College News Spring 2019
On the Ball
The partnership between Ball Corp. and the dates back to the very dawn of the space program.
At that time, Ball was a glassmaker facing declines in its core home canning business. It was looking for the next big thing and, after putting feelers out across the country, connected with a few faculty members working on early space research.
It was a new industry and a radical change for the company, but 60 years later, it is still paying dividends for Ball and CU. Ball has sponsored aerospace senior design projects, collaborated with faculty on research and hired hundreds of engineering graduates.
The partnership was broadened campuswide in 2018 with the first Ball Career Day. Engineering, business and communications students fanned out across the Denver area to tour various Ball manufacturing, administrative and research facilities before reconvening on campus for a networking reception with Ball employees.
“Having company senior leadership surrounding us like this is miraculous,” senior aerospace major Alejandro Corral said during the reception. “It was insane that one leader greeted me and shook my hand and started talking to me. Speaking to the company leaders like that was an experience you wouldn’t get at a career fair.”
2018 also marked the second year of the Ball Sisters program, which works to support women in engineering through a mentoring initiative that matches female students with a “sister” employee at Ball. Since its inception, the program has doubled in size, from 25 to 50 pairs.
“It is so rewarding to have a program that allows us opportunity to mentor our budding aerospace sisters,” said Michele Miller, Ball’s director of missions and systems engineering. “These future leaders from CU are able to leverage our various talents and experiences, and along the way, we also get to learn a thing or two from them. It’s fun!”
As looks forward to new collaborations and opportunities, those who know Ball’s contributions to the aerospace program can already vouch for the benefits they bring to the university.
Above and beyond: New global aerospace degree
CU Engineering now offers a global aerospace engineering degree track, allowing students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, minor in computer science, study abroad experience and co-op work experience in just five years.
The innovative new track provides students with the education and experience they need to be even more competitive in the aerospace job market, while also providing value for students and their families.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQoITlRZtFI&feature=youtu.be]
Students spend the first two-and-a-half years following the regular progression of aerospace courses and taking foundational courses in the computer science minor. In their third year, they will apply to a study abroad program with a strong basis in computer science. Currently, pre-approved study abroad programs in computer science are offered at nearly two dozen highly regarded universities in 13 countries.
While abroad in fall of their fourth year, students will continue working toward the computer science minor and take humanities and social science courses, while also applying for co-ops. When they return stateside, students will work alongside professionals through the spring and summer, earning valuable real-world experience and, in many cases, competitive wages. They’ll return to campus in fall for their fifth and final year of aerospace engineering courses.
A BOLDer Celebration
In November, the College of Engineering and Applied Science celebrated the 10th anniversary of the BOLD Center, our award-winning program to support women and minorities in engineering.
The celebration at a Boulder art gallery brought 170 students, alumni and staff together to celebrate BOLD and the two programs it brought together—the Multicultural Engineering Program and Women in Engineering Program, which were started in the 1970s and ’80s, respectively.
“Some of our students used to have to choose between belonging to MEP or WIEP, or they would have to split their time in two places,” said Beverly Louie, former director of WIEP.
“BOLD solved that. In the BOLD Center, our students can embrace all of their identities as whole individuals.”
Earlier in 2018, BOLD was honored by the Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity as its Program of the Year. CoNECD is a forum for exploring current research and practices to enhance diversity and inclusion of all underrepresented groups in the engineering and computing professions.
Two CU engineers elected to National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering has elected Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences professor Penina Axelrad and alumnus (AeroEngr’72) as new members in 2019. Axelrad is the Joseph T. Negler Professor and immediate past chair of Smead Aerospace at . Agonafer is the Jenkins Garrett Professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Texas Arlington.
Expansion will unite business and engineering
In June, will break ground on the Business + Engineering Expansion, connecting the Engineering Center with the Koelbel Building. This 60,000-square-foot addition will improve collaboration between CU Engineering and the Leeds School of Business, provide additional classroom space and create a hub for university entrepreneurial endeavors. The expansion is targeted for completion in December 2020.
A CU Engineering degree, grounded in Gunnison
A new collaboration between the College of Engineering and Applied Science and Western State University in Gunnison, Colorado, will allow students to earn their degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science, including computer science with an emphasis in software engineering, as graduates of .
They will complete their first two years as Western students, and the balance as students, all while remaining on the Western campus. Graduates will receive a Bachelor of Science degree and diploma from CU.
“By expanding the number of qualified students who have access to a technological education, this partnership between Western and CU will help meet the demands of our state’s rapidly expanding high-tech industries,” Dean Bobby Braun said. “This partnership is good for the economic competitiveness of our state and will allow CU to continue to expand our reach across the Western Slope.”
