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Video: Undergrad research prepares engineering students to solve the world’s critical problems

Michelle Wiese — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 21:38:57 +0000

Video: Undergrad research prepares engineering students to solve the world’s critical problems Michelle Wiese Thu, 11/14/2024 - 14:38

Undergraduate engineering students have many opportunities to engage in real-world research under the guidance of faculty and graduate student mentors at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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CU Boulder among top colleges for Indigenous students

Charles Ferrer — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:34:04 +0000

CU Boulder among top colleges for Indigenous students Charles Ferrer Wed, 11/13/2024 - 13:34

Charles Ferrer

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has recognized CU Boulder as one of the top 200 colleges for Indigenous students in its 2024-2025 national rankings.

CU Boulder's AISES chapter attends the 2024 national AISES Conference in San Antonio.

AISES, a national organization dedicated to increasing Indigenous representation in STEM fields, evaluated schools based on the strength of their support programs for Native students, as well as undergraduate enrollment and graduation rates.

The AISES chapter at CU Boulder serves as a community for Indigenous students in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and across campus, connecting those interested in STEM and supporting them academically and professionally. This recognition reflects CU Boulder’s commitment to fostering an environment where Indigenous students can thrive in STEM—a commitment embodied by the leaders of its AISES chapter.

Noelle Bagola, the chapter’s treasurer, said her journey with AISES has empowered her professionally and personally.

“Being part of AISES allowed me to grow as a leader,” she said.

Through her involvement, Bagola developed skills in areas she once found challenging, like connecting with professionals at conferences and building strong peer relationships.

“Now, I feel confident communicating with people and stepping up to help others. Becoming a leader has been my biggest accomplishment with AISES.”

For Shellene Redhorse, AISES chapter president and a third-year aerospace engineering student, the chapter’s impact extends beyond CU Boulder’s campus.

“A lot of what AISES does is about supporting our members and the Indigenous community,” she said. “The Indigenous community at CU Boulder may be small, and the STEM students within that community are even more rare, but we are here.”

One of her proudest achievements was taking students to this year’s national AISES conference in San Antonio, where they connected with other Native scientists. Redhorse also highlighted the chapter’s outreach to Indigenous students in Denver, where they host hands-on STEM activities, including rocketry demonstrations at Lake Middle School.

“We’re hoping to inspire middle-schoolers by showing them what a future in STEM could look like,” she said.

“When I was in school, I didn’t think a STEM career was possible for me until I got to work on hands-on projects. I know many Native students don’t have those opportunities, so we’re working to change that.”

Looking forward, AISES aims to establish a more permanent support network for Native students in Denver, opening more pathways into STEM fields.

Indigenous Knowledge and STEM

AISES participated in the 2023 First Nations Launch as the ‘CU Trailblazers’, sweeping first place in all their categories and a grand prize trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

Both Bagola and Redhorse draw from Indigenous knowledge to inform their approach to STEM.

Redhorse, who is of Navajo (Diné) and Chickasaw descent, described how her cultural heritage shapes her engineering perspective.

“In our culture, we observe nature closely—how animals act, how weather patterns shift, even how the stars guide us. Our ancestors used this knowledge for everything from growing crops to building structures,” she said.

Inspired by these traditions, she incorporates Indigenous wisdom into school projects.

“I remember building a small rover in sixth grade based on how a beetle moved away from light. It’s that respect for nature and deep observation that really inspires me.”

Redhorse often reflects on Navajo understandings of stars and space, which she sees as especially relevant to her studies in aerospace. She also appreciates Indigenous approaches to sustainability, noting how Native architecture adapts to harsh climates in environmentally mindful ways.

“Whether it’s the way water moves around structures or how a hogan—a traditional dwelling and ceremonial structure—retains heat, these hold incredible value in my engineering work.”

Bagola, an integrative physiology student and a member of the Navajo (Diné) and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, finds similar connections in her field.

“For us, health is not just physical—it’s about mind, spirit, and experience,” she explained.

“Indigenous medicine, like using sweat lodges, plays an important role in healing. Staying connected with your spirit is essential to being truly healthy.”

