2008
December 2008: Outstanding Graduate Laura Fisher
Named the year's "Outstanding Graduate" by the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Laura Fisher addressed all engineering students at the Recognition Ceremony in December 2008. Laura's dual bachelor's and master's degree in aerospace engineering sciences is all the more remarkable, as she underwent brain surgery just a year ago. See http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jan/02/brain-surgery-doesnt-derail-cu-grad/
December 2008: Earth's Atmosphere Breathes Faster, More Frequently than Thought
AES Professor Jeff Thayer and other scientists from NASA and the University of Colorado presented evidence at the annual AGU Conference that the Earth “breathes” rhythmically through expansion and contraction of its atmosphere every nine days. The breath corresponds to changes in the Sun’s magnetic fields. Read CU News or check out this post on www.wired.com
December 2008: Denver Post editorial: Sound the alarm on climate change
Environmental scientists who have been watching Earth's climate change dramatically in recent decades recognize an immediate need for comprehensive, coordinated action to address the threats of climate change. Waleed Abdalati and other signers, including Steven Nerem of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. Read the editorial at www.denverpost.com
November 2008: The University of Colorado at Boulder payload of web-spinning spiders and butterflies-to-be was delivered to the International Space Station by the space shuttle Endeavour Nov. 14, an experiment designed to stimulate interest in K-12 students. One spider may be missing! See http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2008/11/itsy-bitsy-spiders-iss.html
November 2008:Aerospace Students Ryan Kobrick and Jonathan Metts are recipients of ARCS Foundation scholarships. "The ARCS Foundation-Colorado chapter is all ladies and all volunteer," said Val Peterson, president of the ARCS Foundation's Colorado chapter. "We raise money for science scholarships for four recipient schools -- CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and UC Denver. In this time of shrinking resources and an increased need for doctors, scientists and engineers, the ARCS Foundation is needed now more than ever to keep our country strong." A short video featuring CU-Boulder ARCS scholar Ryan Kobrick is available on the CU-Boulder news Web site at www.colorado.edu/news/.
October 2008: Prof Penny Axelrad is featured in the latest Inside GNSS (see http://www.insidegnss.com/node/794 for her excellent research and service, and for her dedication to helping girls stay interested in science.)
October 2008: Aerospace graduate student Ryan Kobrick talks about moon dust on space.com (see space) and he is featured on the discovery channel website (discovery) regarding his many research activities.
October 2008: Aerospace graduate student and lead teaching assistant Brandon Jones is featured on the discovery channel website for his research regarding gravity. See http://blogs.discovery.com/next_generation/2008/10/gravity-map.html
October 2008: Two aerospace undergraduates, Nathan Calvert and Farheen Rizvi, received Provost Student Achievement and Convocation Awards at the October 17 Fall Convocation for their community and academic efforts.
September 2008: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior has awarded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) a 5-year $5.5M contract for a combined in situ, modeling, and remote sensing study, called "Dynamics of the Loop Current in U.S. Waters". The study is of the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico. ASEN/CCAR Research Professor Bob Leben will perform the remote sensing component. CU will receive a 5-year $560K subcontract from SAIC to support this effort.
September 2008: Former NASA Astronaut Joe Tanner will be teaching in the Aerospace department this year, developing more projects-oriented courses for graduate students. See press release.
September 2008: CU-Boulder is the only university in the world to have designed, built and launched instruments to every planet in the solar system. It is also the single largest university recipient of NASA research dollars in the nation, according to the space agency. In fiscal year 2008, CU-Boulder received roughly $56 million from NASA. See Space Research Fact Sheet.
September 2008: Professor Daniel Scheeres has been elected a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and Professors Dale Lawrence, Kamran Mohseni, and Ryan Starkey were elected Associate Fellows in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for 2009.
