Monthly Archives: October 2020

Quicken is bringing financial wellness to major U.S. universities

MENLO PARK, CA. Oct. 28, 2020 — Quicken, maker of America’s best-selling personal finance software, is partnering with universities to offer Simplifi, its award-winning finance app, to alumni.

Named “best budgeting app” by The New York Times’ Wirecutter, Simplifi is the easy, modern way to stay on top of your money. Simplifi provides an elegantly simple interface to help people see all their finances in one place, better manage their spending, maximize savings, keep their bills and subscriptions in check, and get the insights needed to reach their financial goals with confidence. The app is flexible and customizable, offers positive reinforcement, and delivers an ad-free experience.

Leading-edge alumni associations who are proactively seeking to deliver tangible value to their alumni have become early adopters of the program. These forward-looking partners, which collectively claim nearly 2 million alumni across the country, include the alumni associations from the University of Texas at Austin, James Madison University, University of Michigan, University of Mississippi, University of Oregon and SUNY Buffalo State College.

“The earlier you start paying attention to your finances, the better off you’ll be in the long term,” said Quicken chief executive officer Eric Dunn. “Between the pandemic and the recession, this rising generation is facing significant challenges in establishing their financial lives with confidence. Our partnership with these leading alumni programs will give their graduates a head start on staying on top of their finances and reaching their financial goals.”

The UT Austin Texas Exes Alumni Program was the first to partner with Quicken on this program. “There are a lot of challenges that come with becoming financially independent — balancing your income and spending, paying down student debt, and figuring out how to achieve your financial and life goals,” said Chuck Harris, executive director for the Texas Exes. “Simplifi is perfect for managing your money, while being very simple and intuitive to use. We’re thrilled to be offering it to our alumni, particularly our recent grads who are looking for contemporary ways to manage their money.”

As a trusted market leader for over 30 years, Quicken has helped 17 million customers track their budgets and achieve their financial goals. Simplifi aggregates data from more than 14,000 financial institutions, so you have a snapshot of all your accounts, including banking, credit cards, bills, loans, investments and more. Simplifi lets you see what you have left to spend or save, after paying your bills, and offers you valuable insights to help you make better financial decisions.

Some of Simplifi’s key differentiators include:

● Watchlists – Keep an eye on what you care about by easily grouping spend into categories like kids, pets, household and transportation, to name a few.
● Projected Balances – Easily project balances and stay on top of recurring bills and expenses, so you can track against what is left to spend or save each month.
● Savings Goals – Maximize your savings by creating and tracking progress against an unlimited number of short- and long-term savings goals, such as a vacation, new home or vehicle, or that hot tub you’ve been eyeing.

Simplifi is available through the App Store, Google Play, and on the web. More information is available at www.simplifimoney.com.

Quicken invites other alumni associations to join the University Program. More information is available at: https://www.quicken.com/universities.

About Quicken:
Quicken is the #1 personal finance software in the US. For over 30 years, customers have relied on Quicken to manage all their finances, so they can lead healthy financial lives. In 2016, Quicken, formerly part of Intuit, became an independent company. Its desktop and cloud product suite includes a family of products that cater to different financial needs and device preferences — Quicken Starter Edition, Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Premier, and Quicken Home & Business, all of which can sync with Quicken’s website and mobile apps — as well as Simplifi for mobile and web. Simplifi, named the “best budgeting app” by The New York Times’ Wirecutter, is designed to help a new generation of mobile-first customers easily stay on top of their finances. Over 17 million people have used a Quicken product to manage their finances. Learn more at www.quicken.com.

Media Contact:
press@quicken.com

Verv provides college students with free three-month subscription

App connects physical fitness, mental health, sleep, nutrition and more in a fun and easy-to-use way

(Las Vegas, NV) – October 20, 2020 – Verv, a global holistic health and wellness app focused on the interconnections between physical activity, nutrition, sleep and mindfulness, today announced a free three-month subscription to its app available for all U.S. college students on the iOS platform. For other users, a 3-month Premium subscription costs $29.99. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 39%* of students in college experienced a significant mental health issue and experts predict this number will increase while Boston University reports** the depression rate has tripled among U.S. adults. As students return to campus with increased stress and anxiety, Verv understands the critical need to support this group.