Community and Advice for Indigenous STEM Students

“AISES is a really welcoming community for Native students here at CU,” Redhorse said. “It’s a safe space where we can connect, share and rejuvenate. Our meetings are open to anyone, you don’t have to be Native. We welcome anyone who wants to learn about our culture and support us.”

Campus Organizations and Community Resources

Like Bagola, Redhorse also said her involvement with AISES has helped her grow as a leader. Recently, she was invited to welcome the keynote speakers at CU Boulder’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day plenary event—a role she could not have imagined for herself as a first-year student.

Chantal Baca, academic services manager for the BOLD Center, has served as the AISES faculty advisor for the past academic year. She noted the inclusive community for Indigenous students and credits AISES’ executive student board and members over the last five years.

“The AISES chapter is a remarkable group of student leaders who embody the vision, achievement and STEM student success,” said Baca. “Their membership has made a significant impact in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.”

Student leaders offer heartfelt advice to Indigenous students interested in STEM.

“It’s OK to feel alone sometimes, but find your community, and don’t be afraid to ask for help,” said Bagola. “Joining AISES helped me step out of my comfort zone, gain confidence and start reaching out to my professors and others in my field.”

“In engineering, there were five women in a room of 50 students—and being Native added another layer,” said Redhorse. “But, I’d tell anyone in that position: keep going.”

“Our people are resilient, and if you push through and find your community, you’ll thrive.”

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society has recognized CU Boulder as a top college for Indigenous students in its 2024-2025 national rankings.

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How prisons fall short in protecting the incarcerated from climate disasters

Susan Glairon — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 19:05:45 +0000

How prisons fall short in protecting the incarcerated from climate disasters Susan Glairon Thu, 11/07/2024 - 12:05

In a new paper, drawing on accounts from nearly three dozen previously incarcerated people, CU Boulder researchers reveal a disturbing story of how prisons and jails in Colorado have failed to provide humane protections from growing environmental hazards brought on by climate change.

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Using nanoscale membranes to clean water on the Moon

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:47:43 +0000

Using nanoscale membranes to clean water on the Moon Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/16/2024 - 08:47

Jeff Zehnder

Kian Lopez (L) and Anthony Straub (R) in the lab.

Anthony Straub is making major advances in water purification technology for industry and human consumption on Earth and in space, with his work on a nanotechnology membrane process taking a major step toward commercialization, thanks to a new NASA grant.

An assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, Straub’s research focuses on using membranes to improve water treatment.

“The membrane technology that is widely used now is essentially half a century old, and it has well-known limitations,” Straub said. “ It works well for many applications, but it has a tendency to let certain impurities through and it degrades if exposed to certain harsh chemicals.”

NASA has awarded Straub and one of his PhD students, Kian Lopez, a phase one Small Business Innovation Research award to develop a pilot water purification system for astronauts to use on a future Moon base.

Current space water purification systems are bulky and prone to repairs. The technology Straub’s lab has developed only requires a pump to pressurize water, reducing size and weight. Low weight is especially important in moon missions, where every kilogram of cargo can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

“Current membranes remove impurities based on size and charge and, as a result, allow for small impurities to bypass the membrane,” Straub said. “What we’ve designed traps a very small layer of air inside a membrane and the only way for the water to cross the barrier is by evaporating and then re-condensing on the other side, which impurities inherently cannot do.”

The entire process occurs over a 100 nanometer span, a distance 160 times smaller than the width of a human hair, and the water that results is nearly pure H2O – distillation quality — since it has been turned to steam and then back to liquid.

These new membranes can be made from a wide variety of materials; the advance is in modifying them to create the air trapping layer. Although the work has been a longtime focus of Straub, he had not considered space applications or commercialization until Lopez returned from an internship at NASA.

Schematic of the membrane process.

“My mentor at NASA said this technology looks promising and the biggest impact we could have would be to start our own company,” Lopez said.

Straub and Lopez decided to attend the New Venture Launch class together in the CU Boulder Leeds Business School, participating in campus technology transfer initiatives, including the New Venture Challenge and Lab Venture Challenge. They founded Osmopure Technologies, Inc. in January of this year.

Space is but one application. Other potential is in municipal water systems and industry, particularly semiconductor or computer chip manufacturing, which requires ultrapure water.

