2022

A look back on CU Boulder Professor Jana Milford’s career as she prepares to retire

Anonymous — Tue, 24 May 2022 14:23:56 +0000

A look back on CU Boulder Professor Jana Milford’s career as she prepares to retire Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/24/2022 - 08:23

Rachel Leuthauser

After nearly three decades serving the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Professor Jana Milford is set to retire August 2022.

Milford has held many titles during her distinguished career – from Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair and the first director of the Environmental Engineering Program, to founding faculty advisor for the Engineering GoldShirt Program. Each position has had a profound impact on faculty, staff and students.

“I hope that I’ve been a constructive part of the community,” said Milford. “I value the range of people, backgrounds and skills that are appreciated. Maybe I can take some credit for that as I’m not a traditional mechanical engineer myself, from having expertise in air quality to the fact that I went out and got a law degree.”

These contributions are some of the accomplishments that Milford is most proud of, though the impact of her work reaches beyond the college. As a leading air quality researcher and public policy advocate, Milford’s achievements have helped strengthen our knowledge of air pollution and shape legislation that benefits us all.

“Professor Milford’s research and service have had huge positive impacts on how we view energy impacts on the environment and climate,” said Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair Michael Hannigan. “As someone that had the fortune to collaborate on several research projects with Jana, I owe a lot to her dedication to high quality research and effective communication of that research.”

Inspiration to become a mechanical engineer

Milford’s inspiration to study engineering goes back to a high school philosophy class where students discussed the challenge that society faces in managing rapid technology advances.

The class piqued her interest in pursuing science journalism, but once she started coursework at Iowa State University, Milford discovered that engineering was a better fit. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and left Iowa to attend Carnegie Mellon University for graduate school.

After earning her PhD in engineering and public policy in 1988, Milford began working for the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment – the government body that Congress would go to for nonpartisan studies on science and technology.

“I was there when they were working on the Clean Air Act amendments that eventually passed in 1990,” said Milford. “We also did a study on climate change, which was one of the earliest ones for the federal government. It was a great experience in Washington, DC.”

Milford knew she wanted to move into academia and accepted a position to teach at the University of Connecticut. She was there for four years until the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Mechanical Engineering was looking for an air quality expert to join their team in 1994.

“Colorado was kind of a Mecca for people who conducted air quality and atmospheric science research,” said Milford. “I was very excited to apply and even more excited when I got the position.”

Creating opportunities for others

Four years after joining the mechanical engineering department, Milford became the first director of the Environmental Engineering Program. She said she’s proud to have launched that program and to have inspired faculty and students from multiple departments to get involved.

“Jana was instrumental to building the air quality program in our department as well as the broader environmental engineering program in the college,” said Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Professor Daven Henze. “Simply put, I don’t think I’d have a job here if it wasn’t for her!”

One of the successes that Milford is happiest to see is how many women-identifying students are studying environmental engineering. More than 50% of the students in the program are female.

“Those students are just so passionate about the field and what they want to accomplish in terms of helping the world,” said Milford. “It’s very inspiring to work with them.”

Engineering GoldShirt Program team

Milford continued those efforts when she became the founding faculty advisor for the college’s Engineering Goldshirt Program, which provides an engineering pathway for students who are historically underrepresented in engineering.

“I think that culture has a really profound impact on diversity in the undergraduate student population at CU Boulder,” said Milford. “It means a lot to me to have been involved in that program.”

Milford also worked to grow diversity within the Department of Mechanical Engineering as the chair, from July 2013 to June 2014, and longtime member of the personnel committee. She said she’s glad to see more female faculty in the department, because when she first joined, there were only two women faculty members. She was one of them.

Today, there are more than 20 female-identifying faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Each one that works closely with Milford sung her praises, adding that she has always given them unwavering support.

“Jana has not only been a leader in air quality research and policy for decades, helping improve our ability to identify successful mitigation of air pollution, but is also an incredible mentor and role model,” said CIRES Associate Director for Science Christine Wiedinmyer, who is also a research professor in mechanical engineering. “I would not be where I am today without her positive influence and am fortunate to have her as a colleague and friend.”

Air quality research and public policy

Always keeping the intersection of technology and society in mind, Milford went back to school and earned a law degree from CU Boulder in 2004. She has also served on various state and federal commissions that inform policymakers about air quality.

Milford worked as a Senior Scientist and Staff Attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, was previously a member of the Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the National Academy of Sciences and the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and recently finished three terms on the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission.