New college users will get full access to a range of workouts, guided meditations, recipes including budget-friendly snack ideas, relaxing sounds for studying or sleeping, and more. The offer has no hidden fees or strings attached, and doesn’t require any billing information. To start the free 3-month subscription, students just need to submit their college email address at www.verv.com/students and they will get an email with activation instructions.

“It’s part of Verv’s brand values to give back to the community and we’re focused on helping people maintain a healthier lifestyle and combat stress and anxiety due to current events,” said CEO Luba Pashkovskaya. “Our hope is that hundreds of thousands of young adults take advantage of this free offer and join our community.”

Verv app highlights include:

● A wide variety of workouts including everything from yoga and running to interval workouts, resistance band fitness, dance fitness and more.
● 400 vegan, keto and other recipes and meal planning tips
● More than 40 meditations
● 1,000 workout music playlists
● 100 ASMR, sleep stories and sounds
● Available on App store and coming soon to Android

Verv is a top-rated app and all content is created by professionals with deep experience in fitness and technology. App downloads continue to increase at an unprecedented pace, emphasizing the want and need for quality health and wellness programming during this uncertain time.

“Now is the time to put your well-being first. Even just a few minutes a day can have a profound impact on your college experience and life,” said Verv’s Wellness Expert, Dr. Dominique Gummelt, who is also the Director of University Wellness at Andrews University.

Visit www.verv.com/students for more information or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

About Verv
Verv is a global holistic health and wellness app focused on the interconnections between physical activity, nutrition, sleep and mindfulness. While many other apps are focused on physical fitness only, Verv users get additional guidance related to other areas of their health and lifestyle. The Verv app customizes wellness programs via an onboarding quiz and continuous analysis of user behavior to create better and faster results. Whether you’re a fitness fanatic, nutrition novice or master meditator, Verv’s approach can help anyone achieve results in a healthy and holistic way. Monthly, 3-month or one-year subscriptions are available on Apple iOS. Visit www.Verv.com for more information or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Media Contact
Kim Mackenzie
Hollywood Agency for Verv
kim@hollywoodagency.com
(781) 749-0077 x24

*Source: Active Minds
**Source: Boston University

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OA Journals Launch Initiatives for Health & Tech University Students

Partners in Digital Health (PDH), publishers of Blockchain in Healthcare Today (BHTY) and Telehealth and Medicine Today (TMT) gold open access journals has launched its new University Council Initiative. The program is intended for university departments in engineering, computer science, health informatics, health policy, medicine, blockchain technology and telehealth.

Many university programs require students to publish papers in peer review journals. Academia is the ultimate incubator for innovation and pioneering discovery. PDH would like to assist stimulating and amplifying the academic experience through its journal portfolio. BHTY is the world’s first peer reviewed journal amplifying and disseminating distributed ledger technology research and innovations in the healthcare sector. TMT is a leading open access journal examining the value of telehealth and clinical automation from medical, technical, policy, economic and strategic perspectives. Both journals time stamp research articles on the blockchain and authors are given a custom dashboard to enhance research collaboration and citations.

The University Council Initiative includes university faculty participation creating a academic review board where manuscripts submitted by students are reviewed and if accepted, published in the journals – qualifying for the annual Editor’s Choice award, webinar, or published interview, press release, social media promotion and creation of a journal university chapter. The journals will provide a capped and significantly reduced APC for an unlimited number of accepted papers. Peer review will be rigorous. Journals must be included in the university e-Journal database (there is no subscription fee).

