Honors & Awards

Jayaram and team win IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 15:04:48 +0000

Jayaram and team win IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/31/2023 - 09:04

Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram’s Animal Inspired Movement and Robotics Laboratory recently won the IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics, rising above around 3,000 other academic papers that were submitted to the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Along with Jayaram as the PI of the lab, PhD student Heiko Kabutz was the lead researcher of the paper, and PhD students Alex Hedrick and Parker McDonnell were coauthors, as well.

Their paper titled mCLARI: a shape-morphing insect-scale robot capable of omnidirectional terrain-adaptive locomotion in laterally confined spaces, improves upon their previous miniature shape-morphing robot to demonstrate the ability to passively change its shape to squeeze through narrow gaps in multiple directions. This is a new capability for legged robots, let alone insect-scale systems, that enables significantly enhanced maneuverability in cluttered environments, and has the potential to aid first responders after major disasters.

Kabutz and Jayaram’s latest version is scaled down 60% in length and 38% in mass, while maintaining 80% of the actuation power. The robot weighs less than a gram but can support over three times its body weight as an additional payload. It is also over three times as fast as its predecessor reaching running speeds of 60 millimeters per second, or three of its body lengths per second.

Check out their video of mCLARI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbMi6ezXf-Y.

With the latest breakthrough that Jayaram and Kabutz have now achieved with their research, they are able to scale down (or up), their design without sacrificing design integrity bringing such robots closer in size to real-world application needs.

“Since these robots can deform, you can still have slightly larger sizes,” Jayaram said. “If you have a slightly larger size, you can carry more weight, you can have more sensors, you'll have a longer lifetime and be more stable. But when you need to be, you can squish through and go through those specific gaps.”

Kabutz, who leads the design of the mClari, has surgeon-like hands that allow him to build and fold the tiny legs of the robot. Kabutz grew up fascinated by robots and competed in robotic competitions in high school.

“Initially, I was interested in building bigger robots,” said Kabutz, “but when I came to Jayaram’s lab, he really got me interested in building bioinspired robots at the insect scale.”

Jayaram’s research team studies concepts from biology and applies them to the design of real-world engineered systems. In his lab, you can find robots modeled after the body morphologies of various arthropods including cockroaches and spiders.

“We are fundamentally interested in understanding why animals are the way they are and move the way they do,” said Jayaram, “and how we can build bioinspired robots that can address social needs, like search and rescue, environmental monitoring, or even use them during surgery.”

Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram’s Animal Inspired Movement and Robotics Laboratory recently won the IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics.

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The flow of nature inspires 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator Nathalie Vriend

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 20:30:22 +0000

The flow of nature inspires 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator Nathalie Vriend Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/03/2023 - 14:30

Michael Lock Swingen

When Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend was named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a highly prestigious award in the experimental physics community, the foundation invited her to attend their annual conference. But she had to decline – she was in the middle of hiking the 567-mile Colorado Trail with her family.

She’ll be there next year, though. The funding provides five years of support for her research, which is itself inspired by her love of nature.

The Moore Foundation’s Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative supports experimental physicists to tackle their most creative research ideas. Vriend will receive $1.25 million from the foundation to further her innovative research in granular flows in the natural environment.

In her laboratory experiments, Vriend uses a technique called photoelasticity that analyzes how patterns of light within particles change according to the magnitude and direction of forces exerted upon them. The changing patterns of light can give Vriend a picture of the stress distribution between particles in situations like rockslides or cereals flowing out of a grain silo.

“We can measure how these tiny particles flow,” Vriend said, “and understand their acceleration and velocity and create models of their movement.”

With the funding from the Moore Foundation, Vriend plans to take her research to another level. So far, Vriend has focused on dry granular flows, like sand or snow, but now she wants to introduce fluid between the particles. In addition to the solid contact forces already exerted onto the particles, this would add hydrodynamic stresses as well.

