Published Apr 27, 2023 by alaskabusiness

The UAF College of Business and Security Management awarded more than $45,000 in cash prizes to inventors at the 2023 Arctic Innovation Competition (AIC).

The competition, now in its 14th year, invites innovators to propose new, feasible, and potentially profitable ideas for solving real-life problems, open to entrants from all over the world.

The top prize of $15,000 in the main division, for competitors ages 18 and up, was awarded to Serena Allen and her team for AiryCherry, a portable outdoor air-purification system. Allen traveled from Los Angeles to pitch her solution.

“Particulate matter pollution is a global problem that Fairbanks knows all too well. AIC allowed us to share our technology with an audience that understands the urgency of this problem,” Allen says. “The judges gave great feedback and asked questions that made us think critically about our technology’s understandability and deployment strategy. It was awesome to meet other Arctic innovators and listen to their pitches.”

Published Apr 27, 2023 by Debbie Dean, Fairbanks

Innovative solutions for issues unique to Alaska can come in packages big and small. Several of them were on display at Saturday’s University of Alaska Arctic Innovation Competition (or AIC).

The annual competition encourages Interior residents of all ages to develop and submit inventions, designs and software to tackle both large issues like air pollution and every day needs such as fireproofing a grill.

This year’s innovation competition, sponsored by Usibelli Coal Mine, included 21 finalists in three divisions and awarded a total of $45,000 in cash prizes and awards. The divisions included main division (adults), juniors (ages 13 to 17) and cub (ages 12 and younger).

“The thing I get most jazzed about is the youth in our community come up and present,” said Lisa Cassino with Usibeli Coal Mine. “We have some really talented kids. Hats off to them for having the courage to come up here.”

Published Apr 27, 2023 by alaskabusiness

Three business leaders are joining the Alaska Business Hall of Fame, selected by their peers and to be honored by Junior Achievement of Alaska.

Sheri Buretta, Board Chair, Chugach Alaska Corporation

Born and raised in Anchorage, Buretta’s Alutiiq roots reach back to the Prince William Sound village of Tatitlek. She served on the board of the Tatitlek village corporation, and in 1998 she became board chair of the regional corporation, Chugach Alaska. The same year, Buretta also joined the board of the Alaska Federation of Natives. From 1999 to 2012, she was the director for the ANCSA Regional Association, and she was president from 2004 to 2008. More recently, Buretta concluded an eight-year term on the University of Alaska Board of Regents. In addition, she serves as a board director for Copper Mountain Foundation, Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, and Silver Salmon Creek Leadership Institute. She is also the director for Alaskans Standing Together and the Foraker Group Governance Board.



Published Apr 27, 2023 by Kris Capps

Bug is a therapy dog with Companions Inc. This week, owner Sarah McConnell brought Bug to the Rasmuson Library to offer stress relief to students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. From left to right, students Alex Armstrong, Jeks McCormick, James Berryman, Grace Lecour and Seqininnguaq Poulsen all appreciated Bug’s visit.

Companions Inc sponsors Pet Awareness Day from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 13 at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds. This family-friendly event is a major fundraiser for the group, which provides therapy dogs throughout the community. There will be lots of pet information, vendor, a silent auction and Canine Good Citizen testing.

Published Apr 26, 2023 by Rhonda McBride

Alaska Native language experts shared their personal stories at the State Capitol on Friday. They came to talk with lawmakers and their staffers about their work on the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, but their main mission was to inspire those at the highest levels of government to support Indigenous languages.

Dr. Walkie Charles told the gathering he was taken away from his home in Emmonak and sent to a boarding school at the age of twelve. He said his mother only spoke the Yup’ik language, or Yugtun, and didn’t understand what happened to him.

“My mother just recently, she died nine years ago, finally told me that every time she heard a plane approaching to our village, that once a week, she was hoping I would be in that plane returning home. But I never did,” said Charles, who was sent more than a thousand miles away to the Wrangell Institute in Southeast Alaska, where Native languages were suppressed.

Charles not only lost his home and family on the Yukon but also what he calls his “heart language.” It wasn’t until he took classes in college to learn to read and write in Yugtun, that he reconnected to his language. Two years ago, Charles became the first Native director of the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

X’unei Lance Twitchell, a Native language professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, now heads the council.

“Alaska for a long time had been on a path of decided elimination of indigenous languages,” X’unei told the group. “There was intention, there was purpose, there was a well-orchestrated attack on our peoples.”

He said there are four different Indigenous language families in Alaska, with a total of 23 languages that include a few which are no longer spoken.

“We don't like the word extinct,” X’unei said. “We prefer dormant, because we've seen languages come back.”

X’unei says, with only 30 fluent speakers of Lingít, it hasn’t been easy to rescue his language, but it is possible.

Published Apr 26, 2023 by Mark Sabbatini

The finance committee also boosted its initial capital improvements budget of about $191 million — the bare minimum needed to qualify for federal funds approved for related projects in Alaska — by about $166 million, putting the total $357 million plan above Dunleavy’s $304 million capital budget. In a news release by the committee, it stated priorities included $30 million for major school maintenance and $32 million for University of Alaska projects.