August 2008: On August 18, 2008 Jeffrey M. Forbes became Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES). Prof Forbes joined AES in 1994 after ten years at Boston University. Some of his research interests include the upper atmosphere environments of Earth, Mars, and Venus; coupling of upper atmosphere environments to lower altitudes and to solar variability; geomagnetic storm effects on satellite drag variability; the vertical propagation of tides and planetary waves in planetary atmospheres, and their electrodynamic and chemical effects. He is currently the P.I. of a $7.2M AFOSR MURI project entitled "Neutral Atmosphere Density Interdisciplinary Research” (2007-2012).
August 2008: The KRAKEN senior project team won best new entry (with a cash reward to the team of $500) at the AUVSI underwater autonomous vehicle competition at Point Loma Naval Base. KRAKEN placed 8th in static judging (presentation, explanation, technical description) and 18th overall out of 25. Most new teams do not usually navigate any of the obstacles, so this is an excellent first year showing.
August 2008: PhD candidate Brandon Jones spent the summer working at JPL with some of the engineers who track the GPS satellites.
August 2008: Included among the highlights of sponsored research awards at CU in fiscal year 2008 was a $32 million, five-year grant NASA awarded to CU-Boulder in May to develop and manage a sophisticated database that tracks global weather patterns such as glaciers, sea ice, snow cover and ice sheets. NASA also contracted with the campus in May to build a $34 million solar instrument package for a satellite that will monitor global climate change. CU-Boulder receives more NASA funding than any other public university in the nation, due in part to its focus on aerospace engineering. The university’s efforts have helped put Colorado in second place—behind only California—in the nation’s aerospace economy. See https://www.cu.edu/content/cu-reaches-record-level-research-funding
July 2008: Associate Professor Adjunct Alex Hoehn received the 2008 Forest R. McFarland Award at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) held in San Francisco. This award, established in 1979, recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions toward the planning, development, and dissemination of technical information through SAE technical meetings, conferences, and professional development programs.
July 2008: KRAKEN team wins best new entry
July 2008: Professor Kristine Larson's method of using very precise GPS measurements virtually minute to minute (called high-rate GPS), is revolutionizing research by scientists who study plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. See http://nasadaacs.eos.nasa.gov/index.html on the NASA Earth Systems Science Data and Services Web site for a fascinating look at the applications of this new method.
Professor Larson also is using GPS signals to estimate soil moisture levels (see NewScientist).
June 2008: The President's Office announces that CU-Boulder aerospace engineering program garnered two of the first annual President's Awards for Outstanding Academic Leadership in Student Success: first place in undergraduate student success, and second place in graduate and professional student success
June 20, 2008: The Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellite, a joint effort between NASA and France's space agency, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. AES Faculty Robert Leben, Steve Nerem, William Emery, and George Born are on the science team for this mission.
June 2008: AES graduate student Jason Roadman is the recipient of the prestigious AIAA Foundation John Leland Atwood Graduate Award. Official recognition and presentation of a plaque and check to the recipient will be made in conjunction with the Awards Presentations Ceremony at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting.
June 2008: Aerospace master's candidate Laurren Kanner has been selected as a recipient of this year's AIAA Abe M. Zarem Award for Distinguished Achievement in Astronautics. Laurren will receive a bronze medal and a certificate recognizing her technical excellence, as well as a travel stipend to present her work at an international conference or congress.
May 2008: Louis Stodieck, Director of BioServe Space Technologies, signs an agreement with NASA to utilize the U.S. section of the International Space Station for research not directly connected to NASA's mission. See News Center and Space U stories.
May 2008: Aerospace graduate student Bruce Davis traveled on behalf of Citizens for Space Exploration (CSE), to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with a singular purpose – to support a robust space exploration program. See Bruce_Davis for details.
