Science & Technology

Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:29:29 +0000

Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:29

Christie Sounart

At more than 870 miles above Earth, this was no ordinary violin recital.

On Sept. 13, 2024, Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) played “Rey’s Theme” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by legendary composer John Williams — from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. As she played, Gillis firmly pressed her violin to her shoulder with her chin as she floated around the zero-gravity chamber, her hair flowing wildly.

Gillis’ three astronaut crewmembers filmed the inaugural performance as part of the Polaris Program’s Polaris Dawn mission, then transmitted the video to Earth via Starlink, a laser-based satellite communication.

Polaris Dawn posted the video, “Harmony of Resilience,” on X that day as part of a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and El Sistema USA, which supports American music education programs. The video included Gillis’ performance and clips from orchestras playing the same piece in Los Angeles, Boston, Haiti, Sweden, Brazil, Uganda and Venezuela.

“The whole music moment was meant to inspire and show what’s possible when you can bring the world together,” Gillis said in an interview two months after returning to Earth.

“The whole music moment was meant to inspire and show what’s possible when you can bring the world together.”

Gillis reflected on the months of preparation for the performance, which included having engineers completely reconstruct her violin to survive the harsh space environment, and meeting Williams himself at the Los Angeles recording session.

“That was probably more stressful than actually going to space, if I’m completely honest,” said Gillis, who does not play violin professionally. “I was so nervous that he would show up and say, ‘No, you don’t have the rights to use this anymore.’ And instead he was so kind and supportive.”

From Training Astronauts to Becoming One

Gillis first gained interest in space as a high school student at �山��’s Shining Mountain Waldorf School, where she attended a �山�� space for nonmajors course with her brother David Levine (FilmSt, Hist’13) and met former CU instructor and NASA astronaut Joe Tanner. Tanner helped Gillis with a space-related project she had for school, and he encouraged her to consider engineering at �山��.

“He really planted that seed,” she said. “I honestly don’t know that I would’ve considered engineering if that hadn’t happened.”

After Gillis returned to Earth, Tanner — who flew on four NASA space shuttle flights from 1994 to 2006 — was eager to swap space stories with her.

“Being a friend to Sarah was perhaps my greatest joy during my eight years at CU,” said Tanner. “I may have helped open a few doors for her, but she made everything happen. I couldn’t be more proud of her, even if she were my own daughter.”

During her junior year at CU, Gillis took an internship at SpaceX that lasted more than two years. She helped develop and test displays and interfaces on the interior of the company’s Dragon spacecraft, the first private spacecraft to take humans to and from the International Space Station.

“I got to see some of those design decisions in space on my mission,” she said. She joined SpaceX full time in August 2017 as a space operations engineer, training astronauts on the interfaces she’d already worked on.

Several years later, her boss called a surprise meeting with her. Jared Isaacman, Polaris Dawn’s mission commander, was there to invite her to become part of the crew as a mission specialist, joining himself, Scott Poteet (mission pilot) and Anna Menon (medical officer and mission specialist).

“My response was, ‘Hell yes, but I’ll need to talk to some people first,” she said. “I immediately walked out of the room and straight downstairs to my husband, who worked at SpaceX with me. He had his headphones on at his desk. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ … It was very special to share that exciting news.”

Five Record-Breaking Days

Two and a half years later, on Sept. 10, 2024, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the crew’s main objectives on the mission was to conduct research to help better understand the human effects of space flight and space radiation. This included the first spacewalk from Dragon.

On the third day of the mission, Gillis and Isaacman exited the spacecraft in SpaceX’s newly designed and developed extravehicular activity spacesuits. For 10 minutes, she tested different components of the suit and became, at 30 years old, the youngest astronaut to complete a spacewalk.

When asked to describe the feat in one word, she settled on “dark.”

“I was emerging into the total blackness of space. It’s this immense void where you realize how close to Earth we are and how much is still left to explore out there, but it’s also this overwhelming dark blanket that is surrounding you.”

"It’s this immense void where you realize how close to Earth we are and how much is still left to explore out there."

The next day was her violin performance, which was planned to test the connectivity of SpaceX’s Starlink laser-based internet from space. The data may help improve communications for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The crew also conducted other experiments — including gathering data on space radiation — that could help advance human health for future long-duration space flights.

Gillis noted one surprising aspect of being in space she hadn’t prepared for: how easily things got lost without the presence of gravity.

“It was always a constant treasure hunt of, ‘Has anybody seen this? Has anybody seen that?’” she said, adding that a missing camera SD card was found in the spacecraft weeks after landing. “You’d stick something with Velcro, then turn around and it would be gone.”

The historic mission lasted five days and ended with a successful splashdown off the coast of Florida.

“I hope that it is inspiring to people to see what the future of human spaceflight could be and where we’re going — that it is a possibility that more and more people are going to go to space.”

“I hope that it is inspiring to people to see what the future of human spaceflight could be and where we’re going — that it is a possibility that more and more people are going to go to space,” Gillis said.

The Next Step

Gillis’ husband, Lewis Gillis (Aero Engr’17; MS’17), formerly a SpaceX senior propulsion engineer, reflected on his wife’s extraordinary career to date when the couple visited campus this past November.

“With some curiosity and passion and connecting to all the humans around her, Sarah’s made it quite a long way,” he said. “I’m excited to see what she builds next and who she meets along the way.”

Gillis said she would reconsider another spaceflight if given the opportunity, but she is eager for others to experience space first. She remains in her astronaut training position at SpaceX.

