doesn’t account for the added value — like better farming practices, less packaging and fewer food miles, and the positive impact on local economies and even neighborhood well-being,” Abrusci says.

Looking ahead, Abrusci sees two key areas for future research. First, she believes state or federal agencies should systematically track farmers' market prices and direct-to-consumer sales to integrate them into economic measures like GDP better and encourage broader research. Second, she suggests comparing the cost of farmers' market goods to grocery store goods based on nutrient density, arguing that locally grown produce may offer better economic value when nutritional benefits are considered.

“It’s exciting to be exploring a field that isn’t heavily researched yet, but it’s also a little disheartening — especially if you're trying to make decisions without reliable data,” Abrusci says.

The Impact of Housing Costs

Students Nadia Goich ‘25 (business administration and management), Caleb Johnson ‘25 (business administration and management), Olivia Kennedy ‘25 (business administration and management), Jack Sheridan ‘25 (economics), and Damon Smead ‘26 (business administration and management) explored whether off-campus housing costs hurt academic performance or cause additional stress.

The students used an electronic survey to gather data from juniors and seniors living off campus and received 54 responses. They asked students to rate their average financial stress on a scale from 1 to 5; most students fell in the middle. While there were some instances where students who paid higher rent had lower GPAs, the correlation wasn’t strong. However, they did find a trend suggesting that students who actively budgeted experienced lower levels of academic stress.

The students see opportunities for additional research with a larger sample size and hope future research will continue to build on their work.

“Given the way that home prices across the U.S. are going up, I would say that rent prices are going to follow,” Johnson says. “Another interesting thing to look at is how students pay the rent. Are they picking up extra shifts at a job to pay for it, or is their family helping out?”

While one group focused on student experiences with rising rents, Colby Sherwin ‘25, a finance and accounting major, took a broader view, examining how private equity firms are impacting the housing market, particularly in Sunbelt states where they've gained significant pricing power. Sherwin noted that these firms increased rents by about 8% on average during the pandemic.

While private equity may not be as prevalent locally, Sherwin says it speaks to a more significant national issue.

“Housing is just not seen as how it used to be," Sherwin says. "Before 2008, homes were a medium for building equity. They were kind of like a checkpoint in life. But now it's seen as a financial instrument."

Sherwin highlighted the severe housing shortage in the U.S., with estimates ranging from 2 to 6 million homes undersupplied. The gap could reach as high as 7 million when factoring in older homes needing replacement. This shortage contributes to higher costs that affect various demographics, including recent graduates who increasingly live at home due to affordability issues.

"I think we need to create more initiatives for housing construction and increase the supply," Sherwin says, noting that this would reduce private equity firms' market power and "give some power back to consumers."

Subhead:

Current events influence Undergraduate Research Conference projects

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Paul College students present research exploring whether paying high rent prices impacts academic success. From left, Olivia Kennedy ‘25, Nadia Goich ‘25, Caleb Johnson ‘25, Damon Smead ‘26 and Jack Sheridan ‘25.

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Inquiry Spring 2025

ket1007 — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 19:00:37 +0000

The Spring 2025 issue of Inquiry is now available. The research journal offers articles, commentaries and research briefs on undergraduate research from current and recently graduated UNH students.

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Undergraduate Research Journal

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Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 3:00pm

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Undergraduate Research Conference Showcases Work of More Than 1,700 Students

ket1007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 19:35:26 +0000

UNH held its annual Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) last week, showcasing the research and scholarly work of more than 1,700 students representing all schools and colleges and an extensive number of majors.

The URC, annually one of the largest and most diverse events of its kind in the country, celebrated its 26th year this spring with more than 20 events held on the Durham and Manchester campuses, including symposia, panel and poster sessions, performances and prize competitions.

The URC shined a spotlight on students working in a considerable range of disciplines, and students presenting at this year’s URC were mentored by more than 300 faculty members and other research advisors throughout the university.

Our slideshow offers a glimpse at just a handful of the many engaging presentations and displays that made for yet another successful event this year.

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Annual event is among the largest of its kind in the country

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Grad Student Part of Winning Team in National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Competition

ket1007 — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:55:31 +0000

In the moments after winning a nationwide competition requiring the delivery of a persuasive argument using clear, concise and coherent language, the victorious team’s group chat was humorously devoid of any such polished communication.

