News/Events

Wil Srubar is an assistant professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering here at C.U. Guided by the tenets of industrial ecology, his team's collective vision is to engineer next-generation infrastructure materials by blurring the boundaries between the built environment and the natural world. Materials of current interest include biodegradable polymers, phase-change materials, recycled aggregate concrete, and natural-fiber composites for green building applications.

Listen to Evan Thomas podcast as he talks about about his position as Mortenson Center director.

Professor Gregor Henze and Professor Bernard Amadei will lead students to Italy and Brazil this summer to cap a course focused on energy systems in the built environment across the globe and to learn how stakeholders are working to navigate the relationships between people, the planet and profits.

Srubar won a $1 million National Science Foundation grant with his colleagues associate professor Virginia Ferguson, assistant professor Mija Hubler, and professors Robert McLeod and Stephanie Bryant to acquire a new machine that will allow researchers to see materials in 4D.

Associate Professor Amy Javernick-Will will serve as the principal investigator on a research project that aims to improve community capacity to rebuild with safer design and construction practices after disasters.

Casie Venable has been awarded a 2019 Shelter and Settlements Fellowship from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistantship and Habitat for Humanity International.

Professor Paul Goodrum's research on the way construction plans are created, distributed and understood.

Evan Thomas took over as director of the Mortenson Center in summer 2018. Since then, he has outlined significant changes to the center’s research and teaching, and advocated for recruiting students from all engineering departments, as well as outside entities like the Colorado School of Public Health.

Professor Srubar’s research goal is to create a living hybrid building material that exhibits both structural and biological function. The possibilities for his work are endless and especially interesting in extreme environments and military applications. Bricks could self-heal after natural disasters or enemy fire, or act as alarms by changing color when there are toxins in the air.

EVEN Professor Lupita Montoya just published a new study, which monitored volatile organic compound (VOC) levels in six Colorado nail salons and is among the first to illustrate the serious health risks prevalent in the industry, where technicians commonly work long hours and report symptoms such as headaches, respiratory difficulties and skin irritation.