Milford continues to dedicate herself to public policy by participating in the Health Effects Institute, a nonprofit that funds research on the health effects of air pollution. Milford is on the review committee for that organization.

“Health Effects Institute gives me an opportunity to stay steeped in the latest research about air pollution and health, which is always fascinating,” said Milford. “It continues to evolve. The range of health impacts that air pollution has is pretty incredible.”

Milford credits her colleagues and graduate students when it comes to her air quality research. However, they all give the credit back to her, expressing that they greatly benefit from her guidance.

“Jana has actively supported not only me in my profession, helping me to succeed with her mentoring and by example, but she has also supported so many other undergrad and graduate students to reach for their dreams and successfully become the environmental engineers, mechanical engineers and air quality researchers of the future,” said Mechanical and Environmental Professor Shelly Miller.

Milford added that she has enjoyed how air quality research and energy transitions have intertwined over the last decade, which has led to great project opportunities for those students.

Some examples are a study on the air quality impacts of oil and gas development in Colorado, as well as the implications of electric vehicles on air pollution with the ASPIRE Engineering Research Center.

Continuing to make a difference

Of all the things that Milford will miss, she said that teaching will be at the top of the list. Her colleagues will miss her teaching as well.

“I have greatly enjoyed learning how she mentors students; she provides a lot of framing and guidance but still lets them develop as independent researchers and communicators,” said Hannigan. “As an academic leader, she has had lasting impacts on both environmental and mechanical engineering.”

Milford is considering sitting on the other side of the classroom during retirement, as a student taking courses at CU Boulder, to continue learning new things. She said she also plans to go on more hikes, do more gardening, and spend more time with her husband.

However, even in retirement, Milford does not intend on stopping her impactful work for the community. She plans to volunteer and do pro bono work for environmental groups.

After nearly three decades serving the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Professor Jana Milford is set to retire August 2022. Milford has held many titles during her distinguished career – from Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair and the first director of the Environmental Engineering Program, to founding faculty advisor for the Engineering GoldShirt Program.

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Celebrating the career of retired CU Boulder Professor Emeritus Y.C. Lee

Anonymous — Mon, 23 May 2022 14:02:12 +0000

Celebrating the career of retired CU Boulder Professor Emeritus Y.C. Lee Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/23/2022 - 08:02

Rachel Leuthauser

Nine months after retiring, Professor Emeritus Yung-Cheng “Y.C.” Lee continues to spearhead technology breakthroughs.

As the founder, president and CEO of Kelvin Thermal Technologies, Lee has pioneered the thinnest and most flexible cooling solution for smartphones, tablets, laptops, augmented reality, data center, electrical vehicles and micro satellites.

The success of the company can be attributed to the research Lee conducted while at the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Kelvin Thermal Technologies is a spinoff of Lee’s research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he had been a professor for more than three decades.

“From a technology viewpoint, Professor Lee has made, and continues to make, tremendous strides in technology development for removing heat from embedded systems,” said Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair Michael Hannigan. “In other words, he helped make your cell phone work better.”

When Lee retired from the department in August 2021, colleagues voted for his professor emeritus designation, recognizing all his work and accomplishments as an expert in electronics packaging, director and founder of several research centers, and master collaborator with a commitment to supporting his colleagues.

Today, Lee looks back on his time in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with fondness.

“My own research, I truly benefit from the richness of the University of Colorado Boulder’s research community,” said Lee. “I worked and collaborated with faculty in mechanical engineering, electrical and computing engineering, chemistry, physics and molecular biology. My best memory was my interaction with so many different faculty members in different departments because of the nature of my research.”

From industry to academia

Lee joined the mechanical engineering department in 1989 after earning his PhD from the University of Minnesota and working in industry at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

“Bell Labs was the number one industrial R&D lab in the world,” said Lee. “That’s the place where scientists invented transistors, artificial neural network, and laser and optical fiber for long-distance communications. Bell Labs was the place that drove the entire information stage.”

Lee spent five years working for Bell Labs in electronics packaging – the interconnection of semiconductors in systems such as phones and computers – until his team’s work began outpacing what Bell Labs could afford. Lee had been researching multichip modules for semiconductors, but the cost for manufacturing them was too high and the project was terminated.

At the time, AT&T Denver Works had given the Department of Mechanical Engineering a major grant to help establish a research and teaching program in electronics packaging. It was a perfect fit with Lee’s experience and he was hired as an assistant professor.

