Engineering News 2024
Frontiers of Engineering comes to Boulder
Boulder hosted the National Academy of Engineering’s Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in September. The prestigious annual event brought together around 100 early-career engineers to discuss cutting-edge developments in resilience and security in the information ecosystem; engineered quantum systems; complex systems in the context of health care; and mining and mineral resource production. Kate Starbird (PhDTechMedSoc’12), now a faculty member at the University of Washington, presented on online disinformation, while Assistant Professor Josh Combes co-chaired a session on quantum systems.
New community college pathways launched
The University of Colorado Boulder and the Colorado Community College System have signed an agreement to expand an existing program that allows community college students who have earned an associate in engineering sciences (AES) degree to transfer into four additional bachelor’s degree pathways at the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
With the new agreement, Boulder will be the only Colorado campus to offer six pathways, including new architectural, computer, electrical and general engineering programs. In 2022, Boulder was the first campus to provide a civil engineering transfer program, joining other campuses with a mechanical engineering track.
The streamlined transfer process to Boulder allows students who begin their academic journey at one of the state’s 13 community colleges to choose from major-specific paths or a new general pathway. The pathways enable students to take coursework that fits directly into engineering degree programs without credit loss.
The four additional engineering pathways will be open to students beginning in fall 2024.
Biomedical, partnership programs graduate first classes
The first-ever graduating class of the Biomedical Engineering Program received their diplomas in spring 2023, marking a significant achievement for both the program and the 15 graduating students.
The interdisciplinary degree program launched in fall 2020 to meet demand for engineers with training across medicine, biology and engineering. The first program graduates will pursue futures in medical school, graduate engineering research and industry, where they will design and manufacture cutting-edge medical devices.
The in mechanical engineering and computer science also celebrated its first class of graduates in May 2023. The inaugural class of 19 graduates — 14 of whom were from Colorado — included two first-generation students and three women.
The partnership program allows students to complete their first two years as Western students, and the balance of their education as University of Colorado Boulder students, all while remaining on the Western campus in Gunnison, Colorado.
Professor honored for computational linguistics work
Professor Emerita Martha Palmer was recognized for 50 years of contributions to computational linguistics in July, earning the Association for Computational Linguistics’ (ACL) 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Palmer joined the Boulder faculty in 2005 as a professor of computer science and fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science. Her research focused on natural language processing and understanding, particularly on capturing elements of the meanings of words that can comprise automatic representations of complex sentences and documents.
In 1985, Palmer was the first woman to obtain a PhD in artificial intelligence from Edinburgh University. In 1994, Palmer and Zhibiao Wu wrote a seminal paper, now cited over 5,000 times, called “Verb semantics and lexical selection.”
Amadei inducted into ASEE Hall of Fame
Distinguished Professor Bernard Amadei has been inducted into the American Society for Engineering Education Hall of Fame, in acknowledgment of his numerous contributions to engineering and engineering technology education.
Amadei is the founding director of Boulder’s Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience, the co-founder of Engineers Without Borders-International and founding president of Engineers Without Borders-USA.
Amadei said he was “deeply grateful” for the recognition.
“It serves as a reminder of the importance of engineering education in shaping the future of humanity in the 21st century,” he said. “It validates the belief that quality education is the cornerstone of progress and innovation.”
Community college students participate in research program
Eighteen Denver-metro community college students got their first taste of research in summer 2023 when they participated in Engineering’s SPUR (Summer Program for Undergraduate Research) program.
The community college students were supported by the broader Denver-Metro Engineering Consortium (DMEC) consisting of local community colleges, four-year institutions and industry partners seeking to increase the number of engineering professionals. DMEC received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to support this initiative.
SPUR participants are mentored by a College of Engineering and Applied Science faculty member and work alongside undergraduate and graduate students. The community college researchers tackled projects across engineering, from mitigating indoor air quality in Colorado public schools and improving GPS performance in mobile phones, to 3D printing of novel static mixer elements.
Bridge to doctorate program welcomes first cohort
Boulder’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate program, funded by the National Science Foundation, welcomed its first cohort of 12 students to campus in fall 2023.
The program’s goal is to increase the quantity and quality of STEM graduate students from underrepresented populations, with emphasis on PhD matriculation and completion.
The fellows are pursuing doctorates in the College of Engineering and Applied Science across multiple departments and programs: aerospace, environmental engineering, biological engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science and biomedical engineering. There are also students pursuing degrees in physics through the College of Arts and Sciences.
Alumnus wins National Medal of Technology
Charles W. Hull (EngrPhys’61) was named among the 2023 recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his exemplary achievements in technology and innovation through his invention of 3D printing.
Awarded by President Biden in October, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation is the nation’s highest award for technological achievement. Along with the National Medal of Science, it recognizes American innovators whose vision, intellect, creativity and determination have strengthened America’s economy and improved our quality of life.
After Hull completed his degree in engineering physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, he worked with a DuPont subsidiary before going on to invent the solid imaging process known as stereolithography. This became the basis of the first commercial 3D printing technology, which spurred the dawning of a dynamic industry in the United States.
Engineering leader joins campus leadership
This spring, Massimo Ruzzene celebrated his one-year anniversary as vice chancellor for research and innovation and dean of the institutes at Boulder.
Before his appointment in March 2023, Ruzzene, the Slade Professor of Mechanical Engineering, served as acting vice chancellor following the retirement of Terri Fiez in June 2022.
Ruzzene also previously served as associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Ruzzene joined Boulder in 2019 from the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 2014 to 2016, he held a directorship with the National Science Foundation’s Dynamics, Control and System Diagnostics unit of its Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation Division.