Reflecting on her historic mission, she said: “I think the more people we can get into space to see the world from that perspective, the better off humanity will be.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo by Glenn Asakawa; Polaris Dawn Crew (violin)

SpaceX's Sarah Gillis made history by becoming the youngest astronaut to complete a spacewalk and perform the first violin recital in space.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2025

White

Thinking Huts Is Printing a Brighter Future

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:24:56 +0000

Thinking Huts Is Printing a Brighter Future Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:24

Kelsey Yandura

In 2015, “3D printing” still conjured up images of the absurd, the novel or the futuristic — think custom tabletop game pieces, small replacement parts, decorative novelties and even 3D-printed chocolate.

But Maggie Grout (Mgmt’21) has never been one to think small. At just 15 years old, three years before she enrolled as a Buff, Grout walked up to her dad and asked a life-changing question: “What if we 3D-printed a school?”

The answer, in the form of Grout’s nonprofit Thinking Huts, would ripple out to impact not only her own future, but the futures of families and communities across the globe.

Welcome to Bougainvillea

In 2022, seven years after Grout’s initial idea sparked, Bougainvillea was born — a 700-square foot, 3D-printed school in south central Madagascar and Thinking Huts’ first officially completed project.

According to data from UNESCO and the United Nations, sub-Saharan Africa faces the highest education exclusion rates in the world. In Madagascar, the crisis is acute: three-fourths of secondary-age children don’t attend school due to issues like overcrowding and dangerous commutes. One-third won’t complete primary education, and 97 percent of 10-year-olds who finish primary school cannot read simple sentences.

Thinking Huts hopes to change that. Bougainvillea is small but mighty, holding up to 30 students and serving as a beacon of hope for the local community and proof of Thinking Huts’ potential to address the global education opportunity gap.

And while the grunt work of planning and preparing spanned the better part of a decade, the execution was swift — using an industrial-scale 3D printer and a cement mixture, an on-site team printed the modular wall components in just 18 hours. These units were designed to fit together seamlessly, forming a puzzle-like assembly to complete the structure. The roof, doors and windows, handcrafted by local artisans and builders, were added on several weeks later.

Grout recalls: “When I was looking at the walls being printed, I kept thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is crazy. It’s finally happening.’”

Patience Pays Off

Thinking Huts was forged at the intersection of two different causes: education and sustainability. For Grout, they are intimately connected.

“We know that in order for us to continue to increase access to education in these communities, we have to have a focus on sustainable building metrics,” said Kristen Harrington, director of development at Thinking Huts. “A lot of organizations focus on speed. But if you’re looking at how to build more holistic communities and better equip families and address the poverty cycle, you have to take the whole picture into account.”

While this kind of long-term, intersectional problem-solving does not lend itself to the immediate gratification of a “quick fix” — each decision requires careful thought, planning and foresight — Grout said the result is lasting.

“It’s not an overnight thing,” said Grout. “We’re trying to set up the next few generations to succeed and go further than us, rather than thinking of the short term. It’s a long haul type of journey.”

A Relational Approach

For Thinking Huts, this kind of holistic approach means focusing on building strong, equitable, sustainable relationships in their partner communities.

“Relationship building is a slow drip,” Harrington said. “It’s an opportunity for us to really assess what’s going to be able to create sustainability in these structures for generations.”

In order to create this sense of longevity, Thinking Huts spends time building trust with community leaders and students, taking their needs and skills into account and assessing how to collaborate with local workers, builders, artisans and technicians. For Bougainvillea, this meant partnering with area manufacturers in the construction process, handing off 3D operational skills that can be applied to future construction projects.

Grout said this relationship-first ethos has roots in her years at �山��, where she said the people she met were the most impactful, including her mentorship with Mike Leeds (Fin’74).

“I think even now I’m realizing how critical it is to have a network of people around you,” she said. “The relationships I developed are the biggest things that I took away from school.”

CEO with a Story

Grout said her passion for educational opportunities has been a lifelong journey. Born and abandoned in a rural village in China, she was adopted by American parents at 18 months old and grew up in the U.S.

“I think I’ve already always been more aware of how people’s lives are different from mine,” said Grout. “I had big visions from a young age, just knowing my life could have followed a very different path. That’s what drew me more to understanding the importance of education.”

The result is a work ethic and leadership style that Harrington said extends beyond her years and has garnered international attention from major media outlets like Forbes and Good Morning America. In fall 2024, Grout was featured as one of Time magazine’s featured “Next Generation Leaders.”

“Maggie has this true grit and determination,” said Harrington. “She doesn’t want any child to feel like they don’t have the access that she had because she was adopted. So now she can bring opportunity to children in the pockets of the world that often don’t see innovation.”

Honeycomb on the Horizon

For Grout and her team of 10, Bougainvillea is just the beginning. Next up is the Honeycomb Campus. Named for its design of adjoining hexagonal bases, this multi-building project will serve three remote villages on the west coast of Madagascar. The project is set to include solar power and Wi-Fi access and will impact more than 200 students ages four to 16, starting in summer 2025.

When asked about her approach to the future and how she’d encourage other innovators in philanthropy and sustainability, Grout emphasized a sense of hope.

“I know that what we do now will have a major impact later on,” she said. “I am trying to aspire for a legacy of change, even if it takes time.”

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos courtesy Thinking Huts

Thinking Huts, founded by Maggie Grout, uses 3D printing technology to build sustainable schools in underserved communities.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2025

White

Sustainable Spinouts: Innovation in Action

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:20:54 +0000

Sustainable Spinouts: Innovation in Action Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:20

Heather Hansen

Imagine strolling down a sidewalk made from algae or building a wall with the help of microbes grown in a bioreactor.