Becoming an expert in electronics packaging

Lee quickly became a leader in electronic packaging after being awarded the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1990. His research was ahead of its time, focusing on very high-speed prototyping and manufacturing of multichip modules.

“Nowadays in the semiconductor industry, multichip modules are the solution,” said Lee. “Engineers can’t make a chip with a smaller and smaller transistor anymore in the near future; they need to interconnect several chips together. It’s a very hot topic now, but I was doing that in 1990.”

Lee also joined CU Boulder’s NSF Engineering Research Center for Optoelectronic Computing Systems. While the center was focused on electrical and computer engineering, Lee said the team was looking froward to having an electronics packaging expert.

“I was very excited, it was the first major center that I was a part of,” said Lee. “CU Boulder was recognized as a leader in optoelectronics, so suddenly I became a world expert in optoelectronics packaging. It was amazing!”

Lee eventually applied those expertise to projects with scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, further expanding his collaborations.

“I was happy to invite him in to our new thermoelectrics program a few years ago when we needed an expert in assembly and packaging,” said Dr. Kris Bertness, an Applied Physics Division group leader at NIST’s Physical Measurement Laboratory. “He has a knack for impressing program managers, understands a lot about tech-to-market and brings creative ideas to the effort. What I appreciate most is his positive attitude and direct communication style. He is a great person to have on your team.”

A leader in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems

In 1992, Lee played a critical role to support senior faculty as they founded a new research center – the NSF Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Packaging of Microwave, Optical and Digital Electronics (CAMPmode).

He served as the Associate Director of the center from 1993 to 2002. CAMPmode’s founding director was Lee’s longtime mentor, former Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor Roop Mahajan, who also served as the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Interim Dean from 2001 to 2002.

“Y.C. Lee is among the best engineers I have met in life,” said Mahajan, who is now the Director and Chair in Engineering at Virginia Tech. “More importantly, he’s a wonderful human being and a great friend. He does not have a bad bone in his body.”

ASME Accolades

Throughout his career, Lee has been active in various professional societies including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Division of Electronics Packaging and Photonics. He was the chair of that division from 2004 to 2005.

ASME recognized Lee’s commitment by honoring him with the ASME InterPACK Achievement Award in 2013. Lee also served as the editor of the ASME Journal of Electronic Packaging with a support team of about 20 associate and guest editors from 2014 to 2020.

Lee then moved to what he described as the highlight of his career – founding and leading a multi-campus research center funded by DARPA and many industrial sponsors.

The DARPA Center on Nanoscale Science and Technology for Integrated Micro-Nano-Electromechanical Transducers (iMINT) was a partnership between CU Boulder, Columbia University, Northwestern University, UCLA, and UT-Austin.

Lee was the principal investigator and director of iMINT from 2006 through 2012. He said that center put CU Boulder on the map in micro and nanotechnology.

“The DARPA iMINT Center was also a great testbed that formed new collaborations between research groups and developed important infrastructure for research in materials science on the CU Boulder campus,” said Materials Science and Engineering Professor Steven George, a frequent collaborator. “The current Colorado Shared Instrumentation in Nanofabrication and Characterization had its origins in the initial equipment that Y.C. was able to install for the iMINT Center.”

Lee said he was also fortunate to receive funding for two DARPA projects while leading iMINT. One was to study micro cryogenic coolers and the second was in thermal ground plane research, which is the basis of his company Kelvin Thermal Technologies.

Department of Mechanical Engineering colleague Professor Victor Bright said that Lee’s favorite saying was ‘nothing is easy!’ Lee’s accolades prove that his perseverance won that matchup.

Supporting the ME community

Lee’s legacy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering spans farther than the groundbreaking research he conducted.

“From my view as department chair, Professor Lee had a huge influence in the current shape of the department,” said Hannigan. “He brought a positive and selfless attitude that has allowed us build a diverse and successful unit.”

He served as a department faculty search chair from 2015 until his retirement, helping the department grow into what it is today.

“I’m glad I made that contribution,” said Lee. “We hired quite a few young faculty members with great ideas. I’m proud to have been able to recruit some of them. You’re going to see their impact in research and teaching in the future.”

Lee also laid the groundwork for a teaching faculty member career ladder. In 2016, an ad hoc committee led by Lee developed a proposal that would allow teaching faculty to get the promotions they deserve.

While the proposal was approved by the mechanical engineering department, it ultimately did not pass campus approval. However, the university implemented a similar system a few years later.

