Posts tagged students
Wrap your mind around this! photo origami CU Boulder
Aug 27th
CU-Boulder ‘photo origami’ proposal
wins $2 million NSF grant
wins $2 million NSF grant
The art of origami has inspired children and artists all over the world because of the amazing objects that can be created by folding a simple piece of paper.
Now an engineering research team at the University of Colorado Boulder has won a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a light-controlled approach for “self-assembly” mechanisms in advanced devices based on the same principles.
Known as “photo origami,” the idea is supported by NSF’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program, which supports interdisciplinary teams working on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research.
CU-Boulder associate professor of mechanical engineering Jerry Qi will lead the team developing the photo origami technique. Collaborators will include CU faculty Robert McLeod of electrical engineering, Kurt Maute of aerospace engineering sciences and Elisabeth “Beth” Stade of mathematics, along with Patrick Mather of Syracuse University.
The ability to transform a flat polymer sheet into a sophisticated, mechanically robust 3-D structure will enable new approaches to manufacturing and design of devices from the microscopic to centimeter scales, according to the team. Examples include using extremely low-weight, high-strength materials to create micro-electromechanical systems with complicated 3-D architectures that can be used for microscopic sensors such as antennas or microphones, and miniature robotic devices for environmental monitoring.
Present barriers to the development of folding and unfolding mechanisms stem from the lack of understanding of scaling laws that allow researchers to generalize results obtained at various size scales, the inability to easily cause matter to “reorient” itself to achieve the desired folding patterns, and challenges in automated, sequential folding.
To overcome these challenges, the CU team will make use of recent fundamental advances in the control of polymer architecture through light-triggered chemical reactions.
“One has to accurately control how much deformation a material should have in order to obtain a precise folding angle and to determine where to fold or stop folding in order to avoid interference in the folding path and form the desired structure,” said McLeod, who will use the interaction of light with material deformation to develop optical waveguide transistors.
In this new form of logic circuit, light triggers the deformation of a soft polymer, which in turn switches the light on or off. In this way, the optical waveguide transistor will enable a structure to be pre-programmed with a folding pattern through a sequential set of switching events controlled by the shape of an origami sheet.
In recent years, CU researchers and their collaborators have made significant progress in using light to control and alter the structure of a polymer. They are able to both bend and stiffen polymer structures and to develop new, soft, shape-memory composite materials through photo-initiation techniques. Shape-memory composites are “smart” materials that have the ability to return from a temporary, deformed shape to their original shape when induced by a trigger.
In addition, the team will work with the local school district to provide research and educational opportunities for K-12 students and teachers.
Only 2 % of students in CU dorms eligible for concealed weapons permit
Aug 16th
CU-Boulder announces conditions
for weapons in university housing
for weapons in university housing
The University of Colorado Boulder today announced it is amending housing contracts to ask students who live in undergraduate residence halls and hold a Colorado concealed carry permit, or CCP, to forgo bringing a handgun to campus. The campus also will accommodate those who hold a CCP in a graduate student housing complex off the main campus, provided the permit holders store their weapon in a safe within their dwelling when they are not carrying it.
The university also is asking residence advisers and faculty who live in university housing to sign the same housing agreement as a condition of their residence in these facilities.
The actions follow a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court on March 5, which allows individuals with state-issued concealed carry permits to carry handguns on university or college properties. The University of Colorado Board of Regents last spring delegated the authority to the chancellors of CU-Boulder and CU-Colorado Springs to create a process to implement the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in the campus residence environment.
“I believe we have taken reasonable steps to adhere to the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court, while balancing that with the priority of providing a safe environment for our students, faculty and staff,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.
The approach would only affect, potentially, a very small number of individuals. An analysis by the University of Colorado shows that 0.6 percent of the faculty, staff and students on campus possess a CCP. A full 96 percent of CU-Boulder undergraduate students living in the residence halls are under the age of 21, and are thus ineligible to have a CCP. Of the 4 percent of eligible students, about half living on campus are CU Resident Advisers, or “RAs,” who as CU employees would not be permitted to live in undergraduate halls and possess a CCP.
Residence hall students who have a concealed carry permit or who obtain a concealed carry permit under Colorado law during the housing contract period may seek to be relocated to a University Apartment (if space is available) or be released from the residence hall contract without financial penalty.
Among the requirements for Colorado concealed carry permits are that the holder must be at least 21 years of age, complete an FBI background check, and have either previous military or police experience or proof of completion of a firearms training course.
Residence hall students may still store weapons at the University of Colorado Police Department on campus, which is open and available for drop off and pick up of weapons, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
CU-Boulder will continue to follow the CU Board of Regents policy that prevents the open display of weapons including guns, explosives and knives on campus. Only law enforcement officials who display their badges are allowed to openly display weapons while on campus.
Under concealed carry, anyone with a permit may carry a concealed handgun on campus generally and into CU buildings, with the exception of Folsom Field and any other ticketed public performance venue. The purchase of a ticket to a CU public performance constitutes an agreement with the university to not carry a concealed weapon, even as a CCP holder, into the venue.
Students begin moving into CU-Boulder residence halls on Tuesday, Aug. 21, and classes begin for the semester on Aug. 27.
New CU students to get help moving in
Aug 14th
CU volunteers to help new students
move in Aug. 21 and Aug. 23
move in Aug. 21 and Aug. 23
Volunteers from a variety of campus groups will be available to help new students move their belongings into residence halls at the University of Colorado Boulder Aug. 21 and Aug. 23 as New Student Move-In begins next week.
New students will move in Aug. 21 through Aug. 23 with the majority of freshmen moving in on Aug. 23, according to Kambiz Khalili, executive director for Housing and Dining Services.
The volunteer movers will be stationed near all campus residence halls to help students and their parents move belongings into the halls as quickly as possible.
Volunteers from the Residence Hall Association, returning residence hall students and students from several student groups will wear CU Welcoming Assembly 2012-13 T-shirts identifying them as move-in staff. Residence Life staff members will wear building-specific T-shirts with the residence life logo and a 2012 marking.
The volunteers will be available to assist new students primarily on specified New Student Move-In dates including Tuesday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Other groups supporting volunteers at Move-In include Boulder Free Ride, Society of Woman Engineers, Mile 21-a cappella, Boulder Campus Ministry, G.O.R.D, Verve Hip Hop Team, Secular Students and Skeptics Society, Timmy Global Health, UMAS y MEChA, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, Canterbury Colorado, Campus Fire Ministry, CU Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council.
Students who attended an orientation session in the summer will move in on Aug. 23. All new students are required to move in by 5 p.m. on Aug. 23 but returning students can move into residence hall rooms anytime from Aug. 23 through the weekend, said John Fox, associate director of Residence Life.
“We’re excited to welcome our new incoming students and to help them adjust to life as college students,” Fox said. “This is a significant moment in the lives of incoming students and their families and we strive to make this experience memorable and successful.”
Information tables with handouts for new students also will be set up in key locations. On both Tuesday and Thursday, information tents will be set up at Williams Village, the Kittredge complex and the Regent Administrative Center near Farrand Field.
Orientation and social activities for new residence hall students will be held the evenings of Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. On Aug. 23 all first-year residence hall students will be required to attend a hall meeting with other students from their floors to get acquainted and to learn about policies, services, the roommate agreement and other activities planned for the week. After the hall meeting, all first-year students will attend the Ice and Dice activity at the Student Recreation Center on campus.
For a complete schedule of CU-Boulder new student welcome activities visit http://www.colorado.edu/inthemix.
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