FNN™ helps identify potential risks and provide real-time wildfire, lightning, and utility intelligence; D-Link supports FNN™ with 5G/4G M2M Cellular IoT solutions designed for systems operating in remote and demanding environments.

When wildfire, lightning, or extreme weather events emerge, every second of awareness matters. The sooner utilities, first responders, and public safety teams can identify where risk is developing, the sooner they can coordinate resources, protect infrastructure, and support the communities depending on them.

FNN™ Selects D-Link to Support Wildfire Intelligence and Emergency Response.

UF Innovate | Accelerate resident client FNN has gained national recognition for its use of artificial intelligence to improve disaster response time and grid resilience. The organization leverages artificial intelligence with UF’s supercomputer, HiPerGator, to reduce the time it takes to identify a devastating wildfire from 24 hours to 40 seconds.

FNN’s lightning sensors and three other technologies were selected from more than 200 applications. The prize recognizes innovative technologies that strengthen communities’ ability to prepare and respond to natural disasters.

Read more about UF’s HiPerGator Drives FNN’s AI Wildfire Detection in Verizon Prize Recognition.

The next day at the UF Reitz Union, the student center on the University of Florida campus, sessions took place in the grand ballroom, with breakout sessions in smaller rooms. Attendees could visit with solution-provider partners at the Solutions Center Experience. Later that evening, networking, playing bags, hanging out with UF cheerleaders and peers, and feasting on BBQ at the Champions Club was a treat for all the attendees.

Read more about Inside LPRC IMPACT 2026.

UF Innovate | Accelerate resident client FNN has been selected as one of four innovators in the 2025 Verizon Disaster Resilience Prize, a $1 million program supporting technologies that help communities better prepare for and respond to natural disasters.

Verizon has a long history of showing up for communities when it matters most. Through Community Disaster Resilience Initiative, it is working alongside communities to help them prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters with more resilience.

But it isn’t just responding to today’s challenges, Verizon is investing in the technology that will aid with tomorrow’s disasters. As part of the 2025 Verizon Disaster Resilience Prize, Veriozon has partnered with MIT Solve to award $1M in grants to four innovators disaster-proofing the future.

Read more about Verizon Is Investing in a New Generation of Life-Saving Disaster Resilience Technology.

The awards recognized both Sid Martin Biotech and The Hub Accelerate programs with Top Entrepreneurial Support Organization (ESO) of the Year for rural programs (Sid Martin Biotech), the Top ESO of the Year for Science and Technology Program (The Hub) and the Dinah Adkins Award for Technology-Focused Incubation.  

The Dinah Adkins Award is one of the highest honors and recognizes UF Innovate’s Accelerate program for its overall excellence and sustained impact of UF’s hybrid incubation and acceleration model. 

GAINESVILLE, FL — Chiller Body, founded by Peter Bowman, and inventor of the Cooling Hat Insert, designed to combat heat stress in work, sports, and outdoor recreation, has officially been accepted into the UF Innovate | Accelerate at The Hub, a world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem housed at the University of Florida, home of Gatorade’s legendary innovation legacy.

With its proven cooling solution, Chiller Body joins a thriving community of forward-thinking startups at UF Innovate. The UF Innovate | Accelerate program is renowned for accelerating industry-defining innovations and driving those ventures toward global growth.

“Chiller Body exemplifies the kind of innovation we are proud to support at UF Innovate,” said Jennifer Harrell, assistant director of UF Innovate | Accelerate at The Hub. “With patented technology designed to combat heat stress—a challenge faced by outdoor workers, athletes, and everyday consumers worldwide—it embodies the spirit of problem-solving that drives our ecosystem. We are excited to welcome Chiller Body into our dynamic community of entrepreneurs, innovators, and business builders, where this venture can collaborate with like-minded peers and leverage UF Innovate’s resources to accelerate their growth as they scale and position themselves for a successful exit.”

UF Innovate’s accelerator program offers access to deep R&D resources, top-tier mentorship, and investor readiness programming—all designed to accelerate commercialization and scale viable business ventures.

“The opportunity to expand this venture within the UF Innovate ecosystem is a significant milestone for our product and the Chiller Body brand,” said Bowman. “As a Florida-based business, we are fortunate to work with UF Innovate and continue our US and international market expansion where people are being increasingly affected by rising temperatures.”

Read more about Chiller Body Accepted into UF Innovate | Accelerate at The Hub to Drive Global Expansion of its Patented Cooling Hat Inserts.

Wildfires are among the most destructive natural disasters, consuming millions of acres of land each year, devastating communities, and costing billions in damages. FNN, co-founded by Tamas Kereszy, is tackling this crisis with cutting-edge AI-driven wildfire detection technology that identifies HighRisk-Lightning® strikes in real time.

“Our original slogan was ‘Finding fires lightning fast,’” says Kereszy. “The sooner you detect a wildfire, the better your chances of containing it, evacuating people safely, and preventing it from turning into a disaster.”

UF Innovate | The Hub resident company etectRx, Inc., is partnering with Trilogy Health to pilot its latest technology, designed to assist caregivers and older adults in managing urinary incontinence. Eric Buffkin, CEO of etectRx, and Trilogy Health’s Executive Director, Holly Snyder, join Mary Furlong & Associates’ podcast to discuss how this innovative solution can prevent falls during the night and support staffing.

You may have heard of cumulonimbus clouds, but what about pyrocumulonimbus clouds?

Living in Florida, you likely have noticed the towering clouds resembling cauliflower on any given afternoon. These thunderstorm clouds — called cumulonimbus clouds — sometimes grow taller than 40,000 feet and can produce damaging wind, heavy rain, lightning and sometimes hail.

Pyrocumulonimbus, also known as PyroCb, are essentially the same thing. However, the fire itself provides extra heat to create rising air. With the exceptional heat from the fire, instability is generated to produce thunderstorms in the vicinity of the wildfire.

The lightning within the thunderstorm could go on to ignite additional fires, complicating the firefight.

UF Innovate | The Hub resident client Fire Neural Network is using its technology during the wildfires in California to help detect these lightning strikes.