“Our teaching faculty members, they deserve it,” said Lee. “I appreciate their contribution. They deserve their career ladder and to be well recognized.”

Various instructional faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering have shared their gratitude and reverence for Lee’s work. It has benefited each of them greatly and will continue to guide the department in the future.

“Y.C. is thoughtful and strategic, not only about his own work but also about the department’s direction and his colleagues,” said Associate Teaching Professor Julie Steinbrenner. “He worked hard to create career paths for instructional faculty, even though he had no personal benefit or requirement to do so. He advocated for the department to pursue big initiatives and cutting-edge research areas. Every time Y.C. voiced an idea in a meeting, I listened because I could count on it being insightful and impactful.”

Lee said that while he does miss teaching and interacting with students, he’s now able to support them in a different way – by hiring them. Kelvin Thermal Technologies has five mechanical engineers that all graduated with degrees from CU Boulder’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“I do appreciate the strong department because as a local company, I benefit from it,” said Lee. “I get to hire these students and they deliver; they are truly outstanding. We are a world leader in this cooling solution because of our students. They always surprise me. I ask them to do something and they come back with something well beyond my imagination. We should be proud of our students.”

Nine months after retiring, Professor Emeritus Yung-Cheng “Y.C.” Lee continues to spearhead technology breakthroughs. As the founder, president and CEO of Kelvin Thermal Technologies, Lee has pioneered the thinnest and most flexible cooling solution for smartphones, tablets, laptops, augmented reality, data center, electrical vehicles and micro satellites.

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“Invaluable” ME Lab Engineer Shirley Chessman retires from CU Boulder

Anonymous — Thu, 19 May 2022 20:56:53 +0000

“Invaluable” ME Lab Engineer Shirley Chessman retires from CU Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/19/2022 - 14:56

Rachel Leuthauser

Anyone who has spent time in the Idea Forge has come to know Shirley Chessman. After working as the Idea Forge Mechanical Lab Engineer for the past seven years, Chessman is retiring this summer.

As the ME Lab Engineer, Chessman has not only supported the Department of Mechanical Engineering but has also become a respected and trusted resource for all students, faculty and staff in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

“I love this program and have been a part of it for many years,” said Chessman. “I just feel so blessed to have the reception that I've gotten from faculty and staff members. And then of course I will miss working with the students. It can be so gratifying when you see them out of school, working great jobs and doing great things.”

Chessman’s time with the college began even before she became a full-time employee. Since 2011, she has served as an adjunct professor, advising mechanical engineering students on their Senior Design projects. Shirley sponsored some of those projects and served on the department’s Industry Advisory Council.

“I have greatly valued Shirley’s kindness and wisdom,” said Professor Michael Hannigan, the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair. “She is a key piece of the bedrock that supports our unit. When storms come, Shirley is there providing settling and thoughtful guidance. When the calm arrives, Shirley is there thinking, planning and implementing so we can be better at preparing the next generation of engineering leaders. From the personal side, I feel very fortunate to have gotten to partner with Shirley and know that she has made me a better leader and educator.”

Having served seven years as a lab engineer and a decade as an adjunct professor, Chessman will surely be missed.

Time in Industry

Chessman received her bachelor’s degree in engineering from UCLA. At the time, the university did not offer specific engineering degrees such as mechanical or electrical, but Chessman focused her studies on the mechanical aspects.

She moved to Colorado after accepting a job at StorageTek, a data storage company headquartered in Louisville, right out of college.

“There were a bunch of engineers moving to the area at the time because StorageTek was hiring maybe 50 engineers a week,” said Chessman. “It was amazing. There was all of us young people migrating to the Boulder area.”

StorageTek manufactured computer tape drives and hard drives. Chessman said she concentrated on hard drives and remained in that business her entire industry career.

“The Boulder area was a hotbed for this type of technology,” Chessman explained. “It all started with the IBM facility between Boulder and Longmont. Then came all these startups that many of us hopped around to and worked for.”

Chessman eventually landed at Seagate Technology as a managing principal engineer, where she managed teams, operations and equipment. She was with Seagate for nearly 15 years, sponsoring some Senior Design teams on the side, until joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering full time as the ME Lab Engineer in 2015.

“Shirley’s 30+ years of industry experience proved invaluable in her position as ME Lab Engineer,” said Idea Forge Director Daria Kotys-Schwartz. “She brought practical mechanical design knowledge and testing framed within a professional orientation. Her dedication to preparing students for the practice of mechanical engineering has had a profound impact on thousands of ME students.”