“If you think about fluids like water, they behave in a certain way. We call it Newtonian. If you stress it harder, then it will resist harder, and it's very linear,” Vriend said. “But if you insert particles, it changes the fluids in a nonlinear way. And it makes it very difficult to model.”

The scientific community is completely in the dark about how particles function within particle-fluid states of matter, which are called “suspensions,” like mudslides or lava flows. Vriend’s research presents a unique opportunity to characterize suspensions by quantitatively measuring and modeling their interactions.

Ultimately, Vriend’s work has the potential to advance the analysis, modeling, and predicting of natural hazards like landslides, avalanches or ice formations.

“I love to work from nature,” said Vriend, who considers herself chiefly a mechanical engineer but versed in geophysics as well. At Cambridge University, Vriend spent nine years in the applied math department, where she worked on fluid dynamics before moving to the earth science department for three years.

For someone like Vriend who enjoys nature, Colorado is good place to be.

Since relocating to ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ last year, Vriend has been named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a highly prestigious award in the experimental physics community.

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Department Chair Peter Hamlington selected for Excellence in Leadership Program

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 19:12:16 +0000

Department Chair Peter Hamlington selected for Excellence in Leadership Program Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/28/2023 - 13:12

The Excellence in Leadership Program provides opportunities for faculty and staff from across the CU system to become more effective leaders. These individuals will play a crucial role in meeting the challenges and advancing the future of our university.

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MacCurdy and collaborators advance research in genetic and evolutionary computation

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 14:05:00 +0000

MacCurdy and collaborators advance research in genetic and evolutionary computation Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/28/2023 - 08:05

Michael Lock Swingen

Assistant Professor Robert MacCurdy and his collaborators have won the ACM SIGEVO Impact Award for their outstanding contributions in the field of genetic and evolutionary computation.

The award recognizes up to three papers a year that were published in the GECCO Conference 10 years earlier and have amassed a high level of citations and deemed to be seminal. Their paper, titled “Unshackling evolution: Evolving soft robots with multiple materials and a powerful generative encoding,” was the only paper to receive the award in 2023.

MacCurdy coauthored the paper along with Nick Cheney, Jeff Clune and Hod Lipson, the latter being the head of the Creative Machines Lab, where MacCurdy and his collaborators met and did the work.

The paper was inspired by the Evolved Virtual Creatures created by Karl Sims; in his research, Sims demonstrated that computational evolution can produce morphologies that resemble natural organisms, but the potential for increasingly complex and natural morphologies hit a ceiling. It was hypothesized that the limitation in morphological types was due to the rigidity of the materials used in the design space and the direct encoding.

Addressing these problems in their paper, MacCurdy and his collaborators demonstrated how computational evolution can be pushed further through the creation of soft robots and the use of generative, evolutionary-based encoding that wielded the power of multi-objective optimization.

“When you’re trying to solve a design problem, it’s smart to show some humility because you don’t ever fully know the true nature of the problem,” said MacCurdy, “so it’s appealing to use a multi-objective design framework that gives you a whole population of very different solutions to that set of design objectives.”

Using their novel approach, MacCurdy and his collaborators were able to create a set of virtual robots whose locomotion resembled animals found in the natural world but also creatures whose gait was wildly idiosyncratic and unique.

“Some robots galloped like a horse. Others had the running gait of a dog or rolled along like a walrus,” MacCurdy said. “I think these designs were able to capture people’s imagination, while also motivating the use of generative algorithms and multi-objective optimization to solve challenging design problems, and that’s why the paper continues to garner citations and serve as an inspiration for others.”

A video of the work has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Watch it here:

[video:youtu.be/z9ptOeByLA4?si=cNA1CG5olCEsncze]

The impact of the paper has received recognition at several conferences, while the SIGEVO Impact Award cements its importance in the robotics community. The real-life applications of the paper have furthered the study of evolutionary biology and the design of soft robots that can move in the real world.

Assistant Professor Robert MacCurdy and his collaborators have won the ACM SIGEVO Impact Award for their outstanding contributions in the field of genetic and evolutionary computation.

