Alumni Stories

When she first arrived in Boulder in the late 1970s, Faran Nouri was a scared girl from post-revolutionary Iran who spoke very little English. Today, she’s a powerhouse venture capital executive who discovers and helps support the best and brightest new tech companies.

Ten years ago, a few professors had a question: what if chemical and biological engineering students and instructors could get free, in-depth, high-quality instruction on hundreds of subjects within the field any time they wanted?

Alumnus Vince Kontny, a longtime friend of CU Engineering and influential member of the engineering and construction industry, passed away Aug. 9 at age 83. Kontny served on the college’s Engineering Development Council for many years and earned the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in 1989, as well as an honorary doctorate from CU Boulder in 1991.

Shane Fleming (MechEngr’08) is proof that an engineering degree can open doors across a wide variety of professions. His professional story has been eye-opening to CU Engineering students, showing that a degree in engineering doesn’t require specialization in a single field. Shane also graduated at the onset of the 2008...

Kent Burkhardsmeier (ArchEngr’84) did something many intended but few have accomplished during the COVID-19 quarantine: He published a book.

Duane Chesley (MechEngr’58) valued education because of how it impacted his life, taking him from humble beginnings on a farm in Nebraska to full colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. At CU Boulder, he endowed a scholarship and established an earn-learn apprenticeship to support mechanical engineering students.

Roger McNamara (MAeroEngr’86, PhD’95) has built a career advancing the forefront of aerospace technology and is serving in a leading role on the next-generation Orion crewed space capsule. As a master’s and PhD alumnus of the University of Colorado Boulder, he has put his skills to use on an array...

Ashley Pennington (ChemBioEngr ‘13) has earned an American Association for the Advancement of Science - Science & Technology Policy Fellowship and a position at the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program.

After graduating from CU in May, Gabriella Abello spent the summer weighing all her options. Graduate school? Find a job? Something else entirely?

Abigail Fernandes made the best of a bad situation — and then some.