Author: admin

  • TEDxUGA 2026: Dark Mode Presenter Lineup

    TEDxUGA 2026: Dark Mode Presenter Lineup

    TEDxUGA 2026 will spotlight six outstanding presenters from among UGA faculty, staff, students, and alumni, plus one inspiring member of the Athens community, each ready to share their bright ideas. Alumni Faculty + Staff Students Community Master of Ceremonies Sometimes the brightest ideas emerge from contrast. This year, we invite you to explore what lies beyond…

  • TEDxUGA at GSPA

    TEDxUGA at GSPA

    The TEDxUGA team presented at this year’s Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) Fall Conference. The annual conference brings together middle and high school students representing broadcast programs, literary magazines, newspapers, news websites, and yearbooks for a day of learning and collaboration. In their session, TEDxUGA Licensee Megan Ward and Curator Isa Martinez shared how to craft compelling presentations, emphasizing the importance…

  • Adobe Left the NMI Starstruck

    Adobe Left the NMI Starstruck

    Last month, ten NMIers traveled to the Adobe Max Conference in Los Angeles to join 10,000+ attendees for cutting edge workshops, jaw-dropping keynotes, and close-up connections with creative professionals.  The Adobe Max Conference is an annual convergence of the people who teach, make, and use Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and more). Can you be…

  • Drinking in the Experience at Coca-Cola HQ

    Drinking in the Experience at Coca-Cola HQ

    The NMI was fizzing with excitement following our second in-state site visit of the Fall semester. Our day at The Coca-Cola Company started with a tour of the headquarters, which featured art displays and artifacts from Coca-Cola’s rich history – including a display of flags from every country where Coca-Cola products are sold. After the tour, we…

  • Boss Lady Official

    Boss Lady Official

    Big news! Megan Ward has officially been named the Director of the New Media Institute! For years, Megan has been the engine that keeps the NMI running – teaching, mentoring, organizing, leading, and somehow managing 1,000 things at once with a smile and a spreadsheet. From Graduate Assistant to Program Coordinator to Administrative Director, she’s done it all.…

  • Welcome to the AC Fam, Joe Tomco!

    Welcome to the AC Fam, Joe Tomco!

    The NMI would like to give a warm welcome to our newest Advisory Council Member, Joe Tomco! Joe is the Founder and CEO of GlobalDevs, a company specializing in building world-class global software teams. With over 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship, strategy, and finance, Joe has successfully led initiatives to hire over 1,000 software engineers across…

  • Touring Through Time & Tech

    Touring Through Time & Tech

    Last month, the NMI took 15 students to South Downtown Atlanta for a site visit with our friends at Atlanta Tech Village (ATV) to learn about their ongoing development project reimagining 57 buildings across 16 acres in the historic core of downtown Atlanta. The vision is to create a downtown extension of ATV’s Buckhead hub, blending new…

  • Thrive Takes Flight With The NMI

    Thrive Takes Flight With The NMI

    Before the Fall semester fired up, Isa Martinez, Megan Ward, and Chris Gerlach teamed up to give Thrive students a taste of all things New Media! Thrive is a signature Summer program designed to help incoming UGA first-years get a head start on college life with classes, community, and unique experiences — areas in which the New Media Institute shines.  Megan…

  • Analyzing LPS in Glucose Media

    Analyzing LPS in Glucose Media

    Awardee: Arwen DaleAward Year: 2026 The gram negative bacteria Achromobacter xylosoxidans is an opportunistic pathogen that utilized lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as an endotoxin. My previous project involved growing the 72 gene knockout mutants in different glucose concentrations to determine changes in the LPS by SDS-PAGE gel. I was responsible for two differing projects, the first prompted…

  • Synthetic Proteins to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection

    Synthetic Proteins to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Infection

    Awardee: Victor AlcorezaAward Year: 2026 The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most significant events of our time. Since it began, scientists around the world have worked hard to create vaccines and treatments to slow the spread and lessen its impact. The virus uses a “spike” protein on its surface to get into human…