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Vriend named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 14:58:03 +0000

Vriend named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/23/2023 - 08:58

Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering has been named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The Moore Foundation’s Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative supports experimental physicists who may lack flexible research funding to tackle their most creative research ideas. Vriend will receive $1.25 million from the foundation over five years to further her innovative research in granular flows in the natural environment.

Vriend’s research addresses a major gap in the understanding of the precise role of
the discrete particle phase in dense suspensions – particle-fluid mixtures where the particles are separated by less than a particle diameter.

Even though liquid-solid processes are ubiquitous and can be measured and modelled on a system scale, the scientific community is completely in the dark on the details and the implications of the particle phase. Vriend’s methodology presents a unique opportunity to characterize dense suspensions by quantitatively measuring and visualizing network interactions due to solid contact forces with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.

To accomplish this, Vriend will create dense particle-fluid mixtures using bespoke macroscopic photoelastic particles mixed in with fluids of different viscosities, densities and temperatures.

Photoelastic particles visually show solid contact forces (both normal and shear). The team will combine this information with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), directly resolving forces on particles and the fluid motion.

Vriend’s work on understanding the role that the particle-phase plays in suspensions has the potential to advance the analysis, modelling, predicting and forward-projecting of environment suspensions in natural hazards (e.g., landslides, avalanches), such as solid crystal mush mixed in with viscous magma deep in our Earth, ice crystals initiating in cold polar water reservoirs or sticky clay particles avalanching down the salty sea bottom in a turbidity current.

The Moore Foundation’s Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative supports experimental physicists who may lack flexible research funding to tackle their most creative research ideas.

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Teamwork leads ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team to victory at Formula SAE

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 15:53:04 +0000

Teamwork leads ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team to victory at Formula SAE Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/24/2023 - 09:53

Michael Lock Swingen

The ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team recently competed in the Formula SAE student design competition, rising above 101 other university teams from across the world to come in 20^th overall.

Put on by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the FSAE competition challenges students to design, build and race a car, all while adhering to a strict set of rules and guidelines that encourages them to create unique and innovative designs within those constraints.

Few expected that the ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team, which includes more than 80 members who range from first-year to PhD students, would distinguish themselves this year, since the team was revived just three years ago after a long hiatus.

“Although we’re a new team, we are doing things the right way,” said Project Manager Joshua Hansen, “and trying to the push our university’s name in the right direction in what is a great worldwide competition.”

The four-day competition, which took place this year at the Michigan International Speedway, is a whirlwind event.

The competition is divided into two broad categories: dynamic events and static events. Static events involve technical inspections, presentations and design review, while the dynamic events involve skidpad, acceleration, autocross and endurance tests and races.

“You go from driving the car as fast as you possibly can, and then in 20 minutes, you’re in a design presentation, talking to a judge that knows way more than you do and getting grilled on your engineering decision-making,” Hansen laughed.

And the faster you get through one section or test of the competition, the quicker you can prepare for the next. In other words, time is of the essence.

Watch video of ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team's car CB3 in action.

After being one of the first teams to pass the static technical inspection that confirms a car is safe and compliant with the rules and regulations, the ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team fueled up their car and brought it to the tilt test. There, judges strapped down their car onto a moveable platform and tilted it at a 45-degree and then at a 65-degree angle, all while a driver was strapped into the seat.

As the judges checked the car for fuel leaks, the test also assessed the weight distribution and center of gravity of the car, verifying that it would not tip over until a specified angle of tilt is reached by the platform.

After that, the team moved on to noise inspection. According to FSAE rules and regulations, every car must be under 98 decibels at idle and under 110 decibels at two-thirds the car’s maximum speed.

At first inspection, the team failed the test. Every team has multiple attempts to pass a test, but it also means the team is slowed down and lacks time and preparation for other parts of the competition.

As the team wheeled their car over to their business presentation, Hansen had one of his team members take the muffler off the car, run it back to the paddock, repack it with fiberglass to dampen the sound, run it back to the business presentation and reinstall it on the car. After the business presentation, the team then wheeled the car back to the noise inspection and passed.

