Researcher Stories

College of Arts & Sciences—CU Boulder Physics Professor Ivan Smalyukh and his team have achieved a remarkable milestone by receiving a Guinness World Records award for creating the world's most transparent material. Their aerogel, which has now been successfully patented, can be added to windows to boost thermal insulation, increasing the overall efficiency of a building.

Activate is a nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to transform their research into market-ready products and services through a two-year fellowship that provides funding, mentorship and access to a robust network of experts and resources. Three Cohort 2024 fellows join Activate from companies spun up at CU Boulder with Venture Partners at CU Boulder.

Colorado Leadership Stories—Meet Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, a Boettcher Scholar and tech entrepreneur who solves large-scale problems leveraging frontier technology. Maithreyi talks about how her academic experiences in engineering physics and industrial management at CU Boulder and Stanford fueled her passion to innovate. Today she is the co-founder of two companies that actively promote gender diversity in STEM entrepreneurship, including PrecisionTerra, part of the 2023 CU Boulder Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator.

CU Boulder Today—While scientists are continuously exploring ways to reduce fossil fuel use in these sectors, Oana Luca, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at CU Boulder, explores technologies like recycling and carbon capture to prevent carbon from ending up in the environment.

The Global Business Development division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced that 34 Colorado companies and eight researchers have been awarded Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention grants through OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Accelerator Program. These grants help promote the growth and sustainability of advanced industries in Colorado by driving innovation, commercialization and public-private partnerships that move this vital aspect of Colorado’s economy forward in communities across the state.

CU Independent—Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are working to make the moon habitable. And they are focused on one of the most difficult challenges to lunar living: dust. Xu Wang, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at CU Boulder, was one of the winners of NASA’s 2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge.

CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science—Distinguished Professor Zoya Popovic is among 162 inventors named 2023 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election as a fellow in the academy is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. Popovic, a leading researcher in high-efficiency, low-noise microwave and RF engineering, was elected for her “prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.”

Venture Partners at CU Boulder and the university’s Industry and Foundation Relations (IFR) team brought together dozens of stakeholders in the renewable energy and storage ecosystem to discuss innovations, issues and opportunities in the vibrant sector.

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine—A pair of University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers are closer to their goal of bringing their therapy to patients—as one of nine research endeavors receiving funding from the Anschutz Acceleration Initiative (AAI). The project is led jointly by Tin Tin Su, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at CU Boulder, and Antonio Jimeno, professor in the CU Department of Medicine's Division of Medical Oncology.

College of Engineering and Applied Science—Aerospace PhD student Spencer Dansereau aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and extract the carbon molecules to create 3D-printed carbon fiber, which can be used for everything from bicycles to aerospace components. In 2023, Mach Electric Aerospace took first place in CU Boulder’s Lab Venture Challenge business development competition and second place in the New Venture Challenge.