Aug. 3, 2026 - ME Faculty & Staff Newsletter
Tuesday, Aug. 18. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Koelbel Building
Drawing on Colorado's exceptional concentration of academic research, national laboratories and technology companies, the part research showcase and part open house summit is designed to spark new partnerships and establish an annual signature event for the engineering community. Check out the schedule and RSVP today to explore opportunities for industry collaboration and bring ME research to industry partners!
Department Highlights
Video: PhD student designs mobility technology to improve human performance
Fourth-year PhD student Olivia Felton is helping advance research aimed at improving mobility and quality of life for individuals living with movement challenges. Watch the video to learn how Felton’s passion for movement led her to engineering research—and how she's helping shape the future of mobility through innovation.
Ban takes next-generation battery research global with Fulbright award
Chunmei Ban has received a Fulbright Global Scholar award to explore the future of energy storage through next-generation battery technologies. The award will support collaborations with researchers in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Germany, where Ban will study safer battery materials, investigate emerging non-lithium battery alternatives and strengthen global partnerships in battery research and education.
Milford discusses the benefits of clean air regulations
Over the past 40 years, there has been a general consensus that the benefits of air-pollution regulations, achieved through research, rulemaking, and advancing technology, have greatly outweighed the costs. However, this year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a precedent to ignore long-standing estimates of health benefits. Professor Emerita Jana Milford discusses how this departure is likely to harm the health of Americans as well as the environment, and it raises the question of how durable, evidence-based policy will be built in the future.
MacCurdy earns inaugural Creative Futures Fellowship
Associate Professor Robert MacCurdy has been announced as part of this year's inaugural cohort of Creative Futures Fellows, supporting arts, humanities and social science projects that address challenges facing communities in Colorado and beyond. His group's project, titled "Squishyd," turns ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ metamaterial research into customizable sensory fidget tools that support focus, self-regulation and well-being.