CU News
News from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
7 CU engineering students among the Big Brains
Nov 13th
Aviation Week names 7 CU-Boulder students
among 20 national engineering leaders
among 20 national engineering leaders
Seven University of Colorado Boulder aerospace engineering students are among 20 top students who will be recognized Nov. 14 with a new national award honoring tomorrow’s engineering leaders sponsored by Penton’s Aviation Week in partnership with Raytheon.
The “Twenty20s” awards honor the academic achievements and leadership of top engineering, math, science and technology students.
The CU-Boulder award winners are doctoral candidates Paul Anderson, Brad Cheetham, Jake Gamsky, Erin Griggs and Dan Lubey, and B.S./M.S. students Kirstyn Johnson and Mike Lotto. The awards will be presented during Aviation Week’s annual Aerospace & Defense Programs Conference in Phoenix.
Paul Anderson, Brad Cheetham, Jake Gamsky, Erin Griggs and Dan Lubey, and B.S./M.S. students Kirstyn Johnson and Mike Lotto
“I am delighted with the national recognition our outstanding aerospace undergraduate and graduate students are receiving from Aviation Week,” said Penina Axelrad, chair of CU-Boulder’s Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. “All of them bring incredible passion and impressive technical skills to their classwork and to an extensive portfolio of professional and extracurricular activities. Each is on a fast track to making remarkable contributions in fields like space exploration and satellite-based Earth observations.”
The high-profile projects and research portfolios of the seven students cover a wide range of critical issues facing the field of aerospace engineering today.
Working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, Cheetham has been developing and co-teaching graduate-level courses on commercial spaceflight, while Gamsky is helping to design the Dream Chaser commercial spacecraft as an intern at Sierra Nevada Corp. and conducting research on human spaceflight life-support technology.
Griggs is developing a next-generation Global Positioning System receiver for spacecraft. Anderson is working to model geostationary space debris and Lubey is studying space situational awareness to detect and model satellite maneuvers.
In their senior year of the undergraduate portion of their concurrent B.S./M.S. degrees, Lotto and Johnson both hold perfect 4.0 grade-point averages and have completed internship or co-op experiences with NASA. They are working together as part of a capstone senior project design team that is developing a dust impact monitor capable of measuring the size of tiny cosmic dust particles near the surface of the sun.
In addition to their outstanding academic achievements, the students were selected for their leadership and civic involvement outside of the classroom. All are active in professional and student societies and volunteer their time to help others. From encouraging K-12 outreach to volunteering with Habitat for Humanity to mentoring and tutoring fellow classmates, the seven students all make service a priority.
“For most of us this is more than a career, it’s a passion,” said Cheetham, who three years ago launched the “We Want Our Future” educational initiative to inspire American youth and strengthen their interest in math and science.
Anderson, who mentors undergraduates and participates in outreach to younger students, agreed. “We’re fostering the next generation of engineers here,” he said. “We want to inspire them to continue the great things we’re doing in aerospace.”
Six of the seven students will attend the awards ceremony in Phoenix along with former NASA astronaut and aerospace engineering sciences faculty member Joe Tanner.
Tanner and Axelrad said the Twenty20s winners are representative of the high caliber of many of the students in CU-Boulder’s aerospace program, which is considered one of the best in the nation.
“Our department is proud to count these seven among our students and we look forward to watching their careers take flight,” says Axelrad. “We will continue to create opportunities for students like these to learn from our exceptional faculty, collaborate in hands-on projects with talented peers and industry partners, and engage in cutting-edge aerospace research.”
For more information on CU-Boulder’s Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences visit http://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/.
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CU panel: More help for kids w/mental disorders
Nov 7th
CU psychologists to present
resources for families struggling
with behavioral concerns
resources for families struggling
with behavioral concerns
Families seeking information about childhood psychiatric and developmental disorders are invited to a community open house with experts from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado School of Medicine on Wednesday, Nov. 13, on the CU-Boulder campus.
Experts will address emerging research on early onset bipolar disorder, prevention of schizophrenia, postpartum depression, attention and behavior disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. Each researcher also will describe their community services.
The event, “CU Community Open House: Behavioral Health Resources for Families,” is free and open to the public from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Wolf Law Building, room 207.