Western Colorado University President Greg Salsbury, left, and Dean Bobby Braun at WCU.
On the road again: Dean’s State Tour
The second annual Engineering State Tour took Dean Bobby Braun and his wife, Karen, on a more than 900-mile trip around the Eastern Plains in September.
In addition to visits to several K–12 schools and community colleges, Bobby also spent some time at Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado to talk about future collaboration and partnership opportunities. On the industry front, wind energy was a common theme — stops included NextEra Energy in Calhan, Northeastern Junior College’s wind technology program and Vestas in Greeley.
The dean’s mission is to travel to all four corners of Colorado to connect with industry partners and alumni, and to search out the best and brightest students. Future tours could also branch out into New Mexico and other surrounding states.
Creating community college connections
America’s community colleges have a vast trove of talented students, and we need to make the pathway to engineering for them accessible.
Sarah Miller
Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion
is taking a leading role on a new $10 million National Science Foundation grant to increase the number of community college students who go on to study engineering at four-year colleges, a move intended to help pave the way for a more diverse workforce.
Millions of U.S. students finish high school ill-prepared in math, despite their aptitude for it. If they enroll at a community college — as many low-income, first-generation, minority and working college students do — they’re often so far behind that it’s hard to gain proficiency for timely transfer to a four-year engineering degree program.
The team and partners aim to help community college students study math intensively by providing specialized resources, such as tutoring and STEM internships, and by lowering common barriers, such as financial aid and access to appropriate transportation and childcare.
“Society needs more engineers, and more diversity in engineering,” said Sarah Miller, one of ’s principal investigators and an assistant dean in the College of Engineering, who is directing the initiative in partnership with Saddleback College in California. “America’s community colleges have a vast trove of talented students, and we need to make the pathway to engineering for them accessible.”
The college is also taking the lead in a three-year grant awarded through the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program.
Sean Shaheen, associate professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering, and Janet Yowell of ’s Center for STEM Learning are directing the Authentic Research Experiences for Teachers (ARETe) program, which uses a train-the-trainer model to match community college faculty with engineering faculty to conduct research on the Boulder campus.
The program provides community college faculty with professional development, mentoring and training on how to conduct research. Faculty will use what they’ve learned to create in-class research experiences at their home colleges, multiplying an effect that will connect community college students across the Front Range to research at for years to come.
Introducing Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy
CU Engineering has launched a new cybersecurity program that combines the expertise of the longstanding Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program with new strengths in defense and entrepreneurship.
The program, rebranded as the Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy Program, aims to give all undergraduates exposure to the topic, offering a new introductory cybersecurity course that doesn’t require a computer science background.
Because “cyber” now impacts not just the internet, but everything from autonomous vehicles to medical devices, CU Engineering is committed to pushing the boundaries of how we think about cybersecurity and its future. For example, recent studies reveal that cyber attackers still rely heavily on human factors and especially “social engineering.” This means that our approach will take into account issues of confidentiality, authenticity, integrity, risk management and adversarial thinking.
New classes already announced:
Introduction to Blockchain
Immersive Cyber Defense
The Business of Fintech
The Mathematics of Cryptosystems
Dear World: Breaking the ice through stories
During their first week on campus, our freshman class participated in a unique interactive experience that encouraged them to build community by sharing their personal stories.
Organizers said they brought Dear World to campus because being able to work as a team is vital in engineering, and teamwork requires personal connection. Students worked with their classmates to develop their stories, then wrote a phrase from their stories on their bodies for a photo shoot with Dear World facilitators. Senior aerospace engineering student Connie Childs was among the current students and alumni who volunteered to share their stories as part of the event. Visit the online edition of CU Engineering to watch a Dear World wrap-up video and to listen to a podcast interview with Childs.
VIDEO EXTRA: [video:https://youtu.be/tlbsFzsEf84]
Students who serve
launched a student chapter of the in February 2018. SAME is a national organization that leads efforts to confront national security and infrastructure challenges. CU’s chapter wants to connect CU students with SAME members and companies in these fields through guest presentations and field trips to government sites and projects. Their goal is to foster an inclusive environment for all students interested in these fields.
Timothy Barentine (EngrPhys’18) of Cascade, Colorado, and Joseph Crawford of Durango, Colorado, who will graduate in May with a degree in environmental engineering, were selected for the U.S. Navy’s prestigious Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program.
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Opening in fall 2019
Our new aerospace hub is just weeks away from opening! Smead Aerospace faculty and staff will begin moving in this summer, and we will celebrate the grand opening on Aug. 26. Check out the fall edition of CU Engineering magazine for an inside look at this new campus focal point for aerospace research and education.