Research

Torin Clark, From Undergraduate Researcher to Faculty Mentor

Hanna Nordwall — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:35:00 +0000

Torin Clark, From Undergraduate Researcher to Faculty Mentor Hanna Nordwall Wed, 08/19/2026 - 10:35

Torin Clark

Torin Clark was a sophomore in aerospace engineering at the �Ǹ�Թ� when he first got a real look at what researchers actually do. It pointed him in a direction he had not expected.

In 2006, Clark applied to CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s Discovery Learning Apprenticeship (DLA) program and began working alongside a faculty member and a graduate student in the aerospace department. The research topic itself was not what drew him in. It was the nature of the work.

"What I found is that I really, really loved the process of doing research," Clark said. "Answering questions that weren't known, trying to solve problems, troubleshooting things, figuring out what the next important question we should be asking is."

Before the DLA, Clark was doing well in his classes but had little sense of what lay beyond them. Research filled in that picture.

"I was taking classes and doing well, but I just didn't know what research was all about or that it was a career path people could go into," he said. "I got to see behind the curtain of what professors do on a daily basis, what grad students do, and all of the interesting questions they were working on."

Clark continued his research beyond the DLA program, returning for a second summer and eventually building his senior project on the work he had started as an apprentice. Along the way, he co-authored a conference paper and presented it, giving him something concrete to point to when he began applying to graduate schools.

"I think it was quite critical," he said of his undergraduate research experience. "If you don't have research experience and you're applying to graduate school, you might have straight A's and be wonderful in the classroom, but people are looking for prior research experience. Not just 'I kind of followed someone around.' They want to see an extended period of undergraduate research experience that has led to something concrete."

Clark was admitted to graduate programs at MIT and Stanford, completed a PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship, and eventually returned to �Ǹ�Թ� as a faculty member, which had been his goal for some time. CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s strength in bioastronautics was a draw, as was the opportunity to work with undergraduate students again.

"I knew that working with undergraduate students was an important part of why I wanted to be a professor," he said.

Clark is now an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, affiliated with the biomedical engineering and robotics programs and a principal investigator in the Bio Astronautics Laboratory. His research focuses on understanding the challenges humans face in space and developing solutions to help astronauts perform well in extreme environments, with applications that extend to pilots of high-performance aircraft as well.

In his ten or so years on the faculty, Clark has mentored more than 70 undergraduate research assistants. Some have gone on to graduate school, others to postdoctoral fellowships, industry positions, or careers in academia.

Clark is straightforward about the practical value undergraduate researchers bring to his work. Much of what his lab does involves human subject experiments, which require multiple people to run. That does not map neatly onto a model where a single PhD student works independently.

"Having undergraduates involved with the research is really valuable," he said. "A lot of those human subject experiments just require multiple people to perform them."

Undergraduate researchers have also helped the lab stay productive during gaps in external funding. When a project winds down but a useful line of experiments remains unfinished, an undergraduate can carry that work forward, sometimes to a first-authored publication.

"Often the undergraduate student who started to work on something will continue and then publish a paper where they're the first author," he said.

The programs have also made it easier to pursue early-stage work. When the lab needs pilot data to support a grant proposal, undergraduate researchers can take that on without pulling a PhD student away from their funded project.

"It has expanded both the inflow and the outflow of our research program," Clark said.

Most of the lab's external funding comes from NASA, the Department of Defense, and other agencies focused on human performance. Those budgets tend to leave limited room for undergraduate support, which is where DLA and SPUR come in.

"Programs like DLA and SPUR really enable us to leverage the funding we do have to get undergraduate students involved and perform the research we are proposing," he said. "Having that cost-sharing is really helpful."

For Clark, the impact is deeply personal. The same type of opportunity that introduced him to research years ago now serves as a pathway for the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Looking back, it is easy to trace the arc of his career—from a curious undergraduate seeking direction, to a graduate student exploring new questions, to a professor advancing human spaceflight research and mentoring future innovators. What began as a single undergraduate research opportunity became the starting point for a lifetime of discovery.

And now, through the students he mentors, that cycle continues.

Torin Clark was a sophomore in aerospace engineering at the �Ǹ�Թ� when he first got a real look at what researchers actually do. It pointed him in a direction he had not expected.

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Student to Steward: How One Research Apprenticeship Built a Career — and a Lab

Hanna Nordwall — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:34:23 +0000

Student to Steward: How One Research Apprenticeship Built a Career — and a Lab Hanna Nordwall Wed, 08/19/2026 - 10:34

Nicholas Clements

Nicholas Clements was a junior in mechanical engineering when he somewhat accidentally discovered his life's work.

He had applied to CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s Discovery Learning Apprenticeship (DLA) with an eye toward biomedical engineering, drawn to the field's intersection of science and human health. Professor Shelly Miller, who studies indoor air quality and infection control, convinced him that her research on ultraviolet light disinfection of bacteria was close enough to what he had in mind.

