Engineering

Full STEM Ahead: ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Engineering Steps Up

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:53:21 +0000

Full STEM Ahead: ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Engineering Steps Up Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:53

Jeff Zehnder

In the midst a national growing need for engineers, Dean Keith Molenaar (ArchEngr’90; MCivEngr’95; PhD’97) has led faculty, staff and students in the co-creation of a new strategic vision for the College of Engineering and Applied Science, committing to expanding its role in the high-tech economy and further emphasizing a goal of engineering gender parity in the college.

How is the College of Engineering and Applied Science changing at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ?

This is a time of disruption for higher ed across the nation. Some universities are struggling with enrollment, and people are questioning the value of a four-year degree. But our record here is stronger than it’s ever been. For the second year in a row, we welcomed the largest classes of both undergraduate and PhD students ever.

You’ve put a major emphasis on recruiting more female engineers. Why is this important for the college?

Historically, the engineering profession has been male-dominated, and that puts us at risk of creating solutions to problems that don’t represent our broader society. Inclusion is a pillar of everything we do and integral to our impact. We need a more diverse workforce to solve the complex technological and infrastructure challenges of today’s world.

Where do gender parity efforts start at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ?

It starts early. The current vision builds on long-standing efforts by ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder and national groups to expand access in science and math for girls in K-12. By showing up in early education, we’re giving students confidence that they can make an impact on society by being an engineer. And it’s paying off. Last year, 41 percent of our first-year engineering undergraduates were women, putting us #1in the nation in terms of gender parity among 167 public colleges of engineering, according to the American Society for Engineering Education.

You’ve been focused on fusing engineering with business. What impact has that had?

We’re beyond the traditional metrics of publishing papers as a primary metric for success. Patents are important. Economic impact is important. We need to focus on the implications and implementations of our work, not just the work itself. It’s inspiring the next generation of graduates and PhD students to be entrepreneurs. ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ launched 35 companies last fiscal year through the Venture Partners program, placing us second among all universities over the last decade.

You recently created a new position within the college: Assistant Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

And we quickly selected Wil Srubar for the position. He’s a crucial addition to our college. He has both fundamental engineering and applied business experience — he’s started three companies already. The new position is helping us with translational work, moving things out of the lab and into companies through patents or startups.

The college is dramatically scaling up its economic impact for ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, with a particular focus on translating research into business success.

In a time of disruption, we need leaders. ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder is a flagship of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s success — and the college of engineering is an economic driver in all that. There’s something special going on in Boulder. There have always been pockets of innovation and entrepreneurship in the college, but we’re evolving to focus more across the board on economic impact. We have a responsibility to help the state grow in a sustainable and equitable manner.

In 2021, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ built the Rustandy Building, connecting the Engineering Center and the Koelbel Building, home to the Leeds School of Business. What was the thinking behind this fusion?

Our partnership [with Leeds] is paramount, and the connection between business and engineering on campus is both an idea and a physical reality. We’re scaling up. The donor-supported project physically joined the buildings, adding 45,000 square feet of new classroom and collaboration spaces. It is a joy to see the energy in this shared space and make me hopeful for ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s future leadership in high-tech industries.

How do you measure success for the college?

We compete with universities across the nation and continue to come out at the top. But while it has been great to climb in the rankings, we don’t chase that. People are seeing what we’re doing here. We’re leaders in AI, aerospace and sustainability, among other areas. We contribute to national defense and national security. Our faculty are highly sought after for leadership positions across the U.S. and participate in national conversations that shape the future of technology. Those are the indicators I look at.

How does engineering fit in with the rest of the campus?

Our rankings and national reputation come because we’re part of a comprehensive university — it’s one of our key advantages. We’re educating holistic engineers. They need to understand historic, political and business aspects of their work. To serve society well as engineers, we must have deep partnerships with the other colleges, schools and institutes across campus. We are fortunate to be part of a comprehensive campus, and we strive to contribute to our campus mission every day.