“It’s inspiring to have a team dynamic where everyone is dedicated to having the car perform at its best,” Hansen said.

With so many moving parts, Hansen said clear communication and teamwork were essential to the design and manufacturing processes of building the race car.

“For example, there can be 50-60 people working on the race car at any given time during the manufacturing process,” Hansen said. “It was important that we stayed organized throughout the entire process.”

The design of the race car was organized into three different sections: chassis, powertrain and aerodynamics. If the chassis is the skeleton, the powertrain is musculature system that includes the engine and any component that converts the engine’s power into movement.

Since the FSAE rules and regulations require all engines be under 710 cubic centimeters, every race car uses a motorcycle engine, with most teams using a one- or four-cylinder engine, depending on each team’s strategy on the power/weight ratio of their vehicle.

“Our car is unique because it uses a two-cylinder engine,” Chief Engineer Kayla Ployhar said. “With a two-cylinder, we can see torque across more of the RPM range of the car, while using less fuel at the same time.”

Their strategy paid off during the dynamic events of the competition. “For the acceleration race, we placed 15^th out of 121 teams,” Ployhar said. “That definitely proved our theory that we struck the right balance between having a light engine while still having a high amount of power.”

The team also placed 7^th in efficiency, 25^th in the endurance competition and 45^th in autocross.

“It blew me away how well the team did this year,” Faculty Adviser Jeff Knutsen said. “It made me proud that it was my school.”

For next year, the team hopes to develop an aerodynamics package for the car, while streamlining their design and manufacturing process as well. They also plan to lease an industrial space in Boulder that can house their shop and serve as their place of operations.

“I come from the older days of the team when our goals were just trying to qualify at the competition,” Ployhar. “It’s so exciting to see us go from that to being competitive.”

“You can never build the perfect car,” Hansen said. “But it’s that pursuit of perfection that makes it worthwhile.”

The ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team recently competed in the Formula SAE student design competition, rising above 101 other university teams from across the world to come in 20th overall.

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Mechanical's Vera Sebulsky wins Graduate Administrator Award

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 18:22:46 +0000

Mechanical's Vera Sebulsky wins Graduate Administrator Award Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/17/2023 - 12:22

Michael Lock Swingen

The Outstanding Graduate Administrator Award recognizes an administrator who demonstrates unwavering dedication to graduate students and exceptional skills in graduate administration

Can you tell us a bit about what your job entails?

My main job duties are PhD recruitment and admission, co-teaching MCEN 5208 Industry Skills (a required course for all ME professional MS students), grad program administration and overseeing the graduate administration and advising team.

Why do you like working with graduate students?

Many prospective students are a little shy at first, and I enjoy drawing out why they are thinking of going to graduate school and connecting that with what we have to offer. When students end meetings with, “Thank you, that was more helpful than I expected,” I am amused. And glad.

One of my favorite parts of working with MS students who take my class is getting feedback that some of the class activities have built their confidence and made them think in a way they hadn’t before. I enjoy equipping them with knowledge and tools that enable them to see their worth as they prepare to enter the job market.

What motivated you to work in this field?

I’m an English major and never thought I’d work with engineers! But I have discovered that the knowledge and skills I have built over my career complement an engineering environment.

Working in a university in general is meaningful for me for several reasons. Education has the capacity to expand minds and challenge beliefs. My undergraduate and graduate education did that for me and changed my trajectory in a variety of ways. I’m so grateful that I had access to that education. And now I get to do work that opens up access to others who are interested in higher education. That’s kind of cool.

Also, during my emigration journey, a small university on the east coast housed my family in their dorms for several weeks until we were placed in a permanent home. Universities have so much capacity to contribute to their region, and I like being part of an institution that uses its strength to give back to its community. It may be one of the reasons I like to support our graduate student volunteers in their K-12 outreach efforts. Our generous grad students take time to teach and interact with middle and high school students and let them know that they have what it takes to be an engineer. For some of those kids, those experiences could change how they think of themselves and nudge them to move in directions that elevate their lives and the lives of their families. That’s important work.

