Thermo Fluid Sciences

PhD students earn top National Science Foundation fellowships

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 22:51:12 +0000

PhD students earn top National Science Foundation fellowships Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/24/2024 - 16:51

Jeff Zehnder

The National Science Foundation has bestowed three prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards to University of Colorado Boulder mechanical engineering graduate students.

The national awards recognize and support outstanding grad students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

PhD students Reegan Ketzenberger, Caleb Song, and Jennifer Wu are each receiving the honor for 2024. Find out more about their research below.

Awardees receive a $37,000 annual stipend and cost of education allowance for the next three years as well as professional development opportunities.

Two mechanical engineering PhD students, Alex Hedrick and Carly Rowe, also received honorable mentions from the National Science Foundation program.

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Bringing space inside the lab: Researchers replicate the climates of exoplanets to help find extraterrestrial life

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 17:59:50 +0000

Bringing space inside the lab: Researchers replicate the climates of exoplanets to help find extraterrestrial life Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/15/2021 - 10:59

Rachel Leuthauser

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjg_RIj-LRc]

Header image: A view of the instrument, built by Ryan Cole (PhDMechEngr'21), as the experiment replicates the conditions on exoplanets, causing the experiment to glow with heat.

Scientists do not need to travel light-years away to chart the atmospheres of exoplanets, thanks to research happening in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Ryan Cole (PhDMechEngr’21) has developed an experiment that recreates the actual climate of planets beyond our solar system inside a 2,000 lb. instrument at Professor Greg Rieker’s lab on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. By reaching the same high-temperature and high-pressure conditions found on many exoplanets, the instrument can map the gases in their atmospheres, which could one day help humanity find life on other planets.

“If we looked at Earth’s atmosphere, we would know that life is here because we see methane, carbon dioxide, all these different markers that say something is living here,” Rieker said. “We can look at the chemical signatures of exoplanets as well. If we see the right combination of gases, it could be an indicator that something is alive there.”

Rieker and Cole’s work can contribute to exoplanet transit spectroscopy – a research method to observe the composition of an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Scientists use a telescope to look at the light passing through it. As the light interacts with gases in the atmosphere, those gases absorb the photons as they move through.

“Scientists need a map for how to interpret what the light is telling us when it gets here,” Rieker said. “That is where Ryan’s experiment comes in. As we create this little microcosm of that exoplanet’s atmosphere in our lab, we send in our own characterized light with lasers and study the photons that come out. We can measure the changes and map how the light is absorbed.”

In collaboration with scientists at JPL, Cole and Rieker’s experiment combines sensor measurements with computational models to help detect the different gases on exoplanets. While Cole built the instrument that replicates the exoplanets’ climates and measures how light is being absorbed at those exotic conditions, JPL's Deputy Section Manager Brian Drouin’s lab supplied the tool that interprets the measurements.

Their research could optimize telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, which as of mid-December, is set to launch Dec. 24 from the European Space Agency’s site in French Guiana.

“The James Webb Space Telescope and others like Hubble are looking at the ultimate horizon of what humans can see,” Cole said. “Greg and I are trying to make their visions a little clearer. Our laboratory measurements can help to interpret the telescopes’ observations of distant planetary atmospheres.”

There are endless expanses of the universe for these telescopes to explore – more than 4,800 confirmed exoplanets and about 7,900 more that NASA says could be planets. With Rieker and Cole’s experiment factored into the expedition, our understanding of exoplanets and the gases in their atmospheres can be improved – and therefore, it also advances the search for extraterrestrial life.

How the instrument works

The high-temperature and high-pressure conditions found on exoplanets can be recreated inside this instrument.

“There really are not many systems out there that can reach the high-temperature, high-pressure conditions that we reach,” Cole said. “Not only do we need to reach those conditions, we also need the temperature and pressure to be extremely uniform and well-known. Achieving these criteria is one of the most unique aspects of our experiment.”

The size and scope of the instrument Cole developed is what allows them to reach the high-temperatures and high-pressures that are seen on exoplanets. The experiment inside the piece of equipment can get up to 1,000 degrees Kelvin, which is about 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit.

The 2,000 lb. instrument also has thick steel walls that are designed to reach 100 atmospheres. To put that into context, Earth’s mean pressure at sea level is one atmosphere.

