Utah News

OREM, Utah, May 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Utah Valley University (UVU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Spencer Magleby, Ph.D., as dean of the Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET), effective June 16, 2026.

Magleby brings extensive experience in academic administration, curriculum innovation, and institutional leadership. He is a professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU) and served in key leadership roles, including associate dean and director of the BYU Honors Program, with a strong focus on student development, collaborative programs, industry relationships, and academic excellence. An internationally recognized researcher in compliant mechanisms, Magleby’s pioneering work has resulted in over 40 patents and 250 publications spanning theory, technology development, and advanced mechanical design, and the advisement of hundreds of graduate students.

He holds a B.S. and M.S. in civil engineering from BYU and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is deeply engaged in advancing engineering education, having co-founded a nationally recognized, industry-sponsored capstone design program. He has published on Capstone program design, leadership development, and study abroad for engineers and technologists.

UVU looks forward to the leadership and exceptional expertise Magleby will contribute to SCET. Magleby is poised to elevate the college’s mission, foster academic excellence, and strengthen connections within the UVU community.

To learn more about the Smith College of Engineering and Technology please visit uvu.edu/scet.

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About Utah Valley University
Utah Valley University believes in the power and potential of every student. Our work is guided by a commitment to exceptional care, exceptional accountability, and exceptional results. We provide a high-quality education that is both affordable and accessible. From certificates to master’s degrees, UVU offers flexible, relevant programs grounded in hands-on learning and real-world experiences, ensuring that students graduate with career-ready skills and are ready to receive a strong return on investment. As an open-enrollment university, we invite students to come as they are, and they leave prepared to make an immediate impact in their careers and communities.

CONTACT: Sharon Turner Utah Valley University 801-863-6807 sharon.turner@uvu.edu

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

For more than 30 years, a Utah woman says she and her husband poured their lives into his family farm. They worked the land, raised a family and even paid for half the house they live in.

There’s just one problem: none of it is legally theirs.

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On a recent episode of The Ramsey Show (1), the woman named Patti described a situation that sounded more like a financial trap than a stable retirement plan. Her husband works for his parents on the family farm, but the in-laws still control the salary, the house and, crucially, the future of the business.

“They control his salary, his time. They even control the house we live in. Like, we paid for half of the house and they refused to put any of it in our names,” Patty said. “We can’t even remodel it.”

The couple, who are in their 50s, assumed for decades that the farm would eventually become their retirement plan. Instead, she says promises about succession never materialized. No ownership transfers. No written agreements. No clarity about what happens next.

And when she pressed her husband about creating an actual plan, she says he accused her of something shocking.

“So now you want my parents dead,” he told her.

The exchange struck a nerve because it highlights a financial problem many family businesses quietly avoid until it’s too late: succession planning.

Handshakes and promises aren’t retirement strategies

Family farms and family businesses often run on trust, tradition and verbal understandings. But financial experts warn that it can become dangerous when assets, housing and retirement plans remain undocumented for decades.

Ramsey Show co-host Rachel Cruze didn’t mince words about the caller’s situation.

“You’re in a bad business deal,” she said. “That’s a marriage problem, Patti, between you and your husband.”

That may sound harsh, but estate planners frequently warn that vague inheritance expectations can create massive financial and emotional fallout later, especially in farming families where land values have exploded in recent years.

USDA data (2) shows the value of U.S. farm real estate has risen sharply over the past decade, accounting for nearly $3.7 trillion of farm assets in 2025 – making farm succession disputes potentially worth millions. At the same time, the average age of American farmers continues to rise (3), adding urgency for aging farm owners to put transfer plans in place before illness, death, or family conflict forces difficult decisions.

Why living in a home you don’t own can become financially dangerous

Patti told the Ramsey hosts that she and her husband paid for half the home but have no ownership stake on paper. That means they may have little legal protection if relationships deteriorate further, if the property is sold or if the estate is divided after the parents die.

“You legally have no assets, right?” Cruze asked during the call.

“Correct,” the caller replied.

It’s an arrangement that’s more common than many Americans realize, especially in multigenerational businesses where family boundaries and business boundaries blur together. Unless names are on a deed or there is a written legal agreement outlining repayment or equity rights, recovering that money later can become more difficult.