Interview by Jeff Zehnder, condensed and edited for clarity.

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Photo by Jesse Morgan Petersen

Dean Keith Molenaar has led faculty, staff and students in the co-creation of a new strategic vision for the College of Engineering and Applied Science, committing to expanding its role in the high-tech economy and further emphasizing a goal of engineering gender parity in the college.

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Engineering professor Matt Morris Rebuilds His Home with ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Students

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Engineering professor Matt Morris Rebuilds His Home with ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Students Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/04/2024 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

December 2023

Engineering professor Matt Morris (CivEngr’99; MS’02), pictured left, and his family lost everything they owned along with their home of 16 years in the 2021 Marshall Fire in Superior, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ. Nearly two years later, the family celebrated Christmas in the same spot — in their newly constructed house.

Morris, two of his students — George Kurtz (ArchEngr’24), pictured center, and Daniel Donado Quintero (CivEngr’22; PhD ex’26), pictured right — and volunteers constructed more than 80% of the home themselves.

“The experience changed my character and my understanding of commitment, discipline and accountability,” Quintero told the engineering school.

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Photo by Jesse Petersen

He and his family lost everything in the 2021 Marshall Fire.

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Spring 2024

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The Sound of Science

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

The Sound of Science Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 02:00

Kelsey Yandura

Grace Leslie stands in front of a crowd, a flute perched at her lips. In many ways, the ingredients of this performance are nothing extraordinary: performer, audience, instrument … other than, perhaps, the odd-looking headband affixed to her head.

When she begins, the silvery sounds of the flute are joined by a wash of vaguely electronic tones. The result is ethereal and strange, moving between atonal and harmonious, unsettling and soothing.

What you’re hearing are Leslie’s brain waves. During this performance of “Vessels,” a 30-minute brain-body concert, she wears a special EEG (electroencephalogram) monitoring device that measures electrical activity from her brain. These brain waves are then sonified by means of an algorithm that imprints their spectrum onto a bank of recorded samples of flute and singing.

In other words, Leslie is playing two instruments: the flute and her own brain.

This is the sort of work Leslie does in the Brain Music Lab at the ATLAS Institute, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder’s interdisciplinary institute for radical creativity and invention.

The Lab as a Venn Diagram

“We discover different kinds of ways to transform data with sound and transform sound with data.”

Interdisciplinary at its core, the Brain Music Lab is focused on the nexus between music, technology and neuroscience.

“We look at people experiencing music and study their brain waves,” said Leslie. “From there, we develop new ways of working with that data and then often transform it back into the performance or a new artistic piece.”

Typically, students begin with a broad scientific concept. For example: “What would we learn if we measured the brain waves of jazz performers during an improvisational set?”

At an ordinary lab, measuring that data may be the end result. However, the Brain Music Lab takes it a step further. Once those brain waves are measured and analyzed, the question becomes: “How do we transform what we’ve learned into a new artistic expression?” The result may be a visual art piece, a composition or even a new form of electronic instrument.

The lab works on the continuum of an art-science loop.

“We discover different kinds of ways to transform data with sound and transform sound with data,” said music composition student Jessie Lausé (MMus’23).

The lab residents come from a variety of disciplines, their interests overlapping like a Venn diagram — from music students seeking to create experimental compositions to engineering students interested in a more artistic expression of their work. The thing they have in common is a desire for interdisciplinary innovation.

“It’s super exciting for a student with an electrical engineering background to be able to apply the technical skills that they have to brain waves or a medical question or to a creative pursuit,” said Leslie. “I’m constantly astounded by the work that they’re doing. They surprise me every day.”

Hyperscanning

PhD candidate Thiago Roque (PhDCreatTechCogSciNeuroSci’27) is investigating the phenomenon of neural entrainment in musical settings to better understand social interaction and empathy.

