Herbst Fellows 2025

No story about any technology is complete without the Greek myth of the titan Prometheus. As the story goes, he uses his godly connections to introduce humans to the Olympian secret of fire and is cursed to have his entrails harvested for eternity. The punishment for Prometheus, seems quite extreme for his crime, compared to the multitude of affairs and abuses amongst the Greek Pantheon. What made introducing people to this technology so dangerous?

As an environmental engineering student, I’ve become immersed in issues of anthropogenic environmental contamination present in the air, soil and water. I’ve also worked to assess how toxic contaminants can harm ecosystems, agriculture or pose health risks to humans. My degree has also provided insights into life cycle analysis and sustainability in the face of global warming and anthropogenic climate change. Exposure to these problems has facilitated my growing curiosity in engineering ethics and how the embedded perspectives we hold can influence the designs we create.

Film has become one of the most powerful tools in shaping the public's opinion on certain topics and as we continue into the latter part of the 2020s, the number of films being produced continues to increase. In 2023, there was a new peak in the number of films being produced and the amount of money being made by these films (Hancock et al., 2025). This is significant as films can influence and change people's minds about topics that are featured in them.

Since the dawn of the Space Age, satellites and space-based technologies have rapidly become an integral part of modern human society. What started as a few small science satellites and a dream to explore the universe has evolved into an immense, global industry that only continues to grow. The vastness of outer space tends to give the impression that this growth can continue indefinitely, but that notion is far from the truth. While outer space itself may be infinite, the physical area used for most of these satellites, an orbital space known as Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is very limited and filling up quickly.

Military engineering has existed for as long as wars and conflicts have, which unfortunately has been a constant in human history; it has long been a needed profession that demands substantial time, money, and energy from a population. Even in ancient times, societies invested enormous efforts into military engineering. A completely peaceful world is an ideal situation that humanity should continue to strive towards, but that world is unfortunately unlikely to emerge soon. Until society can attain that perfect world, everything must be done to keep wars and conflicts as humane and ethical as possible. Engineers are not typically thought of as major components in wars, as they are physically separated from the battlefield; however, engineers serve as pivotal figures in warfare, as their technological advancements continuously reshape military conflicts and therefore, human history.

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder has a strategic vision statement which reads as follows: Engineering sustainable solutions to improve the quality of life in our state, nation and world (1). When looking deeper at how to quantify the progress on this vision statement, the question arises: what counts as a sustainable solution? As our society progresses towards more sustainable development movements, we see the words ‘green’ or ‘sustainability’ used often by institutions, companies and industries. Since the definition of sustainability is vague, it becomes susceptible to getting reduced to a buzz word instead of an indication of measurable action. This ambiguity limits the ability to create effective regulations or hold organizations accountable. Addressing this challenge requires both a stronger overarching definition of sustainability and more specific interpretations tailored to individual professions.

Engineering programs are widely recognized for their academic rigor and emphasis on problem-solving, innovation, and technical knowledgebase. While these qualities prepare students for important and advanced careers, there’s an elephant in the room when it comes to engineering education: mental health. The success of future engineers depends not only on technical knowledge, but also on mental well-being. It is imperative to understand the challenges faced by engineering students in order to create more inclusive and effective educational environments that set students up for professional and personal success.