Starting in 2016, when he joined Rieker’s lab, Cole had to work through about five iterations of the high-temperature, high-pressure cell before getting it right.

“Ryan is the first one to do it,” Rieker said. “He has created datasets that are really close to perfect.”

Once the conditions are reached inside Cole’s instrument, the team sends light through the experiment from frequency comb lasers, a technology that was the basis of Nobel-Prize winning research at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The laser has hundreds of thousands of wavelengths of light that are very well-behaved, making it an ideal tool to study light-matter interactions.

“We pass the laser through this environment and in doing so, we record how the laser light interacts with the gas that we have confined in the core of this unique experiment,” Cole said. “We measure how the light has been absorbed at different frequencies, which can be used to interpret observations of actual exoplanetary atmospheres.”

Those measurements then go through JPL’s interpretation tool. That computational model extracts the fundamental quantum parameters that enable the team to map how the atmosphere’s gas molecules will interact with light at any condition.

Rieker compared the relationship between the measurements they attain and the parameters that JPL supplies to a JPEG, the standard format for image data. While we see the photo, the JPEG data is the code, or set of instructions, for the image.

In this case, the equipment in Rieker’s lab provides the photo – the exoplanet conditions and light passing through its atmosphere. The JPL tool provides the JPEG code – the data that describes how the light is interacting with gases in the atmosphere.

Applications for sustainability on Earth

Looking inside the instrument when the experiment reaches high-temperatures and high-pressures.

Rieker’s work did not start with the goal of mapping exoplanet’s atmospheres. The original objective was to understand the combustion inside a rocket or aircraft engine. He had set out to chart the emissions coming from those engines, which can help society find more efficient ways to burn fuel.

“I think it is interesting that you can tie the applications of the instrument from a jet engine at the Denver International Airport to the atmosphere of a distant an exoplanet far from Earth,” Cole said.

The range of the technology’s function still allows the team to mimic the inside of a jet engine and map the gases being emitted, but while building the equipment, Cole recognized that the conditions inside the simulated engine were very similar to conditions on the surface of Venus – high-temperature and high-pressure.

“Venus is a really interesting planet because physically, Venus and Earth are very similar in terms of size and density,” Cole said. “There is an ongoing question in the planetary science community that says you can draw an interesting comparison between Venus and Earth. Does Venus give us another data point for how Earth-like planets evolve?”

Venus has an atmosphere that is almost 860 degrees Fahrenheit and is 95-times the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. The planet is completely inhospitable largely due to a runaway greenhouse effect driven by the high amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The potent greenhouse gas traps heat in Venus’s atmosphere, leading to extremely high surface temperatures.

While Earth’s atmosphere is nowhere near the levels of carbon dioxide found on Venus, studies of Venus’s atmosphere could advance climate change research.

“Our equipment can help scientists better understand Venus and the evolution of atmospheres that are increasingly burdened with carbon dioxide,” Cole said. “The experiment can help our understanding of the atmospheres of Earth-like planets with a sample size of two planets, instead of just one.”

From the inside of an engine to the surface of Venus and distant exoplanets, the fundamental goal of Rieker and Cole’s work is to understand how light interacts with gas molecules. However, no matter the scope, the applications of Rieker and Cole’s research all have the same theme – to promote life. One day soon, that might include life elsewhere, not just on Earth.

Professor Greg Rieker and Ryan Cole (PhDMechEngr’21) have developed an experiment that recreates the climates of planets beyond our solar system right in the lab. By reaching the same high-temperature and high-pressure conditions found on many exoplanets, the instrument can map their atmospheres, which could help humanity detect life outside our solar system.

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Rieker lab explores new technology for measuring angular velocity in fluid flows

Anonymous — Thu, 13 May 2021 23:16:39 +0000

Rieker lab explores new technology for measuring angular velocity in fluid flows Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/13/2021 - 17:16

Researchers in Associate Professor Greg Rieker's lab are developing a machine learning-based signal processing scheme facilitates measuring the angular velocities in fluid flows using small particles that traverse beams of structured light.

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Researchers develop patient-specific models to prevent repeat strokes

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 17:37:08 +0000

Researchers develop patient-specific models to prevent repeat strokes Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 12/19/2020 - 10:37

Oksana Schuppan

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, killing 5.7 million people each year. However, with diagnostic technologies being developed by Assistant Professor Debanjan Mukherjee of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, engineers and clinicians are hopeful some strokes will soon be prevented.