His current research is centered on hyperscanning (a procedure that records activity in two brains at the same time) during a musical performance to better understand the neurological link between performers and audience, as well as between performers themselves.

“We are trying to measure the engagement and the connection between the audience and the musicians,” he said. “It’s this fundamentally different way of saying that musical communication is an interbody experience, and then measuring the brain waves that would result from that.

“The whole idea is to operationalize how two brains find synchrony while someone is playing music and the other one is listening.”

He hopes this set of research will help inform how we understand empathy — by watching how people interact with each other in nonverbal ways.

Found Objects

“I really like this idea of not needing to know how to play an instrument to engage in music.”

Lausé is focusing on creating experimental works using sound from “found objects” rather than traditional instruments. Elements of a piece might include pouring out a bucket of water, ripping up crisp sheets of paper or dropping floor tiles from a height of five feet. A recent piece featured Lausé peeling a butternut squash alongside a saxophone quartet.

“I’m interested in anything that makes a good sound,” said Lausé. “I was pursuing this idea that within an object is everything you need to play this piece of music. It has an intuitive nature.”

At a macro level, Lausé’s work centers on accessibility.

“I really like this idea of not needing to know how to play an instrument to engage in music,” they said. “I didn’t grow up thinking that I was going to be in classical music or in academia. That was never something that was an accessible thought to me growing up.”

Lausé hopes this work will appeal to people who may not traditionally be encouraged to pursue revolutionary ideas.

“I think a lot of what I want to do in my work is break some kind of barrier,” they said. “For me, it’s a matter of putting experimental art and process and creativity on display so that more people know it’s possible for them.”

An Interdisciplinary Community

For Leslie, interdisciplinary work has always been second nature. Raised by a physicist and a musician, she was encouraged from an early age to fuse her interests together. However, she’s found that the rest of the world tends to relegate skill sets to their own separate industries.

Leslie’s hope has been to create a lab that ushers traditionally disconnected fields into the same room. When she came across ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder’s ATLAS Institute, it felt like the perfect fit.

“ATLAS is a truly, truly unique place,” said Leslie. “Experimental work is impossible without the support of others in other disciplines. And when you are able to build a little world to support that work, I think what comes out of it is very special.”

As the lab moves forward at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, Leslie hopes it will become a place where more and more students and their work will find an expression.

Is it art? Is it science? At the Brain Music Lab, the answer is simply, “Yes.”

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Illustrations by Andy Gilmore

The Brain-Music lab fuses neuroscience with music, technology and engineering. The result? An interdisciplinary community producing revolutionary art grounded in empathy and human connection.

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What's In an Astronaut's Phone?

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

What's In an Astronaut's Phone? Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Jim Voss (MAeroEngr’74; HonDocSci’00) served as a U.S. Army colonel and NASA astronaut. He flew into space five times (202 total days) on NASA’s space shuttles. He also worked aboard the International Space Station and completed a nearly nine-hour spacewalk, the longest recorded. Jim returned to ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder as a professor in 2004, where he teaches students about human spaceflight in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

How soon after waking up do you look at your phone? When it rings.

App you wish you had the inner strength to delete: None — I don't use many.

Last person you called: My wife.

Duration of longest call last week: 2 minutes.

Location and description of last selfie: Skiing with friends at Breckenridge.

Does anyone else have your passcode? Yes.

Oldest photo on your phone: It’s too old for me to remember when it was taken.

What is your lock screen or background image? I had to look since I don't pay attention to things like that — it’s a photo I took of fall foliage with orange and yellow trees.

What do you use your phone for most? Phone calls.

Most used apps:

Camera, Yelp, Maps

Most used emoji:

Birthday cake emoji

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Photo courtesy Jim Voss

Astronaut Jim Voss shares what he uses his phone for most.