May 2008: See Unmanned Vehicles: Micro-Air Vehicles Flock to Collect and Transmit Data in new College Alumni Magazine: http://engineering.colorado.edu/news/CUE/index.htm
April 2008: "According to new research, the next footsteps on the lunar surface could be beamed back to Earth via the moon's very own network of communication satellites. The setup could double as a GPS for moonwalkers" (space.com). A relay satellite is needed to contact astronauts on the far side of the moon, which could be placed in a halo orbit at the L2 Lagrange point. "Research by Jeff Parker at the University of Colorado has found that it takes less fuel for a satellite to enter a L2 halo orbit than it takes to get a satellite from Earth into geostationary orbit." A network of "halo orbiting satellites would give future moon walkers a degree of independence and they need not rely on mission control to tell them their exact whereabouts."
April 2008: Students from Aerospace Engineering Sciences at UCB won First and Second place in the team competition at the AIAA Region V Student Paper Conference.
Students S. Lawrence-Simon, S. Wilson, and Christina Wolfskill took First place in the team category for their paper, "KRAKEN: Kinematically Roving Autonomously Kontrolled Electro-Nautic". They will next compete in the national competition in Orlando in January 2009.
Students D. Berman, C. Hatcher, and L. Marek took Second place in the team category for their paper on "The Micro Air Reconnaissance, Launch and Imaging System (MARVLIS)".
April 2008: CU's Design-Build-Fly team took 5th place at the Design-Build-Fly contest in Wichita, Kansas with a report score of 94.5 against 40 competitors. Last year Aerospace Engineering Sciences from UCB took 7th place.
April 1, 2008: MRI Lidar work by Professor Xinzhao Chu and Professor Jeffrey Thayer earns $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. See CU News
March 11, 2008: CU-Boulder Alumnus, Two Payloads Head to Space Station via Space Shuttle. See CU News
| March 7, 2008: Bryant Loomis and Jonathan Fentzke are the recipients of the 2008 John A. Vise Graduate Student Excellence Award. See Graduate Awards for more details. (Photos by Henri Kjellberg) |
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Bryant Loomis with nominator Prof. Steve Nerem |
Jonathan Fentzke with nominator Prof. Xinzhao Chu |
February 2008: Professor Jeffrey M. Forbes and R. Steven Nerem were elected Fellows of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). See CU News
February 2008: John H. McMasters, Boeing Technical Fellow, passed away on February 13, 2008. Dr. McMasters is the author of "Desired Attributes of an Engineer", and he was a member of the Aerospace Engineering Sciences External Advisory Board since its inception in 1998. Many of his ideas on revamping engineering education were applied directly to the revised AES curriculum. He was known for his ability to inspire both young and older engineers through presentations and papers on such topics as aircraft design, aerodynamics of flying reptiles, engineering education, and technical excellence. See "Reflections on a Very Long Career in Aeronautics". He will be sorely missed.
January 2008: Ryan Starkey wins the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award.
January 2008: Jackie Sullivan and Larry Carlson received the National Academy of Engineering's Gordon Prize, the nation's top honor for innovation in engineering education, for their work with the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program (see Gordon Prize for more details). The Aerospace Engineering Sciences undergraduate curriculum utilizes the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory extensively.
January 2008: Laurren Kanner, aerospace MS student, won first place in the graduate division of the AIAA International Student Paper Competition, held in conjunction with the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit in Reno, Nevada, on January 11th, 2008. Her paper is titled "Impact of Solar Beta-Angle Seasonal Variations on the Mission Planning of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) All-Sky Survey."
2007
December 2007: Professor Kristine Larson is showcased on "60 Seconds With" as an IOP author who published a paper in 2007 that is considered key to the advancement of physics research. Read her interview on www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=featauths/0026-1394 under the journal "Metrologia".
December 2007: The Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder was ranked fourth in a national faculty productivity index featured in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. The ranking, known as the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, is produced by Academic Analytics of Chester, Penn., and based on data from 2006. For details, see www.academicanalytics.com/TopEng2006-07.html and chronicle.com/stats/productivity.