"It wasn't," Clements now admits with a laugh. But somewhere in the process of studying what floats in the air around us, he found himself genuinely hooked.

"Getting exposure to air quality and infection control really led me to a topic that I wanted to pursue," he said. "Whether that was in research or in industry, I didn't really know at the time. But it was a way to dive into something I found out I really liked."

Staying to Go Deeper

What began as a summer apprenticeship became a graduate degree. When Professors Miller, Mike Hannigan, and Jenna Milford secured an EPA grant the following year, Clements had the opportunity to pursue a PhD. He took it.

He is now a Professional Research Assistant at CU �Ǹ�Թ�, managing both the Building Energy Smart Technology Center and the Larson HVAC Lab, two research facilities housed within the same department where he once worked as an undergraduate apprentice.

"It really was a turning point," he said of the DLA program. "Totally."

The Other Side of the Table

Having spent his career on both sides of the undergraduate research relationship, Clements has developed a clear-eyed view of what these programs offer, as well as what they require of mentors.

He now regularly brings DLA and SPUR students into his lab, which runs exclusively on undergraduate research assistance. He is thoughtful about the distinction between working with undergraduates and graduate students, noting that the scope of projects and level of supervision need to be calibrated accordingly.

"You kind of have to know how to work with undergrads," he said. "But once you give them the right direction, they're capable of doing quite a bit."

His SPUR student from the previous year, he says, was among the most impressive undergraduates he has ever mentored. She completed and co-authored a full research paper, and the lab hired her through the summer to keep her work going. Clements is now actively helping her find a position in New York City, where she hopes to launch her career.

"Undergrads can be vital to keeping things going," he said. "They can fill in gaps where graduate students might want to spend their time doing something more intensive, and they can skill up on things that will be important in their careers — experimental design, data analysis, technical writing."

Why Funding Matters

Clements is also frank about the practical stakes of program funding. The cost-sharing structure of SPUR and DLA, he explains, directly shapes how many students his lab can bring on in a given year.

"It typically doubles the number of students we can hire," he said. "Being able to go from one to two or two to three is really helpful for us."

The SPUR program, with its full-time summer commitment, is his favorite of the two. The longer runway, he says, allows students to move past orientation and into substantive, and sometimes remarkable, work. On the day of this interview, one of his current students was in the lab learning to solder copper pipes together as part of building an educational platform for the center.

"We wouldn't be able to hire him without the Dean's support," Clements said. "Having that cost split is really helpful."

For Clements, the programs are not just a pipeline of labor. They are, in many ways, a reflection of his own beginning, a reminder that the right opportunity, offered at the right moment, can set an entire career in motion.

Nicholas Clements was a junior in mechanical engineering when he somewhat accidentally discovered his life's work.

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Learning Never Stops: A Grad Student's Journey from Mentee to Mentor

Hanna Nordwall — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:33:15 +0000

Learning Never Stops: A Grad Student's Journey from Mentee to Mentor Hanna Nordwall Wed, 08/19/2026 - 10:33

Jacob Spagnolli

Jacob Spagnolli had a plan when he started at CU �Ǹ�Թ�. Get an aerospace engineering degree. Graduate. Find a job at a big aerospace company. It was a reasonable plan. It just wasn't the one that stuck.

Now in his seventh year at CU (spanning an undergraduate degree, a COVID-era extension, and two years of graduate school) Spagnolli is finishing a master's in bioastronautics while managing research contracts with some of the largest names in the defense and aerospace industry. The detour, as it turns out, was the destination.

"I found a passion in research" he said. "It allowed me to get my hands on things that otherwise I would not."

The pivot began simply enough. Spagnolli was a junior sitting in Dr. Dennis Akos' electronics course when Akos mentioned, almost in passing, some of the research happening in his lab. Spagnolli was captivated. After class, he walked up and asked if he could get involved.

Akos pointed him toward CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) program. With support from both Akos and Director of UG Research, Sharon Anderson, Spagnolli secured a spot in the lab that summer. He never really left.

"He liked me enough to keep me around," Spagnolli said, "and I've been working there ever since."

The lab focuses on GPS, GNSS, and broader positioning, navigation, and timing research, work that runs across a wide range of contracts with partners including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, the Air Force Research Lab, and Boeing. For Spagnolli, the work sits at what he describes as "the razor edge" of human technological knowledge — the kind of research too novel or too risky for most companies to pursue on their own.

Like many students stepping into a research lab for the first time, Spagnolli encountered imposter syndrome early. He is now philosophical about it.

"When you first start in research, you feel like you know a lot less than you do," he said. "The research you're doing is the cutting edge of human knowledge. The people who share your knowledge base might number less than a thousand on the entire planet."

What got him through it, he says, was the culture of the lab itself, researchers who were genuinely enthusiastic about their work and generous with their time.