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Microalgae as Bio-Cement

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Microalgae as Bio-Cement Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Joshua Rhoten

Formed by researchers at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder in 2021, Prometheus Materials is becoming a leader in an ongoing effort to decarbonize the construction industry in the face of climate change. Inspired by nature, the company uses living microalgae to produce bio-cement. This new product offers an alternative to the traditional cement-making process, which currently accounts for 8% of annual global carbon dioxide emissions and consumes 9% of annual industrial water on a global basis.

When mixed with aggregate, the bio-cement forms a zero-carbon bio-concrete with mechanical, physical and thermal properties that rival those of traditional cement-based concrete. It also emits little to no CO2 and recycles 95% of the water used during its production. It can even sequester embodied carbon, which represents emissions released during the lifecycle of building materials, including extraction, manufacturing, transport, construction and disposal throughout its lifespan.

The effort dates to 2016 when a team of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder researchers began work on an engineered-living materials project for the Department of Defense. Associate professor Wil Srubar led that research from within the civil, environmental and architectural engineering department and the materials science and engineering program. He serves as co-founder and chief technology advisor for the company and pointed to Venture Partners at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder — the university’s commercialization arm — as a key resource in bringing it to life.

“Not only were the terms of licensing the IP from ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ very founder-friendly, Venture Partners provided matching funds for us to continue R&D at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ,” he said.

Srubar is enthusiastic about the interest so far.

“I’ve dedicated my career to transforming buildings in carbon sinks by blurring the boundaries between the built environment and the natural world,” said Srubar. “Prometheus is the first of hopefully many other impactful contributions my work will have on healing the planet.”

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder spinout Prometheus Materials is becoming a leader in sustainable building materials.

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Five Questions with Maggie Grout

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Five Questions with Maggie Grout Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Alexx McMillan

3D-Printed Schools

Maggie Grout (Mgmt’21) is the founder and CEO of Thinking Huts, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing global access to education by constructing 3D-printed schools where they are needed most. In close partnership with the local community, Thinking Huts constructed its first school in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, in 2022. Inspired by a conversation with her dad, Maggie first conceptualized Thinking Huts when she was just 15 years old.

Can you tell me about your “why” behind Thinking Huts?

I was born in a poor rural village in China, and can relate to many of the people we are serving. I often think of how unfair it is that thousands of miles away there is a girl just like me — with the same capabilities, drive and passion — but because she did not have access to education, she now faces a drastically different life without a choice over her home life or career.

Why 3D printing?

3D printing allows us to build schools in a fraction of the time. The three main benefits are speed, scalability and strength. Through thoughtful applications of technology, we can create holistic solutions that lift economies and break the cycle of poverty.

How are you partnering with the local community in Fianarantsoa?

We worked with EMIT, a university in Fianarantsoa, to build on their existing campus and form a long-term partnership to eventually employ their STEM students. Wherever we operate, it is important that we are both needed and welcomed by the community. It is also important that we work respectfully alongside our local workers and the community feels like part of our Thinking Huts family because we are truly invested in their success.

Do you have a favorite moment from Fianarantsoa?

My favorite was the day we opened our school in celebration with the community on April 14, 2022, and planted a bougainvillea vine, which symbolizes our promise to increase access to education as long as we are able and our commitment to growing stronger as each year passes by.

What is next for you and for Thinking Huts?

Our beehive-inspired Honeycomb Campus, consisting of multiple connecting hexagonal huts, is next on the horizon. Also located in Madagascar, it will be the world’s first 3D-printed school campus and will serve three villages on the west coast with students aged 4 to 16. Beyond the school building, we are incorporating solar power, water, WiFi and toilets to ensure that the community thrives beyond our involvement.

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Photos courtesy Maggie Grout

Maggie Grout is the founder and CEO of Thinking Huts, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing global access to education by constructing 3D-printed schools.