September 2007: Two Aerospace graduate students, Jonathan Metts and Bruce Davis, represented a CU team selected as one of three winners in a national design competition sponsored by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). They were invited with all expenses paid, along with faculty advisor Dr. David Klaus, to present their work involving the design of a Lunar Outpost at the first annual PISCES conference held at the Naniloa Volcanoes Resort, near the University of Hawaii at Hilo, from November 7-10, 2007. More Details
September 2007: Researchers Sheldon Drobot, James Maslanik, and Charles Fowler in the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) at UCB are predicting record low levels of Arctic sea ice in September this year, in part due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Consequences include changes in temperature and rain patterns in the United States, as well as a possible opening of the Northwest Passage along the northern coast of the North American continent in as little as 13 years. See CU Press and Reuters Article.
August 2007: The Mars Society's unprecedented four-month simulated Mars exploration mission in the Canadian High Arctic ended successfully on August 21, 2007. Seven researchers from across North America, including AES graduate students Ryan Kobrick and Matt Bamsey, conducted geological and microbiological field exploration in a landscape very like Mars and under conditions such as the Martian 'sol', 39-minutes longer than an Earth day. Preliminary results will be presented at the 10th International Mars Society Convention at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA (Aug 30-Sept 2). For more details, see Flashline and http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/20/325220.aspx
August 2007: A reversal of tectonic plate motion between Acapulco and Mexico City in the last half of 2006 probably didn't ease seismic strain in the region or the specter of a major earthquake anticipated there in the coming decades, says Kristine Larson, University of Colorado at Boulder professor. More details.
May 2007: Through NASA's DemoSat program, University of Colorado students get hands-on experience developing space hardware by creating a "BalloonSat" that will be flown on a high-altitude balloon. Started in 2003 through a Space Grant Aerospace Workforce Development award from NASA Headquarters, DemoSat now involves more than 200 students at 10 Colorado colleges and universities each year. More Details
May 2007: Twenty-three college students from Colorado are finalists in a national competition called Lunar Ventures Student Business Plan Competition, requiring them to create business ventures using space technology. These students, in four teams from the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado, developed wireless sensor network software, a rover to remove hazardous waste, a method of collecting meteorites, and navigation services for robotic rovers --- all for operation on both the Earth and the Moon. Six other finalist teams are from MIT, Georgia Tech, and San Diego State University. More Details
February 2007: Professor R. Steven Nerem briefed the House of Representatives on "Sea Level Rise: Implications for the Future" as one of two speakers for the Climate Science Seminar, moderated by Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists. That same afternoon Dr. Nerem presented the information to the Senate by invitation of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Both events were open to the public. Sea Level Rise slides.
2006
December 2006 : Donna Gerren received the Faculty Advisor Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She was selected by the student branch members and the student activities committee for her outstanding contributions as evidenced by the record of her student branch in local, regional, and national activities. The award was presented in Reno in January 2007.
December 2006: AES graduate student Ryan Kobrick was one of the winners of the AIAA Foundation Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Awards.
December 2006: Professor R. Steven Nerem received the 2006 Geodesy Section Award at the American Geophysical Union in December 2006. He was selected because of his "broad and significant contributions to satellite geodesy and its applications to solid Earth physics, ocean dynamics, and related climate sciences." The presentation of the award was made during the Geodesy Section Reception at the 2006 Fall AGU Meeting in San Francisco. In addition, Prof Nerem presented a talk at the Geodesy Luncheon at the 2007 Joint Assembly Meeting 22-25 May 2007 in Acapulco, Mexico. For more information, see http://www.agu.org/sections/geodesy/geodesysectionaward.php
Italian Remote Sensing Students Working in Boulder
August 2006: Starting with a visit by PhD student Chiara Solimini (daughter of Domenico Solimini, a professor at Tor Vergata University in Rome) in the fall of 2004, there has been a steady stream of Italian graduate students working in Professor Bill Emery's lab in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences department. These students work on the analysis of satellite imagery to detect land cover changes, particularly in urban regions, using a cooperative relationship with DigitalGlobe in Longmont which provides high-resolution (60 cm resolution) QuickBird (QB) optical satellite imagery for these studies. More details
Fifty years ago, a Boulder glass-jar company forged a partnership with some CU scientists, launching Colorado as a key location for space-based research and innovation. The sector could be poised for a new blastoff in 2007. More details.