This extraordinary image may sound futuristic, but the technology is already here, thanks to Prometheus Materials, a sustainability-focused �山�� spinout giving concrete blocks a makeover with the help of environmentally-friendly bio-cement-making bacteria, algae and microbes.

�山�� civil, environmental and architectural engineering professor Wil Srubar founded the Longmont-based company in 2021 with CEO Loren Burnett and a cross-disciplinary team of �山�� collaborators, including civil, environmental and architectural engineering associate professors Mija Hubler and Sherri Cook and the late Jeff Cameron, formerly of biochemistry.

The impetus for the research group formed several years earlier around a call for proposals from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) focused on developing new technologies for the military.

“It sounded impossible, a bit like a Frankenstein objective of bringing building materials to life.”

“Our charge from the DoD was to grow a material that had both biological and structural function,” said Srubar. “It sounded impossible, a bit like a Frankenstein objective of bringing building materials to life.”

But the challenge was right for Srubar, who leads �山��’s Living Materials Laboratory, where researchers aim to create construction materials that are in harmony with the natural world.

“We had been thinking about these concepts for some time,” he said. “But this was the first government investment in this particular area that really catalyzed an entirely new field.”

After two years of “spinning their wheels,” said Srubar, the team had a breakthrough in the lab when they made the first sample of engineered living materials that fulfilled DARPA’s requirements. Srubar said this success required looking back — way back — to life on Earth before humans. They were inspired by formations called stromatolites, stony structures built by microscopic photosynthesizing organisms known as cyanobacteria, which are among the oldest living lifeforms on the planet.

“We know nature has built really strong, tough materials,” said Srubar.

By studying the composition of coral and seashells, for example, the team figured out how to make lab-grown versions of the natural phenomena.

“You apply principles of biomimicry, you bring that process into the lab and beautiful things can happen,” he said.

Now Prometheus Materials, named for the legendary Greek god who introduced fire and other technologies to humans, is making sustainable building materials with a process that combines microalgae with other natural components to form zero-carbon bio-cement and bio-concrete with the major goal of reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry.

This is so important because making concrete — the most ubiquitous human-made building material on earth — generates massive amounts of CO2 and contributes significantly to climate change. Global cement manufacturing produces 11 million tons of CO2 every day (roughly equivalent to emissions from all the cars in the world), or about 8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, demand for cement in the U.S. alone is expected to double by 2050.

As the company realizes its transformative role in the construction industry, it has raised $8 million in private funding in the past year and was awarded a role in a $10 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) that will fund collaboration between a trio of national labs. Within this partnership, Prometheus will join other institutions in the field to establish methods for measuring, reporting and verifying CO2 removal and sequestration in cement and concrete materials.

Environmental Stewardship

Prometheus is just one example of �山��’s strong network of researchers bringing innovations out of labs and into companies that have real-world impact — the university is a national leader and spinout powerhouse, launching 35 companies in fiscal year 2024 and over 100 since 2016, according to Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships. Since 2000, the university has launched 44 sustainability-focused spinouts, including a dozen new companies in just the past few years, said Rees, who leads Venture Partners at �山��, the university’s commercialization arm for the campus.

According to Rees and Srubar, several factors combine to make �山�� so effective at generating these kinds of companies: research expertise, commercialization resources, market need and an eagerness to improve our world.

“There’s such a history of environmental stewardship here at the University of Colorado, and in �山�� specifically, and that’s very much a part of our institutional fabric,” said Srubar. “We do sustainability research really well and it’s one, if not the pillar, of our education and research mission at the university.”

Rees agreed: “It’s a function of our research prowess in that area. There are many highly talented researchers who care deeply about the climate crisis, and so that’s where they’ve oriented their research.”

Those innovations could be used in lots of different ways, but Rees shared, “The innovators are saying, ‘We want to apply these technologies to really important problems.’”

For Srubar and others, the drive to make the world a better place is strong.

“It all begins with a vision and a belief that, first, the world is not static; it can become whatever you dream,” he said. “Understanding that you have the power and the potential to affect change is what really fueled me and our team.”

Rees also sees market need as critical to driving sustainability-focused ventures.

“There is an abundance of funding opportunities and demand from the market to have these types of solutions,” he said. “You’ve got the push from what �山�� is really good at, and you’ve got the pull from a true need for these types of solutions across different industries.”

“You’ve got the push from what �山�� is really good at, and you’ve got the pull from a true need for these types of solutions across different industries.”

Driving Meaningful Change

Another company with �山�� beginnings is the well-established, �山��-based LongPath, founded in 2017 by Greg Rieker, chief technology officer and �山�� associate professor of mechanical engineering, with colleagues Caroline Alden (PhDGeol’13), Sean Coburn (PhDChem’14) and Robert Wright, former �山�� senior researcher.

LongPath harnesses quantum technology to detect fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas operations, innovation that benefits industry and investors — and the planet. The company’s breakthroughs in laser technology and quantum sensing, rooted in �山��’s Nobel Prize-winning optical frequency comb technology, created a leak detection system to do what previous approaches could not: continuously detect invisible-to-the-eye natural gas escaping from pipes on-site at oil and gas facilities.

Finding and patching those leaks is a triple win — in industry cost savings (from $820 to $980 million per year), and improved air quality and public health. LongPath’s technology can identify natural gas leaks that sicken and displace thousands of people each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane.