The caller described feeling trapped, financially insecure and unable to make long-term plans for retirement. At one point, Cruze suggested the deeper issue was no longer just about money. “For him to continue to choose them over you … that’s what hurts.”

Financial stress tied to extended family relationships can put enormous strain on marriages. American Psychological Association survey data show that money remains one of the most common sources of stress and relationship conflict (4) among American adults, including those in partnered relationships.

Read More: Almost 50 with no retirement savings? Here’s why you shouldn’t panic

Protecting yourself

Financial experts say the safest approach is to treat family business arrangements like any other major financial deal. Get ownership agreements in writing, make sure names are on deeds and titles, and don’t rely solely on verbal promises about future inheritances.

Couples should also build retirement savings outside the family business through IRAs, 401(k)s or separate investments so their future isn’t tied to someone else’s decisions. If succession plans remain vague for years, that’s a sign it’s time to consider contacting an estate attorney or a financial planner who can help families formalize plans before resentment and uncertainty spiral into larger legal problems.

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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see ourethics and guidelines.

YouTube (1); U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (2); National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (3); American Psychological Association (4)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

TikTokers are infamous for doing whatever it takes to get their shot. And for a farmer in Utah, it was to his detriment.

Todd Brown is a farmer in Southern Utah who has been managing farmland for the past 20 years. He grows alfalfa and oats (1) and has 60 cattle. And up until last week, Brown has rarely had any issues with trespassing on his farmland, he told ABC4 (2).

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That is until 22-year-old TikTok user Emerson Nix posted a video of his truck parked on Brown’s crops. After his initial video — which he has now deleted — it happened again another night. When viewers of Nix’s TikTok saw where he took the clip, they wanted to pose their trucks in that ‘field,’ too (3).

Brown saw the trespassing occur, telling ABC, “I was just posting up in my shop down here and watching them pull out into my fields, and then I was calling the police, and they were coming out issuing citations. Went back out the next night, the same exact thing happened.”

In a follow-up video, Nix said he thought the farmland was just grass, and didn’t realize he was driving over crops. “At the end of the day, this is an honest mistake,” he said (3).

Viral stunts can create real financial damage for struggling farms

Regardless of Nix’s claim that the issue was an accident, Brown and his farm are hurting. “Farmers, we’re going to take it personal, you know, we’re the ones feeding your families … All of these crops feed my cattle, and when the cattle come off of the summer range, we sell the calves, the calves go to the slaughterhouse. That goes to your grocery store,” Brown said (2).

“Everywhere they drove their trucks, mashing down the crop is all crop-loss,” Brown told KSL (4). “It’s all dead and won’t come back. I can’t harvest that.”

Read More: Almost 50 with no retirement savings? Here’s why you shouldn’t panic

For farmers already operating on thin margins, even relatively small damage can matter. Last year, small and medium-sized farms in the U.S. were largely impacted (5) by Trump’s tariffs and cuts. This year, the increased cost of fuel and fertilizer have caused issues for farmers. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation (6), U.S. farms filing for bankruptcy reached 315 in 2025, a 46% increase from 2024.

Brown said the viral attention has been frustrating not just because of the crop loss, but because people seemed to treat working farmland like a backdrop for social media content rather than someone’s livelihood.

“I didn’t go through all that work to make my field into a TikTok haven or a parking lot for TikTok,” he said (2).

What looked like harmless content for TikTok viewers translated into a reminder that online trends can carry real-world costs for the people caught in them.

What To Read Next

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Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see ourethics and guidelines.

YouTube (1); ABC 4 (2); TikTok (3); KSL (4); The Guardian (5); Facebook (6)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — The start to the 2026 football season is still a few months away, but we begin our look into each of the teams Utah will play this season, starting with the first two games and then progressing each week with two more games before the unofficial start of the season with Big 12 media days in July.

Utah opens up its slate this season with a manageable early portion of the schedule before shifting to the tougher part (at least on paper). That should help Morgan Scalley and his squad in his first season as head coach as the team ramps up before the most pivotal games of the season later in the year.

Though the early part of the schedule should be easier, there’s enough of a challenge to give the Utes a good test that could help the team should it be in contention for a Big 12 title. The first two games, in particular, present good challenges to test Utah in different ways.