"It's completely normal to have that imposter syndrome at first, and when I say at first, I could really mean the first three, six, eight months," he said. "At some point it clicks, and you start to feel comfortable."

Now on the other side of that experience, Spagnolli mentors the undergraduates who cycle through the lab. He draws an analogy that surprises him a little every time he uses it: scouting.

An Eagle Scout, Spagnolli remembers the way knowledge flowed in his troop, not primarily from scoutmasters down, but from older scouts to younger ones, peer to peer. Graduate research, he says, works the same way.

"I didn't stop learning when I started teaching; I just got to learn more, learn more in-depth, learn things in different ways," he said. "I feel like I'm learning at a much accelerated rate."

It is a philosophy that shapes how he thinks about the value of undergraduate research more broadly. The programs, he argues, are not just resume builders. They are environments where students discover what they are actually capable of, and where mentors are quietly sharpened by the act of explaining what they know.

Connections That Last

Perhaps the most concrete evidence of research's value, in Spagnolli's view, is what happened when he started looking toward graduation. The contrast with his earlier job-search experience as an undergrad is stark.

"In undergrad, I had gone through tens of dozens of applications, sometimes with only one response," he said. "Going from that, where you feel so isolated, alone, cold, to somewhere where someone says, 'I really appreciate what you can do, I really want you on with us,' is a very big refresher."

At least one of his lab's industry partners, he says, has already asked when he graduates and requested his resume. He did not have to ask.

After completing his master's in May 2026, Spagnolli continued to work in the lab but plans to step into industry rather than pursue a PhD, at least for now. A doctorate, he says, is never fully off the table, given his love of teaching and mentorship. But for the moment, he is ready to take what he has built and use it.

"Knowing that you have the skills to succeed, knowing where to turn if you feel like you don't, and having a network that will support you," he said, "is immensely important when it's done right."

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From classroom to NASA: How one summer of research launched a career in human spaceflight

Hanna Nordwall — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:31:01 +0000

From classroom to NASA: How one summer of research launched a career in human spaceflight Hanna Nordwall Wed, 08/19/2026 - 10:31

Joshua Elston

Joshua Elston did not walk into his undergraduate research experience with a grand plan. He was a rising senior in aerospace engineering at the �Ǹ�Թ�, curious about the field but not yet sure where he fit within it. One summer changed everything!

In 2023, Elston joined CU �Ǹ�Թ�'s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR), landing a position in the bioastronautics division of the Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. It was his first real exposure to the field of human spaceflight, a subject that had never appeared in any of his coursework.

"It really opened my eyes to some other potential avenues for work within aerospace," Elston said. "At that point I wasn't really drawn to any of the specific areas that had been covered in my undergraduate classes. This offered an avenue that really piqued my interest."

What followed reads less like a career plan and more like a series of the right conversations at the right moments, each one building on the last.

Through his SPUR experience, Elston had the opportunity to present his research at a conference, where he crossed paths with Dani Selva, a faculty member from Texas A&M's Department of Aerospace Engineering. Their conversation, sparked by overlapping research interests, eventually led Elston to reach out about graduate school. In August 2024, he began a master's program at Texas A&M's Systems Autonomy and Knowledge Lab, where his research focuses on human-autonomous agent collaboration and how to support astronauts as communication delays with Earth grow longer during deep space missions.

From there, a connection at NASA Ames Research Center in California landed him a NASA OSTEM internship at Johnson Space Center in Houston in fall 2025. There, he worked in the Human Health and Performance Directorate, supporting spacesuit fit and comfort evaluations.

Joshua expanded on his internship experience: "This summer, I interned with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson Space Center, supporting the development and execution of suited test series within vacuum chamber and gravity-offload test facilities. Over the course of my internship, I contributed firsthand to all phases of human-in-the-loop spacesuit testing, including test planning and documentation, crew training (including for members of the astronaut corps), test execution, and post-test analysis. These test series also provided opportunities to collaborate with a number of teams across JSC as well as several of NASA's commercial partners, giving me a more holistic understanding of the collective effort required to execute testing that will help enable future Artemis missions."

Joshua returned to NASA Johnson Space Center for another OSTEM internship over summer 2026. This time his position was within the spacesuits branch of the Engineering Directorate (officially as a space suit, portable life support and crew survival intern)! The group he joined for summer 2026 really liked his experience in the Human Health & Performance Directorate last fall. It was a great opportunity to build on that internship and gain experience with another organization within NASA JSC. Three years ago, he never would have imagined he would have the chance to work on a spacesuit at NASA.

"I wouldn't have known about the program at A&M without research," Elston said. "I wouldn't have reached out to the people I did at NASA. Everything has stemmed from that same starting point."

When he asked his section manager at JSC what made his application stand out, her answer was simple: he came recommended. The email chain that had begun with his CU advisor had quietly traveled all the way to Houston.