Today, LongPath’s Active Emissions Overwatch System is live at oil and gas operations in several states, covering hundreds of thousands of acres. Rieker and his team see the impacts of those systems growing each day, and he estimates that each system saves between 40 and 80 million cubic feet of methane annually.

“Every time we deploy a new system, it really is impactful,” he said, adding the team still celebrates every large leak located. “We’ll nail a big one for a customer, and that’s exciting.”

Similar to Srubar, LongPath’s founders were motivated by protecting the environment.

“Many academics measure impact in terms of papers published or citation rates. I always wanted the impact of my work to be more palpable,” said Rieker. “In 2024, LongPath stopped more than 6 billion cubic feet of methane emissions and counting. That’s impact, and that’s why we launched.”

“Many academics measure impact in terms of papers published or citation rates. I always wanted the impact of my work to be more palpable.”

Wil Srubar of �山��'s Living Materials Laboratory

Recently, the company received landmark financial backing from the DOE for a loan of up to $189 million to accelerate the scale-up of the company’s monitoring systems.

Another game-changing company making significant strides in sustainability is Louisville-based Solid Power, founded in 2011, based on technology developed by �山�� mechanical engineering professor Se-Hee Lee and professor emeritus of mechanical engineering Conrad Stoldt (Chem’94).

Similar to Srubar and Prometheus Materials, Stoldt and Lee answered a call from DARPA. Their challenge was to double the energy density of a rechargeable battery.

“The metrics they wanted to reach were unheard of,” said Stoldt, but he and Lee accepted the challenge anyway. “We saw it as an opportunity… and we sat down and determined that, at least on paper, the only rechargeable battery technology that could meet the specs for the program was a solid-state battery.”

Lee and Stoldt partnered with Douglas Campbell, a small business and early-stage product developer, and chief technology officer Joshua Buettner-Garrett to start Solid Power. Along with then-mentor Dave Jansen, the team negotiated a commercialization agreement with Venture Partners (known then as the CU Technology Transfer Office), making the company an exclusive licensee to the university’s intellectual property.

What began as an idea Stoldt said was “bootstrapped” in �山�� labs, Solid Power is now an industry-leading developer of next-generation all-solid-state battery technology. As their name suggests, solid-state batteries (SSBs) differ from conventional batteries in that the electrolyte powering them is a solid material instead of a gel or liquid. That gives SSBs many advantages over lithium-ion batteries now widely used in electronics, toys, appliances and — critically — electric vehicles.

Solid Power’s design bests lithium-ion cells on safety, cost, durability and battery life — attributes long sought by consumers and automakers. Their technology swaps the flammable liquid in lithium-ion cells with a solid, sulfide-based electrolyte that is safer and more stable across a broad temperature range. Solid Power’s cells also easily outpace the conductivity and energy density of today’s best rechargeable batteries. The result is a smaller, lighter cell that is cheaper and has a longer-lasting charge.

Solid Power, which went public in 2021, employs many Forever Buffs and boasts major partnership deals with BMW and Ford, along with a new 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Thornton.

Their continued innovation was recognized with a recent $5.6 million DOE grant to continue developing its nickel- and cobalt-free cell, and, late last year, the company began award negotiations for up to $50 million in DOE funding. With this project, Solid Power intends to launch the world’s first continuous manufacturing process, allowing the company to produce its critical electrolyte material more quickly and at a lower cost.

From Lab to Marketplace

With the burgeoning success of Prometheus and others, Srubar hopes to inspire other researchers to make the leap to the marketplace. To that end, he was recently named Deming associate dean for innovation and entrepreneurship, a new role in the College of Engineering and Applied Science focused on building bridges between labs and the marketplace.

“This is something I’m so passionate about — shining a light for those inspired and driven by a vision to see change in the world and to follow that pathway of commercialization,” Srubar said. “I think �山��’s reputation will continue to grow in this space, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

“I think �山��’s reputation will continue to grow in this space, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Emerging ventures at �山��

PAGE Technologies: Co-founded in 2023 by Elliot Strand (MMatSciEngr’21; PhD’23) and Payton Goodrich to commercialize a low-cost platform to transform agricultural and environmental monitoring, enhance fertilizer use efficiency, improve water resource management and advance climate resilience efforts.
eat meati: Within months of beginning to collaboratively research mushroom root (mycelium) together as PhD students, Tyler Huggins (MEngr’13; PhDCivEngr’15) and Justin Whiteley (MMechEngr’14; PhD’16) knew they’d found a nature-based way to create meat alternatives.
Tynt Technologies: Founded in 2020 by Michael McGehee (�山�� Chemical and Biological Engineering) and then-PhD students Tyler Hernandez and Michael Strand. After developing the initial technology for energy-efficient windows at Stanford, they moved to �山�� to complete their work and found the company. Tynt allows users to fully control the light and solar heat entering a home, turning panes from clear to opaque with the touch of a button.
Latimer Controls: Founded in 2022 by Simon Julien (ApMath’21; MS’22) and Zachary Jacobs (ChemBiolEngr’21) to bring to market their innovative solar energy control system that solves the issue of intermittent renewable power. The technology was co-invented by Julien, working as an undergraduate and master’s student in collaboration with Bri-Mathias Hodge (Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering), Amirhossein Sajadi (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Mana Battery: A �山�� startup founded on discoveries from Chunmei Ban’s laboratory (�山�� Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering), is developing best-in-class sodium battery technology with the potential to replace lithium-ion batteries.
Green Steel Environmental: a �山�� startup founded on technology discovered by Mark Hernandez (Environmental Engineering) uses waste from steel manufacturing to replace hazardous chemicals from wastewater treatment.