What do you love most about your job?

The people! It’s energizing to work in an environment where prospective and current students are reaching for something more, where faculty educate curious minds and conduct fascinating research, where donors and alumni pitch in to provide our students with scholarships and support the department in other ways and where staff implement creative solutions to problems and keep it all moving forward.

Another intriguing part of my job is generating revenue for the department via recruitment and other activities. It’s rewarding to know that the work that I do financially supports not just the graduate program, but the entire department.

What do you hope to impart to the next generation of engineers?

That they are a lot more powerful and worth more than they think they are! And that that power comes with responsibility.

What are some things you’ve learned from graduate students while working with them?

So much! To be curious. To be adventurous. To be kind.

Some of the most compelling interactions I’ve had with students are when they come to me to complain about something or to provide feedback. In those cases, the student has given me a gift when they point out something that’s not working in the graduate program. I can then examine the issue and see if I can address it. If I can, then a student who may have initially been frustrated feels heard, and there’s potential to make improvements to the graduate program. And that’s all because a student took the time to speak up. It reminds me to continue being an advocate for them and their experience while they are in our graduate program.

What are some future plans or ambitions you have to change or improve the graduate school experience in mechanical engineering at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ?

I love leading a team. Anna and Megan are our grad program’s student-facing leaders, and they are doing a wonderful job of elevating the graduate student experience in mechanical. They are the ones who provide informed academic advising and compassionate coaching, propose and implement new ways we can improve our graduate program and build out events that bring our students together. I aim to provide the resources and support that they need so that they can excel in the meaningful and high-level work that they do.

What does winning this award mean to you?

It means a lot. When I read the email about this award, I immediately thought of my parents, Vitali and Maria. They risked everything to bring my family to the United States back in 1989. Now, here I am thriving in a job that I truly enjoy and living in a community where I feel safe and comfortable. I feel so unbelievably lucky.

It’s also humbling. I can think of so many other graduate administrators who deserve this award. I am grateful that the College takes steps to recognize graduate staff and hope that they continue to do so in the future!

The Outstanding Graduate Administrator Award recognizes an adminsitrator who demonstrates unwavering dedication to graduate students and exceptional skills in graduate administration.

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Physicist-turned-engineer earns international recognition for quantum contributions

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 21:20:42 +0000

Physicist-turned-engineer earns international recognition for quantum contributions Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/13/2023 - 15:20

Michael Lock Swingen

While the first quantum revolution gave us new rules that govern physical reality at its smallest scales, the second quantum revolution will take these rules and use them to develop new technologies with everyday applications.

Research Professor Svenja Knappe, who is a physicist by training but calls the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering home, is an ideal person to be at the center of a growing cluster of quantum researchers who are ushering in the second quantum revolution on campus and abroad.

At ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, Knappe is part of a cohort of researchers at the CUbit Quantum Initiative and the Quantum Engineering Initiative, which are hubs that maximize an interdisciplinary approach to quantum research by bringing physicists, engineers and industry partners together in close collaboration.

“We are finding ways to take these amazing discoveries in quantum physics out of the research lab and into the hands of an end user,” Knappe said. “At these hubs, you have a physicist on one end, an end user on the other and an engineer in between.”

Knappe is one of those engineers in between, translating quantum technology into devices with real-world applications.

In her research, Knappe focuses on the development of a quantum sensor called an optically pumped magnetometer, or OPM, which contains a group of atoms that change their spin orientation in response to the electromagnetic fields around them. Knappe uses the OPM to measure the electromagnetic field in a human brain, or brainwaves.

Current methods for collecting maps of the brain’s activity, otherwise known as magnetoencephalograms (MEGs), require the sensors to be cryogenically cooled in liquid helium Dewars that are housed in room-sized, stationary machines. A patient must sit still for a long period of time for an MEG to map out the brain activity accurately, limiting the kind of activity that it can detect.

