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Dear Reader,

For the past couple of years, our minds have been on the idea of recovery. Here at CU, specifically, recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the wildfires that have devastated our community. Simultaneously as we reach a feeling of normalcy, the University has received a record $658 million for research. 

As students, research can feel disconnected from our day to day experience. I urge us as students, however, to see that this culture of innovation is a reminder of what we are working towards.

 It is worth stressing that the innovative work being done on the University’s campuses receives funding because it matters. We receive funding from the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health, for example, because people care about their energy bills and want more effective diabetes treatments. 

Our innovation is not aimless but responds to concrete needs and problems. When there is a shortage of housing, we build. When there is population growth, we design ways to increase food supply. Related, but distinct, from the pure sciences, engineering considers solutions in their complexity, including cost, manufacturing, materiality, and life cycle.

In essence, we use our knowledge to make life better for people. That sounds idealistic, and it is. For work to be meaningful, it should be backed by ideals. As engineers, our work is defined by the promise of precision and accuracy that science provides, but we cannot claim our work to be separate from our humanity. And, I would argue, our solutions are fundamentally better when we lean into what inspires us as people. 

There is a reason that so many want to study Aerospace engineering here at CU. For many, they were inspired to enter the program because the field of space exploration touches on so many questions fundamental to our humanity, such as where did we come from, and is there more life out there? Even with quantum engineering, the study of the smallest building blocks of matter is a means to understand the world that we exist in. 

For those of us that are called to engineering, it is typically for a human reason- maybe a family member whom we admire was an engineer, or maybe a great mentor made it feel like the sciences bring you a sense of purpose. Increasingly, many students enter fields of engineering hoping to protect people from the effects of climate change. 

We chose to focus this issue on the concept of New Horizons, because we are excited for what is coming, and we look forward to it with excitement for what our work will bring to communities.