Chessman sits with Senior Design Professors Daria Kotys-Schwartz and Julie Steinbrenner, along with the QL+ student team that she mentored in 2019.

Joining the Idea Forge

Becoming the ME Lab Engineer in the Idea Forge was clearly a perfect fit for Chessman. She had experience with managing labs, supporting engineers and guiding students towards success.

“The checkout office was actually started by a couple of folks that were all graduate students at the time, so I jumped in and kind of became mother hen,” said Chessman with a smile.

She has been running that office ever since. Besides maintaining tools, hardware and testing equipment, Chessman has also assisted mechanical, aerospace, and chembio student design projects, taught workshops, and coordinating the use of lab spaces.

“Shirley’s has had direct positive impact on hundreds of mechanical engineering students and their projects, said Idea Forge Assistant Director Rebecca Komarek. “She is dedicated to each student’s success in the classroom and beyond. Shirley’s contributions have been integral in defining how Design Center Colorado and the Idea Forge support students today.”

Chessman was also one of the few people that returned to campus in summer 2020 during the pandemic. Her support and organization were needed during that time.

She spent that summer helping instructors prepare for remote learning and assisted faculty who still needed to conduct research by providing them the proper equipment.

“I do like to think that I bring an outside industry lens that blends into the department and curriculum,” said Chessman. “I also like working and connecting with external relations, alumni and industry partners.”

Praise for Shirley

Chessman now plans to use her retirement to take some time for herself. She hopes to do some traveling, play more golf and spend more time gardening. She added that she has some home projects to complete, such as digitizing old photographs and videos.

Various colleagues in the Idea Forge and Department of Mechanical Engineering have shared that they will miss her supportive work ethic and personality. Just some of that praise is below.

“It has been a privilege to work with Shirley at Idea Forge. Everyone here, staff and students alike, have benefitted from Shirley’s tireless dedication to students, her meticulous organization, and her wonderful sense of humor. She will be missed!”
-Victora Lanaghan, Idea Forge Event Coordinator

“In every interaction with Shirley, you can see her prowess as a manager and an engineer. Her work is framed by care and concern for others’ success – she is diligent in making sure that every student and every colleague has everything that they need to be successful in what they are doing.”
-Julie Steinbrenner, Associate Teaching Professor

“Shirley’s impact as the Mechanical Lab Engineer has been enormous over the years! She’s interfaced with faculty, students, and staff and she’s shaped our program. Her dedication to the students and their professional development has left truly left a legacy within CU Boulder.”
-Lauren McComb, Finance and Project Manager

Anyone who has spent time in the Idea Forge has come to know Shirley Chessman. After working as the Idea Forge Mechanical Lab Engineer for the past seven years, Chessman is retiring this summer.

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Alumni Spotlight: Alicen Kandt - National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Anonymous — Mon, 16 May 2022 15:08:51 +0000

Alumni Spotlight: Alicen Kandt - National Renewable Energy Laboratory Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/16/2022 - 09:08

Rachel Leuthauser

Alicen Kandt (MSMechEngr'04)

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), alumna Alicen Kandt’s goal is to inspire people to embrace more resilient and sustainable energy options.

Kandt (MSMechEngr’04) has spent nearly two decades at NREL helping state, local, federal and international stakeholders assess energy opportunities. She helps these partners identify ways to make their buildings more energy and water efficient, their communities more resilient and their operations less carbon intensive.

Kandt’s path to becoming a mechanical engineer was unique and interdisciplinary. Rather than starting her education with engineering right away, she first earned a bachelor’s degree in math with a minor in English from the University of Puget Sound.

“After a short stint as a technical writer for a trade magazine, I decided I wanted to work in something more applied and impactful,” Kandt said.

This choice led her to attend the University of Colorado Boulder for graduate school. She earned her master’s degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2004 and continues to be involved in the engineering community as an alumnus.

Read more about Kandt’s experiences as a mechanical engineer and how her work has a valuable impact on our world.

Tell us about your background. What inspired you to become a mechanical engineer?

I attended a non-profit career fair at CU Boulder, and NREL was there. I got an internship that began right when I started graduate school in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It was perfectly timed because I could directly apply what I was learning in school to my internship, and likewise, I could tailor my coursework to topics I was intrigued by at NREL.

Kandt on site in Puerto Rico.