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Robot Stuffies, Hypersonic Flight and Dinosaurs

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Robot Stuffies, Hypersonic Flight and Dinosaurs Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 00:00

Outdoor Exposure Benefits During Pandemic

Those with exposure to green spaces during 2020 reported lower depression and anxiety levels than those with fewer green spaces in their neighborhoods, according to a ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ study published in March 2022. Researchers also found that a third of people spent more time outdoors than they did pre-pandemic. “This research shows how critical it is to keep parks and green spaces open in times of crisis,” said senior author Colleen Reid, geography assistant professor in the Institute for Behavioral Science.

Robot Stuffies for Storytelling

Ordinary stuffed animals enhanced with human-computer interaction technology can help young children’s storytelling, according to scientist Layne Hubbard (CompSci’15; PhD’21). Hubbard and ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder researchers found that many children aged four to five were comfortable telling a detailed story to a toy animal that asked them questions. Hubbard hopes to eventually partner with toy companies to create more educational products. “There’s no denying that our human-human interactions will always be the most important,” Hubbard told ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder Today. “But toys let us do different things. They allow us to get messy with our ideas.”

Advancing Hypersonic Flight

A five-year, $7.5 million grant from the Department of Defense will help ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder advance hypersonic flight research. Aerospace engineering professor Iain Boyd — also director of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s Center for National Security Initiatives — is leading the effort on campus. The grant will go toward investigating an unknown-but-disruptive plasma that forms when suborbital vehicles travel at hypersonic speeds.

Heard Around Campus

“Just the other day I saw a little kid, probably in preschool, walk up to that dinosaur and her mouth just fell open.”

— Jaelyn Eberle, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Museum of Natural History curator of fossil vertebrates, when discussing the final days visitors could visit the Triceratops skull on campus. The fossil moved back to its permanent home at the Smithsonian in May after more than 40 years at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ.

Sustainability at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder

2,900

Tons of recycling and compost diverted from landfills

170

Zero Waste events produced on campus

2.7 million

student RTD bus trips

600+

hours spent during football season sorting waste into compost and recycling after home games

86%

of Folsom Field waste diverted from landfills on football game days

5,500

bikes repaired

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News briefs from ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder

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Materials Engineer Improves 3D-Printed Products

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Materials Engineer Improves 3D-Printed Products Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

NIST materials research engineer Callie Higgins (MElEngr’14; PhD’17) was awarded the federal government's prestigious 2021 Emerging Leaders Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal. She was recognized for her invention of a technology that detects and fixes microscopic flaws affecting the reliability of 3D-printed products.

What was the best part of your ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ experience?

Probably the relationships I built in graduate school — the classes, labs and research aren’t easy, but when you are surrounded by people all going through the same trials, the load seems to lighten a bit. Another highlight was transitioning to a Research 1 (R1) Institute with pretty rockin’ school spirit for graduate school. My undergraduate program was at a small liberal arts college in California, the University of San Diego, where we were all too distracted by getting to live at the beach to remember our sports teams.

How do you describe your research?

The goal of my research is to help transform traditional manufacturing as we know it. We are working to develop a fundamental understanding of a technology called photopolymer additive manufacturing, with an eye on the healthcare field and tissue engineering. Our process starts with liquid material (photopolymer) that reacts with light — so that wherever you shine light, it solidifies into a 3D part you've designed. This allows you to fabricate structures with an array of chemical and physical properties that would otherwise be impossible to make.

How did you and your team first discover flaws in 3D-printed products?

To 3D print using this technology, the resins must have absorbing qualities in order to confine the printing region to a single layer. For example, think about how the heart has four chambers; if you didn't confine the light to a defined region, you’d end up with a solid, useless blob of tissue-like material. However, this requires the material to have a gradient of properties throughout every layer, where the top is stiff and the bottom is soft. You can imagine the issues that might arise if the stiff regions of one layer didn’t quite attach to the soft region of the next layer. At NIST, we're working to not only understand these regions and how they bind together, but also reverse-engineer them to produce parts with complete 3D control of their mechanical and chemical properties.

Explain how your technology aids in the 3D printing of artificial organs.