Belonging in the Lab

Elston is candid about the fact that stepping into a research environment as an undergraduate was not without its challenges. Surrounded by master's and PhD students who had spent years in their fields, he struggled at first with a sense of not quite belonging.

"Coming in as a rising senior, it was daunting to feel that I was making a contribution within their world," he said. "But it was really a credit to my mentors; they introduced me into that setting and gave me an opportunity to feel like the work I was doing was significant."

That lesson has stayed with him. In each new position since — graduate school, a summer internship, a fall internship — he has felt that initial wave of unfamiliarity. Each time, he says, it has passed.

"Getting the opportunity to participate in these research positions means that people have put confidence in you and trust you to make meaningful contributions," he said. "That's something that got instilled early through undergraduate research."

Eyes on the Horizon

Elston plans to complete his master's degree at Texas A&M before pursuing a career in human spaceflight, with his sights set on NASA Johnson Space Center or a role in commercial spaceflight with a company like Blue Origin. He is already building those connections, including a recent conversation over coffee with the lead Capcom for NASA's Artemis mission.

In a twist that surprised even him, his current NASA mentor turns out to be a fellow Buff: a CU �Ǹ�Թ� alum who also worked as a bioastronautics research assistant during his undergraduate years.

"It's funny to see how everything has kind of fallen into place," Elston said. "Even though coming to Texas wasn't in my five-year plan, everything that stemmed from doing SPUR has resulted in me doing work that I'm passionate about and that excites me. I don't think I would have known that without that one summer."

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CU Engineering brings energy experts together to power the future

Alexander Servantez — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:09:31 +0000

CU Engineering brings energy experts together to power the future Alexander Servantez Wed, 08/12/2026 - 10:09

Alexander Servantez

AI data centers. Manufacturing facilities. Quantum computing. Local communities.

The future of each depends on a power grid that can deliver electricity quickly, reliably and efficiently. But meeting that challenge will require more than just better batteries—it will take new partnerships and a shared vision.

Sir M. Stanley Whittingham, distinguished professor of chemistry at Binghampton University and recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, delivering his keynote talk at the 2026 Battery-Grid Application Workshop.

This summer, those partnerships came to life at CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s Battery-Grid Application Workshop. Hosted through the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s (CEAS) Catalyzing Engineering Research Teaming (CERT) program, the all-day event brought academic researchers and professors from universities together with industry leaders, national laboratory experts and other stakeholders to explore the future of battery-enabled power infrastructure.

"We don't want people working in isolation," said Associate Dean for Research Michael Gooseff. "Our goal was to blend different areas of expertise and spark new collaborations that can move technology forward not just for our labs, but for society as a whole."

The event opened with a keynote address by Sir M. Stanley Whittingham, distinguished professor of chemistry at Binghamton University and recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His talk set the stage for discussions on bridging battery science, technological innovation, manufacturing and real-world applications.

From there, the workshop, led by Professor Chunmei Ban of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Bri-Mathias Hodge of the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, focused on four key themes: batteries for emerging technologies, manufacturing pathways, accelerated battery discovery and next-generation technologies.

Conference attendees chatting with each other after a workshop session.

A panel of industry practitioners and faculty representatives discussing the future of battery research and innovation.

Conference attendees, including keynote speakers M. Stanley Whittingham (left) and Dr. Jud Virden (standing), sharing ideas in the lobby during lunch.

Industry representatives from Eaton, Forge Nano, Mana Battery, Peak Energy, Prieto Battery, Solid Power, and Xcel Energy shared insights into current technological needs and commercialization opportunities. Faculty members representing institutions such as the Ohio State University, Texas A&M University and University of California San Diego showcased existing research initiatives and OSU Battery Cell R&D Center facilities.

Dr. Jud Virden, laboratory director at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, giving his keynote address at the workshop.

Researchers from the National Laboratory of the Rockies shared their research expertise and ongoing projects aimed at addressing critical energy challenges. Laboratory Director Dr. Jud Virden delivered a keynote presentation highlighting the government's priorities in applied energy research.

“Thanks to CEAS, this workshop brought together professors, national laboratory scientists and industry experts,” said Ban, who is also affiliated with the Materials Science & Engineering Program. “We are entering a new era with rapidly emerging applications and energy storage is a critical technology for enabling them. Bringing together experts with diverse perspectives in one room is exactly how we can accelerate the process and turn lab research into large-scale manufacturing.”

The workshop highlighted a wide range of applications where next-generation batteries could have a transformative impact, from powering AI data centers to electrifying forklifts in Amazon warehouses. While significant scientific and engineering advances are still needed before many of these technologies reach widespread commercial deployment, Ban and Hodge believe CU �Ǹ�Թ� is uniquely positioned to help bridge that gap.