Above: Assistant Professor Debanjan Mukherjee.
Top: Blood flow through the arteries and into the Circle of Willis in the brain (right). Successive snapshots of modeled embolic fragments traveling to the brain and leading to stroke (left three images).

Mukherjee and his collaborators, Drs. Jonathan Coutinho and Valeria Guglielmi of Amsterdam University Medical Centers and Dr. Michelle Leppert of CU Anschutz Medical Campus, have received a $584,000 NIBIB Trailblazer Award from the National Institutes of Health to use over the next three years. These funds will enable them to fine-tune patient-specific computational models that will determine how emboli formed at certain locations can lead to a stroke at a specific region in the brain.

Embolic stroke is caused when a blood clot or piece of biological debris, known as an embolus, becomes loose in the bloodstream and creates a blockage that stops blood supply to a specific region of the brain. When the brain tissue does not receive blood over a period of time, the tissue becomes damaged and may die.

“Our strategy for treating these patients currently hinges on our ability to pinpoint the most likely source of the embolus and treat the underlying cause,” said Leppert. “This is why we are excited about this project: because it may offer tools in the future that helps us to objectively pinpoint where an embolus-causing stroke originates.”

The key to figuring out where the embolus originates is understanding how an embolus could be transported from various locations in the heart-brain arterial network to the brain, especially when multiple cardiac or arterial sources may exist. To do so, researchers at Mukherjee's group at CU Boulder will be using a patient-specific computational model known as in-silico embolus source-destination likelihood (SoDeL) mapping. This method is non-invasive and does not require additional imaging costs for the patient.

Coutinho and Guglielmi will begin by gathering a comprehensive clinical and imaging dataset, including the CT scans of the complete heart-brain arterial network of hundreds of stroke patients from Amsterdam UMC.

“We are imaging the heart, aortic arch, cervical and intracerebral arteries in a ‘one-stop-shop’ protocol directly in the emergency room, right after the stroke has occurred,” said Guglielmi.

Each CT scan will then be converted into a three-dimensional computational model and paired with a simulation developed by Mukherjee’s group, mimicking how blood flows from the patient’s heart to their brain. With the simulation in place, Mukherjee and his group will run thousands of what-if scenarios for each patient, releasing thousands of virtual emboli and tracking which source locations are most likely to cause a stroke where one has occurred.

“This method lets us go from the source to the destination millions of times,” said Mukherjee. “When we play out every possible what-if scenario, we get a stroke risk indication that, when paired with clinical data, can determine exactly where the stroke originated.”

“I’ve always found it fascinating that many of the same principles you learn in the context of a machine, engine or pump are also governing very vital physical processes,” said Mukherjee. “The biggest difference between fluids flowing through a tube and the human body is that our arteries will never be straight. This causes the emboli to travel with a lot of swirling.”

Leppert said collaborations like this are integral to innovation.

“Too often clinicians and scientists work in parallel, not in tangent, so that progress is only theoretical but never realized,” Leppert said. “We often underestimate the impact we can have on one another and the ultimate impact collaborations such as this can make on patient outcomes.”

Mukherjee said it’s not every day he ends up being able to make such an advancement with international collaborators that will be able to address more than one challenge in the medical field with longstanding consequences on human life. His group is one of the first to be able to model fluid flow for the entire heart-brain arterial pathway, research that is paving the way for stroke prevention around the world.

With diagnostic technologies being developed by Assistant Professor Debanjan Mukherjee of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder, engineers and clinicians are hopeful some strokes may soon be prevented.

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Emeritus Professor John Daily becomes NSF rotator

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 22:17:26 +0000

Emeritus Professor John Daily becomes NSF rotator Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/27/2020 - 16:17

Emeritus Professor John Daily.

Emeritus Professor John Daily was selected to be an NSF rotator, or program director, for the Combustion and Fire Systems Program. He began his new role on October 13.

"The goal of the Combustion and Fire Systems program is to advance energy conversion efficiency, improve energy security, enable cleaner environments, and enhance public safety," said Daily. "I'm looking forward to having the ability to provide direction in our field by encouraging conversations about the important questions and future needs."