The technology we invented to detect and remedy these microscopic flaws that threaten the safety and reliability of photopolymer 3D-printed structures paves the way for the use of this technology in tissue engineering. We built a 3D printer into an atomic force microscope to understand how materials change through-out the printing process. We are now working to reverse-engineer the process to print the ideal environment for cells to develop into representative tissues (like cartilage, bone and lungs).

What advancements do you hope to see in this technology?

I am cautiously optimistic that our work is pushing the field of tissue engineering closer to producing small, representative versions of interesting tissues along the lines of kidneys, cartilage, bones and more. These mini tissue structures, or organoids, have the potential to revolutionize pharmaceutical testing and personalized medicine. What I’ve been struck by and have found wonderful about this community is its commitment to collaboration and the understanding that the only way to truly reach the full potential of this field is by working together. That has me excited, being surrounded by so many brilliant collaborators, all working towards a dream that will potentially change the world.

Interview condensed and edited.

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Photos courtesy Callie Higgins

NIST’s Callie Higgins was recognized for her invention of a technology that detects and fixes microscopic flaws affecting the reliability of 3D-printed products.

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ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Student Embarks on a Simulated Mars Mission

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Student Embarks on a Simulated Mars Mission Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Kelsey Yandura

“Today, we woke up on Mars,” Shayna Hume (MAeroEngr’20; PhD’23) journaled on April 13, 2021. Nestled inside a two-story, 1,200-square-foot cylindrical habitat with five other aerospace specialists, it appeared to be true — red desert stretched out for miles in every direction, and the sunrise glowed orange over distant canyons.

It turns out, Utah’s high desert country is an eerie match for the Red Planet. Hume and her colleagues were embarking on a simulated mission via the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) just outside Hanksville, Utah. Civilization was merely seven miles away.

The MDRS, run by the global space advocacy organization The Mars Society, is the largest and longest-running Mars surface simulation facility in the world. Its mission? To help humanity prepare for the rigors and challenges of life on Mars through “analog astronaut missions” in which research crews spend two weeks living as though they’re on the Red Planet. They live in the habitat conducting experiments, eating freeze-dried food and generally living as though the air outside is not breathable.

“[An analog space mission] is a scientific expedition to locations on Earth that simulate the extreme conditions of space,” Hume explained. “These places usually are either very, very hot or very, very cold because those tundras and deserts are the most similar to space that we can get on Earth.”

Hume’s crew, who dubbed themselves the “Red Planet People,” decided to enter the simulation overnight so they could “wake up” on Mars. “It was with an eerie knowledge that today would be very different from yesterday,” Hume journaled that morning. They had officially turned in their tech, sealed up the doors and hatches and joined the ranks of analog Martian astronauts.

Journey to the Stars

Over the course of the past seven years, Hume has thrown her heart, soul and academic vigor into aerospace.

“What happens when you put a bunch of young people who are very ambitious in a room for a weekend?” Hume laughed. “We came up with so many ideas.

A doctoral student in aerospace engineering, Hume studies spacecraft landing systems and takes particular interest in the project management side of aerospace. While pursuing her degree, Hume took part in the inaugural Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, a prestigious mentoring program that accepts 30 college students per year interested in commercial spaceflight.

It was through this program that, in 2018, she met three of the crewmates who would eventually make up the Red Planet People.

“What happens when you put a bunch of young people who are very ambitious in a room for a weekend?” Hume laughed. “We came up with so many ideas. We started discussing what opportunities we could take advantage of together, now that we had this little community,” said Hume. “Out of all that brainstorming came the idea of doing an analog astronaut mission.”

The group applied to the privately funded program, and they were accepted for the spring of 2020. In April, they embarked on their mission to “Mars.”

A Sol in the Life

After quarantining for weeks, rigorously preparing and planning menus, experiments and schedules, the crew settled in for two weeks in the habitat (or “hab”) — a structure consisting of a bathroom, airlock and spacesuit room, “staterooms” (long tube bedrooms you can slide into at night), a kitchen and common space table.

