FedEx, JA Launch Challenge For Young Entrepreneurs

Memphis-based FedEx Corp. and JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide are partnering for the FedEx Junior Business Challenge, a program in conjunction with the PGA Tour to help empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The challenge, which is an extension of the JA Company Program, will give JA students an opportunity to pitch their business concepts at one of our PGA Tour stops: The Shell Houston Open (Humble, Texas) on Wednesday, March 29; The Players Championship (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) on May 10; Travelers Championship (Hartford, Conn.) on June 21; and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (Akron, Ohio) on Aug. 2.

JA students ages 15-18 will pitch their concept to a panel of judges that includes a PGA Tour player and several business leaders. The winner from each location will move on to the FedEx Junior Business Challenge Finals in September for a chance to earn the $75,000 donation for their local JA chapter on behalf of FedEx.

– Daily News staff

Germantown Superintendent Recommends School Site

Germantown Municipal School District superintendent Jason Manuel has recommended 38 acres of land at Forest Hill-Irene Road and Poplar Pike for the site of a new elementary school with 40 classrooms for 750 students.

The Germantown school board votes on the contract at its April 5 meeting.

The school system is already building an addition to the Riverdale K-8 school to meet student growth the district has seen since its debut in the 2014-2015 academic year along with five other suburban school districts.

The district had hoped to buy either Germantown Elementary or Germantown Middle from Shelby County Schools and pursued that track along with looking at sites for a new elementary school.

Germantown Elementary and Middle are within the Germantown city limits, but when the suburban school districts were formed, Shelby County Schools retained those two schools as well as Germantown High to meet student growth in southeast Memphis and Shelby County.

– Bill Dries

EBiz Solutions Announces New Tech, Local Partners

Memphis-based digital business solutions firm eBiz Solutions has lined up new local partners in addition to announcing new technology it can offer clients.

In addition to providing web applications and digital solutions, eBiz now specializes in app development and process automation for new and expanding companies. The firm has launched its first stage of process automation platform using Office 365 SharePoint for Data Facts, and it’s launching a location intelligence app Jinzgo, which connects local businesses to consumers across the country based on their current location and preferences.

Recent eBiz business partners in Memphis include the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Doc’s Wine & Spirits and Data Facts, who are now on board alongside established clients such as cityCURRENT and Executive Speakers Bureau.

Recently, eBiz and cityCURRENT expanded their partnership through the launch of a new business line for Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance, called SmallBizInsure.

– Andy Meek

FedEx Institute Awards Five Biologistics Research Grants

In the second year since it established the Biologistics Research Cluster, the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis has awarded five 2017 research grants, part of its commitment to funding research in the emerging field.

Biologistics involves managing the transportation of temperature-sensitive, time-critical biological materials as they are delivered for patient care, diagnostic analysis, processing or storage.

The projects chosen reflect the diversity of this field. They include: developing a microscopic structured energy storage using nanoengineering technology; field testing for lung cancer; the management of freight transportation networks in the aftermath of disaster; developing packaging solutions to address issues leading to waste; and designing, building and testing a shipping material prototype that can potentially outperform existing technologies currently used in the cold-chain industry.

The 2017 Biologistics Awards were presented to:

• Nano-Enabled Energy Storage Device: Nanoengineering Approach (Sanjay Mishra)

• Biologistics of Lung Cancer and Management: Compact Tabletop Instrumentation and Efficient Logistics (Prabhakar Pradhan)

• Remote End-to-End Temperature Tracking for Regulatory Compliance (Firouzeh Sabri)

• Post-Disaster Management of Freight Transportation Networks: Phase 2 (Charles Camp, Shahram Pezeshk)

• Advanced Aerogel Packaging Solutions for Cold-Chain Biologistics (Firouzeh Sabri, Jeffrey Marchetta)

– Daily News staff

U of M Professor Earns Grant For Military PTSD Research

Meghan McDevitt-Murphy, director of the Trauma and Coping Research Group at the University of Memphis, has received a grant of more than $925,000 from the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD (CAP) for a study to help better understand the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on the lives of combat veterans. James Murphy, a U of M faculty member, will be a co-investigator on the project.

CAP is a multi-institutional research network jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs that is working to find the best interventions to detect, prevent, diagnose and treat PTSD and related conditions that affect service members and veterans.

The CAP study led by McDevitt-Murphy, known as Project BRAVE, aims to understand the daily activity patterns that go along with PTSD. The project will also investigate the ways that PTSD interferes with daily functioning in veterans after deployment. The study involves three assessment visits and a three-week period of self-monitoring during which participants will use a mobile device to provide real-time updates on their daily activities.

The Trauma and Coping Research Group is currently looking for participants for Project BRAVE. Any veterans who deployed after 9/11 and are dealing with PTSD symptoms or are having difficulties related to deployment experiences are encouraged to contact the research group. Participants who complete the full study may earn up to $350. To learn more, visit memphisveterans.org, call 901-678-5966 or email tcrg.lab@gmail.com.

– Don Wade