The early sportsbooks have Utah leading the conference (with BYU) with 8.5 wins. Could it be another 10-win season for the Utes, or will Scalley’s first season fall short of that mark?

Let’s start our look with the first two games of the season: FCS Idaho and Arkansas.

Idaho Vandals

Date: Thursday, Sept. 3 (TBA)Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium; Salt Lake City, UT2025 record: 4-8 (2-6 Big Sky)Final AP ranking: N/ALast meeting: Oct. 2, 1993 (Idaho win, 28-17)

It’s a tradition old as time: Utah starts off its season with a Thursday night game. The season-opener against Idaho should provide enough intrigue, especially with Morgan Scalley taking over the reins after a 20+ year stint of Kyle Whittingham calling the shots.

The Vandals return to Utah for the first time since Oct. 2, 1993, where Idaho earned a 28-17 win over the Utes. The return game should look drastically different with a Utah team seemingly in contention for a power conference title.

The Vandals come into Salt Lake City after having a down season in the Big Sky and some ensuing changes to the offensive staff, including the addition of Ian Shoemaker as the team’s new offensive coordinator after the previous OC was fired.

The offense and defense were average last season and middle of the pack in FCS. While there are pieces for a potential upgrade, there’s not an expected jump this season, even with a new coordinator and a good recruiting class.

Quarterback Joshua Wood is the star of the team and a strong veteran leader for the Vandals, but he needs more help to really make a splash on offense. Last season, Wood threw for 1,898 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. He added 589 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground as the team’s leading rusher.

Wood isn’t the most accurate, though, finishing at just 58.5% last season. He will be tested early against Utah’s rebuilt defensive line that is more focused on a better run defense.

Though the season-opener won’t provide a splash name coming into Rice-Eccles Stadium, Idaho presents an early look into Utah’s new offensive line and how well it can gel early. Though a good showing won’t fully predict success this season, it would go a long way to ease some initial concerns.

Arkansas Razorbacks

Date: Saturday, Sept. 12 (TBA)Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium; Salt Lake City, UT2025 record: 2-10 (0-8 SEC)Final AP ranking: N/ALast meeting: NeverPreseason win projection: 4.5 wins (Bovada)

Don’t let the Razorbacks’ record last season lull you into a false sense of security as they come into Salt Lake City the second week of the season. Arkansas lost 10 games last season, but half of those were by one-score games against quality opponents (Ole Miss, 41-35; Tennessee, 34-31; Texas A&M, 45-42; Mississippi State, 38-35; and LSU, 23-22).

The offense had veteran leadership and did more than enough to win games, but the defense let the team down — for example, the offense averaged 32.9 points per game, but the defense gave up 33.8 points. That’s not an easy way to try to win games.

Midway through the season, Arkansas went in a different direction and fired head coach Sam Pittman. The program turned to a proven winner in Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield, who brought his offensive coordinator (Tim Cramsey) and several players with him to Arkansas to help rebuild a program picked last in the SEC this season.

Silverfield is more than capable of winning at Arkansas, but a quick jump is not likely with the turnover of the roster and several veteran players out. The biggest question for Arkansas will come at quarterback, where the Razorbacks will be forced to replace proven QB Taylen Green.

The Razorbacks will look to settle its quarterback battle this fall, where it’s down to sophomore returner KJ Jackson and Memphis transfer AJ Hill. Neither has a ton of experience, so this season will be a big learning experience for either QB.

Jackson threw for 441 yards and three touchdowns in five games for Arkansas last season, while Hill had just 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception in two games. From reports in Arkansas, Jackson has been more consistent and the mechanics have been better, but Hill has a leg up with Cramsey’s offense.

Either way, Arkansas will be working in a new quarterback, with Utah being the first true test for whichever player is named starter. One advantage the two quarterbacks will have is that Cramsey’s scheme attempts to get the ball out quickly, which could limit a Utah defense’s ability to get in the backfield and disrupt.

Arkansas will have two proven rushers is Braylen Russell and Memphis transfer Sutton Smith, who led Memphis last season with 669 yards and seven touchdowns. They’ll be joined by a rebuilt receiver room that returns CJ Brown and tight end Jaden Platt, and infuses proven talent from Memphis transfer Jamari Hawkins and Boise State transfer Chris Marshall.

Both Hawkins and Marshall had over 500 receiving yards last season and will likely be the focal point of the receiving game.