During his two-year commitment, Daily will solicit proposals for research, arrange for a peer review process and make final decisions for combustion and fire systems funding. In addition, he said he will do outreach, so researchers across the country are aware of the NSF's many programs and will mentor young faculty with special attention to diversity.

91��Ƭ�� NSF Rotator Programs

The text below can be found on the NSF Rotator Program webpage.

The National Science Foundation offers a chance for scientists, engineers and educators to join us as temporary program directors, called rotators. Rotators make recommendations about which proposals to fund; influence new directions in the fields of science, engineering, and education; support cutting-edge interdisciplinary research; and mentor junior research members.

You can become a rotator either as a Visiting Scientist, Engineer and Educator (VSEE) or as an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignee. While rotators can come on temporary assignment under the IPA program for up to four years, most rotating assignments last one to two years.

Emeritus Professor John Daily was selected to be an NSF rotator, or program director, for the Combustion and Fire Systems Program. He is looking forward to providing direction in the field by encouraging conversations about the important questions and future needs.

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Return to Research: A new normal for the Labbe Lab

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:31:10 +0000

Return to Research: A new normal for the Labbe Lab Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/26/2020 - 09:31

Oksana Schuppan

For approximately three months, many researchers in the College of Engineering and Applied Science have been working remotely. Now, they are gradually and safely returning to campus to continue their work in the lab. While away, researchers said they adapted quickly and overcame unique challenges, and as they return, they look forward to claiming a new normal in their labs and moving forward in their research.

Above: Assistant Professor Nicole Labbe.
Top: Graduate students Cory Rogers and Sadie Stutzman at work in the Labbe Lab.

Assistant Professor Nicole Labbe’s lab develops robust chemical kinetic models, using state-of-the-art theoretical methods to accurately unravel chemistry relevant to practical energy problems. These computational models, combined with various experiments, assist in unraveling how fuels operate in extreme temperature and pressure environments found in engines, turbines and rocket thrusters. Her work is used to help develop new technology to increase fuel efficiency, decrease harmful emissions and reduce dependence on non-renewable energy sources.

Below, Labbe shares about her return to research.

How many people are currently back to work in your lab? What’s the general mood about returning?

We have three students and myself returning to lab. The students are so excited. Getting back into the lab has brought back a sense of normalcy to my experimental crew.

How is your lab restarting research after two months away? What are your priorities now, and how have they shifted?

Restarting is definitely a challenge. We don’t have experiments that you can just turn on. We have been working for over three weeks now, and our system is still not 100 percent back up and running. Hopefully we’ll be back to taking data in a week. With that, we’re now over three months behind on getting data, and we’re trying to prioritize work based on deadlines and critical needs as we start to play catch-up. It will be a tough summer getting back on track.

What changes, postponements or issues did you face in your research? Were you able to do any work remotely?

My group is lucky. We are both an experimental and a theory and modeling group. With that, many of my students didn’t have much of a change other than work location. The others were remotely trained to help with modeling work that would support their experimental efforts. So while we’re behind on taking data and submitting journal articles, we were able to stay productive.

We did not have any critical employees who remained working during this time. To us, health was priority number one, so while we fell behind, it seemed like the right thing to do.

What precautions are you taking to stay safe?

We aligned our lab safety operating procedure with that of the Department of Energy national labs, which includes mandatory mask and glove wearing, maintaining six feet of distance, daily thermometer readings, lab cleaning three times per day and more. We even have guidance on how to assess the way new stressors can impact work. For example, wearing PPE all day can be a distraction and could affect safety, so I’ve asked students to periodically check in with themselves to make sure we operate our equipment safely.

What are the biggest challenges as you restart? How will you address them?

Our biggest challenges are catching up and getting one-on-one time with my students. While I’ve tried to be available as much as possible for my students, it’s still much different going over procedures via Zoom rather than teaching someone hands-on, in person.

Have you noticed any “silver linings” to your time away from campus?

The biggest silver lining was that despite our wedding being canceled, my husband and I got married on our back porch. Our family and friends couldn’t be there, but being home let us have a pseudo-extended honeymoon staycation together.

CU Boulder is in the midst of a phased return to on-campus research and creative work in summer 2020. In this series, CU Engineering researchers share tips, tricks and takeaways as they navigate a new approach to research prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CU Boulder researchers are gradually and safely returning to campus to continue their work in the lab. Read about Assistant Professor Nicole Labbe's return to research.