Hailing from academic institutions across the U.S., the Red Planet People were six strong: Dylan Dickstein as mission commander, Shayna Hume as executive officer, Julio Hernandez as crew botanist, Olivia Ettlin as crew scientist, Shavran Hariharan as crew engineer and Alex Coultrup as health and safety officer, as well as media officer.

For two weeks, the crew woke at 7:30 a.m., congregated for breakfast at 8 and started procedures for the EVA (extravehicular activity) by 8:30 — sterilizing equipment, going over checklists, checking vitals, getting into flight suits. Then, part of the crew would don spacesuits and head out to conduct various experiments with a rover named Perseverance, while the rest of the crew stayed back to monitor hab operations.

As executive officer, Hume oversaw the project management of the crew as a whole while they performed various experiments. Subject matter spanned the gamut — Ettlin constructed and maintained a small hydroponic garden with peas and onions; Hernandez experimented growing peas using soil chemically simulated to mimic Martian soil; Hariharan conducted a dexterity experiment testing other crew members’ reaction times while wearing different types of spacesuit padding.

“The research we did was independently run and was largely ‘proof of concept’ research for us to explore options for longer and more rigorous studies in future analog missions,” Hume explained. In other words, this first mission was hopefully the first of many for the Red Planet People.

An Unpredictable Planet

Life in “space” may be a fun novelty, but it’s also far from easy, according to Hume. She described the experience as landing somewhere between a deployment and a research expedition. The team operated on very limited technology. They could send only a couple of emails every day and had to ration a limited amount of data so they could submit their daily reports.

The schedule, planned by Hume, was rigorous. “I wanted to run a tight ship,” she said. However, she later discovered that even the best-laid plans can fall apart in an environment with so many variables.

“You see the world without borders. You realize that we’re all connected.”

“We were told that we would only finish 50 percent of what we intended to do while we were there, and that was completely true,” said Hume. “I found out that you can do a lot of planning, but as soon as you are in simulation, emergencies happen. There would be a ‘leak’ somewhere we needed to fix. Our scissors would break while collecting soil samples. A radio would malfunction. An unexpected storm blew through.”

But perhaps the most challenging aspect was the feeling of constantly being on call.

“Being an astronaut is a full-time job. It’s very hard to clock out,” Hume noted. “It was like an extreme version of working from home. We really had to put effort into solidifying our off time and our alone time because we were exhausted by the end of two weeks working around the clock.”

“It’s hard because anyone who ends up on Mars will be a passionate person who loves what they do. It’s easy to throw yourself into it completely. So, giving space for mental health, giving space for self care, those are things that are very easy to ignore in engineering because they’re not the goal of the mission. But they’re really important in the long run.”

The Overview Effect, From Earth

When many astronauts are in space, they describe something that has been termed “the overview effect”— a cognitive shift that happens when you view Earth from space. From that massively zoomed-out perspective, our planet appears fragile and united. “You see the world without borders. You realize that we’re all connected,” said Hume. “Almost every astronaut has talked about the overview effect. It’s become quite famous.”

"I could see how close we are to the future that’s ahead of us. It’s not as far away as we think.”

Even as an analog astronaut, Hume reported feeling remnants of the overview effect while at the MDRS.

“You couldn’t forget that you are in simulation, but you could kind of blur the line for a few minutes. It was an eerie feeling. We would look out the little porthole windows of the station, and because we’ve been in simulation for two weeks at that point, it was very easy to imagine that we were actually in a different world, so far away from the planet we call ‘home.’”

Even though the Red Planet People never left the ground, the experience amplified Hume’s passion for advancing the future of aerospace.