How does your work with NREL help society?

The work I do helps society by identifying and implementing pathways to support decarbonization and energy system transformation, ultimately supporting the fight against climate change and the building of resilient communities and organizations around the globe.

What are some of the projects you’ve been a part of that you are most proud of?

One of my favorite projects was in support of the recovery efforts at El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, after the forest was heavily impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. I got to visit El Yunque, tour the damaged facilities, and even got to visit the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Iguaca Parrot Aviary – an aviary for the endemic and critically-endangered Puerto Rican Parrot. The aviary has a bird safe room where the birds are housed during hurricanes. I helped identify the critical energy loads of the aviary and analyze the optimal solar and battery energy storage system to help the aviary maintain critical services in the event of an electrical grid outage. The system was just recently installed and commissioned!

What was your favorite part of being Buff?

I live in Boulder and enjoy being engaged in alumni programs, mentoring, and speaking to students about careers in clean energy and the impact of helping to transform our energy system. I also love attending CU Boulder sporting events with my family!

What advice do you have for current mechanical engineering students?

Get an internship, at least one, preferably one during each summer of school to start homing in on a focus area and building a broad network. And be open to a non-linear career pathway; sometimes it takes trying one thing to discover something else may be a better fit.

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer with NREL, alumna Alicen Kandt’s goal is to inspire people to embrace more resilient and sustainable energy options. She earned her master’s degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2004.

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Slides from IRT Blitz available as themes officially sunset this summer

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Slides from IRT Blitz available as themes officially sunset this summer Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/11/2022 - 00:00

The slide deck is part of presentations given by IRT directors in April on accomplishments and activity within their themes to date. They include details on funding results, important research findings and other lessons learned from the initiative.

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Deployable antenna could provide more powerful communications on smaller space satellites

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2022 14:48:42 +0000

Deployable antenna could provide more powerful communications on smaller space satellites Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/02/2022 - 08:48

Rachel Leuthauser

Deployable Helical Antenna Team Members

Jackson Bilello – Electromechanical Engineer
GillianGrace Brachocki – Project Manager
Hector Calar – Systems Engineer
Benjamin Capek – Manufacturing Engineer
Ahmed Ferjani – Logistics Manager
Ayden Flynn – Financial Manager
Nicolas Garzione – Electromechanical Engineer
Caleb Morford – Test Engineer
Isaac Nagel-Brice – CAD Engineer
Manuel Preston de Miranda – Electromechanical Engineer

As the space industry evolves its focus from large satellites to smaller ones with the same functionality, there is a growing need for the hardware on board to shrink as well.

A group of mechanical engineering seniors at the University of Colorado Boulder have helped meet that need by designing a compactable antenna that would allow for more powerful radio communications on smaller satellites.

Lockheed Martin Space is sponsoring the project. The team of students from the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering designed and built the prototype for their Senior Design project.

“Our whole team has a passion for the space industry, and we wanted to be a part of the change and innovation that is occurring,” said GillianGrace Brachoki, the team’s project manager. “We found the push for deployable items in smaller units really interesting.”

The team’s prototype is a deployable helical antenna that starts in a compressed state. Current satellite antenna hardware is fully deployed upon launch. Those systems can be large and not aligned with the industry’s goal for smaller hardware.

“Small satellites and micro-satellites lead to a nimbler industry,” said CAD Engineer Isaac Nagel-Brice. “If you’re developing a satellite over two years instead of a decade, you’re able to get smaller buses up into orbit quicker and at a cheaper cost. That can push innovation and progression on a much faster scale.”

The helical antenna in its fully deployed state.

The students assemble the antenna by attaching the spring component to the base.

The students test the spring's strength in the Senior Design Lab.

The students designed their antenna to deploy once it is in space – activated by an on-board computer. This would trigger the device’s antenna component to extend four times its compressed height from 3.5 in. to nearly 20 in. for full functionality.

The team accomplished this by designing the antenna with the properties of a mechanical spring, which is an idea the industry has rarely attempted to build before. The students explained that optimizing the prototype to be both a spring and an antenna was difficult to do.

They had to take geometry, material and frequency band all into consideration. The students used spring calculators and high frequency structure simulator software to build an antenna that could stow and deploy with the properties of a mechanical spring.

“The antenna geometry resulted in a powerful spring,” said Nicolas Garzione, one of the electromechanical engineers on the team. “Part of our requirements is that it has to survive the equivalent of an Atlas V launch, which is pretty violent. We spent a lot of time on that restraint mechanism, which is a key part of our project for viability and safety.”

