John Toribio is a doctoral student at UConn in polymer chemistry – and is the first student to join us in this current format of the UConn 360 podcast. In addition to his studies, he is the CEO and CTO of Zemi Labs, (zemilabs.com), which is a start-up company creating smart clothing for comprehensive health and fitness. The company creates wearable garments that provide real-time relevant analytics about human bio-mechanical data, like heart and muscle performance, cognitive awareness, emotional status, and physiological workload. Zemi was the winner of UConn’s 2024 Innovation Quest entrepreneurship competition and received a $15,000 award. Toribio discusses where Zemi is now and what the future might hold. In addition, he talks about how he uses smart clothing and technology in his own life, how he balances his academic and entrepreneurship efforts, and what his own workout regime is like.

It is March, which means Saint Patrick’s Day and Irish-American Heritage Month in the United States. Here at UConn, Mary Burke is a professor in the Department of English and oversees the Irish Literature Concentration. She joins us on this episode of the UConn 360 podcast to talk about Irish studies on campus and her background as a scholar and professor. Mary explains the origins of the holiday back in Ireland and some of her own family traditions. If you are interested in learning about Irish literature, but have never studies it, she gives you a few places to start. Mary organizes the annual Gerson Irish Reading event on campus, which takes places this year on Tuesday, April 1, at the UConn Alumni House.

Former UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun won three national championships for the Huskies, but the relationship he has with players goes well beyond in the court. Calhoun has recently finished his third book - “More Than a Game: How the UConn Dynasty Was Built on a Culture of Caring” – which he co-authored with sportswriter Dom Amore. The book takes a look at Calhoun’s relationships with a number of former players from all his various coaching stops with many of them former Huskies. Amore joins us on the latest episode of the UConn 360 podcast to talk about how the book came about, when people will be able to get a copy, some insight about its content, and a little bit about his career as well.

Jennifer Fields is an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at UConn and recently published a study about high school athletes and their lack of knowledge in nutrition. Fields knew that college student-athletes often turned to unscientific outlets, like social media, for nutritional information in the absence of formal education. Given this, she became interested in seeing if similar patterns existed for high school athletes. Fields found out it was, and she talks about the reasons why and how this lack of knowledge can hurt the high school athlete. One of the key differences between sports and regular nutrition is athletes’ calories and carbohydrate needs, and she discusses that with us. Fields also talks about what parents and families can do to help their high school athlete gain nutritional knowledge.

Husky baseball coach Jim Penders joins this edition of the UConn 360 podcast as he enters his 22nd season guiding this historic program. He is just the fifth coach to guide the team in the past 100 years and Penders talks about the responsibilities that carries. The Penders family has deep baseball and athletic roots in Connecticut and nationally, which inspires him every day. He has spent 33 of the past 35 years as part of the “Hook C” as a player, assistant coach and head coach – the two other years were spent in politics in Washington, D.C. Penders has led UConn to nine NCAA tournament trips and to the Super Regionals in two of the past three years. He previews the 2025 Huskies, which look to make UConn’s first trip to Omaha and the College World Series since 1979.

There are many ways that UConn impacts the citizens of Connecticut beyond its obvious academic mission. The Connecticut Transportation Institute is one of the outlets and it is led by director and associate research professor Eric Jackson. The institute serves to advance the maintenance and enhancement of transportation systems and safety, with a particular focus on Connecticut’s current and future needs. Eric joins us on the UConn 360 podcast to talk about his work and why traffic safety and fatalities have increased in recent years. The reasons are many and vary from the effects of COVID, to distracted driving, and many others. The CTI is doing important work and Eric tells the story in an interesting enlightening way.

Anna Mae Duane is the director of the UConn Humanities Institute and is currently coordinating a year-long series of events to address the feeling of loneliness that some college students have. Anna was inspired to do this when she received a letter from a UConn student who had given up on companionship. Anna talks about events that happened in the fall semester and some that are planned for the spring. Listeners can email her at [email protected] to find out more about the program. Anna also explains what parents can do for their younger children to fight loneliness, the role of the Humanities Institute on campus, and the value of a humanities degree to both a student and potential employers.

UConn is the home to the oldest planetarium in the state of Connecticut as it was originally built in 1954. The facility underwent extensive renovations in 2023-24, led by the efforts of assistant professor of physics in residence Matt Guthrie. Guthrie worked with a number of different areas of campus on the project, which includes a new projector, new seating and a surround sound system. The building has also been renamed in honor of Cynthia Peterson, who served as the planetarium’s director for 35 years. Matt tells us about the shows at the planetarium and how you can come and see one! He also chats about renovations to a little-known observatory on the outskirts of campus.

It’s the start of the holiday season and people are getting ready to celebrate all kinds of traditions. Associate professor of anthropology Dimitris Xygalatas joins the UConn 360 podcast to talk about his research in why rituals and events like holidays are so important to the human experience. Dimitris has performed research all over the world on this topic and explains why in-person events are even more crucial with the rise of social media and electronic communications. He also looks at other rituals like sporting events and how being at a live game brings people together. Dimitris also reflects on what being the parent of a young child means for him now. Leann Garnelis, the Social and Emerging Media Manager in University Communications, joins us as a guest co-host for this episode.

Jason Lee, an associate professor in the College of Engineering at UConn, has wanted to travel into space since he was a child. He got a chance to do that for 45 days – without ever leaving earth! For 45 days, Lee, lived in NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog habitat at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, participating in a simulated journey to Mars. He and three others operated in a constrained environment, completing mission-critical tasks, conducting repairs, viewing Martian landscapes through virtual reality, and making communication attempts with Mission Control. Lee talks to the UConn 360 podcast all about the experience, including what it was like to stay in touch with family and friends, what the diet was for the crew, and the future of space travel.