Materials Science Engineering
Materials researchers are getting a big boost from a new database created by a team of researchers led by Professor Hendrik Heinz. The initiative, now available online to all researchers, is a database containing over 2,000 carbon nanotube stress-strain curves and failure properties.
Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram, in collaboration with Laura Blumenschein, has received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop a tiny robot super team capable of navigating a complex maze of machinery and squeeze through the tightest of spaces—like the guts of a jet engine—to potentially perform non-destructive evaluation faster, cheaper and better than ever before.
Assistant Professor Longji Cui and his team in the Cui Research Group have developed a new technique that allows them to measure phonon interference inside of a tiny molecule. They believe one day, this discovery can revolutionize how heat dissipation is managed in future electronics and materials.
Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering is the recipient of a $650,000 CAREER award from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The funding will help Jayaram make advancements in robots by drawing from what might seem to be an unlikely source: insects and other small creatures.
Assistant Professors Kōnane Bay and Ankur Gupta from CU Boulder’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering each received a $450,000, three-year grant to advance research relevant to the U.S. Air Force.
Associate Professor Jianliang Xiao is a “mechanics of materials” expert launching innovations in soft materials and flexible electronics who has been selected as a senior member in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The program recognizes rising innovators who have had success securing patents, licensing and commercialization for developed technologies that showcase real impact on the welfare of society.
Assistant Professor Longji Cui and his team in the Cui Research Group have developed a new technology to turn thermal radiation into electricity in a way that literally teases the basic law of thermal physics. The group says their research has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing industries by increasing power generation without the need for high temperature heat sources or expensive materials.
CU Boulder’s Living Materials Laboratory contributed to groundbreaking research showing how engineered microbes can create bioglass microlenses, paving the way for advanced imaging technologies in medicine and materials science.
CU Boulder researchers are exploring the use of sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithium-based energy storage.