In contrast, OPMs are about the size of two sugar cubes. And they can be placed directly on the head.

“This is a huge step forward,” Knappe said. “You can start measuring under paradigms that weren’t possible before. You can start studying the brain while a human moves or during a social interaction.”

Knappe and her colleagues have developed a helmet that contains 128 of these sensors and is customizable for different sizes of the human head. Knappe founded the Boulder-based company FieldLine and has begun to bring these sensors to market. In the not-so-distant future, they could aid in the diagnosis and treating of a wide range of neurological ailments like epilepsy, autism and traumatic brain injuries.

Recently, Knappe was awarded the prestigious Carl Zeiss Humboldt Research Award. The award is given to researchers who have had a lasting effect on their discipline beyond their immediate research area, wish to collaborate with specialist colleagues in Germany and contribute to promoting diversity in the STEM disciplines.

“If you put more diverse people in leadership positions,” said Knappe, “it will create a critical mass that will have a self-sustaining effect.”

Knappe will be based at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer IPM in her native Germany for half a year, where she will be again part of a wide network of quantum researchers who are ushering in the second quantum revolution.

“Quantum engineering is an exciting area right now,” Knappe said. “It’s a really fast-moving field.”

Research Professor Svenja Knappe is at the center of a growing cluster of quantum researchers who are ushering in the second quantum revolution on campus and abroad.

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Vance wins Fulbright Scholar Award to do year-long research project in Indonesia

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:25:04 +0000

Vance wins Fulbright Scholar Award to do year-long research project in Indonesia Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/20/2023 - 10:25

Michael Lock Swingen

Assistant Professor Marina Vance of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award for research that will investigate the use of fixed-location and mobile low-cost air quality monitors in Indonesia.

Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious and competitive fellowships that provide unique opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad.

Vance will spend a year on the island of Java, working in collaboration with local researchers at the Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia and Pacific (CCROM-SEAP) at Bogor Agricultural University.

“I’m hoping to learn from their expertise in outdoor air quality, while also bringing my expertise in indoor air quality,” Vance said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to combine the two areas of focus.”

Although the importance of reducing outdoor air pollution has been centered in the public consciousness for some time, there is increasing awareness of the necessity to improve indoor air quality as well, especially when one considers that most people spend about 90% of their lives indoors.

Along with plans to investigate ways to fine-tune the measurements of fixed-location and mobile low-cost air quality monitors, Vance also hopes to understand better how indoor and outdoor air pollution influence one another.

“There’s newfound public interest in understanding the quality of indoor air since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Vance said. “Raising awareness about everyday ways we can improve it is definitely part of the motivation of my research.”

Vance focuses on the study of aerosols, otherwise known as particulate matter, or PM, which are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere and account for a specific form of air pollution. Inhalable PM, which is less than 10 microns in diameter (PM₁₀), and fine PM (PM_2.5), which is less than 2.5 microns in diameter, are both known for their negative effects on human health and the environment.

In Java, Vance plans to monitor PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations in two different ways. First, she plans to use research-grade measuring instruments at CCROM-SEAP and potentially other institutions across the island.

Although these research-grade measuring instruments are highly calibrated to monitor the particulate matter found in the atmosphere of their specific locale, they have their limitations. A challenge is accounting for the spatial heterogeneity of concentrations, especially in a large country like Indonesia.

In addition to using research-grade measuring instruments, Vance plans to use mobile low-cost air quality monitors like PurpleAir, which scientists have begun using as a research tool because of their potential for greater spatial coverage. These sensors can also provide greater time resolution, with minute-level or 10-minute averages reported, in comparison to the daily averages reported by monitoring stations.

However, due to the novelty of the technology, the measurements of these sensors are not always 100% accurate until they are calibrated for the specific makeup of the particulate matter in the local atmosphere.

Field techniques for calibrating mobile low-cost sensors are an ongoing area of study for researchers and scientists. By collocating them with measurement stations and comparing the data sets, Vance hopes to gain insights into how to improve the sensors.