Although ultrapure sounds like a marketing buzzword, it has a formal definition: water free of all minerals, particles, bacteria, microbes, and dissolved gasses. The needs go far beyond water that is safe for human consumption.

“The minimum for ultrapure water in chip manufacturing is a 14-step process right now. The final product must contain less than one 10-nanometer particle per milliliter of water, which would be the density equivalent of having only a single person on the entire planet Earth,” Lopez said.

Semiconductor chips are manufactured in clean rooms, and ultrapure water is necessary to maintain temperature and humidity as well as to wash away residue produced during chip etching. Even the tiniest water impurities can damage the chips.

“Our work starts with NASA, but the beachhead market here on Earth is in ultrapure water production for semiconductors,” Straub said. “This is a huge potential market, and we have filed a provisional patents with Venture Partners at CU Boulder.”

Straub is optimistic the grant will enable them to make significant progress in the coming months.

“This has been a four-year process, and at the beginning we didn’t know if it would work,” Straub said. “We started with theory and then went into the lab to test. The fabrication has gone through several iterations here in the CU labs. Now we are moving towards a commercial product, and the performance is impressive.”

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CU Boulder will share atmospheric science tech, expertise through new grant

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:27:53 +0000

CU Boulder will share atmospheric science tech, expertise through new grant Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/07/2024 - 16:27

Jeff Zehnder

Drone technology and atmospheric science instruments developed by the University of Colorado Boulder will be available to researchers nationwide through a new grant.

The National Science Foundation has awarded CU Boulder a three-year, $1 million grant to establish a Community Instruments and Facilities program titled Mobile Uncrewed Systems for Atmospheric Science (MUSAS).

“We have a track record for atmospheric research with the equipment we’ve created and the campaigns we’ve partnered in. Whenever atmospheric scientists need to collect data in environments they can’t get other ways, that’s where we come in,” said Brian Argrow, principal investigator for the grant.

Argrow, a professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, is a nationally recognized expert in uncrewed aerial systems. He and CU Boulder colleagues have spent decades developing fixed-wing and quad-copter-style drone systems to study weather and other atmospheric conditions.

Their work has spanned the globe, including in extreme conditions like the North Pole and several campaigns in the United States to analyze supercell thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes.

The new grant will provide the larger scientific community access to CU Boulder’s instrumentation and know-how.

“We’re bringing aerospace to the atmospheric sciences community,” Argrow said. “We have the expertise, the drones, the deployment systems, and regulatory approval to fly in the national airspace system.”

Although the program does not officially begin until Nov. 1, Argrow said they have already been contacted by a university with a partnership proposal.

Inspecting a RAAVEN drone while on deployment.

“By increasing access to small uncrewed aerial systems, we’ll increase the amount of data available to the broader community to help solve some of the toughest problems in atmospheric science. Our technology can sample the physics and chemistry of the lower atmosphere and offer new perspectives on this environment,” Argrow said.

MUSAS joins a network of NSF-supported initiatives across the country that allow universities to share research equipment and expertise.

Through the program, partners will have access to CU Boulder’s personnel as well as the RAAVEN and Super RAAVEN fixed-wing drones and the CopterSonde 3 quad-copter, along with deployment and tracking vehicles.

Argrow anticipates an array of research to come from the partnerships, including into boundary layer processes, coastal circulations, aerosol processes, turbulence and turbulent fluxes, surface-atmosphere exchange, high-latitude environments, and severe weather.

“Building on the initial investment from the CU Grand Challenge Initiative, we have assembled infrastructure which is unique,” Argrow said. “CU Boulder has extensive experience operating and developing these systems, and this gives us the opportunity to expand our impact.”

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CU Boulder partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 20:32:55 +0000

CU Boulder partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/07/2024 - 14:32

Susan Glairon

CU Boulder’s Abbie Liel and Notre Dame’s Susan Ostermann are leading a collaborative NSF-funded study on resilient housing in disaster-prone areas lincluding Maui, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Their research combines Liel’s expertise in structural engineering with Ostermann’s background in political science and law, aiming to find solutions for safer, more resilient housing.

