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ATLAS will open its doors to the community for the 9th annual��ATLAS Research Open Labs. Part of CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s��Research and Innovation Week, Open Labs is your chance to go hands on with the radically interdisciplinary research our labs conduct. We talked to ATLAS director and professor of computer science��Mark D Gross about why we believe this is so important.

[Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity]

What makes ATLAS Research Labs unique?��

We have eight research labs, and they're unique in their differences from one another, yet they are all under the same umbrella. We really are all over the map. We have a laboratory that specializes in electronic textiles and weaving. We have a laboratory that specializes in nanotechnology for human health and well-being. We have a laboratory that focuses on your brain on music…��

How are researchers assembled under the ATLAS umbrella?��

In selecting researchers and research labs for the ATLAS Institute, we look for really smart people who are intrepid in their interests. They don't see particular disciplinary lines and they're really good at what they do. So our game is to attract really bright people and give them some runway to do their thing and hope that they will interact with one another in interesting ways, which they usually do.��

Why is it important to open ATLAS research labs to the community?��

Although we welcome visitors almost at any time, it's important once a year to open our labs and bring the public, our campus friends, our industry partners to come and see what we're doing. It helps our researchers have new ideas because people from outside come in with suggestions. They react to what they see, and it's important also to spread the word about the things that are going on here. A university is sometimes difficult to penetrate, and we like to open our doors and be permeable to the rest of our community in which we live.��

What do you hope people take away when they visit our labs?

It's important to connect people more directly with research and what's happening in labs and help people understand how important science and engineering and creativity are.��

Once upon a time not too long ago, the United States was the best in science and research. International students would come here to be part of our research and education system. That has changed rapidly in the last couple of years. I've never felt that my job as a faculty member and a director of an institute is a political act, but now it is. We need to build on and celebrate our standing in science and engineering and art because that's all going away if we don't.��

It's really important now to sustain those relationships and to help people understand what it is we do and why it matters. And I think there's no better way to do that than to come see firsthand, talk to researchers, and interact with what they're doing.��

What outcomes have you seen from ATLAS research in the past several years?

We have built relationships with industry partners who are interested in what our researchers are doing and how they're doing it. Sometimes they hire them after they finish their academic career here, going on to internships at companies. And they're interested in the work itself, not just the people. Sometimes they may want to invest in an activity here that isn't in their critical path to next year's profit center, but they're interested in understanding.��

We've also had several spin outs and startups that former students or former faculty members have formed with research that began here at ATLAS. And we've placed many of our PhD students in faculty jobs around the country. Inventions, patents, startups and spinouts—these are all ways in which we have a tangible impact on the world.��

What do you hope community members leave with when they come to Open Labs?

I hope they come away thinking, “I want to return and see what they're doing in six months.” I hope they build connections with researchers, faculty and students working here. Maybe they bring ideas that hadn't occurred to us.��

Nothing happens inside the university that doesn't also matter outside. It's important to bring outside voices into our community from time to time, and Open Labs is a way to formally do that.��

What are the benefits to students learning in close proximity to ATLAS researchers?��

All of us who work in research, either in industry or in academic institutions, started as undergraduate students and somehow found our way into some researcher's laboratory.��

We said, “This is kind of cool—maybe I could do this.” Sometimes you go do something else later, and sometimes you stick with it.��

It's very powerful to have young people starting out in their careers find their way into research labs. I think having the experience of engaging with new ideas affects people's careers as well. I think it's a powerful way for a young person to get on the train and see where it's going and see if they want to stay with it.��

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