Submit feedback to the editor

Illustrations by Daniele Simonelli

From engineered "living" sidewalks to quantum-fueled leak detection systems, several CU spinouts are bringing earth-focused breakthroughs to the marketplace.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2025

White

Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:49:47 +0000

Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:49

Kelsey Yandura

Elizabeth Frank (PhDGeol’14) is helping pave the way for a new era of space exploration and commerce as the chief scientist at Interlune, a Seattle-based startup aiming to become the first private company to harvest the Moon’s natural resources, namely the stable isotope helium-3.

This useful gas, while rare on Earth, is abundant on the Moon and sought after for its uses in medical imaging, nuclear fusion research, quantum computing and more. For the extraction and transportation of the isotope, Interlune plans to build a lunar harvester that the company would fly via spacecraft to the Moon.

What is the vision in terms of the future of space mining and space commerce?

We are trying to find novel ways to leverage the commercial space sector for planetary exploration. What makes people excited about Interlune is that even though we have this vision that seems kind of sci-fi, we have actual customers on Earth in areas like quantum computing, medical imaging and national security. There is an actual demand.

Your PhD was in planetary geochemistry at CU. What led you to �山��?

There’s an incredible space community in �山�� — a lot of interdisciplinary work among CU departments and organizations like LASP and the Southwest Research Institute. When I was touring CU, I was handed a list of planetary scientists in �山�� that was upwards of 50 people. I thought, “Oh my gosh, there’s just so much going on.”

Your work seems to challenge the idea that industries exist in a silo. Can you talk more about your multidisciplinary approach?

When you’re a PhD student, you are expected to be a specialist. But I don’t actually identify anymore as a specialist. I’m a generalist — I have a PhD in planetary geochemistry, but I’ve also worked in spacecraft engineering, mining consulting, business development and more. To move humanity forward, you need people like me to stitch the specialists’ work together in new and exciting ways.

What topics in the field have been piquing your interest these days?

Ethics and sustainability are really top of mind. The mining industry has a long legacy of harming both people and the environment. I think that we can learn from the mistakes of the past. We want to be intentional and thoughtful about how we use technology and extract space resources for human use.

Any thoughts or advice for recent graduates?

I think PhD students and graduates should know that just because you got your degree in one topic, doesn’t mean you have to stay in that field. You can redirect your career in unexpected and exciting ways. Stay open to opportunities and take them — you never know where they’ll lead you.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Frank

Elizabeth Frank (PhDGeol’14) is helping pave the way for a new era of space exploration and commerce as the chief scientist at Interlune, a Seattle-based startup aiming to become the first private company to harvest the Moon’s natural resources.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2024

White

The Making of Colorado’s Quantum Valley

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:42:06 +0000

The Making of Colorado’s Quantum Valley Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:42

Dan Strain

Qizhong Liang (PhDPhys’25) squeezes around a worktable tucked into the back corner of a CU physics lab. Spread out in front of him is an intricate arrangement of mirrors, lenses and tubes. But what draws Liang’s attention is what seems to be an empty plastic bag.

“Want to guess what it is?” asks Liang, a doctoral student at JILA, a joint research institute between �山�� and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The bag isn’t, in fact, empty but contains something almost precious: breath. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Colorado collected the sample from a child hospitalized with pneumonia. Liang’s tabletop apparatus will generate a powerful laser, known as a frequency comb, to scan the breath sample and identify the unique chemical fingerprints of the molecules floating inside.

Ultimately, Liang and his colleagues hope the laser can serve as a tool to diagnose children with asthma and pneumonia.

But he and his advisor, Jun Ye (PhDPhys’97), aren’t medical professionals. They’re researchers working at the forefront of a field called quantum physics, or the study of matter and energy at its most fundamental level, which deals in the bizarre behavior of things like atoms and electrons.

“This is brand new stuff,” said Liang. He notes that transforming such fundamental science into new technologies is thrilling, but also lonely. “You don’t have many [other experts] to talk to,” he said.

Yet the discipline may soon be a lot less lonely. Across the country, and particularly in Colorado, the momentum around quantum physics is gathering speed. Scientists and engineers are channeling their understanding of the field into technologies that could improve people’s lives.

“It’s a natural progression of the revolution that’s been ongoing since the 1960s,” said Ye, a JILA and NIST fellow and a professor adjoint of physics. “We are just getting faster.”

In Colorado alone, quantum technology companies employ roughly 3,000 people, a number that may jump to more than 10,000 across the Mountain West over the next decade, according to one estimate. Sitting at the center of this revolution is �山��, where researchers have spent decades trying to lasso the quantum realm — earning four Nobel Prizes in physics in the process. The university has launched a suite of programs to turn quantum advancements into real-world technologies. CU is also nearly unmatched among public universities when it comes to training students to become the next generation of quantum workers.

“The reason the state of Colorado has been so successful in quantum has been �山��,” said Heather Lewandowski (PhDPhys’02), a JILA fellow and professor in the Department of Physics. “It goes back to our foundational research and to our training and preparation of students.”

Colorado’s quantum future

This year marked a milestone for �山�� and the Mountain West in the global race for quantum innovation and leadership. In July, the coalition Elevate Quantum unlocked more than $127 million in federal and state funding for quantum advancements.

Elevate Quantum is a consortium of 120 organizations across Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming (�山�� is the powerhouse partner), with the mission of growing the Mountain West’s prowess as a global leader in the quantum industry.