On defense, there’s a lot of turnover, but one of the biggest mainstays is defensive end Quincy Rhoades Jr., who had a team-high 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, who comes to Arkansas after two years at Florida, will look to create havoc with his simulated pressures and two-high safety looks.

This will certainly test Utah’s new offensive line with the different looks Roberts will dial up, while making Utes quarterback Devon Dampier make smart decisions against a defense that runs a hybrid zone/man scheme.

Arkansas certainly has the roster and talent to make it a difficult game for Utah, even with several questions surrounding the team. It’s a steep learning curve and a lot has to go right for Arkansas, but Silverfield knows what it takes to win. The biggest question will be whether that can come in his first season with the program.

The post Utah football: Previewing the 2026 schedule with a look at Idaho, Arkansas appeared first on East Idaho News.

It’s hard to find many holes in an 11-2 football team. Yet, like everyone else, Utah wasn’t perfect during the 2025 season.

All things considered, the Utes don’t have many areas to improve upon going into the 2026 campaign. The change to Morgan Scalley as head coach shouldn’t be that big of an adjustment, considering he’s been part of the program for two decades now. As such, the expectations for Utah remain the same: be in a position to win the Big 12 title and compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

However, there are a few areas the Utes will need to improve upon if they’re to take the next step following last season’s finish in the Las Vegas Bowl. Let’s take a look at where Utah can grow in 2026.

Passing Game Explosivity

By most accounts, Utah’s offenses was one of the top units in the country in 2025. The Utes were among the five teams to average more than 40 points per contest (41.3, No. 4 nationally) and led all Power 5 squads with 3,462 total rushing yards (266.3 on average). Their proficiency on third down maintained lengthy scoring drives as well (Utah was No. 3 in the country with a 52.9% conversion rate).

If there was one area to nitpick, it would be the lack of explosiveness in the passing game. Averaging 7.4 yards per completion, the Utes tallied 202.8 passing yards per game between Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin during conference play. For context, the four Big 12 teams that averaged fewer yards through the air combined to go 13-24 overall.

Perhaps the dominance of Utah’s rushing attack took away some opportunities for Dampier to show off his arm. Either way, the renovations to the offensive line, additions to the wide receiver room and infusion of Kevin McGiven’s offensive schemes point toward there being more shots down the field in 2026.

Wide Receiver Involvement

When Utah utilizied three defensive players (Smith Snowden, Jackson Bennee and Lander Barton) in the passing game during the first weeks of the 2025 campaign, it signaled that the wide receiver room just wasn’t ready to go for the start of the regular season. Sure, it could’ve been an attempt to find a hidden two-way player on the roster, but upon reflection, it probably had just as much to do with the fact a hierarchy hadn’t been established among the team’s pass-catchers in spring and fall camp (losing projected starter Zacharyus Williams to USC in the spring portal probably didn’t help, either).

As such, it wasn’t until the back-half of the regular season that some of the portal additions Utah made in the offseason began showing up on the field. Ryan Davis was effective in the slot throughout, though Larry Simmons and Creed Whittemore took a while to find their footing. Coveted Cal transfer and 6-foot-5 target Tobias Merriweather struggled to create separation all season long, creating a perplexing wide receiver depth chart.

Simmons, Whittemore and Merriweather will have opportunities to hit the ground going into 2026 after getting a year under their respective belts. That group meshes with a talented portal class that includes 6-foot-3 junior Braden Pegan (926 yards at Utah State in 2025) and 6-foot-tall senior Kyri Shoels (768 yards at San José State in 2025). Pegan is expected to be the go-to guy as a four-star transfer with experience playing in McGiven’s offense from their shared time at Utah State.

Time will tell if Utah’s revamped passing game is deserving of the hype its received this offseason.

Rushing Defense

The most perplexing thing about the Utes defense in 2025 was the unit’s struggles against the run. Utah hardly looked like the physically-imposing team of years past, especially down the stretch of the regular season. The Utes allowed its final five opponents to rush for 206, 133, 472, 290 and 161 yards, inflating their season average to 181.2 rush yards allowed per contest (third-worst in the Big 12).

