FUEL grants awarded, Ochsner CEO joins startup board | Business News

Pete November, CEO of Ochsner Health, has joined the South Rampart Pharma board of directors.

November’s appointment coincides with a strategic investment by Ochsner Health in South Rampart’s Series A financing round.

South Rampart Pharma is a New Orleans biotechnology company developing a breakthrough nonopioid painkiller.

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Judy Perry Martinez, of counsel at Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn, has been selected to receive the 2025 American Inns of Court James E. Coleman Jr. Award for Professionalism in the Fifth Circuit.

She will receive the award at a conference this month.

Martinez served as president of the American Bar Association from 2019 to 2020. In 2011, she chaired the association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which evaluates all nominees to the federal bench.

She founded the New Orleans Pro Bono Project in 1986. Martinez serves as the vice president of the World Justice Project, an international group that works to advance the rule of law around the world.

She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans and a law degree, cum laude, from Tulane University Law School.

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Future Use of Energy in Louisiana has awarded nearly $900,000 in funding to 13 programs advancing energy talent development.

FUEL’s Scale Fund is providing seven existing workforce programs with $100,000 each to expand their reach and impact.

Funding will go to:

• Louisiana Tech — to add and update courses in the electrical engineering curriculum to help students gain experience with emerging energy technology.
• East Baton Rouge Parish School System — to add 40 spots in the EBR Learn and Earn Energy Transition Internship Program.
• Greater Baton Rouge Industrial Alliance — to expand their Educator Externship Program, which provides a path to career opportunities in the energy industry.
• Southeastern Louisiana University — to bolster the Southeastern STEM Scholars Energy Academy, which is aimed at high school students.
• ExxonMobil — to expand the STEM Energy Professional Development program with SOWELA Technical Community College and Allen Parish School Board.
• LSU Electrical Engineering — to integrate virtual learning, augmented reality and virtual reality into the existing curriculum.
• River Parishes Community College — to enhance the instrumentation and electrical technology program, with industry-relevant certifications, usage of virtual and augmented reality technologies, dedicated energy training activities/courses and professional development opportunities for the faculty.

FUEL’s Seed Fund is providing six new workforce initiatives and projects with $20,000 each

Funding will go to:

• The St. Mary Parish School System — to establish a districtwide FIRST Robotics team.
• Pro Fab Education — to help K-12 teachers deliver high-quality STEM education.
• GNO STEM — to provide a professional development opportunity for STEM teachers.
• TRC XR EDU — to create a virtual reality module that introduces secondary and college students to job opportunities and key skills required.
• Louisiana Art & Science Museum/Irene W. Pennington Planetarium — to offer a Kids’ Energy Day and a teacher workshop focused on energy-related training.
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette — to collaborate with industrial partners to boost awareness of sustainable manufacturing.