A panel of five researchers from the CU-Boulder Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the CU School of Medicine will explain recent advances in their fields and local research conducted in their CU lab or clinic, as well as resources they offer to families.
The panel will include:
- Nomita Chhabildas, director of the Attention, Behavior and Learning Clinic at CU-Boulder [http://psych.colorado.edu/~clinical/raimy/child]
- Sona Dimidjian, director of the Center for Research, Evidence-based Services and Treatment (CREST) at CU-Boulder [http://psych-srv3.colorado.edu/~crest]
- Susan Hepburn, associate professor of psychiatry and director of research at JFK Partners at the CU School of Medicine [http://www.jfkpartners.org]
- Vijay Mittal, director of the Adolescent Development and Preventive Treatment Research Program (ADAPT) at CU-Boulder [http://www.adaptprogram.com]
- Dawn Taylor, lead psychologist and project coordinator for the Colorado Family Project based at CU-Boulder [http://www.coloradobipolar.com]
Christopher Schneck, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the CU School of Medicine and principal investigator for the Colorado Family Project, will address the pros and cons of receiving services in a research setting.
“Many people don’t realize that free or low-cost evidence-based services are available through a variety of groups at the University of Colorado,” Taylor said. “We invite the public to join us for an evening with local experts and to learn more about the fascinating research taking place in our community and how these programs may benefit local families.”
The brief presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session and opportunities for attendees to speak individually with the presenters.
The Wolf Law Building is located at 2450 Kittredge Loop Road near the intersection of Baseline Road and Broadway. Parking in lots 402 and 470 is free after 5 p.m. For questions call 303-492-1668.
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CU: more computers for more kids
Nov 7th
CU-Boulder expands popular
Computers To Youth program
Computers To Youth program
The University of Colorado Boulder Environmental Center is expanding its Computers To Youth program to include more students and more interactive activities.
Computers To Youth provides high school students from underrepresented communities with upgraded used computers and hands-on training from CU-Boulder student mentors. Its purpose is to benefit underserved youth in Colorado and protect the environment. The computer systems received by the high school students through the program are designed to enable academic achievement that will encourage students to attend college.
“Not only do the high school students but also the college student mentors see this as an inspiring learning experience,” said CU-Boulder engineering student and Computers To Youth mentor Rebecca Miller. “The fact that CU-Boulder put together this program that saves resources, prevents waste and enables future scientists and engineers is completely brilliant.”
The next Computers To Youth event will be held Saturday, Nov. 9. Fourteen high school students from the Family Learning Center in Boulder, guided by CU-Boulder student mentors, will go through surplus computer components, bundle parts, load the latest software and take their newly built computer systems with them. The day also will include a new competition in which teams will race to disassemble and reassemble a demonstration computer.
“As technology increasingly becomes a part of daily life, those without computer access risk falling behind,” said Jack DeBell, the CU Environmental Center’s recycling program development director. “This consequence, known as the digital divide, tends to affect economically disadvantaged populations, especially youth. With such a great amount of computer equipment being discarded by a technologically advanced campus, it only makes sense that some of this equipment be “upcycled” to bridge the digital divide.”
The CU-Boulder student mentors are part of the statewide MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) program. CU-Boulder’s MESA Center is headquartered in the Department of Pre-College Outreach Services in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement (ODECE).
MESA Colorado also refers high school students to the Computers To Youth program.
With two additional Computers To Youth events slated for the spring semester, about 55 youth will be served by the program this academic year. The Denver Area Telecommunications Educational Telecommunication Consortium (DAETC) has enabled the increase in the number of participants, up from 48 last year, according to DeBell.
The CU Environmental Center has held numerous computer-build events since it began restoring and redistributing computers in 2001. In 2005, it received the Dell Higher Education Leadership Award to fund the collection of unused personal computers from the campus community and divert the equipment from landfills.
Also part of the Computers To Youth program is CU’s Property Services department. Other contributors have included the Community Computer Connection and Microsoft Corp.
“Hopefully this project will create additional collaboration with community groups and corporate sponsors in Colorado,” said St. Vrain School District teacher Karen Hunter, whose high school participated in Computers To Youth last year. “The students’ new-found confidence as a result of the amazing folks at CU-Boulder tells it all.”
For more information about Computers To Youth visit http://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/other-programs/computers-youth.
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