If the Utes are going to be more stout in the trenches in 2026, it’ll likely be because new faces along the defensive line stepped up in big ways. After losing three rotational players on the interior in Aliki Vimahi (graduation), Jonah Lea’ea (transfer) and Dallas Vakalahi (transfer), plus pass rushers John Henry Daley (transfer) and Logan Fano (NFL), Utah is set to usher in an entirely new starting D-line that’s likely going to feature multiple underclassmen.

The Utes need sophomores Pupu Sepulona, Karson Kafusi, Jireh Moe, Lucas Samsula and Dilan Battle to collectively make a big impact in the run game for the defense to be better in 2026.

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Hundreds demonstrated against a proposed Box Elder County data center in Tremonton on May 4.

Hundreds more gathered last week at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City to sound off against the proposed project.

The outpouring has prompted skepticism from Kevin O’Leary, the main force behind the controversial project, who has characterized the critics as non-Utahns and suggested they are linked to the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP. Over the long haul, the plans call for a data center intended primarily for military needs and a power-generating network to serve it, capable of generating 7.5-9 gigawatts of power at full buildout.

“So these are proxies for the Chinese government is my argument. They’re just spreading falsehoods. This is the CCP at work here. There’s no question about it,” he said in a post on the social platform X last week, one of his more charged pronouncements. A week earlier, O’Leary said, without providing evidence, that more than 90% of the critics don’t live in Utah and that some are paid “professional protestors.”

But when asked for more specifics and whether the Utah organizations most directly involved in campaigning against the data center plans are somehow beholden to China, Paul Palandjian, chief executive officer of O’Leary Digital, seemed to take a step back. Among the many progressive organizations that have publicly expressed opposition or are helping with a demonstration this coming Saturday against the data center plans are Salt Lake Indivisible, the Salt Lake Party for Socialism and Liberation, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Sierra Club Utah.

“We are not asserting that any specific local organizer is acting on behalf of a foreign government, and we are not characterizing any individual on that list as a foreign agent. Many of these are legitimate civic groups with long operating histories in Utah,” Palandjian said.

Rather, Palandjian charges that the “Utah progressive advocacy network” organized against the data center plans is funded by the Arabella Advisors network, which he calls “a structure currently under active federal scrutiny.” Arabella was acquired late last year by Sunflower Services, which calls itself a public benefit corporation that aids “nonprofit and social impact organizations.”

He singled out Alliance for a Better Utah and the Better Utah Institute, among others, as recipients of “direct grants” from the Arabella/Sunflower network. He also called for “full donor transparency” in funding of groups opposed to the data center projects, but otherwise levied no specific accusations against the organizations.

A website created this month focuses on the funding of Alliance for a Better Utah, which has posted critical comments on data center plans, and says public records reveal “a layered network connecting Utah progressive advocacy to Arabella Advisors-managed dark money vehicles.” It also looks at the funding of Grow the Flow Utah, Friends of Great Salt Lake, Elevate Utah and the Center for Biological Diversity, other organizations that have made critical comments about the data center plans.

Palandjian pointed to the website, saying it contains “documented evidence that shines the light of transparency on the network of money behind the protests and opposition to the project.” However, aside from questioning the sources of funding of the varied organizations, it makes no specific accusations against them. The author or authors of the website aren’t identified, but Palandjian suggested that it is a secondary matter.

“The underlying records are the point. We encourage you and your readers to examine them directly rather than focus on the messenger,” he said.

‘A very unreliable narrator’

Reps from the groups singled out by the O’Leary camp reject charges and insinuations that they are linked to China or the Chinese Communist Party. They also rebuff allegations that the rabble-rousing against the project is coming from forces outside of Utah.

Deeda Seed, of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the rapid rise of the movement against the data center plans “one of the most astonishing, organic outpourings” in her 40 years of involvement in public policy issues. Those opposed come from a range of viewpoints, worried variously about the government’s role in aiding the development and its potential impacts on the environment and dwindling water supplies.

“All we have is this rhetoric from a very unreliable narrator who’s calling all of us Chinese Communist Party operatives, which is absolutely absurd,” she said.

Elizabeth Hutchings of Alliance for a Better Utah noted that the organization’s funding information is public, downplaying the ominous tone of those taking aim at the group. In an interview with Fox News, O’Leary cast a suspicious eye on the Alliance, suggesting it might be linked to the Chinese government.