Lockheed Martin Space also required that the prototype needed to be scalable. Therefore, the students designed every part of the deployable antenna to be scaled plus or minus 50%.

The size of the device would also dictate the radiofrequency bands transmitted through the antenna. A larger spring circumference would require higher frequencies.

“I think this prototype could lead to a shift in the industry,” said Nagel-Brice. “Our antenna has some interesting design geometry, but it’s very intentional so that it can be built larger or smaller.”

The students have completed antenna functionality, deployment, mechanical shock and vibration tests on their prototype. The radiofrequency testing was done at First RF, a company specializing in antennas and radiofrequency systems, while the vibration testing happened at Lockheed Martin.

The team said that working with Lockheed Martin Space on this project has been both inspiring and informative. It has allowed the students to combine their mechanical engineering background with new skills they have learned on the job.

“It’s a lot of cutting-edge technology that hasn’t been implemented in this manner until now, thanks to some creative problem solving,” said Systems Engineer Hector Calar. “Shrinking the hardware down means the industry can add more advanced instrumentation, since you have more free space. Freeing up that space on rockets and satellites allows us to do more with the science of engineering.”

The team can now say that they are a part of that push for cutting-edge, compact technology. With their own innovative design assembled into a potentially revolutionary prototype, the students are well on their way to equipping the space industry for greater scientific impacts.

The Senior Design team presented their deployable helical antenna at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Engineering Projects Expo 2022 on April 22.

A group of mechanical engineering students at the College of Engineering and Applied Science designed and built the prototype with Lockheed Martin for their Senior Design project.

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Integrated Teaching & Learning Program offers first college micro-credential

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 14:23:22 +0000

Integrated Teaching & Learning Program offers first college micro-credential Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/29/2022 - 08:23

Josh Miller, a mechanical engineering student, is the first to enroll in the ITLP Arduino micro-credential - a programs that aims to serve students looking to improve their proficiency with Arduino microcontrollers.

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Q&A with Ahmed Ashmaig: NSBE chapter president and Ripple Award winner

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Q&A with Ahmed Ashmaig: NSBE chapter president and Ripple Award winner Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/29/2022 - 00:00

Ahmed Ashmaig (MechEngr'23), the president of CU Boulder's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), has received the university's Ripple Award. The award is given by the CU Boulder's Center for Inclusion and Social Change in collaboration with the Dennis Small Cultural Center.

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CU Boulder Engineering study finds at least nine pesticide chemicals near Boulder County homes

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 22:41:01 +0000

CU Boulder Engineering study finds at least nine pesticide chemicals near Boulder County homes Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/28/2022 - 16:41

Rachel Leuthauser

EPA guidance and resources about pesticides

Find 'Minimum Risk Pesticides'

Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering researchers have identified at least nine pesticide chemicals in the air around Boulder County homes that humans and their dogs have been exposed to.

The air quality study, led by PhD candidate Aniya Khalili and funded by a University of Colorado Boulder Outreach Award, tracked the chemicals that people and their dogs came into contact with in fall 2021. The 38 human-dog pairs that participated in the study had to wear wristbands and dog collar clips for a week that contained sampling tubes to measure the pesticides around them.

“We used high-resolution mass spectrometry to analyze the samples," said Khalili. "The results showed that of the 15 compounds we were testing for, we detected nine of them. Three of them were detected in all the human and dog samples.”

The three compounds identified in all 76 samples were n-nitrosodiphenylamine, 4-nitroaniline and 4-chloroaniline. Each of those compounds can be found in pesticides and could pose various health risks including eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation. Very high and repeated exposures may damage the liver and kidneys, according to the EPA.

Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate Aniya Khalili documents the results of her study.

Khalili handles one of the dog collar clips that tracks the chemicals in the air.

“These results could mean that the chemicals are in the air since the 38 people are not living together and have different lifestyles,” said Khalili. “If they are exposed to the same compound, it could say something about the community that we are living in.”

The study also detected DDD in one human and two dogs, and DDT in two humans and one dog, even though the United States has banned the use of both due to damage to wildlife. The EPA has said that "after the use of DDT was discontinued in the United States, its concentration in the environment and animals has decreased, but because of its persistence, residues of concern from historical use still remain."