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Burning up: CU researchers use unique tunnel to study wildfires

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 21:28:22 +0000

Burning up: CU researchers use unique tunnel to study wildfires Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/11/2019 - 15:28

CU Boulder researchers Peter Hamlington and Greg Rieker are using experiments and computations in a new sloping wind tunnel to study how wildfires form and move across different landscapes, applying cutting edge research tools.

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A bright future for combustion research, Rieker receives Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 13:32:29 +0000

A bright future for combustion research, Rieker receives Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/29/2019 - 07:32

Oksana Schuppan

Associate Professor Greg Rieker

CU Boulder Associate Professor Greg Rieker of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been awarded not one but two of the top international awards in his field. After receiving the Peter Werle Early Career Scientist Award in September 2018, he was selected to receive the Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award in April 2019.

“What makes these awards special is that I couldn’t have done it anywhere else but CU Boulder,” Rieker said. “The frequency comb laser technology we’ve translated into combustion and other practical applications was first demonstrated on campus by Nobel Laureate Professor John Hall.”

Rieker said collaborations with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) were essential to his success.

The Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award is co-sponsored by publisher Elsevier and The Combustion Institute and is the highest honor an early career scientist in the field of combustion can receive. Awardees must demonstrate excellence in fundamental or applied combustion science. The award is named after Professor Hiroshi Tsuji, known for the Tsuji Burner and his research in laminar and turbulent combustion.

Rieker’s key contributions to the field include the popularization of wavelength modulation spectroscopy, and now the introduction of frequency comb laser spectroscopy, to probe combustion environments. Using lasers as a window, Rieker is able to understand exactly how molecules react during the combustion process. When a laser is projected across a combustion environment, certain wavelengths are absorbed depending on which molecules are present at a given time.

An engraved list of CU Boulder Nobel Laureates stands by the Duane Physics building at CU Boulder. John L. Hall, named a Nobel Laureate in 2005, developed the laser technology Rieker now uses in his research.

Applied to combustion, Rieker said this methodology is beneficial, because light doesn’t change the kinetics or fluid dynamics of a combustion environment. The lasers can also make thousands of measurements per second which can be used to improve combustion efficiency. Though Rieker believes we should push renewables as fast as possible, he said we should also be ready to add the best, cleanest combustion possible when necessary.

Unlike many in the field, Rieker’s discoveries span an array of disciplines beyond combustion.

“When I finished graduate school, I took a non-traditional path to start a small company and later to embed myself in a physics lab,” Rieker said. “It wasn’t obvious whether these choices would lead to success or failure, and I soon found they led to both.”

Rieker hopes others will see his accomplishments in light of the failures that paved the way.

During summer 2020, Rieker will receive his award at the 38th International Symposium on Combustion in Australia. Looking ahead, Rieker would like to get spectrometers into as many hands as possible and believes there may be opportunities to apply his techniques to quantum research next.

Rieker said he is thankful to his research group, to Professor John Daily for nominating him and ushering in the resurgence of combustion research at CU Boulder, to his mentors Nate Newbury, Ian Coddington and Ron Hanson, and to his wife and “secret weapon,” Julie Steinbrenner.

Associate Professor Greg Rieker has been awarded two top international awards: the Peter Werle Early Career Scientist Award and the Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award.

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Peter Hamlington receives prestigious NSF CAREER award

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 14:21:13 +0000

Peter Hamlington receives prestigious NSF CAREER award Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/12/2019 - 08:21

Oksana Schuppan

Assistant Professor Peter Hamlington received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation this month for his work exploring the characteristics and behavior of highly turbulent premixed flames in engines using advanced computational simulations. He will receive roughly $500,000 over the next five years.

CAREER awards support early career faculty who have the potential to become leaders in both research and education in their fields. Hamlington, who earned his PhD from the University of Michigan, has been a faculty member in CU Boulder’s Department of Mechanical Engineering since 2012. His interest in CU Boulder stemmed, in part, from a desire to bring fluids and combustion researchers from across the Front Range together.

His project, titled, “Structure and Dynamics of Highly Turbulent Premixed Combustion,” will allow for more accurate simulations of energy systems.

“The idea is to understand combustion more completely so that we can also understand how to improve efficiency, reduce emissions and achieve better control in propulsion systems,” Hamlington said.

