An empty hospital ward.

Engineers demonstrate 'germ trap' for hospitals

July 26, 2017

When an infectious airborne illness strikes, some hospitals use negative pressure rooms to isolate and treat patients. These rooms use ventilation controls to keep germ-filled air contained rather than letting it circulate throughout the hospital. But, in the event of an epidemic, these rooms can quickly fill up. Now, a team at CU Boulder has found a simple, cost-effective way for medical facilities to expand this technique to better prepare for disease outbreaks.

Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima

Researchers to study environmental, human impacts of nuclear war

July 18, 2017

As part of the Open Philanthropy effort, Professor Yunping Xi of civil, environmental and architectural engineering and his students will assess the amount of flammable building material in modern cities in various parts of the world, as well as the flammable contents in such buildings.

NSF award recipients

Three CU Engineering researchers earn NSF CAREER Awards

May 30, 2017

Three CU Engineering researchers have won CAREER Awards, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty. CAREER Awards provide approximately $500,000 over five years for those “who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of...

Challenger being deployed from ISS.

CU Boulder satellite is live

May 25, 2017

QB50-Challenger deployed at 11:25pm MDT with two other QB50 satellites in the same deployer. CU Boulder's QB50 CubeSat, named "Challenger," was successfully deployed from the International Space Station on May 24th at 11:25 PM MDT. The release coming just over a month after the satellite was launched from Cape Canveral...

Alexandra Okeson

Outstanding graduate Alexandra Okeson creates algorithms for healthcare

May 10, 2017

Alexandra Okeson, a CU Engineering Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement for 2017, tried her hand at several computer science disciplines during her time at CU Boulder. She helped scientists at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics develop data analysis software for the IMPACT student dust counter. She interned at the Federal Communications Commission, where she got to see how government is using technology to inform policy decisions. She experienced life at a startup with Next Energy Technologies, and spent a summer at Microsoft partner Avanade in Seattle.

Lift off

Student-built satellite launches from Cape Canaveral

April 21, 2017

A University of Colorado Boulder student-built microsatellite is on its way to the International Space Station. The satellite, named ‘Challenger’, had a successful lift off Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 9:11 AM MDT from Cape Canaveral. It is part of the European Union sponsored QB50 project to deploy a network of miniaturized satellites to study part of Earth’s atmosphere.

David Pfotenhauer

Doctoral students work on better air quality

March 24, 2017

When David Pfotenhauer decided to pursue a PhD at CU Boulder, he knew that he wanted to specialize in an application-based science that would allow him get out into communities and use his knowledge to address public issues. As a current doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering, David joined CU Engage's 2016-17 cohort of Community-Based Research (CBR) Graduate Fellows. He became the newest member of an ongoing research project, a collaboration between CU Boulder and the Denver-based organization Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart (TNH2H). He began working to further the research that his colleague, CU Boulder CBR Fellow (2015-16) and Civil Engineering doctoral student Ashley Collier, had begun the year before in response to community concerns about air quality, contaminants and environmental health. David’s role in the project is to investigate air quality and radon levels in northeast Denver, one of the areas in which TNH2H members live.

Christine Hrenya teaching

Engineers and Computer Scientist improve Particle Simulation Techniques

March 10, 2017

The flow and movement of individual solid particles — be it grains of lunar dust or the powdered contents of a medication — holds tremendous research value for scientists in a variety of fields. Now, a $3 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) will allow University of Colorado Boulder researchers to simulate particle behavior to a greater degree than ever before.

Water running through boulders

Fracking risks groundwater contamination

March 10, 2017

New oil and gas development techniques like horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing have dominated public concern in recent years about groundwater contamination in oil and gas basins. However, older vertical wells are more likely to cause groundwater contamination than newer wells, according to a new study from CU Boulder.

Wind Turnbines

Engineers seeking to improve membrane of large-scale battery technologies

March 10, 2017

The research project, led by Richard Noble, Douglas Gin and Hans Funke of CU Boulder’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, will focus on improving the sophisticated membranes hidden inside powerful flow batteries. Unlike small, self-contained consumer batteries (AAAs, for example), flow batteries use external tanks to store the chemicals needed for an electrical reaction. The chemicals are commonly separated by a semi-permeable membrane.

Pages