After applying to the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Tech Hubs program, the coalition gained its official Tech Hub designation in 2023. Only 31 out of nearly 200 consortia were awarded the designation and could proceed to the program’s second phase: competing for implementation grants. In July, the federal government named Elevate Quantum one of the 12 Tech Hubs that would be awarded funding.

“It’s been a wild year,” said Scott Sternberg, executive director of the CUbit Quantum Initiative, which “convenes, coordinates and catalyzes” the quantum activities on campus. “The challenge is now to continue the fundamental discovery while also engineering quantum products and solutions for economic gain.”

The potential applications are vast. Ye, for example, leads a $25 million effort funded by the National Science Foundation called Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (Q-SEnSE). The bread and butter of his lab are atomic clocks — devices that tell time not with gears and hands, but by tracking the natural behavior of electrons. They’re so precise they can measure the change in gravity if you lift them up by just a fraction of a millimeter. One day, he envisions that scientists could use similar quantum devices to, for example, track magma flow deep below Yellowstone National Park, the site of a supervolcano.

Recently, he and his colleagues made groundbreaking work on a type of atomic clock known as a nuclear clock. It uses lasers to trigger, then measure, extremely small shifts in energy occurring within the nuclei of thorium atoms.

Another team of engineers at CU is using frequency comb lasers, similar to those in Ye’s lab, to detect methane leaks above oil and gas operations. Still others are using quantum sensors to map out the activity of the human brain and even search for elusive dark matter — the seemingly invisible substance that binds the universe together.

Quantum work is now expanding on �山��’s East Campus as well, in an initiative funded by the NSF and led by CU’s Scott Diddams, professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering. The $20 million grant will launch a new facility, the National Quantum Nanofab, where researchers and quantum specialists from Colorado and around the country can prototype and build new quantum technology.

The university is also helping to bring something else to Colorado: the next generation of quantum experts.

Quantum leaders of tomorrow

Denali Jah (EngrPhys’25), a senior studying engineering physics and applied math, found his way to physics in high school. He was having a hard time at home, and his physics teacher noticed and made a point of showing Jah how exciting science could be.

“I really appreciated his approach to life in general — it was one of curiosity,” Jah said.

In 2023, Jah joined the university’s first-ever cohort of Quantum Scholars, one of several CU programs encouraging students to take an interest in quantum physics. As part of that program, Jah and fellow undergrad Annalise Cabra (Math’23) helped to organize the university’s first Quantum Hackathon, in which teams of students compete against each other to solve tricky problems in quantum computing.

Another CU experience, the Quantum Forge, is a year-long course offered through the university’s Department of Physics. It partners students with real quantum businesses in Colorado. Over the span of a year, the students lead a hands-on project for those businesses, such as designing components for an advanced cooling machine known as a “dilution refrigerator.”

Lewandowski, a member of the university’s Physics Education Research Group, noted that the quantum industry is in its infancy — companies are still trying to get a handle on what kind of employees they’ll need. �山��, she said, trains students to be flexible in the field.

“Students can still have their core engineering or physics degree, but you supplement that with a few quantum technology courses, and that can make you very employable,” said Lewandowski.

Jah, for his part, wants to use his new skills to study quantum loop gravity, a trippy theory that seeks to explain how gravity works. He said that quantum physics takes a lot of work, but it’s a path that anyone can follow — as long as they have enough wonder.

“I hope other people can engage in this exploratory process of: How does the world work? Let’s see,” Jah said.

Submit feedback to the editor

Illustrations by Brian Stauffer

�山�� and Elevate Quantum partners are ready for $127M regional quantum boost. Here’s how it’s all coming together.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2024

White

How Ancient Viruses Fuel Modern-Day Disease

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:23:01 +0000

How Ancient Viruses Fuel Modern-Day Disease Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:23

Lisa Marshall

Peek inside the human genome and, among the 20,000 or so genes that serve as building blocks of life, you’ll find flecks of DNA left behind by viruses that infected our primate ancestors tens of millions of years ago.

Scientists have long considered these ancient hitchhikers, known as endogenous retroviruses, as inert or "junk" DNA that were rendered harmless millennia ago. But new CU research shows that, when reawakened, they can play a critical role in helping cancer survive and thrive. The study also suggests that silencing certain endogenous retroviruses can make cancer treatments work better.

“Our study shows that diseases today can be significantly influenced by these ancient viral infections that, until recently, very few researchers were paying attention to,” said Edward Chuong, an assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at �山��’s BioFrontiers Institute.

After slipping into the cells of our primate ancestors, these invaders coaxed their unknowing hosts into copying and carrying their genetic material — passing their DNA on to future generations.

While endogenous retroviruses can no longer sicken their hosts or spread like live viruses, they can act as switches that turn on nearby genes, with both good and bad results.

On the plus side, they contributed to the development of the placenta, a critical milestone in human evolution. Chuong’s research also shows they can switch on genes that help us fight infection.

However, endogenous retroviruses also have a dark side.

Chuong’s latest study found that a lineage known as LTR10 is remarkably active in about a third of colon cancer tumors, where it appears to fire up genes that inflame cancer.

The good news: When those viral relics are silenced, the cancer-promoting genes go dark too, and tumor-shrinking treatments become more effective.

As a leading researcher in the burgeoning field, Chuong hopes that by better understanding these oft-neglected bits of the genome, scientists can come up with new ways to treat modern-day illnesses.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Tens of millions of years ago, ancient viruses infected our primate ancestors, leaving flecks of DNA that made their way into the human genome. A new study suggests these “endogenous retroviruses” may not be as harmless as once believed.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2024

White

Wearable Gelatin: Fashion’s Newest Textile

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:21:59 +0000

Wearable Gelatin: Fashion’s Newest Textile Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:21

Dan Strain

Approximately 92 million tons of textile waste is generated globally per year, according to research. CU researchers envision a different future for fashion.