Professor Chunmei Ban (left) and Associate Dean for Research Michael Gooseff (middle) at the workshop.

“We’re hearing from industry practitioners that there is no one energy storage technology that works for every application,” said Hodge. “At CU �Ǹ�Թ�, we bring a new design mentality. We have faculty working at the application level all the way down to the fundamental level, ready to develop various technologies for different use cases, rather than applying them as a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Moving forward, CEAS and the CERT program plan to build on the momentum generated by the workshop by advancing a large-scale proposal for a center focused on battery-grid integration. The envisioned center would further support energy research by accelerating discoveries in battery materials, manufacturing, power electronics and grid planning.

But most of all, it would unite researchers, industry partners and national laboratories in one place—something Gooseff says is crucial to ensuring that promising technologies emerge from laboratories and play a role in the systems that power our everyday lives.

“It’s so easy for us all, especially in academia, to put blinders on and focus solely on our own labs, papers and work,” said Gooseff. “But if we do that, who benefits from it besides us? We need to step out, understand each other’s goals and find new ways to leverage each other’s strengths and ideas for one common purpose.

“This workshop is just the first step on a long journey towards making that happen.”

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Boosting aerospace engineering research and study abroad with France

Jeff Zehnder — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:37:16 +0000

Boosting aerospace engineering research and study abroad with France Jeff Zehnder Fri, 07/17/2026 - 15:37

Jeff Zehnder

Aerospace at the �Ǹ�Թ� is expanding its ties with France.

CU �Ǹ�Թ� leadership met July 15, 2026 with a visiting delegation from the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), a leading French institution for aerospace engineering education and research, to sign a formal memorandum of understanding between the two institutions.

“The synergies between our two institutions are extensive,” said John Evans, chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. “This MOU builds on an already active relationship and creates a framework to expand opportunities in both research and education.”

Located in Toulouse, France, ISAE-SUPAERO was founded as the world’s first dedicated aeronautical school, opening its doors in 1909. Over the ensuing century, it expanded its education and research activities into space and today works across the breadth of aerospace engineering. It currently has about 130 permanent faculty and research personnel and enrolls about 2,000 students.

The visiting delegation included Marie-Hélène Baroux, director general of ISAE-SUPAERO, and Florence Puech, deputy head of international relations. They were joined during the visit by Stéphanie Lizy-Destrez, a professor of space systems engineering at ISAE-SUPAERO who spent the past six months at CU �Ǹ�Թ� as a Byram Distinguished Visiting Professor in Smead Aerospace.

Evans is hopeful the partnership will expand opportunities for visiting faculty and students studying abroad on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In the past, study abroad has been challenging for CU �Ǹ�Թ� aerospace students as overseas courses do not easily transfer. The structure of ISAE-SUPAERO’s engineering curriculum offers a particularly strong fit for CU �Ǹ�Թ� aerospace students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The agreement builds on an ongoing relationship between the institutions, including short- and longer-term visits by faculty and students in both Toulouse and �Ǹ�Թ�. Lizy-Destrez’s recent appointment provided another example of that collaboration, bringing her expertise in space systems engineering, astrodynamics, and human and robotic space exploration to CU �Ǹ�Թ� students and faculty.

As part of the visit, the French delegation met with Chancellor Justin Schwartz, toured the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the Aerospace Building, and met with students and faculty.

Signing the MOU for CU �Ǹ�Թ� was Keith Molenaar, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and Jill Blondin, vice chancellor for global affairs.

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CU �Ǹ�Թ� enters next phase to develop national quantum networking capabilities

Charles Ferrer — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 17:46:16 +0000

CU �Ǹ�Թ� enters next phase to develop national quantum networking capabilities Charles Ferrer Wed, 07/08/2026 - 11:46

Charles Ferrer

Krister Shalm

Researchers at CU �Ǹ�Թ� have advanced to the second phase of the Attosecond Synchronized Photonic Entanglement Network (ASPEN-Net), an effort to build a scalable quantum platform capable of distributing networks at high rates across large distances.

ASPEN-Net aims to develop the world’s most advanced quantum repeater network, operating thousands of times better than existing approaches. With these platforms, quantum can be leveraged across applications for computing and sensing technologies.

The National Science Foundation funded effort, led by the University of Oregon, is centered on the development of a large-scale quantum networking testbed that will be hosted by CU �Ǹ�Թ�.

CU �Ǹ�Թ�, along with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is at the center of opening new capabilities in quantum networks, including the ability to connect quantum computers, deliver new forms of secure communications and connect remote sensors with extreme precision.

The endeavor is co-led by Professor Juliet Gopinath, professor of electrical engineering; Krister Shalm, a member of CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s Quantum Engineering Initiative adjoint faculty member in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and NIST quantum physicist; and Dileep Reddy, a senior research associate in the Physics Department, where they are combining their expertise in quantum engineering, photonics and physics.