Additionally, the journals host the annual global ConVerge2Xcelerate (#ConV2X) 2020 conference. The theme this year is “US-World Health Transformation.” Teladoc Health and McKinsey & Company will be giving keynote addresses on Day 1, November 10, 2020. The event includes multinational executives, pioneers and leading academics transforming healthcare around the globe. The conference is free to registrants this year. Students are encouraged to participate. For agenda details and world renowned speakers, visit https://conv2x-2020.eventcreate.com/

Finally, BHTY will be publishing manuscripts accepted by the Technology Innovate challenge. This initiative promotes novel innovations in effort to accelerate change in the healthcare industry. The competition invites evidence based submissions of original research focused on distributed ledger technologies that transform and disrupt ecosystem inefficiency to tackle societal issues impacting health. Technology Innovate was created to nurture and groom innovators, researchers in the sector. Submissions can include new blockchain architectures and applications for a trusted and personalized approach to medicine in health systems around the globe. Six evaluators will review manuscripts to determine eligibility for publication in a Special Issue of Blockchain in Healthcare Today (BHTY). Competition evaluator Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, MD, MBA stated “telemedicine and blockchain are two key drivers of healthcare transformation in the digital era. Through knowledge sharing, education and promoting innovation we can all contribute to redesigning and reshaping the healthcare system of the future. It is my distinct honor to participate as a judge in this contest as I believe in supporting innovation and creativity that can optimize global health.”

For details including awards, visit Technology Innovate at
https://www.technologyinnovate.com/index or email info@technologyinnovate.com

About
Converge2Xcelerate (ConV2X) challenges audiences to demonstrate the viability and economic impact of blockchain technology, telehealth, and edge technologies in the healthcare sector. Top world authorities share business cases, pilots, and scaled use scenarios where outcomes and business models are assessed. Curated and produced by Partners in Digital Health (PDH), the portfolio also publishes the open access peer reviewed journals Blockchain in Healthcare Today and Telehealth and Medicine Today. The portfolio converges leading multidisciplinary stakeholders around the globe to accelerate healthcare transformation and better outcomes for health consumers worldwide, bringing trust, transparency, and truth to its audience.

Media Contact
Tory Cenaj
Partners in Digital Health
t.cenaj@partnersindigitalhealth.com
(203) 243-3063

The Economist Group and examPAL collaborate to enhance GMAT Tutor and GRE Tutor test prep products

The Group’s educational products offer new features aimed to equip students with a custom approach to learning

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM- October 15th, 2020 – Today The Economist Group announced new improved features to its GMAT and GRE test-prep products to help students on their journey to academic success.

The new and improved GMAT and GRE test prep products, reimagined in collaboration with examPAL, a pioneering online education provider, will provide students with advanced ways to prepare for admission tests through the online tutor software, tutoring service, and associated technical and customer support. The “PAL” methodology – Precise, Alternative, Logical – teaches students how to solve any question in one of three ways, and the training system, the PALgorithm, uses “PAL” to improve students’ cognitive flexibility. This innovative approach allows the system to predict the best way for the user to solve each question as opposed to “one-size-fits-all” solutions provided by a book or a tutor.

Siriliya Nawalkar, Director Product Portfolio at The Economist Group said: “The current climate accelerated the shift to online tests and online preparation, which encouraged us to enhance even further the capabilities of our educational products to meet the ever-changing demands of our students. This is why, we are pleased to be partnering with examPAL to build upon the success of our educational products and take the combined offer to the next level in the test prep market.”

Over the last 20 years, The Economist Group’s educational products, including The Economist GMAT Tutor and The Economist GRE Tutor have played a key role in supporting students across the globe. The collaboration with examPAL reaffirms the Group renewed focus in the education sector and unique position as one of the market leaders for GMAT and GRE test prep.

“We are very excited to be working with a partner with the brand recognition and global reach of The Economist, who have been helping students prepare for their masters and PhD degrees for many years,” says Oren Jackman, CEO and co-founder of examPAL. “We wanted to work with a brand who had a true affinity for both business and academia and The Economist, with its trusted voice and opinion, is the perfect fit. We look forward to combining examPAL’s and The Economist’s knowledge and expertise to provide market-leading, interactive, entertaining—and personalised—experiences that you would expect from online education companies in 2020.”

About The Economist Group
The Economist Group is built on high-quality, independent analysis which runs through all of its businesses. Based in London and serving a global readership and client base, the group publishes print and digital products, produces global events, and offers a range of subscription and other services for clients and readers. Its flagship businesses include The Economist newspaper, and research and analysis division The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Its education activities include the GMAT and GRE teach and test platforms, the Which MBA rankings and The Economist Education Foundation, a charitable trust.

