Dr. Ahad Nasab has never needed a title to make a difference, just meaningful work. From improving industrial systems to building academic programs and elevating students, faculty and staff, Nasab finds purpose in leaving things better than he found them.
UTC’s Rick Dierenfeldt and Erica Holmes Trujillo honored with 2025 UT System President’s Awards
Two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standouts, UC Foundation Associate Professor Rick Dierenfeldt and College of Arts and Sciences Student Success Center Director Erica Holmes Trujillo, have been named recipients of the 2025 UT System President’s Awards—the highest honor a faculty or staff member can receive from the UT System.
With ‘Adaptive Tai Chi,’ UTC’s Zibin Guo shares 20 years of wisdom in motion
Dr. Zibin Guo has spent more than two decades exploring how ancient traditions can help address the challenges of modern life. That research is now the subject of his second book, “Adaptive Tai Chi: An Accessible Practice for Empowering Body and Mind,” which will be available in July.
Fish feast: UTC professor reels in national award
Dr. Rich Walker’s project, titled “The Cicadian Rhythm: Integrated Research And Education To Reveal The Cascading Effects Of A Rare But Massive Terrestrial Resource Pulse In Stream Ecosystem,” is now drawing national recognition. He is one of just 36 early-career faculty members nationwide to be named a 2025 recipient of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of over 160 colleges and universities that collaborates with federal agencies to advance health and scientific knowledge.
Rolling relief: A day on the road with UTC’s MobileMOC health team
MobileMOC—an outreach health clinic on wheels—is designed to provide health care access for older adults in local rural communities, offering services such as preventive care, screenings, chronic disease management and social services.
Encore performance: For 42 years, Teresa McKinney helped UTC feel like home
When Teresa McKinney walks out of her office at the end of June, she will close the book on a 42-year chapter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that began when she was a student worker in the Department of Music.
Headstrong: One stubborn puppy, one determined student
For UTC mechanical engineering grad student Connor Mackey, what started as an engineering experiment quickly turned into a year-long test of creativity, grit and compassion. With no blueprint to follow, Mackey leaned into his problem-solving instincts—producing more than a dozen helmet prototypes for a tiny puppy.
Envisioning success for entrepreneurs
The Urban Vision Initiative connects entrepreneurs from underserved communities with UTC student consultants to drive economic success.
UTC brings together UT System, regional agencies for active threat training on campus
On Thursday, May 29, the UTC Police Department hosted an active threat training exercise that brought together emergency responders from across the UT System and regional public safety agencies.
UTC awarded $500K from state of Tennessee to build the future of traffic safety and smart streets
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Research Institute’s Center for Urban Informatics and Progress has been awarded $500,000 through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s Transportation Network Growth Opportunity. This funding will support the development and deployment of two systems that will continue to transform Chattanooga’s approaches to safety and smart mobility