“All of our information on donations and stuff like that is publicly available. He’s kind of treating this as a very deep investigative dive, and it’s really not,” she said. “We are not beholden to China, we don’t take directives from the Chinese government, we don’t work on behalf of the Chinese government. We’re working on behalf of the people of Utah.”

Charges aimed at critics of the project are “a distraction,” Hutchings said, adding that O’Leary might be better served by listening to what critics have to say.

“I think that he should spend less time into crafting stories and going after local people and organizations and baseless claims, and focus a little bit more on answering the public’s questions and earning trust within the community,” she said. “I think he’ll face less opposition if people feel that he’s acting in good faith.”

The data center project publicly emerged in late April when the board of the Utah Military Installation Development Authority, a state entity that promotes economic development tied to military initiatives, approved plans for the proposal. Box Elder County commissioners approved plans related to the initiative a week later.

The development would take years and span 40,000 acres set aside for the project, though it would occupy only a fraction of that land.

The Strategic Materials Accelerator & Research Testbed (SMART) initiative will provide a first-of-its-kind testing ecosystem to accelerate breakthrough technologies for rare earth elements and strengthen domestic supply chains.

SALT LAKE CITY, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of Utah, one of the nation’s leading research universities, is partnering with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to launch the Strategic Materials Accelerator & Research Testbed (SMART), a major innovation platform designed to accelerate the United States’ capabilities in critical minerals and rare earth elements.

SMART will serve as a national hub for cutting-edge biotechnology research, providing organizations with tools to develop, test and scale breakthrough technologies, accelerating solutions that directly strengthen national defense and power the innovations of tomorrow.

The U.S. faces a growing need to strengthen its domestic supply of critical minerals and rare earth elements, the essential components of advanced technologies including electric vehicles, cellphones, renewable energy systems and national defense. Meeting this challenge will require bold new approaches for identifying, extracting and refining these materials.

With deep expertise in earth sciences, engineering and commercialization, the University of Utah is positioned to drive new research pathways and innovation models, advancing U.S. capabilities and helping shape the future of technology and manufacturing.

This effort builds on the University of Utah’s recent announcement of the Institute for Critical and Strategic Minerals, a university-wide initiative focused on expanding sustainable domestic supply chains through research, education and workforce development. Together, SMART and the institute position the university as a national leader in addressing critical minerals challenges from discovery to deployment.

“Necessity is the core driver of innovation. The U.S. desperately needs a testbed to accelerate our strategic material supply chain,” said Jakob Jensen, associate vice president for research at the University of Utah. “SMART is a state-of-the-art testing ecosystem that addresses a pressing need.”

“The launch of SMART reflects how the University of Utah is stepping forward to help solve one of the nation’s most urgent challenges,” said University of Utah President Taylor Randall. “By bringing together our strengths in science, engineering and policy, we are accelerating solutions that strengthen national security and build a more resilient, forward-looking critical minerals ecosystem.”

Story Continues

This first phase launches a larger, multi-phase initiative to expand national capacity in critical minerals research, development and deployment. Phase I will support DARPA’s Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program, which is pioneering new ways to unlock America’s supply of rare earth elements. SMART is establishing a state-of-the-art benchmarking space on the University of Utah campus to accelerate the path from lab discovery to real-world solutions. Benchmarking infrastructure is often difficult to fund, yet it is essential for validating breakthrough technologies and determining their potential to scale.

“One of the biggest challenges in this space is not invention, but translation,” said Sha-Chelle Manning, chief of DARPA’s Commercial Strategy Office. “SMART is designed to reduce the risk of scaling new technologies by giving innovators a place to validate performance at meaningful scale, helping accelerate the transition from breakthrough science to actual capability.”

The testbed was developed in coordination and with the support of multiple Utah entities, including 47G, the Utah Mining Association and the World Trade Center. This collaboration represents a distinctive model for research-driven innovation and helps position the state as an ideal home for the lab.

“47G is proud to have played a key role in forging the relationships that made SMART possible,” said Aaron Starks, CEO and president of 47G. “This initiative is more than a research platform—it’s a testbed that will serve our local industry here in Utah while also advancing innovation and supply chain resilience nationwide. Our mission is to connect partners, align priorities and create collaborations that drive real impact.”

