Carson Bruns

The Graduate School is pleased to recognize 18 dedicated faculty members who received this year’s outstanding faculty mentor awards. The nomination materials showcased their many contributions in mentoring graduate students and supporting the mission of graduate education.

Four years ago, Professor Carson Bruns set out to create a new kind of tattoo — today, he's created a new kind of programmable ink used to lower the risk against skin cancer.

Researchers at CU Boulder are collaborating to develop a new kind of biocompatible actuator that contracts and relaxes in only one dimension, like muscles. Their research may one day enable soft machines to fully integrate with our bodies to deliver drugs, target tumors, or repair aging or dysfunctional tissue.

Researchers are developing tattoo inks that do more than make pretty colors. Some can sense chemicals, temperature and UV radiation, setting the stage for tattoos that diagnose health problems.

New tattoo inks are being designed to change color in response to signals that could alert people to changes in blood chemistry or help doctors diagnose illness. Carson Bruns spoke about his work at the TEDxMileHigh: Reset speaker series.