About examPAL
examPAL was created with the combined talents of over 100 professionals from multiple industries, including educators, test-prep experts, data scientists, designers and software developers. examPAL has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being an SXSWEdu and Microsoft Innovate.AI finalist (chosen with 8 other AI companies out of 117) and winning the Google-sponsored DLD Innovation award and the GESA (Global Edtech Startup Award) local bronze. examPAL’s ACT and SAT online test prep courses will soon join its GMAT and GRE courses, which have helped over 200,000 students from 180 countries on their way to their Master’s and PhDs. examPAL students have awarded it 5 stars on Trustpilot.

Media Contact
Tom Bath
tombath@economist.com
+44 (771) 599-0428

MyCollegeDoctor.com is Changing the Telemedicine Industry for Students

Colleges and universities looking for telemedicine/telehealth services for students and employees are applauding the launch of mycollegedoctor.com.

The service launched an organized campaign this week to reach 500 campuses by the end of the year, according to Larry Peterson, co-founder.

This new telehealth service is nationwide and offers 24/7 access to board certified physicians for person-to-person consultation within 15 minutes of being requested.

In addition, almost any medication needed from the consultation can be obtained for no additional cost at over 65,000 pharmacies nationwide when prescribed by its physicians. Members are given a coupon over their smartphone to present to their pharmacy for prescription pickup.

As part of membership, mycollegedoctor.com also offers mental health services 24/7 and lifestyle coaching for improving the mind, body, and soul.

The business was started after co-founder Larry Sheffield’s son was diagnosed with Meningitis during his freshman year of college, and he struggled to find real-time resources to consult with a physician during the weekend. “As most colleges have limited hours and access to student health, the necessary resources were not available when we needed it most,” Sheffield said. “With mycollegedoctor.com you have access to a doctor’s opinion any time you need it.”

“We tailored a college-driven program with two clicks on a smart phone to access 75% of what college students might need during their enrollment,” says Sheffield.

“Telehealth, mental health, anxiety, addiction, relationship issues, dermatology . . . You name it, we cover it,” states Sheffield.

UNLV, Washington University, and Neumann University have all deployed Telehealth services as part of their student health coverage during 2020. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed healthcare inequities while speeding up a future in which better care can be more accessible. College students may not have access to transportation or want to go to a student health center during these times, but all students have a smartphone. With My College Doctor, that’s all they need to connect with a healthcare professional.

The service is a subsidiary of Advanced Health Strategies of Phoenix, Arizona.
For more information contact: info@mycollegedoctor.com or call Tara in Administrative Support at 602-568-8550.

More information can be found at www.mycollegedoctor.com.

ABOUT MY COLLEGE DOCTOR, LLC
mycollegedoctor.com is a nationwide telemedicine health service for college and university students and faculty located in Phoenix, AZ. Offering Telemedicine consolation with board certified doctors, pharmacy services, mental health services, and lifestyle coaching services. Products and services are tailored for college students.

ABOUT ADVANCED HEALTH STRATEGIES, LLC
Advanced Health Strategies is a company that targets affordable health care platforms, innovations, options and services to businesses and organizations. We provide real doctors in real time with real benefits to our members through a variety of innovative healthcare solutions. In a changing world, we provide affordable access to quality healthcare services for all. For information see www.advancedhealthstrategies.com.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Accepting Applications for Graduate Research Grants and Dissertation Fellowship Awards

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi– the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society– is currently accepting applications for its Graduate Research Grant and Dissertation Fellowship Award.

Introduced in 2018 as a pilot program, the Graduate Research Grant will provide up to $1,500 to 20 eligible members who are enrolled in a graduate program. These grants provide funding for research in support of career development opportunities. For full eligibility requirements, visit www.phikappaphi.org/graduateresearch.

Ten Dissertation Fellowships of $10,000 each will be awarded to eligible members in the dissertation writing stage of their doctoral study. For full eligibility requirements, visit www.phikappaphi.org/dissertation.

Since 1932, Phi Kappa Phi’s awards program has recognized members and students on its chapter campuses for outstanding academic achievement. Each year $1 million is awarded through programs that last year recognized more than 350 individuals.