SMART is just the beginning. By investing in this platform, the University of Utah is helping position the nation as a leader in critical materials research and innovation. We welcome collaboration from industry, researchers and policymakers to expand this work and build a stronger, more resilient innovation ecosystem.

About the University of Utah
The University of Utah is the state’s flagship institution of higher education, with 18 schools and colleges, more than 100 undergraduate majors and graduate programs and an enrollment of more than 36,000 students. It is a member of the Association of American Universities—an invitation-only, prestigious group of 71 leading research institutions. Ranked No. 1 public university in the West by the Wall Street Journal, the U strives to be a model public university in delivering unmatched value in higher education and health care while making social, economic and cultural contributions that improve the quality of life throughout the state, the nation and the world.

Media contacts:
Amanda Ashley, Amanda.ashley@utah.edu, director, marketing and communications, Technology Licensing Office, University of Utah

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/university-of-utah-to-launch-groundbreaking-darpa-backed-critical-minerals-testbed-302778234.html

NEED TO KNOW

• Salt Lake City raised its profile to reality TV fans with the debut of Secret Lives of MormonWives in 2024, but there’s another side to the city

• Recently, Kilby Block Party brought indie music fans to the city, while the Living Traditions Festival celebrated cultures from around the world

• The Utah capital also offers unique attractions like LGBTQ+ nightlife and scenic outdoor activities

If your knowledge of Salt Lake City is limited to what’s shown on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesor The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, you’re only getting half the story.

While the Utah capital is largely known for housing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headquarters, immaculate skiing conditions and reality TV drama, it’s far more culturally vibrant than one might think

During a recent weekend, for example, Kilby Block Party music festival brought thousands of indie music fans to the Utah State Fairpark to see headlining performances from Turnstile, The xx and Lorde. Attendees (including influencer Emma Chamberlain) spanned all ages. Many enjoyed mosh pits and crowd surfing for the more raucous sets, while others took in the music while sipping on dirty sodas or craft beers. 

“It’s a huge privilege to get to play here. I’ve been waiting to play here for a long time,” said Lorde on stage at Kilby Block Party, which marked her first-ever show in Salt Lake City. “I always heard good things about you guys. I heard that you really like good music, and I feel that to be true tonight. I also feel like this is the absolute coolest festival ever.”

Kilby Block Party wasn’t the only festival happening in Salt Lake City over the weekend of May 15 to 17. In Washington Square Park, the Salt Lake City Arts Council and the Utah Division of Arts & Museums put on the Living Traditions Festival, a free three-day event celebrating arts, culture and craftwork from various cultures present in the city.

The Living Traditions Festival featured an international food market with offerings from the Basque Club of Utah, the Utah Argentina Alliance, Oaxaca en Utah, the Utah Ukranian Community and the Nepalese Association of Utah, among others.

Attendees could also participate in demonstrations with craft artists making Armenian hand knotted carpets, Mexican piñatas, Belarusian woodcarvings, Native American beadwork, Japanese origami and more. The three-day event also included performances from New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Alaskan performance group Panyua, as well as local acts like the Brazilian Brazuca Band and Japanese taiko drummer Kenshin Taiko.

Beyond the festivals, there’s lots of sightseeing to be done in Salt Lake City. Visitors can, of course, check out the LDS Church’s Temple Square — or head down the street to the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, which currently hosts the OUT LOUD 10-year anniversary exhibition featuring emerging artists’ poignant works exploring politics, religion and more through an LGBTQ+ lens. The city’s queer scene is quite vibrant overall, with bars like Club Try-Angles, The Suntrapp and more hosting nightly events for the community.

Millennials and Gen Z, at some point during their stay, will likely want to pay a visit to East High School, a main filming location of the High School Musical franchise, canonically set in Albuquerque, N.M., but filmed in Salt Lake City.

Tourists can then venture over to the nearby University of Utah campus, the Red Butte Garden & Arboretum or the Natural History Museum of Utah. All four destinations are also close to outdoor activities like the Hogle Zoo or various hiking trails with gorgeous nature views. For the less outdoorsy, the Van Ryder rooftop bar at the Le Méridian hotel has an outstanding view of the city.

While the popular reality TV shows set in Salt Lake City tend to focus on a small sector of its culture, the city’s approximately 111 square miles have much more to offer.

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