“The fact that we even have detected DDD and DDT in any of the participants’ samples is a big deal,” said Khalili. “There is a 99% correlation between the dogs and their owners that were exposed to DDD and DDT, and yes, it is a small percentage out of the 38 pairings in the whole study. But we shouldn’t be exposed to those compounds at all.”

Khalili’s study focused on detecting the compounds rather than identifying where they are coming from. She noted the chemicals could have originated from pesticides, dog tick and flea medications, or industrial sources.

Khalili conducted this research after seeing several yellow flags on people’s yards around Boulder indicating that chemicals had recently been applied. She wanted to educate the community about the compounds that are in some of those pesticides and inspire people to live cleaner lifestyles.

Many of the participants have told Khalili that they are already being more conscious about using pesticides around their homes to protect themselves and their dogs. Khalili said she’s proud and excited to see community members taking this next step. Moving forward, she wants to promote even bigger changes.

“I would love to see the regulations around the compounds in these products that we use for gardening be revised,” said Khalili. “It wouldn’t happen overnight. We would need more studies to ensure that policymakers can rely on the results and make a change. I’d like to not see those yellow flags around anymore.”

Khalili partnered with the City of Boulder and Healthy Baby Bright Futures to recruit participants and design the deployment of the study, since the city and organization are well connected with the community. Both collaborators also had a stake in the research, as they were interested in seeing what compounds are in their air.

“It was important to work with the City of Boulder because they could be empowered to make changes to regulations,” said Khalili. “With Healthy Baby Bright Futures, it was an educational opportunity. Our study can help teach mothers to not let their babies crawl on chemically treated grass, for example.”

The air quality study, led by mechanical engineering PhD candidate Aniya Khalili, aims to inspire the community to lead cleaner lifestyles and promote further research on pesticide exposure.

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ME Course Column: Mechanics of Cancer

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:53:37 +0000

ME Course Column: Mechanics of Cancer Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/27/2022 - 12:53

Rachel Leuthauser

The ME Course Column is a recurring publication about the unique classes and labs that mechanical engineers can take while at the University of Colorado Boulder. Follow the series to understand the core curriculum, discover elective course options and learn the broad applications of mechanical engineering skills.

Professor Maureen Lynch

In order to comprehend certain aspects of cancer biology, the mechanics driving the disease need to be understood. The mechanics of cancer can teach engineers a lot about how the cells interact with each other and form solid tumors.

Students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are learning how those solid and fluid mechanics play a role in the course MCEN 4228/5228: Mechanics of Cancer. Taught by Professor Maureen Lynch, the class examines the experimental systems and technical evaluations of solid tumors to model and test cancer-related processes.

The course starts with Lynch reminding students of what the most common way that breast cancer is diagnosed – by feeling it.

“These changes in stiffness or density are a mechanical piece for diagnosis,” said Lynch. “Not only is it an indication that there is a tumor present, but it also plays a role in examining how quickly the tumor is developing, if the tumor going to spread or which treatments the tumor is sensitive to. Physical cues matter.”

The mechanical engineering students taking this course come in with the basic knowledge of what stiffness is in engineering terms. Their understanding expands as the course dives into how they can measure those density changes and connect them to tumor progression.

“We measure everything from the tissue level, which you can see with your eyes, down to the microscopic or nanoscale where you can’t see what you’re measuring,” said Lynch. “You need to know whether you’re measuring a single cell or a single protein and what scale to use.”

Flowchart showing how mechanics influence cancer progression.

Lynch explained that students also learn to examine the speed of fluids as it relates to cancer spread, since tissues are mostly made up of water. Fluid could potentially carry tumor cells to different parts of the body.

“The students like the connection that this class makes to their other engineering classes,” said Lynch. “I will pull up figures from their sophomore or junior year classes and explain how they are useful in biology. We use our engineering skills in a brand-new way.”

As the semester wraps up, the students are conducting final presentations on technical topics of their choice surrounding the mechanics of cancer.

“I give a lot of latitude with those presentations, so I always learn something because we can’t cover everything about the mechanics of cancer in one semester,” said Lynch. “The students pick what they want to research and what they want to talk about.”

MCEN 4228/5228: Mechanics of Cancer is generally offered in the spring semester. It is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and admits some students from the Biomedical Engineering Program.

ME Technical Elective & Graduate Courses

Students learn how solid and fluid mechanics play a role in how cancer cells interact and form solid tumors. Taught by Professor Maureen Lynch, the class examines the experimental systems and technical evaluations of the disease to model and test cancer-related processes.

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