Matt Rhode, Laboratory Manager for Aerospace Engineering Sciences, received the Outstanding Staff Award from the College of Engineering & Applied Science for 2006.
Citation: Mr. Matthew E. Rhode is recommended for the College's Staff Award for his outstanding contributions to the education and research programs of the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. In his position as AES Machine Shop manager and Instrument Maker Mr. Rhode has significantly enhanced our undergraduate and graduate education by training students in the design and fabrication of hardware and supported in an exemplary manner the AES faculty by fabricating high precision hardware and maintaining faculty laboratories. This award recognizes in particular Mr. Rhode's dedication and proactive work injecting and implementing innovative ideas. For example, Mr. Rhode developed and implemented a sequence of 14 seminars on basic and advanced fabrications skill for AES senior design students, including lecture notes and hands-on training practica. The faculty, student and staff would like to thank Mr. Rhode for his outstanding contributions to continuously improve the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
Professor Brian Argrow received the Max S. Peters Faculty Service Award from the College of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Colorado at Boulder (Nov 2006).
Citation: For his exemplary service to the Department and the College, his valued contributions as a President's Teaching Scholar, his tireless work in both academic and research programs, his good citizen labors in support of multidisciplinary education in the University, and his generous help for others, both students and faculty, Professor Brian Argrow has richly earned the 2006 Max S. Peters Faculty Service Award.
Professor Kamran Mohseni received the Dean's Award for Professional Progress from the College of Engineering & Applied Science (Oct 2006).
2005
Professor Kristine M. Larson received the Geodesy Section Award for 2005 from the American Geophysical Union for her innovative research into Global Positioning System techniques and their applications to a wide range of geophysical problems. More details.
Professor R. Steven Nerem received Bowie Lecture Award. Every year the AGU honors leading scientists in various fields of geophysical science. One of the honors is to be selected to present a Bowie Lecture at one of the semi-annual AGU meetings held each spring and fall. The lecture series honors William Bowie, AGU's first president. As the 2005 Bowie Lecture award recipient, Steve Nerem presented his paper at the AGU meeting in San Francisco: The Record of Sea Level Change from Satellite Measurements: What Have We Learned?
Professor Brian M. Argrow edited a special feature in the September 2005 issue of Measurement Science and Technology. The special feature is freely available at the following link: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/0957-0233/16/9, and was also published in the September print version of Measurement Science and Technology.
Jeffrey Parker, an Aerospace Engineering graduate student, was awarded the American Astronautical Society's John V. Breakwell Travel Award to present his paper entitled Families of Low Energy Lunar Halo Transfer Orbits at the 2006 Space Flight Mechanics Winter Meeting, January 22-26, 2006 in Tampa Florida. This award is conferred in recognition of excellence in academic achievement and research.
Pluto-Bound CU Instrument Renamed For Girl Who Named Ninth Planet In 1930. More details
A serendipitous discovery by a University of Colorado at Boulder-led team has shown for the first time that satellite signals from the Global Positioning System are a valuable new tool for studying earthquakes. CU-Boulder Associate Professor Kristine Larson of aerospace engineering sciences said seismic waves from a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Alaska's Denali National Park in November 2002 were detected using Global Positioning Satellite, or GPS, receivers as far away as 2,350 miles from the event. The quake also was picked up by scores of GPS receivers in Canada and the United States. More details
Four miniature unmanned airplanes leased by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers and equipped with sophisticated meteorlogical instruments are buzzing through storms near Jacksonville, Fla., as faculty and students await a hurricane. Known as aerosondes, the diminutive 30-pound planes are helping researchers monitor conditions like temperature, humidity and wind speed, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineering Professor Judith Curry. In addition, the tiny planes are packing lightweight video cameras to help researchers understand sea-surface changes during tropical storms. More details