A team led by Eldy Lázaro Vásquez (PhDCTD’25), a doctoral student in the ATLAS Institute, is busy developing methods to make recyclable clothes from gelatin, the common foodstuff in products like Jell-O and marshmallows.

The team developed a DIY machine that spins textile fibers made from gelatin. These “biofibers” feel a bit like flax fiber and dissolve in hot water within a few minutes to an hour.

“When you don’t want these textiles anymore, you can dissolve them and recycle the gelatin to make more fibers,” said Michael Rivera, a co-author of the research and assistant professor in the ATLAS Institute and Department of Computer Science.

The machine, which is small enough to fit on a desk and costs just $560 to build, heats up the gelatin and uses a plastic syringe to squeeze out droplets of the mixture. Two sets of rollers in the machine then tug on the gelatin, stretching it out into long, skinny fibers — not unlike a spider spinning a web from silk.

“With this kind of prototyping machine, anyone can make fibers,” Lázaro Vásquez said. “You don’t need the big machines that are only in university chemistry departments.”

She added that across the U.S., meat producers often discard gelatin that doesn’t meet quality control standards. Lázaro Vásquez bought her own gelatin, which comes as a powder, from a local butcher shop.

Lázaro Vásquez envisions that designers could tweak the chemistry of the fibers to make them a little more resilient — you wouldn’t want your jacket to disappear in the rain. They could also experiment with spinning similar fibers from other abundant natural materials like chitin, a component of crab shells, or agar-agar, which comes from algae.

“We’re trying to think about the whole lifecycle of our textiles,” said Lázaro Vásquez. “That begins with where the material is coming from. Can we get it from something that normally goes to waste?”

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo courtesy Utility Research Lab

Researchers at the ATLAS Institute at �山�� hope their DIY machine will help designers around the world experiment with making their own, sustainable fashion and other textiles from a range of natural ingredients—maybe even the chitin in crab shells or agar-agar from algae.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2024

White

75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:18:56 +0000

75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:18

Kelsey Yandura

CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is the university’s first and highest-budget research institute — and the only organization of its kind to have sent scientific instruments to every planet in our solar system, plus the sun and a host of moons.

Founded in 1948 as a collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and the university’s physics department, LASP’s initial experiments included launching instruments mounted on captured German V-2 rockets in order to study the sun. Today, over 75 years later, the institute is made up of more than 100 research scientists who specialize in designing, building and operating spacecraft and spacecraft instruments.

As LASP looks ahead to the next 75 years, its dedication to innovation keeps it at the leading edge of space science. Here are just a few of the many missions LASP has helped propel forward.

Sun

2010–30

EVE on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory examines variations in the sun’s extreme ultraviolet light over time.

Mission Highlight: Recorded enormous solar 'tornadoes,' ultra-hot plasma plumes swirling above the sun’s surface.

Mercury

2004–15

LASP Spectrometer on NASA MESSENGER first detected magnesium in Mercury’s exosphere.

Mission Highlight: Confirmed the presence of ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury’s poles.

Venus

1978–92

Ultraviolet Spectrometer on NASA’s Pioneer Venus Orbiter identified sulfur dioxide in the clouds, indicating potential volcanic activity.

Mission Highlight: Pinpointed the highest point on Venus — Maxwell Montes stands 10.8 km high.

Earth

Scheduled 2027

LASP radiometers on NASA Libera will record how much energy leaves our planet’s atmosphere on a day-by-day basis, providing crucial information about how Earth’s climate is evolving over time.

Moon

2013–14

Lunar Dust Experiment on NASA’s LADEE gathered and analyzed lunar dust particles.

Mission Highlight: Revealed tiny meteoroids deliver water to the Moon’s exosphere.

Mars

2013–14

Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA MAVEN discovered an aurora caused by proton precipitation in Mars’ atmosphere.

Mission Highlight: Determined that solar wind has significantly stripped Mars’ atmosphere, altering its climate from warm and wet to cold and dry.

Jupiter

1989–2003

Ultraviolet Spectrometer on NASA Galileo observed the impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments on Jupiter.

Mission Highlight: Found evidence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Saturn

1997–2017

Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA Cassini measured emissions from gases emitted by volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io.

Mission Highlight: Detected an icy plume of salt-rich organic chemicals erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Uranus

1977–Current

Photopolarimeter Subsystem on NASA Voyager 2 discovered Uranus’ rings are younger than the solar system.

Mission Highlight: Identified an irregular magnetic field, highly tilted from Uranus’ spin axis.

Neptune

1977–Current

Photopolarimeter Subsystem on NASA Voyager 2 found Neptune’s rings are incomplete circles created by dust knocked off tiny moons.

Mission Highlight: Performed the first mission to fly past Neptune and detect its irregular magnetic field.

Pluto

2006–Current

Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter on NASA New Horizons was the first student-designed instrument to launch on an interplanetary mission.

Mission Highlight: Discovered the largest known glacier in the solar system.

And beyond…

LASP has been involved in missions beyond our solar system, including operations for NASA’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission and the IXPE mission, which studies extreme space environments.