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CU Boulder and Colorado Mountain College launch guaranteed admission agreement for engineering students

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:07:57 +0000

CU Boulder and Colorado Mountain College launch guaranteed admission agreement for engineering students Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/24/2024 - 09:07

Colorado Mountain College students are now eligible for guaranteed admission to the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science if they complete four specific courses at CMC, thanks to a new partnership between the two institutions. The agreement creates a guaranteed admission and transfer pathway for CMC students, enabling a seamless transition for those pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering at CU Boulder.

Kathryn Regjo, vice president of academic affairs at Colorado Mountain College, emphasized the importance of the partnership for local communities.

“This agreement will have a profound impact on students from our mountain communities, who often face geographical barriers when pursuing higher education,” Regjo said. “Now, they can begin their engineering journey right here at CMC and seamlessly transition to CU Boulder, opening opportunities that might have previously seemed out of reach.”

Through this innovative guaranteed admission agreement, students enrolled at CMC — including high school students taking concurrent coursework — will have access to a clear path toward admission at CU Boulder’s top-ranked engineering school, provided they meet specific academic requirements. This agreement marks a significant milestone in expanding access to engineering education for students in the mountain communities CMC serves.

“This agreement supports CU Boulder’s mission to broaden access to our engineering programs,” said Keith Molenaar, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder. “We’re excited to welcome more students from Colorado’s mountain communities into our engineering school.”

Students in two categories are eligible to participate in the guaranteed admission program:

High school students enrolled in CMC courses with no post-high school credit hours earned.
Current CMC students

Eligible students must complete two college-level calculus courses, along with either calculus-based Physics 1 or General Chemistry 1 with lab, and an additional advanced math or science course. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required, and students must earn grades of B or better in core math and science courses.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with CU Boulder on this initiative, which reduces barriers and provides a direct and achievable pathway for our students,” said John Lawrence, dean of CMC’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. “This partnership provides multiple options for CMC students to earn a world-class engineering degree, building on the academic foundation they’ve established here at CMC.”

“As the flagship public university in the state of Colorado, we embrace our responsibility and are deeply committed to serving the students of our state,” said Chris Anderson, senior director of academic success and transfer pathways with CU Engineering. “Collaborative partnerships like this allow us to continue to remove barriers, create better transparency in the transfer process and further expand access for our rural and mountain communities.”

Students interested in the transfer pathway can learn more by visiting CMC's pre-engineering website.

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CU Engineering ranked as a top 5 aerospace program, top 20 overall

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 22:12:58 +0000

CU Engineering ranked as a top 5 aerospace program, top 20 overall Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/23/2024 - 16:12

Learn more

CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science maintained a top 20 spot in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs rankings, coming in at No. 17 among its public institution peers for the third year in a row.

The most notable change in the engineering specialty rankings was in the aerospace / aeronautical / astronautical category, where CU Boulder’s aerospace engineering sciences degree jumped to No. 5 from No. 8 among public university peers.

The college’s Environmental Engineering Program also earned a top 10 public ranking, coming it at No. 9.

Five other programs were ranked in the top 20 among public peers:

Chemical engineering: No 11, up three spots from last year
Mechanical engineering: No. 17, up three spots from last year
Civil engineering: No. 15
Computer science: No. 16 (ranked in Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs)
Electrical engineering: No. 16

The rankings were released on the U.S. News and World Report website on Sept. 24. Undergraduate rankings are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty at peer institutions who participated in a peer assessment survey. Read more about the methodology.

CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science maintained a top 20 spot in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Undergraduate Engineering rankings, coming in at No. 17 among its public institution peers for the third year in a row.

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Michael Gooseff elected as an AGU Fellow

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 23:25:44 +0000

Michael Gooseff elected as an AGU Fellow Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/19/2024 - 17:25

Michael Gooseff has been elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the union announced on Wednesday. AGU, the world's largest Earth and space science association, bestows the honor annually on a select number of individuals who have made exceptional contributions in their fields.

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Discovery could lead to longer-lasting EV batteries, hasten energy transition

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 20:10:46 +0000

Discovery could lead to longer-lasting EV batteries, hasten energy transition Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/12/2024 - 14:10

Batteries degrade over time, which is why older phones lose power faster. An international team led by Professor Mike Toney has uncovered the cause of this degradation, paving the way for improved batteries that could extend the range of electric vehicles and advance clean energy storage.

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