“This next phase unlocks the ability for us to design a real, fieldable quantum system and perform proof-of-concept experiments,” said Gopinath. “We are excited to test new capabilities in quantum networking and carry out scientific experiments in an array of fields including metrology and astronomy.”

Juliet Gopinath

Precise timing tools not only enable new quantum repeater technology but also opens new clock synchronization capabilities essential for advanced positioning and navigation and applications.

Existing telecommunication technology, as Shalm notes, is fundamentally incompatible with the needs of a quantum network. Instead, one needs a device known as a quantum repeater to overcome the loss in communication networks.

“Right now, quantum repeaters are still in their infancy,” said Shalm. “Our aim is to build an advanced quantum repeater network through our testbed to enable new quantum applications and technologies.”

Leading universities collaborate quantum networking technologies

A key goal of the CU �Ǹ�Թ�-NIST testbed is the development of an attosecond-level timing layer.

An attosecond is a brief unit of time—a decimal point followed by 17 zeroes of a second. This allows researchers to monitor and compensate for fluctuations in the length of kilometers long deployed optical fibers that are the size of a single particle of smoke in a manner compatible with the highly sensitive single-photon-level quantum signals required for the network.

During the initial phase, researchers demonstrated attosecond-level stabilization of deployed optical fibers in a manner compatible with the highly sensitive single-photon-level quantum signals required for the network. This pushed the performance of entangled photon sources to meet the demands of a functional quantum network deployment.

Each testbed site contributes unique capabilities that complement the whole ASPEN-Net effort.

Dileep Reddy

CU �Ǹ�Թ� will house ASPEN-Net’s main user facility, accessible both in-person to partners and remotely to the broader research community.

Through the design phase, the CU �Ǹ�Թ� team will perform initial demonstrations of the repeater technologies that will be eventually scaled up. The University of Oregon will focus on quantum sensing applications, including new quantum-enabled telescopes and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will explore connections to quantum computers.

The ASPEN-Net team is supported by the Program Management Office (PMO) within the CU �Ǹ�Թ� Research and Innovation Office. Kate Cochran and Julia Putt of the PMO serve as the project management team for the University of Oregon's prime award.

“By building interoperable quantum networks at each location, we will encourage a unified design that will lead to scaling quantum networks at a national scale,” Reddy said.

Doing so can help accelerate commercialization and move quantum networking technology out of the laboratory.

The design phase is expected to open significant new opportunities for CU �Ǹ�Թ� undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. ASPEN-Net is planning to actively expand its internship program and looking to engage early-career scientists in hands-on work designing a fieldable quantum network system.

Towards the end of the design phase, the consortium will have detailed plans for building out the three-site testbed proving a framework for future commercializing technologies.

“There are many unanswered questions about how to build quantum networks at scale that we aim to address," Shalm said. “Ultimately, this will allow us to build quantum repeaters for networks at a metropolitan-scale."

ASPEN-Net is a consortium of universities, national laboratories and industry partners. Original pilot sites include CU �Ǹ�Թ�, University of Oregon, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of New Orleans and University of North Dakota. The Design Phase expands the consortium to include University of Massachusetts Amherst, Harvard University and additional partners from industry, academia and the public sector.

Researchers have advanced to the design phase to build a scalable quantum network capable of transmitting quantum information across long distances at unprecedented rates. The NSF-funded project aims to develop technologies to unlock new capabilities for quantum computing, communications and sensing.

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Better batteries

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 29 May 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Better batteries Hanna Nordwall Fri, 05/29/2026 - 12:00

Susan Glairon

Illustrations by Hanna Nordwall

Improving energy storage is key to the renewable grid. Here’s how CU Engineering is getting us there.

CU Engineering researchers are working to solve one of the biggest challenges facing renewable energy: affordable, reliable energy storage.

In 2025, solar and wind accounted for roughly 90 percent of newly installed U.S. power capacity, according to a report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While renewables offer the most affordable source of new electricity and deliver emissions-free power, their dependence on weather and daylight makes energy storage essential to grid reliability, said Mike Toney, a professor of chemical and biological engineering.

“Better batteries will be critical to shifting our energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels.”

“There’s a need for inexpensive and safe energy storage to support renewable energy,” Toney said. “Better batteries will be critical to shifting our energy infrastructure away from fossil fuels.”

Challenges

Current battery technologies rely on materials with ethical, geopolitical and safety concerns, with end-of-life disposal posing environmental risks, Toney said.

Lithium-ion batteries are popular because they’re affordable, widely available, and can smooth out short-term fluctuations. But as more renewable energy is added to the grid, these batteries will be less suited to its demands, said Bri-Mathias Hodge, a professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering who uses computational simulations to study reliable and economical future power systems.

Hodge said that because solar and wind output change rapidly with weather and time of day, within the next decade the grid will need longer-duration storage capable of delivering electricity instantly.