“Eventually, people are going to be looking at the same type of view we did, except it is going to actually be on Mars. That’s a very exciting feeling,” said Hume. “I don’t quite have the words for it yet, but it put me in a headspace where I could see how close we are to the future that’s ahead of us. It’s not as far away as we think.”

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Photos by Dylan Dickstein & The Mars Society / MDRS

PhD student Shayna Hume and her crew of “Red Planet People” found out firsthand what life on Mars could be like by spending two weeks inside a simulated mission.

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News Tidbits From ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder Fall 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

News Tidbits From ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder Fall 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

JILA physicist Jun Ye wins Breakthrough Prize

Theatre program receives record-breaking gift from alum Roe Green

Ancient Elephant Bone Tools

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ researchers surveyed the highest number of flanked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids ever discovered.

400,000

Years ago humans produced sophisticated tools from bones near Rome, Italy

13 ft.

Height of the straight-tusked elephants whose bones made the tools

Tools identified

Smoothing tool found that wouldn’t become common until 100,000 years later

1979–1991

Years the site, Castel di Guido, was excavated

2021

The team’s findings were published in the journal Plos One

Alum Wins Breakthrough Prize

JILA physicist Jun Ye (PhDPhys’97) was awarded the 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his groundbreaking atomic clock research. The optical lattice clock he designed enables precision tests of the laws of nature. His clocks are so precise, they would not gain or lose a second in about 15 billion years. Ye has worked at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder, for more than two decades.

Theatre Program Receives Record-Breaking Gift

Roe Green (Comm, Thtr’70) gave $5 million to ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder’s theatre program, the largest ever for the Department of Theatre & Dance. The gift will fund an acoustic upgrade for the University Theatre, establish endowed funds for student scholarships and fund events designed to further students’ careers. In recognition of the donation, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ will change the name of University Theatre to the Roe Green Theatre, which is expected to reopen after renovations in fall 2023.

Fish Fins Inspire New Designs

The long, thin bones in fish fins contain segmented hinges that enable the fins to be flexible and strong. ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder mechanical engineering professor Francois Barthelat and his team are studying the little-researched mechanical benefits of this segmented structure, with the hope that similarly modeled designs could aid in better underwater propulsion systems, new robotic materials and aircraft design.

Heard Around Campus

When people ask you, ‘Why do you like horror?’…they phrase that really carefully. … What they really mean is, ‘Why are you such a weirdo?’”

— ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder English professor of distinction Steven Graham Jones in a ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder Today interview talking about his new horror novel My Heart is a Chainsaw, published by Simon & Schuster.

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Photos courtesy ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder

Alum wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, ancient elephant bone tool discoveries, fish fin inspired designs and more.

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Engineering

Full STEM Ahead: ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Engineering Steps Up

How is the College of Engineering and Applied Science changing at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ?

You’ve put a major emphasis on recruiting more female engineers. Why is this important for the college?

Where do gender parity efforts start at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ?

You’ve been focused on fusing engineering with business. What impact has that had?

You recently created a new position within the college: Assistant Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The college is dramatically scaling up its economic impact for ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ, with a particular focus on translating research into business success.

In 2021, ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ built the Rustandy Building, connecting the Engineering Center and the Koelbel Building, home to the Leeds School of Business. What was the thinking behind this fusion?

How do you measure success for the college?

How does engineering fit in with the rest of the campus?

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Engineering professor Matt Morris Rebuilds His Home with ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Students

December 2023

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News Tidbits From ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Boulder Fall 2021

Alum Wins Breakthrough Prize

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Heard Around Campus

Related Articles

Full STEM Ahead: ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Engineering Steps Up

How is the College of Engineering and Applied Science changing at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ?

Where do gender parity efforts start at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ?

The college is dramatically scaling up its economic impact for ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, with a particular focus on translating research into business success.

In 2021, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ built the Rustandy Building, connecting the Engineering Center and the Koelbel Building, home to the Leeds School of Business. What was the thinking behind this fusion?

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News Tidbits From ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder Fall 2021