Autumn Bedell ’25G was the lone UNH representative on the winning team at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) inaugural MAJIC Challenge this spring, outdueling teams of student analysts from around the country. Word of their victory came as something of a surprise to the team members, who responded by briefly abandoning precise phrasing in the exchange between them all.

“We were in total shock. There weren’t many words – just a stream of all-caps texts and disbelief,” says Bedell, a student in the national security intelligence analysis M.S. program in UNH’s College of Professional Studies. “It was such a rewarding moment to see all of our hard work come together. It took a second to sink in, but we were beyond proud.”

Bedell was a member of the Surveyors, a team made up of her and three students from UMASS-Lowell – Katelyn Smith, Christopher Bonney and Thomas McAndrews – and guided by John Borek, adjunct faculty at UNH Manchester. The team was awarded first place for best tackling the competition’s topic, “China: A Strategic Outlook,” in the eyes of the judges – who also happen to be professionals in the field.

The team had a little less than a month to research the topic and put together their presentation. Because the event is sponsored by the NGA and one of the requirements was that arguments must include geospatial intelligence or information, the teams were granted access to the NGA’s open-source commercial imagery database of unclassified imagery.

The experience reflected the current trends in intelligence analysis, Borek says, as more and more work is being accomplished in groups.

“One of the things we stress in analysis courses is that the days of the analyst working alone are kind of gone. Most intelligence products these days are collaborative products,” he says. “The opportunity to work together as a team, these four people who hadn’t worked together previously, and to see that team gel and produce this really high-quality product was personally fantastic to me.”

For Bedell, working with team members from another university proved to be a rewarding experience, as she says it “really highlighted the value of diverse perspectives” as the team members each brought their own thoughts and experiences to the process of building a final presentation they were all proud of.

The competition also served as a way to bring knowledge from the classroom into a more tangible setting.

“One of the biggest things I took away was learning how to apply geospatial intelligence skills in a real-world context,” Bedell says. “It was a step beyond the classroom and really pushed us to think about how our analysis could inform decision-making.”

As winners, the team members receive additional benefits, as well. Borek notes that they will all receive free tickets to attend a symposium put on by the NGA, and they will also have the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. this summer to present in front of agency heads and staff from professional journals. Journalists have also offered to work with them to edit the final product and ultimately get it published.

“For the team members, that’s a great reward for the work they put into it,” Borek says.

Just being in close proximity to so many professionals in the field was beneficial to the students, Bedell says, as they were able to make connections that could benefit them as they embark on their professional journeys.

“It gave us a chance to connect with professionals in the intelligence community, and to see how my academic work can contribute to broader conversations in the field,” Bedell says. “It’s one thing to study these topics in class, but getting to present our findings to experts and receive feedback was incredibly rewarding.”

Adds Borek: “To see this come outside of the classroom, to actually work through real intelligence questions from a national agency and come up with an answer using geospatial data, and to be able to put out a product that is recognized as being very high-quality, as students that is kind of a big pat on the back for all of them.”

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Group was guided by UNH Manchester adjunct faculty member John Borek

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Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - 11:45am

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Autumn Bedell ’25G (courtesy photo)

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Cracking the Childcare Crisis

bhf2 — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 12:25:55 +0000

In New Hampshire, the average price of full-time, center-based childcare for an infant and a four-year-old is nearly $32,000 a year, equivalent to 28% of median family income for Granite State households with children under five.

These data points, likely unsurprising to families and caregivers of young children, are from a new initiative led by UNH’s Carsey School of Public Policy. The New Hampshire Early Care and Education (NH ECE) Research Consortium aims to inform policy and action toward a more robust early childhood education system in New Hampshire.

With a multi-year grant from the Couch Family Foundation, the Carsey School is conducting new research and coordinating a consortium of researchers and practitioners across the Granite State, including UNH’s Early Childhood Initiative. Research shows that the scarcity of affordable childcare for young children is a significant but solvable challenge in New Hampshire and across the country.

“High-quality early childhood education builds the foundation for life-long success,” says Kimberly Nesbitt, associate professor of human development and family studies and the lead investigator for the Early Childhood Initiative. “The early care and education system is like a three-legged stool supported by access, cost and quality. All three legs must be strong for it to work to truly support children and families.”

“This is a pivotal project that will purposefully bring together the state’s early childhood experts and stakeholders and propel us toward a research agenda that can inform both policy and action for a more robust early childhood education system in the state,” says Jess Carson, research assistant professor.

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New initiative establishes hub for early childhood education research

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