Submit feedback to the editor

Images courtesy NASA

CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is the university’s first and highest-budget research institute. Here are just a few of the many missions LASP has helped propel forward.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2024

White

New Padding Innovation Could Revolutionize Helmet Safety

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

New Padding Innovation Could Revolutionize Helmet Safety Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Daniel Strain

Football players (and anyone else who takes hard hits) may want to breathe a sigh of relief. Engineers at �山�� and Sandia National Laboratories have been hard at work researching and developing a new design for padding that can withstand powerful impacts.

“If you’re riding your bike and get into a crash, you don’t know if that’s going to be a low-speed impact or a high-speed impact. But regardless, you expect your helmet to perform well,” said Robert MacCurdy, assistant professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at �山��. “We’re trying to develop a geometry that performs well under all of those scenarios.”

The team’s innovations, which can be printed on commercially available 3D printers, could one day wind up in everything from shipping crates to football pads — anything that helps to protect fragile objects from the bumps of life.

“Impact mitigation is something that’s important everywhere,” said MacCurdy. “It’s in highway crash barriers, knee pads and elbow pads, and in packaging equipment.”

Currently, some of the most common types of padding materials are foams, which are filled with tiny holes and channels, such as packing peanuts or stress balls. Foams can absorb a lot of force, but if you squeeze them hard enough, they will compress down into a rigid wad. MacCurdy and his colleagues wanted to develop cushioning that would provide protection, regardless of the force of impact.

The group’s new designs look a bit like the cells in a honeycomb. When you squeeze them, the cells collapse, but always following a careful pattern.

Everyday risks may soon be greatly reduced. The researchers put their designs to the test in labs, reporting that the padding could absorb roughly six times more force than standard foams made out of the same material.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos courtesy Wikipedia and Lawrence Smith

New kinds of padding could make football gear, bike helmets safer than ever.

Off

Traditional

White

Retired Astronaut Marsha Ivins Reflects on Her Time in Space

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Retired Astronaut Marsha Ivins Reflects on Her Time in Space Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Jessica Sachs

Marsha Ivins (AeroEngr’73) is a retired astronaut who has participated in five missions to space. Over the course of her career, Ivins spent a total of 55 days in space handling various responsibilities, from monitoring systems as a flight engineer to managing photography. This year, she was selected as a 2024 inductee for the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors in the industry.

As a child, did you imagine life as an astronaut?

I have wanted to work in the space business in some capacity since I was 10 years old. Imagining opens the door to trying, and trying is step one in achieving. I wasn’t solely focused on just flying in space, although of course that was a dream. Everyone I knew, family, teachers and friends said it could never happen.

Of your career missions, are there any that you feel especially passionate about or regard as your favorite?

There is no such thing as a bad spaceflight. They all had shining moments for me.

Can you describe the feeling of looking out at the Earth for the first time from space?

I cannot adequately express the visceral feeling of realizing you are no longer on the planet. What you see is only a sliver of the feeling.

What were some of your career goals when you were studying aerospace engineering at �山��?

NASA was not hiring astronauts when I graduated from college. I applied as an engineer to the Johnson Space Center (JSC), but 1974 was a severe downtime for aerospace engineers in all industries. I also applied for 27 other jobs around the country that were not hiring at the time. I was offered and accepted a job with Abbott Laboratories, and shortly after I got a call from the JSC saying I’d been offered an engineering position in a new class — which I then accepted.

How does it feel to be selected for the Astronaut Hall of Fame?

I am honored to have been considered and selected for induction. There have been 106 men and women inducted into the AHOF since 1990, covering the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. It is overseen by the Astronaut Scholarship Fund which, to date, has given over $8 million in scholarships to more than 790 students in STEM fields at partner universities across the country.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo courtesy Marsha Ivins

Marsha Ivins (AeroEngr’73) is a retired astronaut who has participated in five missions to space. This year, she was selected as a 2024 inductee for the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors in the industry.

Off

Traditional

White

Science & Technology

Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space

From Training Astronauts to Becoming One

Five Record-Breaking Days

The Next Step

Off

Thinking Huts Is Printing a Brighter Future

Welcome to Bougainvillea

Patience Pays Off

A Relational Approach

CEO with a Story

Honeycomb on the Horizon

Off

Sustainable Spinouts: Innovation in Action

Environmental Stewardship

Driving Meaningful Change

From Lab to Marketplace

Emerging ventures at �山����

Off

Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration

What is the vision in terms of the future of space mining and space commerce?

Your PhD was in planetary geochemistry at CU. What led you to �山����?

Your work seems to challenge the idea that industries exist in a silo. Can you talk more about your multidisciplinary approach?

What topics in the field have been piquing your interest these days?

Any thoughts or advice for recent graduates?

Off

The Making of Colorado’s Quantum Valley

Colorado’s quantum future

Quantum leaders of tomorrow

Off

How Ancient Viruses Fuel Modern-Day Disease

Off

Wearable Gelatin: Fashion’s Newest Textile

Off

75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos

Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Moon

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

And beyond…

Off

New Padding Innovation Could Revolutionize Helmet Safety

Off

Retired Astronaut Marsha Ivins Reflects on Her Time in Space

As a child, did you imagine life as an astronaut?

Of your career missions, are there any that you feel especially passionate about or regard as your favorite?

Can you describe the feeling of looking out at the Earth for the first time from space?

What were some of your career goals when you were studying aerospace engineering at �山����?

How does it feel to be selected for the Astronaut Hall of Fame?

Off

Emerging ventures at �山��

Your PhD was in planetary geochemistry at CU. What led you to �山��?

What were some of your career goals when you were studying aerospace engineering at �山��?