Research & Innovation Office eNews - March 2022

More than 350 people—including investors and venture capitalists from across the nation—attended both online and in-person at The Rally Hotel in Denver. Venture expertise ranged from aerospace and big data to therapeutics and sustainability, all focused on improving tech and well-being across sectors.

CU Boulder’s high-impact physics research and education—as well as the newly-formed University Consortia for Space Technology—will receive additional funding as part of the recently passed $1.5 trillion federal appropriations omnibus bill for the 2022 fiscal year.

To confront the existential threat that is climate change, governments, industry and institutions of higher education must give voice to those most affected by it, transcend political divisiveness, and deploy empathy and compassion alongside research and innovation.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis and delegates from Finland recently signed an MOU to create collaborative partnership opportunities focused on foreign direct investment and research and development projects in quantum science, as well as company expansion opportunities and exchanges.

R.C. “Merc” Mercure Jr., a CU Boulder alumnus and entrepreneur who helped launch Boulder into the pantheon of aerospace science and engineering, died on Feb. 10, in Boulder. In 1956 he and others founded Ball Brothers Research Corp., now Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp.

Imagine a world where shoppers can purchase “methane free” beef at the grocery store, landfills are no longer needed and cheese puffs come packaged in bags containing no plastic whatsoever. These and other possible futures were showcased at the NVC15 Climate Prize Night on March 8.

At the NVC15 Female Founders Prize Night, many attendees braved the snow while others joined remotely for presentations from five ventures founded and developed by female-identifying entrepreneurs. Each team pitched to a panel of judges, competing for a share of $10K in prize money.

At the NVC15 Cross-Campus Collaboration Prize Night, first-place winner Delta Horizons was awarded $5K for a newly-developed braking system for four-wheeled walkers; other winners included tissue-based biomaterials company TissueForm and Birk, an all-natural yerba mate.