“These can also be very useful for everyday consumers in their homes,” Vance said. “You’re cooking, for example, and the indoor air pollution gets bad. The sensor will let you know that you should open a window or turn on the exhaust hood over your stove.”

Along with the opportunity to take her research in new directions, Vance looks forward to spending a year in a new culture and climate with her family.

Vance has a 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter with her husband Eric Vance, an assistant professor in applied mathematics at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, who was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Award in Indonesia as well.

“There will be challenges for us in the coming year,” said Vance, “but also great opportunities to grow together as a family.”

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Bottenus lands prestigious research award from Boettcher Foundation

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 14:27:54 +0000

Bottenus lands prestigious research award from Boettcher Foundation Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/20/2023 - 08:27

Michael Lock Swingen

Nick Bottenus

Assistant Professor Nick Bottenus of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering has been awarded a Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Award for research advancing the state of ultrasound molecular imaging.

The award is given out by the Boettcher Foundation, which invests in leading Colorado researchers during the early stages of their career, with the goal of retaining top scientific talent in Colorado.

Bottenus will receive a $235,000 grant to support up to three years of his biomedical research that pushes the boundaries of what ultrasound imaging – or sonography – can do.

“It was an unexpected honor to win this award,” Bottenus said. “Along with giving us the resources to pursue our research, it means we get to join the broader network of biotechnology researchers and companies in Colorado, so I look forward to the opportunities that brings.”

Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to see inside the human body. As the machine sends out waves, they reflect off body structures, and a computer receives the “echoes” to create a picture out of them. The images are used to diagnose and direct treatment for a variety of diseases and conditions.

For a lot of his career, Bottenus has worked on improving the design and performance of the ultrasound machine, working on signal and array encoding and decoding optimization problems.

But now Bottenus plans to take his research on the human body to an even smaller scale.

A new development in ultrasound is molecular imaging, which uses tiny, biocompatible, acoustically detectable gas bubbles to help contrast the structures or fluids within the body when observed in ultrasound imaging.

The microbubbles, coated with a shell of targeting molecules, are injected into the bloodstream and circulate until they encounter their specific, target biomarker. They adhere to it and become concentrated within the target tissue. As microbubbles accumulate, they then create a bright echo that ultrasound can detect.

However, the current technology has limitations on its application, with the mapping of only one biomarker possible per image session, which also takes a long time to complete as hundreds or thousands of bubbles amass.

In response to these problems, Bottenus and his research group plan to leverage current research in microbubble engineering and diabetes bioengineering to develop novel ultrafast and super-resolution ultrasound molecular imaging techniques.

With these advancements, Bottenus can detect a single microbubble in real time.

By using this new technology, Bottenus wants to understand the behavior of microbubbles better, while arguing that the scientific community uses an oversimplified model on how they work.

Bottenus argues that microbubbles behave like other biological agents, such as white blood cells, which have similar binding behaviors but do more than simply find their target biomarker and stick there.

“White blood cells can roll, sort of crawl along the surface and detach after they’ve attached,” Bottenus said. “We suspect that microbubbles can undergo all those same behaviors.”

Ultimately, Bottenus’s research will allow for the design of new approaches to ultrasound imaging, new possibilities for multi-target imaging and more rapid diagnostics and treatment for ailments like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

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Honors & Awards

Jayaram and team win IROS Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics

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The flow of nature inspires 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator Nathalie Vriend

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Department Chair Peter Hamlington selected for Excellence in Leadership Program

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MacCurdy and collaborators advance research in genetic and evolutionary computation

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Vriend named a 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

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Teamwork leads ����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ Racing Team to victory at Formula SAE

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Mechanical's Vera Sebulsky wins Graduate Administrator Award

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Physicist-turned-engineer earns international recognition for quantum contributions

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Vance wins Fulbright Scholar Award to do year-long research project in Indonesia

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Bottenus lands prestigious research award from Boettcher Foundation

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Teamwork leads ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ Racing Team to victory at Formula SAE