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Pete Balsells

Peter J. Balsells was born in Barcelona. He moved to the United States as a teenager and graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1958, he and his wife founded , which has its primary facility near Irvine, California and a secondary facility near Colorado Springs, Colorado and makes devices and components for a wide range of engineering and medical applications. Pete received a Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder in 2005 and an Honorary Doctorate in 2015. Pete Balsells passed away in 2022 at age 94.

In 1996, a Balsells Fellowship Program was established by Pete Balsells in the School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Matching support was provided by the Generalitat de Catalunya and by UCI. Since that time, similar programs have been added at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the University of California, Davis (UCD). Over 166 mobility students, 219 graduate fellows and 15 postdoctoral fellows have been supported by these programs.

In 2010, a Balsells Fellowship Program was established at the University of Colorado Boulder, Pete’s alma mater. The College of Engineering and Applied Science at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder is the top-ranked engineering college in the greater Rocky Mountain region and is known for hands-on learning, as exemplified by its award-winning Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory (opened in 1997) and Discovery Learning Center (opened in 2002). Its vision for excellence in education and research revolves around the paradigm of Engineering for Global Society, including grand challenges in areas such as energy, the environment, and health care. A particular strength of ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä is biological science and engineering, through a partnership of science and engineering departments on the Boulder campus and the medical, pharmacy and dental schools on the Denver campus. 

Although annual funding for the Balsells Program was discontinued in 2020, we are extremely grateful for the generous support of Pete Balsells and the Generalitat de Catalunya throughout the years, and excited for continued relations with Catalunya and its students.