Jun. 29, 2026 - Alumni Newsletter
CU Engineering Magazine
In this year's edition of the CU Engineering Magazine:
Jacob Segil, a research professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder, and Dr. Omer Mei Dan from the Department of Orthopedics at University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine are the architects behind a redesigned surgical instrument called the CAP-LIFT cannula. The device has completely transformed arthroscopic procedures in the hip region, making them safer and more efficient. But like many engineering projects, achieving real-world impact doesn’t just happen overnight.
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About CU Engineering Magazine
CU Engineering is a magazine for alumni and friends of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. The magazine highlights the power of engineering to transform lives. Whether through engineering research, technologies and education the college is seeking solutions to the world’s significant problems.
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Community Headlines
CU Boulder mechanical engineering graduate program ranks top 15
The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate program at CU Boulder was ranked 14th amongst public institutions for 2026-27, according to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools rankings. Up three spots from last year, the program continues to build on its growing national reputation.
Graduating student Asaiah Gifford wins prestigious Silver Medal award
Asaiah Gifford, a mechanical engineering student graduating this spring, has been selected by the Colorado Engineering Council to receive this year’s Silver Medal Award. One of the state’s top honors for undergraduate engineers, the Silver Medal recognizes students who embody the values of academic excellence, personal integrity, professionalism and community service.
ME students, alum among this year's New Venture Challenge winners
Undergraduate students Jack Mulvaney and Josh Shewbridge, graduate student Dan Miltenberger and ME alum Justin Whiteley (MMechEngr’14, PhD’16) have won a combined $165,000 in startup funding along with their respective teams as part of this year's New Venture Challenge competition. Their startups, Kioga, Ptarmigan Clockworks and WatchPost, specialize in developing cutting-edge technology that offer next-generation solutions in health, wireless networks and environmental safety.
ME outreach program brings big engineering dreams to small rural towns
Associate Research Professor Daniel Knight and Professor Michael Hannigan are leading an outreach program that connects CU Boulder students with rural high schools to introduce hands-on engineering experiences in the classroom. The initiative, known as the Science and Engineering Inquiry Collaborative (SCENIC), serves 12 schools and nearly 700 high school students across rural Colorado each year, turning local questions about air and soil quality into real-world research projects.
Nine mechanical engineering students earn 2026 graduating student awards
Nine students from the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering have earned graduating student awards from the College of Engineering and Applied Science in 2026. These awards honor seniors who are nominated by faculty, staff or fellow students for their outstanding contributions to the college and campus community.
ME students, faculty earn inaugural Community Belonging Awards
Undergraduate student Daniel Pagatpatan, Graduate student Olivia Felton and Associate Teaching Professor Carmen Pacheco are among the first recipients of the Community Belonging Awards, a new campuswide honor recognizing exceptional contributions by students, staff and faculty to fostering belonging within and across CU Boulder communities.
Research and Innovation Stories
Diseases can spread between apartments via shared ventilation, study shows
New research led by Professor Emerita Shelly Miller and recent PhD graduate Alberto Garcia suggests airborne diseases like measles, influenza and COVID-19 can easily spread between units in multi-family buildings via a type of bathroom ventilation system commonly used around the world. The study, conducted inside an older high-rise in Spain early in the coronavirus pandemic, adds to a growing body of evidence that airborne viruses can spread between separated indoor spaces, transmitting disease without face-to-face contact.
New blood clot technology could transform emergency medicine
Blood clotting is one of the body’s oldest survival mechanisms, protecting humans from dangerous bleeding for millions of years. But when severe injuries strike, nature’s solution can sometimes fall short. Now, Associate Professor Rong Long and his team are helping test a new type of engineered blood clot that forms faster and is more durable than the ones found in nature. The new technique could one day transform how doctors treat traumatic injuries and manage life-threatening blood loss.
A powerhouse in battery breakthroughs
The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering has emerged as a leading hub for battery innovation, producing breakthrough research and a series of successful startups—including Solid Power, SiILion, Forge Nano and Mana Battery—that are advancing safer, cheaper and more effective energy storage technologies. Led by faculty and alumni, these companies have turned laboratory discoveries into significant economic and societal impact.
Staple-like particles reveal new path to strong materials
A tightly packed ball of office staples can be surprisingly strong. Try to pull it apart and the tangled metal resists like a solid object. But with the right movement or vibration, that same bundle can quickly fall back into loose pieces. Professor Francois Barthelat and his team are exploring how this uncanny combination of strength and flexibility could inspire a new class of materials built on interlocking particles.
ME senior project turns waste heat into clean energy savings
Many industrial facilities rely on cryogenic gases for processes such as cooling, materials testing or energy transport. But before those gases can be used, they must be vaporized with electricity-intensive equipment that can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars each year. A team of seniors are working to address that problem by developing a heat-exchange device for their senior capstone project that captures waste heat circulating through refrigeration systems.
How ME researchers are studying the science of avalanches
Colorado has seen how deadly avalanches can be. But as we face a climate crisis, it's increasingly important to understand the changing physics of avalanches. That's why Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend and her students in the Granular Flow Laboratory are conducting small-scale avalanches to get an up-close look of how snow behaves.