Jul. 15, 2025 - Alumni Newsletter
CU Engineering Magazine
In this year's edition of the CU Engineering Magazine:
Scott Flaska (MechEngr'14) was once a competitive and interdisciplinary student in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. Now, he's the data mastermind behind one of Colorado's most beloved professional sports teams.
About CU Engineering Magazine
CU Engineering is a magazine for alumni and friends of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. The magazine highlights the power of engineering to transform lives. Whether through engineering research, technologies and education the college is seeking solutions to the world’s significant problems.
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Community Headlines
How slashing university research grants impacts economy, national innovation
Federal funding cuts in the billions have impacted dozens of universities in the U.S. Read from Professor and Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Massimo Ruzzene on why this research is important for everybody.
Boulder’s Mana Battery is in race to perfect sodium-ion battery technology
Associate Professor Chunmei Ban is a co-founder of CU Boulder spinout Mana Battery. The company is at the forefront of a race to provide low-cost batteries with longer lifespans than the market offers today.
Five mechanical engineering students, affiliates earn NSF recognition
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recognized five students and affiliates in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering with Graduate Research Fellowships. These top awards honor and support outstanding graduate students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.
CU Boulder students win big at collegiate hydropower competition
The CU Hydropower Team had a strong showing in this year's Hydropower Collegiate Competition, bringing home multiple awards including the best design award, the cybersecurity award, the best quick pitch award and the highly coveted first-place honor in the overall competition.
Seven mechanical engineering students earn graduating student awards
Seven students from the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering have earned graduating student awards from the College of Engineering and Applied Science in 2025. These awards honor seniors who are nominated by faculty, staff or fellow students for their outstanding contributions to the college and campus community.
Research and Innovation Stories
New discovery could make a risky heart failure treatment safer
Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) designed to improve blood flow throughout the body can aid nearly 26 million people globally struggling with heart failure. But these implantable devices come with risks. New research by Assistant Professor Debanjan Mukherjee suggests that studying patient blood flow patterns could help determine who’s at risk of dangerous side effects from LVADs and lead to improvements that could make them safer.
Tiny robot team could be a gamechanger for safety inspections
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.
New discovery shows how molecules can mute heat like music
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.
We can turn bugs into flying, crawling RoboCops. Does that mean we should?
Scientists and engineers are modifying animals with mechanical parts to create next-generation biohybrid cyborg animals that can perform difficult and unappealing tasks for humans. But do humans have the right to overlook animal consciousness for personal gain? In this article by Salon, Assistant Professor Nicole Xu blazes this new terrain and explores the ethical considerations behind these biohybrid creatures using her jellyfish case study as an example.
New study shows road emission policies could save 1.9M lives by 2040
A new global study co-authored by Professor Daven Henze reveals that implementing smart policies that address road transport emissions can improve health outcomes across more than 180 countries and 13,000 urban areas.
Vance turns her house into lab to study health risks of cleaning products
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, global spending on household cleaning products have increased by nearly $50 billion. Associate Professor Marina Vance is turning her home into a research laboratory to study and explore the possible implications of the increased product usage on human health.