The CU Solar Decathlon team opened the doors of its 2007 solar home to the public for "Green Frontier Fest," a city of Denver event showcasing Colorado's green energy technologies during the Democratic National Convention.

CU Solar Home Shines at DNC
Thousands of people got a chance to inspect the innovative zero-energy home designed and built by CU engineering and architecture students, at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last month.

CU architecture graduate Bryan Heidmous explains some of the home’s alternative technologies and materials to a group of DNC volunteers.

Visitors learned about the home’s building-integrated photovoltaic panels, which provide a waterproof roofing shell while collecting all of the energy needed to power the home, along with its ductless HVAC system with architecturally integrated heat exchangers, and mechanical spine in which the plumbing and HVAC system are centralized in a prefabricated, modular core.

Among those who toured the home Aug. 24-28 were Colorado First Lady Jeannie Ritter, actress Daryl Hannah, a Denver charter school group, and numerous others interested in energy efficiency and state-of-the-art solar building techniques. “We talked to a lot of people over five days,” said Chad Corbin, civil engineering graduate student and project manager for the 2007 decathlon home.

Students Enter Underwater Vehicle Competition
A CU student team advised by Kamran Mohseni of aerospace engineering sciences received the award for “Best New Entry” and a $500 prize in the 11th annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition in San Diego last month. The competition challenged students to design and build an AUV capable of navigating realistic underwater missions. Twenty-five teams from the U.S., India, Canada and Japan participated in the event, which was organized by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the Office of Naval Research.

New on the Web
A new and improved website has been developed for the Discovery Learning Center and its associated programs. Go to Discovery Learning for information about undergraduate research and DLC labs and conference rooms.

ITLL's Building-as-a-Learning-Tool System is Back
Students and professors can once again access the data from the ITL Lab’s 300+ sensors. Instrumented systems include wall temperatures, HVAC systems, window glazing, and many other building systems. This data can be used to teach heat transfer, thermodynamics, building systems, statics, and many other subjects. View the web site at http://blt.colorado.edu or contact Darren McSweeney for help with instruction and training.

Honors & Awards
Congratulations to the following individuals on their outstanding achievements:

Faculty
Ronggui Yang of mechanical engineering was selected as one of the Top 35 Young Innovators by Technology Review, a publication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Janet deGrazia of chemical and biological engineering received the college’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award.

John McCartney of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering received the Young IGS Member Achievement Award from the International Geosynthetics Society. The award was presented Sept. 9 at the fourth European Geosynthetics Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Daniel Scheeres of aerospace engineering sciences, and Keith Molenaar and Bill Yearsley of the construction engineering and management program in civil, environmental, and architectural engineering have been appointed to named faculty positions. Scheeres holds the Richard Seebass Chair; Molenaar holds the Stanton Lewis Chair, and Yearsley holds the Nicholas Petry Professorship.

The following faculty passed milestones in their service to CU-Boulder in August:
John Zhai, Robert McLeod ― 5 years
Ken Anderson, Kurt Maute, Scott Summers, Shelly Miller ― 10 years
Joseph Ryan, Marty Dunn, Xiao-Chuan Cai, Harihar Rajaram, Melinda Picket-May, Ted Randolph ―15 years
Andrew Pleszkun, Mike Brandemuehl, Kelvin Wagner, John Daily ― 20 years
Victor Saouma ―25 years
Ed Kuester ― 30 years

Staff
The following staff passed milestones in their service to CU-Boulder in July and August:
Sherry Snyder―20 years
Daniel Fitzstephens ―10 years

Larry Monke of mechanical received the college’s Outstanding Staff Advisor Award.

Chris Schenk of computer science received the Employee Recognition Award for September.

New Faculty & Staff
Welcome to the following new staff joining the college:
Joan Wiesman, accounting tech, aerospace engineering sciences
Cathy Burrell, administrative assistant, chemical and biological engineering
Amy Walker, administrative assistant to Associate Dean Chris Bowman
Eric McCready, associate director, Engineering Development
Aleta Sherman, director of corporate and foundation relations, Engineering Development

New chairs and directors:
Timothy Brown, Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program
Jeffrey Forbes, Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Daria Kotys-Schwartz, CU-Boulder/Mesa State College Partnership
Jana Milford, GoldShirt Program

RETURN TO TOP