In the project, Hamlington and his research group will apply a dynamic modeling technique developed by computer scientists and mathematicians known as Adaptive Mesh Refinement to their research. That is something that hasn’t been done before in highly turbulent configurations. In addition to refining theories, the group will also share data, statistics, analysis codes, and diagnostic tools with scientists in the combustion community.

“Although our research has real-world engineering applications, we are interested in what we will learn from a fundamental perspective,” Hamlington said. “When a problem is rich and difficult, that is enough for me to find value in solving it.”

Hamlington said what he loves most about his job is working with students to investigate phenomena not previously understood. He said he enjoys thinking systematically about questions without clear answers. “This would probably be my hobby if it wasn’t my job,” he said.

Hamlington said his research group helped make it possible for him to win this award.

“While I’m listed as the PI,” Hamlington said, “it is fitting that this award will ultimately benefit the students.”

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CU Boulder mechanical engineers ‘on fire’ at the 11th U.S. National Combustion Meeting

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 19:19:38 +0000

CU Boulder mechanical engineers ‘on fire’ at the 11th U.S. National Combustion Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/01/2019 - 13:19

Oksana Schuppan

Yiguang Ju, Chair of the U.S. Section of the Combustion Institute and Professor at Princeton University, awards Assistant Professor Greg Rieker the inaugural U.S. Early Career Investigator Award at the 2019 U.S. National Combustion Meeting.

Six faculty members, including five from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and six mechanical engineering students represented CU Boulder at the 11^th U.S. National Combustion Meeting the Week of March 24 in Pasadena, California. Faculty members were honored with awards, gave two of the three flagship plenary lectures, took on new board memberships of the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute and led three critical combustion events.

The U.S. National Combustion Meeting is the premier combustion science meeting in the U.S. and has been organized by joint sections of the Combustion Institute since 1999. This year, the event was hosted by Caltech, University of Southern California and the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute. Roughly 600 students, scientists and engineers were in attendance. In addition to plenary talks and workshops, the event included oral presentations of more than 400 papers and posters.

Assistant Professor Greg Rieker was awarded the first-ever U.S. Early Career Investigator Award. This award recognizes excellence in combustion research, the potential for future leadership in the field and service to the combustion research community. Rieker was also chosen to give one of the three plenary lectures. Rieker’s lecture, “Frequency Combs in Combustion,” told the story of how his lab group had translated frequency comb laser technology to combustion applications for the first time. This technology was originally developed at CU Boulder’s Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.

CU Boulder faculty and graduate students. Top row left to right: G. Barney Ellison, Cory Rogers, Jessica Porterfield, Nicole Labbe, Greg Rieker, John Daily, Hope Michelsen. Bottom row left to right: David Couch, Jatinder Sampathkumar, Katie Cummins, Amanda Makowiecki, Nate Malarich.

On March 26, Hope Michelsen, future Associate Professor for the Department of Mechanical Engineering and current researcher at Sandia National Laboratories, also delivered a plenary lecture. Her lecture, “Soot Formation, Growth, and Global Impact: The Life Story of a Mass Murderer,” highlighted the impact soot has on human health and the environment. It provided an overview of the unexplained mysteries of soot formation during combustion and the approaches the community is using to solve them.

Also at the meeting, Assistant Professor Peter Hamlington was elected to the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute Executive Board. Professor John Daily was celebrated as his service as Board Member came to a close after more than four consecutive terms. Assistant Professor Nicole Labbe transitioned from secretary to treasurer for the Western States Section.

Labbe also led several events and workshops which helped to make the 2019 U.S. National Combustion Meeting a success. She ran the 2019 Combustion Early Career Investigator Workshop, a one-and-a-half-day workshop bringing together junior faculty doing research in combustion, fire and related fields to discuss cultural issues facing the community along with the inaugural Mentoring Mixer sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Women in Combustion Luncheon.

Overall, the meeting highlighted the recent path to prominence that CU Boulder is experiencing in the area of combustion and thermofluid sciences.

“Everywhere you went at this meeting, University of Colorado was there,” Rieker said. “It is an exciting time for us on the national and international stage.”

Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty and students had great showing at the 11th U.S. National Combustion Meeting. Faculty members were honored with awards, gave two of the three flagship plenary lectures, took on new board memberships and led three critical combustion events.

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