SPUR 2022

Project Description The objective of this project is to identify differences in osteocyte mechanobiological function in response to exposure to breast cancer and mechanical loading. These differences will be determined via histological staining and image analysis of relevant osteocyte-derived proteins. Our previous work demonstrates that skeletal mechanical signals have an...

Project Description Successful coordination of large-scale wastewater-based epidemiology programs requires the accurate census of the extant of our anthropogenic waterways; we must map the sewers! Similar to a recent inventory of WBE sites across the globe , this project will combine internet searches with ArcGIS to compile a map of...

Project Description The project aims to develop semiconductor devices that convert heat flow into electricity without moving parts or emitting pollutants, by creating a “nanophononic” thermoelectric device. This concept relies on having tiny structures added to a thin solid membrane’s top and bottom slow the flow of heat down the...

Project Description Electric machines can be motors or generators dependent on if power is supplied or generated. Advances in electric machine design and thermal management hold promise for electric aviation, electric vehicles, and more efficient or smaller generators. This project will involve students running an experimental test setup to collect...

Project Description The COSMO CubeSat is a 6U CubeSat to precisely measure the Earth’s magnetic field. Its measurements shall be used to update the World Magnetic Field Model (WMM) which is used in a variety of realms including many smartphone applications. The COSMO team is currently building and testing the...

Project Description Biosensing is an essential part of patient diagnosis, pandemic response, and disease management; however, many biosensing techniques require complex preparation and processing steps. This project will explore use of acoustic trapping of biomarker-specific microparticles in microfluidic channels – a technique termed “acoustofluidic trapping” – for simplified purification and...

Project Description Many applications of drop-based microfluidics have been explored in recent years, ranging from drug targeting to micro-chemical reactors. Understanding the physics of drop motion in rectangular microchannels is key to provide insights when designing such applications. Our group has previously developed computational methods to similar such systems, whereas...

Project Description Self-propulsion at the micrometer or nanometer scale is ubiquitous in biological systems around and within us. Inspired by this biological phenomena, there has been immense interest in creating synthetic microswimmers, i.e. self-propelling particles. However, most of the computational studies in this domain are limited to spheroidal or cylindrical...

Project Description This project is focused in Cybersecurity and Data Analytics (CDA). In March 2019, CU introduced a new interdisciplinary program on Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy (TCP). In addition to starting to bring together existing efforts in these areas, TCP has introduced a dozen new cybersecurity courses, additional faculty, and...

Project Description We will experiment with using a Volterra ink dispenser to draw circuit traces directly onto a circuit board and explore the performance limitations of instant circuit generation. The end goal will be to see how complex a functioning circuit we can create using conductive ink and an X-Y...