2015 Issue

THROUGHOUT HER CAREER, ZOYA POPOVIC'S RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) and microwave engineering research has been focused on communications and defense, with projects for organizations including NASA and the Navy, and companies like Boeing. The distinguished professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering designed a system that would use far-field beaming to...

WITH REAL-WORLD PROJECTS WHEN A TORRENT OF WATER RIPPED DOWN BOULDER CREEK in September 2013 during historic flooding, a pedestrian bridge connecting the Boulder Creek Path with Folsom Field was one of the casualties. For 50 civil engineering students, the bridge’s loss became an educational opportunity. During the 2014 fall...

INFRARED CAMERA CREATES SHARP FOCUS FROM TEMPERATURE CHANGES “The applications are abundant,” Bright says. “You just have to have imagination.” The air temperature in Victor Bright’s office is mild, maybe 70 degrees. There aren’t any obvious drafts or pockets of warm or cold air. All the books on the shelves,...

GETTING STUCK IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. Hammering your thumb. Paper cuts. All things that are miserable, but none may be as universally despised as going to the dentist to get a cavity filled. A new product developed by 3M ESPE—and based on technology invented by Christopher Bowman, distinguished professor of...

COMPUTER SCIENCE IS BOOMING IN BOULDER. In the fall of 2010, there were 267 undergraduate computer science majors. Four years later, there were 909, including the new Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science degree. To keep up with the tsunami of new students, talented faculty are being recruited from across...

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING OUR SOLAR SYSTEM CHUNKS OF SPACE ROCK HURTLING TOWARDS EARTH putting humanity in mortal danger makes an entertaining asteroid-inspired movie. While that scenario could actually happen someday, there are equally important reasons to study asteroids other than their potential to be threatening. As the bits and...

HOW THE BTU LAB AT THE ATLAS INSTITUTE IS CREATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF INNOVATORS HACKERS GET A BAD RAP. Thanks to popular culture, mention “computer hacker” and people immediately think of Matthew Broderick in War Games, or any number of recent security breaches of data. In reality, hackers are...

The group visits a farming cooperative in Rivas to discuss sustainable initiatives The group poses with villagers who have formed a community solar committee Matthew Tabor, Emily Eggers and Myranda Prentiss talk to a tabacoo farmer about her new building and land FOUR ENGINEERING STUDENTS FROM CU-BOULDER PACKED their bags...

FOR MOST AMERICANS visiting the doctor’s office, shopping at the supermarket or going to work is a matter of hopping in a car and driving there. But the amenities of modern infrastructure in the United States—roads, bridges and sidewalks—are often absent in rural communities around the globe, separating people from...

DIANA LOUCKS WAS ABOUT TO SERVE A YEAR-LONG STINT as chief of Space and Special Programs for Regional Command, South, in Afghanistan when she got a call. Would she be willing to get a doctorate and then become the first female academy professor in physics and nuclear engineering at West...

Stephanie Herriage (ArchEngr ’14) from Palos Verdes, California, and James de la Garza (ArchEngr ’15) from San Antonio, Texas, are Ralphie Handlers. Ralphie and her handlers kick off football, lacrosse and soccer games to the excited cheers of Buffs fans. STEPHANIE HERRIAGE | PALOS VERDES, CA Choosing CU-Boulder for her...