“Most researchers agree it needs to be longer than 10 hours,” Hodge said.

Beyond lithium

Toney’s lab is working on one possible solution. He and his team study how electrolytes function in aqueous zinc-metal batteries, which use widely available materials — unlike lithium-ion batteries. They’re also researching sodium-ion batteries, which are inexpensive and also use abundant materials.

Associate Professor Chunmei Ban’s research focuses on what she calls “beyond lithium” battery technologies, including sodium and solid-state batteries for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Ban, a mechanical engineer, explains that much of the supply chain for lithium batteries, including raw materials and manufacturing equipment, is concentrated outside the U.S. This makes it difficult for the U.S. to independently produce lithium batteries at scale and creates vulnerabilities in resource and technology access.

“Developing new battery materials is a very challenging and resource-intensive process,” Ban said. “Progress takes time because creating and testing new materials requires extensive modeling, material optimization and trial and error. Out of millions of possible compounds, only a small number are currently identified as suitable for batteries.”

“Developing new battery materials is a very challenging and resource-intensive process.”

Despite these challenges, Ban’s lab has successfully developed several new materials in under three years. They are being commercialized through her lab’s spinoff company, Mana Batteries.

These materials, such as new electrolytes for sodium batteries, are now being used in manufacturing and could support a wide range of applications — from grid-scale energy storage to vehicles and electronics.

“The discovery, design and synthesis of new materials present exciting opportunities for developing long-lasting and low-cost energy storage solutions for grid and vehicular applications,” Ban said.

Kimberly See will join CU �Ǹ�Թ� faculty in August 2026 as a Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute fellow with an appointment in chemical and biological engineering. The See Group is looking to replace metals like cobalt and nickel with more sustainable options such as iron in lithium-ion batteries to lower cost while improving safety.

“Current lithium-ion technology provides the energy density needed for diurnal cycling (charging when solar power is abundant and discharging at night), but high costs and safety concerns limit widespread grid deployment,” See said.

Beyond batteries

Another possible solution can be found in Ankur Gupta’s lab. Gupta is researching supercapacitors — energy storage devices that charge quickly and last longer than traditional batteries.

Beyond the lab

Solid Power, a CU Engineering spinout founded by mechanical engineers, went public in 2021. It is now an industry-leading developer of next-generation all-solid-state battery technology, with major partnership deals with BMW and Ford and a manufacturing facility in Thornton, Colorado. It also boasts many CU Engineering alumni among its employees.

While supercapacitors are not known for storing energy for long periods, they could help manage grid fluctuations. During sudden spikes or drops in electricity demand, supercapacitors could rapidly supply or absorb power to stabilize the grid.

“The primary appeal of supercapacitors lies in their speed,” said Gupta, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.

In the end, which type of storage technology prevails all boils down to cost, Hodge said. “The uncertain costs of future storage technologies make it impossible to predict which technology will ultimately dominate.”

Improving energy storage is key to the renewable grid. Here’s how CU Engineering is getting us there

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Hip to be an innovator

Hanna Nordwall — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:45:40 +0000

Hip to be an innovator Hanna Nordwall Thu, 05/21/2026 - 10:45

Alexander Servantez

Engineer and doctor take medical device from CU accelerator to commercialization

Jacob Segil and Dr. Omer Mei-Dan were enjoying a celebratory dinner in 2018 when the idea for their newest commercialization success struck.

“We were celebrating the sale of our first company at a restaurant. Mei-Dan grabbed a napkin and just started sketching an idea for a new project,” said Segil, a research professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. “He said he wanted it this way, with these features, and we just got to work on it right away.”

Segil and Mei-Dan, a surgeon and professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, are the architects behind a redesigned surgical instrument called the CAP-LIFT cannula.

The device has completely transformed arthroscopic procedures in the hip region, making them safer and more efficient. In fact, Mei-Dan said the next-generation cannula has been a catalyst for hundreds of successful hip arthroscopy surgeries nationwide since its launch in August 2025.

But like many engineering projects, achieving real-world impact doesn’t just happen overnight.

“It began as a self-funded project on campus, where we were building prototypes and trying to envision how it could be used in surgery,” Segil said, pulling out a clear bag filled with different iterations of the CAP-LIFT cannula. “Each one of us would bring different perspectives to the table so that together we could make the best product possible.”

When the two finally came up with the right design, they submitted the technology and won CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) in 2020. Segil said the annual innovation competition, which supports top projects throughout the CU system with large grants to help translate research into successful business ventures, was a crucial early milestone in their endeavor.

From there, Segil and Mei-Dan used the LVC award to help push the device into human trials. By working alongside the Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board, the two were able to produce units that could be used directly by Mei-Dan in the operating room, improving surgical safety and efficacy right away while beginning to collect real-life data.