About Phi Kappa Phi
Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni annually. The Society has chapters on more than 325 select colleges and universities in the United States and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society’s mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and engage the community of scholars in service to others.” For more information, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.

Media Contact
Alyssa Perez
Communications Director
aperez@phikappaphi.org
(225) 923-7777

Rockwell Automation Announces Winners of Virtual 24toCode Hackathon with Cisco

Tech, software and programming teams create solutions for real-world business challenges

MILWAUKEE October 1, 2020 – Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK) the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, announced today the winners of its 24toCode hackathon, the first virtual contest of its kind honoring tech wizards for creative business solutions.

The hackathon event, held from September 17-19, and in partnership with Cisco, provided a virtual forum for technology, software coding and programming teams globally to apply their problem-solving skills to real-world challenges that affect the industrial software and automation industry.

“At Rockwell Automation, we promote a learn-by-doing culture. We know that innovation results from the collaboration of different voices exchanging and cultivating new ideas,” said Chris Nardecchia, senior vice president of information technology and chief information officer at Rockwell Automation. “It is wonderful to see a group of people from diverse backgrounds and geographies come together to solve real-world business problems, by combining human ingenuity with machine and operations data.”

Teams developed solutions for one of four business challenges in the categories of manufacturing optimization, sustainability, visual system modernization and dynamic filtering.

“In this new working environment, it is all about disrupting. It is no longer about thinking outside the box; there is no box. We must throw out everything we know and get to work finding new ways to fix things in our world,” said Ruba Borno, senior vice president and general manager, Global CX Centers at Cisco. “The spirit of innovation and intellectual curiosity is at the core of 24toCode, and we are proud to be part of it.”

A total of $10,000 was awarded to winners with prize money split equally among team members. The 24toCode winning teams and their projects:

First place ($4,000 prize)
Team: NoNameJustCode
Team Members: Thomas Keller (Germany), Christian Renner (Germany), Stefan Schotte (France) and Sven Thiel (Germany)
Solution for dynamic filtering: The team developed code that collects data in real-time from all points on a plant floor and transmits it into the cloud as fast as possible. Plant engineers can then identify issues at all stages of manufacturing and what devices caused them to mitigate further disruption to operations.

Second place ($3,000 prize)
Team: Death Star Contractors
Team Members: Shahid Anchummal, Eiven Wong and Manju Venugopal (Singapore)
Solution for visual system modernization: Members created a visualization tool that helps customers understand the compatibility of their current systems. The dashboard shows where a customer’s equipment is in its lifecycle and produces recommendations for new solutions and products.

Third place ($2,000 prize)
Team: Rockwell Imachination
Team Members: Meiling He, Xiangyong Luo, Gino Maulini and Simon J. Vancina (United States)
Solution for manufacturing optimization: The team designed an automated daily employee staffing assignment schedule for manufacturing facilities. The innovative approach automates the time-consuming manual planning process leading to greater productivity and output

Honorable mention ($1,000 prize)
Team: CRON
Team Members: Julian Singkham, Aqeel Al Shafei, Noah Kennedy and Isaiah Rondeau (United States)
Solution for dynamic filtering: The team developed a way of identifying anomalies in the manufacturing process. The team demonstrated success in transmitting data into the cloud for real-time use. The programming allowed the team to identify and mitigate disruption to manufacturing operations.

Fifty-two teams participated in 24toCode, with more than 200 participants from every region of the world, including innovators from Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland and the United Kingdom.

This diverse set of participants ranged from high school and college students to experienced professionals and from a variety of backgrounds. Engineers, developers, software engineers and students engaged with Rockwell Automation subject matter experts over the two-day event to solve real-world problems relating to OT/IT convergence, sustainability, manufacturing scheduling, system compatibility and migration.

Rockwell Automation’s 24toCode first launched in in 2019 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, with a subsequent event in Milwaukee. This year’s virtual format allowed for a global participant base.

As the world of connected devices continues to boom, Rockwell Automation remains committed to working with talented individuals through innovative events like 24toCode to further expand what is possible and to make the world more productive and more sustainable.

About Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 23,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about how we are bringing The Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com

Media contact
Kolve Byrd
Global External Communications
+1 414-553-4661
KAByrd@ra.rockwell.com