Student Stories

Members of the Boulder Alt. Protein Project are the recipients of two awards for their research and community impact in the field of cellular agriculture, which may one day revolutionize how meat is produced for human consumption.

After working on their project for the entire academic year, CU Boulder engineering students placed first in a national design competition. The annual Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition is run through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Department of Energy. The goal was to build an economically feasible set of solar photovoltaics, also known as solar-PV installations, for a campus or urban district.

Meet Sam Stevens, Founder and CEO of Peaceful Places LLC, a nature-themed virtual reality app that creates experiences for relaxation and reflection. Sam is a current student at CU Boulder studying Computer Science and Creative Technology & Design. Sam developed the idea for Peaceful Places over a decade ago and has been a serial entrepreneur ever since!

Graduating in May 2021with degrees in Creative Technology and Design, these innovative students have recognized for exceptional accomplishments, having demonstrated initiative in their academic and extracurricular activities, completing outstanding research or creative projects, or contributing significantly to the ATLAS community.

Tamanna Talwar wanted to understand why some children are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than others, and to recognize the implications of delayed access to services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. She dove into the topic and identified who gets left behind and why. For these efforts, Talwar has won the annual MAP the System competition at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Meet Eddy Connors, a sophomore in the Leeds School of Business and founder and CEO of BerBeda, a sustainable lifestyle brand that produces men’s athletic shorts using recycled ocean plastic. Eddy grew up in Bronxville, New York, and decided to take a gap year after high school graduation to explore the world and find out what he wanted for his future.

In its second year in a virtual setting, the New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s premier entrepreneurial startup program and competition, dazzled with high energy and even higher-flying ideas curated by CU Boulder students vying for their share of $150,000 in prize money.

HUG Solutions, a startup company developing cold chain transportation technology to help rural communities access mRNA vaccines, walked away from the University of Colorado’s New Venture Challenge as champions, banking $30,000 in cash prizes and a $25,000 investment offer.

A modest new house in Fraser, Colorado—considered the coldest town in the lower-48—is no ordinary home. With it, a team of Buffs will compete this week in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon for the first time since 2007.

CU Engineering students have invented PortaVax, a portable vaccine carrier that can keep up to 250 vaccine doses cold for several days using insulation and dry ice. Their device will help solve transporting vaccine doses to rural communities, which often lack reliable electricity or cannot afford ultra-low temperature coolers.