“We were testing the different iterations of this product for the past five years in my practice,” Mei-Dan said. “The clinical yield was so significant I no longer wanted to perform a procedure without it. I’ve probably used it in over 1,000 total cases.”

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Downstream data

Hanna Nordwall — Wed, 20 May 2026 14:43:17 +0000

Downstream data Hanna Nordwall Wed, 05/20/2026 - 08:43

Susan Glairon

Researcher using AI to improve and personalize flood prediction

When Zhi Li was young, flash floods regularly swept through his village in China.

Once while he was swimming in a river, the water rose suddenly, submerging 10-year-old Li and pushing him downstream. Though massive amounts of rain had fallen upstream, where Li swam the sky remained a clear, deceptive blue.

“It was so quick,” said Li, an assistant professor of civil engineering who joined CU �Ǹ�Թ� in fall 2025. “I had no clue there would be a flood.

Fortunately, a stranger pulled him to safety. The experience inspired Li to devote his life to flood research. “Floods don’t necessarily happen where the rain falls,” Li said. “In my community, many lives were taken by floods. It was devastating.”

Improved simulations

In the United States, the National Weather Service issues weather forecasts and warnings based on expected rainfall and whether the precipitation is likely to overflow nearby rivers, streams or dams.

At Li’s Flood Lab at CU �Ǹ�Թ�, his simulations draw on NWS rainfall predictions and detailed terrain data, including ground permeability, land use, soil type and vegetation cover. By combining U.S. Geological Survey terrain maps with AI, his models predict flooding with far greater precision and speed than the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s traditional physics-based models.

His approach can pinpoint where floodwater will pool at a one-meter resolution, detailed enough to show whether an individual building is likely to flood, compared with FEMA’s 10-meter resolution.

Li said achieving one-meter resolution using FEMA’s traditional approach would require extensive expertise and about a year of computation. Using AI, he can simulate an entire county in just two to three hours at a far lower cost.

“Drilling it down to single households is only possible once you have an AI product like this,” Li said. “It was unimaginable in the past.”

To improve model accuracy, Li checks his results with local experts who know which areas are most vulnerable to flooding. This human insight serves as a guardrail for AI, which can sometimes “hallucinate” false warnings.

Personalized warnings

Li’s research also involves changing how flood risk is communicated. Instead of the traditional top-down approach, issuing a single warning message for an entire county, he envisions a customized alert that starts with individual households and scales up to neighborhoods, communities and counties.

“Floods don’t necessarily happen where the rain falls.”

“There is evidence that during floods, some of the people with language barriers were unable to evacuate in time and lost their lives,” Li said. “Personalized warnings can help ensure critical information is clearly communicated so people can act quickly.”

His goal is to use data from the American Community Survey, an annual U.S. Census Bureau report on household demographics, to generate personalized warnings in each resident’s preferred language about whether their home will likely be affected. Evacuation guidance would also reflect a person’s mobility needs and access to transportation.

Flood prediction for all

Li is also developing an AI-powered assistant to democratize access to flood modeling. The approach aims to remove technical barriers that limit flood modeling to experts. Anyone would be able to see an area’s overall flood risk based on historical events. Users could interact with the model in a ChatGPT-style chat to explore flood risk maps by region.

The platform will eventually include real-time alerts and interactive simulations to empower communities to better understand their flood risks during an event without waiting for official warnings.

“I hope the model can be used anywhere in the world to reduce flood damage and provide accessible information to people at risk,” Li said. “That goal has always guided my research.”

Measuring the cost

Li also has a vision for measuring a flood’s total impact to human health, ecology, agriculture and the urban economy as a way to mitigate flood costs.

Comparing it to the total gross domestic product (GDP) that is used to evaluate countries’ prosperity, he envisions creating a “gross flood damage” value to help policymakers determine the amount of government aid for a community and how to reduce flood impact in future years.

Invisible costs, such as a loss of income due to flooded agricultural and other work spaces, would also be included.

Researcher using AI to improve and personalize flood prediction

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Research

Torin Clark, From Undergraduate Researcher to Faculty Mentor

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Student to Steward: How One Research Apprenticeship Built a Career — and a Lab

Staying to Go Deeper

The Other Side of the Table

Why Funding Matters

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Learning Never Stops: A Grad Student's Journey from Mentee to Mentor

Connections That Last

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From classroom to NASA: How one summer of research launched a career in human spaceflight

Belonging in the Lab

Eyes on the Horizon

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CU Engineering brings energy experts together to power the future

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Boosting aerospace engineering research and study abroad with France

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CU �Ǹ�Թ� enters next phase to develop national quantum networking capabilities

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Better batteries

Improving energy storage is key to the renewable grid. Here’s how CU Engineering is getting us there.

Challenges

Beyond lithium

Beyond batteries

Beyond the lab

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Hip to be an innovator

More success stories

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Downstream data

Improved simulations

Personalized warnings

Flood prediction for all

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