Technology News

College of Arts and Sciences Magazine—CU Boulder chemist Wei Zhang has developed a novel method to separate gases more efficiently, potentially revolutionizing industries reliant on gas separation technologies. Their breakthrough, which utilizes advanced materials and innovative techniques, promises to reduce energy consumption and enhance the sustainability of these processes.

CU Boulder Today—Researchers at CU Boulder will soon begin working on what they call the “quantum machine shop” of the 21st century. The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced a $20 million grant to CU Boulder to launch a facility known as the National Quantum Nanofab (NQN). In this facility, Colorado researchers and quantum specialists from around the country will be able to design and build incredibly small devices that tap into the world of atoms and photons—the tiny packets of energy that make up light.

CU Boulder Today—Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ushered in a new bill to support the state’s rapidly growing quantum industry. Polis signed the bill from the top floor of the JILA Tower, one of the epicenters of quantum research on campus, with a view of the Flatirons in the background.

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.

NIST—Scientists have dramatically reduced the time and energy required to chill materials to temperatures near absolute zero. Their prototype refrigerator could prove a boon for the burgeoning quantum industry, which widely uses ultracold materials. NIST is now working with an industrial partner and Venture Partners to commercialize the refrigerator.

2023 was another tremendous year for innovation at the University of Colorado Boulder. Campus researchers and inventors created a strong crop of 162 breakthrough technologies this past year. These spanned the breadth of CU Boulder’s research expertise, with innovations in climate tech, biotechnology, quantum science, optics and aerospace, to name a few. CU Boulder's commercialization arm, Venture Partners at CU Boulder, supports a groundbreaking pipeline translating research into real-world impact, as highlighted in their 2023 Annual Report.

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.

SciTechDaily—JILA's (a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder) breakthrough in optical atomic clocks uses quantum entanglement to surpass fundamental precision limits, setting a new standard in timekeeping and opening avenues for scientific discovery.

Global Cosmetics News—Tattoo artist Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, famous for working with celebrities, has created a company, Hyprskn, to launch a new product called “Magic Ink.” Developed with Professor Carson Bruns from CU Boulder, Magic Ink can be controlled with a special stylus, the “magic pen,” that uses two wavelengths of light to activate or deactivate the tattoo’s visibility.

Research & Innovation Office (RIO)—CU Boulder announced seven winners of the 2023-2024 translational quantum research seed grants, incentivizing quantum science and technology innovations launched from the lab to accelerate them along the development path to new programs and businesses.