ֱ Innovators News
ֱ Boulder Today—ֱ Boulder researchers attracted a record $742.2 million in fiscal year 2023–24 for studies and initiatives that, among other things, could lead to an end of osteoarthritis, better space weather predictions and a more climate-resilient American West.
ֱ Boulder Today—An international team of researchers led by an engineer at ֱ Boulder has revealed the underlying mechanism behind battery degradation. Their discovery could help scientists to develop better batteries.
9News—Jack Elston's company, Black Swift Technologies, a ֱ Boulder spinout, designed a prototype fixed-wing drone that could carry a sophisticated weather sensor inside the rage and turbulence of the strongest tropical cyclones on earth.
College of Arts & Sciences—ֱ Boulder Physics Professor Ivan Smalyukh and his team have achieved a remarkable milestone by receiving a Guinness World Records award for creating the world's most transparent material. Their aerogel, which has now been successfully patented, can be added to windows to boost thermal insulation, increasing the overall efficiency of a building.
Activate is a nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to transform their research into market-ready products and services through a two-year fellowship that provides funding, mentorship and access to a robust network of experts and resources. Three Cohort 2024 fellows join Activate from companies spun up at ֱ Boulder with Venture Partners at ֱ Boulder.
ֱ Leadership Stories—Meet Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, a Boettcher Scholar and tech entrepreneur who solves large-scale problems leveraging frontier technology. Maithreyi talks about how her academic experiences in engineering physics and industrial management at ֱ Boulder and Stanford fueled her passion to innovate. Today she is the co-founder of two companies that actively promote gender diversity in STEM entrepreneurship, including PrecisionTerra, part of the 2023 ֱ Boulder Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator.
ֱ Boulder Today—While scientists are continuously exploring ways to reduce fossil fuel use in these sectors, Oana Luca, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at ֱ Boulder, explores technologies like recycling and carbon capture to prevent carbon from ending up in the environment.
The Global Business Development division of the ֱ Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced that 34 ֱ companies and eight researchers have been awarded Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention grants through OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Accelerator Program. These grants help promote the growth and sustainability of advanced industries in ֱ by driving innovation, commercialization and public-private partnerships that move this vital aspect of ֱ’s economy forward in communities across the state.
ֱ Independent—Researchers at the University of ֱ Boulder are working to make the moon habitable. And they are focused on one of the most difficult challenges to lunar living: dust. Xu Wang, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at ֱ Boulder, was one of the winners of NASA’s 2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge.
ֱ Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science—Distinguished Professor Zoya Popovic is among 162 inventors named 2023 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election as a fellow in the academy is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. Popovic, a leading researcher in high-efficiency, low-noise microwave and RF engineering, was elected for her “prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.”