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Kristi Anseth awarded National Academy of Engineering's founders award

Susan Glairon — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:40:33 +0000

Kristi Anseth awarded National Academy of Engineering's founders award Susan Glairon Tue, 09/16/2025 - 09:40

Susan Glairon

Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth, of chemical and biological engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Simon Ramo Founders Award by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) “for outstanding contributions to new bioresponsive polymeric materials and their applications in tissue engineering and for leadership in biomaterial science education and research.”

Anseth, also the associate faculty director of CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute, designs biomaterials that interact with living tissues to promote repair and regeneration, aiding in healing injuries and diseases. Her lab works with hydrogels—a degradable biomaterial—to deliver molecules at the right time and sequence to accelerate the healing process. Her team is also growing miniaturized versions of heart cells and tissues, known as organoids, to better understand disease mechanisms and explore new types of heart disease treatments, such as to repair heart muscles after heart attacks.

Anseth is also among the select few innovators elected to all three National Academies: Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Beyond her scientific contributions, she has been recognized with more than 50 major awards and delivered over 60 honorary lectureships worldwide.

Read the NAE story

Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth, also the associate faculty director of CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute, designs biomaterials that interact with living tissues to promote repair and regeneration, aiding in healing injuries and diseases. Her lab works with hydrogels—a degradable biomaterial—to deliver molecules at the right time and sequence to accelerate the healing process.

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Building community around electrochemistry and energy innovation

Susan Glairon — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 13:56:48 +0000

Building community around electrochemistry and energy innovation Susan Glairon Sat, 09/13/2025 - 07:56

Professor Mike Toney

Building on the momentum of the well-attended 2023 materials chemistry gathering, a new workshop brought together students, faculty and national lab staff from across the Front Range for a focused conversation on electrochemistry—with a strong emphasis on batteries, energy storage and the role of machine learning in accelerating innovation.

Professor Michael Toney, co-organizer for the 2025 Front Range Electrochemistry Workshop (FREW), explained that while the meeting broadly addressed electrochemical science, this year’s focus on batteries reflects their increasing relevance to everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure.

“Electrochemistry is a very energy-efficient way of driving chemical reactions to produce useful products,” he said. “That includes emerging battery technologies, which are key to storing electricity generated by solar or wind when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.”

Among the invited speakers was Assistant Professor Kayla Sprenger, who spoke on her group's innovative approaches using simulations to model battery interfaces. The event aimed not only to highlight cutting-edge research—including the potential of AI to optimize battery materials and testing—but also to build community among graduate students and early-career researchers. As Toney noted, many students work in small lab groups and don’t always realize how many peers and potential collaborators are just a short drive away.

Co-organized with Eric Toberer, a physics professor at Colorado School of Mines, the workshop also included collaborative pitch sessions, where student teams proposed new research ideas for cash prizes. Pitch and poster session awardees included CEAS graduate students Loren Andrews, Rebecca Beswick, Peter Romero, Bryce Rives and Cindy Wong.

With around 100 attendees—mostly students—the event fostered both technical exchange and professional networking, creating space for new ideas, mentorship and cross-institution partnerships across the region.

Read the RASEI story

Co-organized by Professor Mike Toney, the 2025 Front Range Electrochemistry Workshop (FREW) broadly addressed electrochemical science, with this year’s focus on batteries reflecting their growing importance to everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy infrastructure. Assistant Professor Kayla Sprenger was an invited speaker.

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New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access

Susan Glairon — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 20:49:34 +0000

New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access Susan Glairon Fri, 09/05/2025 - 14:49

CU Boulder researchers, led by Ted Randolph, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, have developed a groundbreaking temperature-stable rabies vaccine that combines multiple doses into a single shot—an innovation that could vastly improve global access to life-saving immunization.

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Kristi Anseth named Forbes "50 over 50" for "Innovation"

Susan Glairon — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 15:37:13 +0000

Kristi Anseth named Forbes "50 over 50" for "Innovation" Susan Glairon Tue, 08/12/2025 - 09:37

Professor Kristi Anseth is known for developing tissue substitutes that improve treatments for conditions like broken bones and heart valve disease. She recently made key discoveries about sex-based differences in cardiac treatment outcomes. Anseth is also among the few innovators elected to all three national academies: Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

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Professor Kim See joins Chemical and Biological Engineering

Susan Glairon — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 18:50:33 +0000

Professor Kim See joins Chemical and Biological Engineering Susan Glairon Mon, 08/11/2025 - 12:50

See is advancing new technologies to boost the performance of future sustainable batteries.

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New cancer therapy clings to tumors, with inspiration from gecko toes

Susan Glairon — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 21:15:45 +0000

New cancer therapy clings to tumors, with inspiration from gecko toes Susan Glairon Tue, 07/22/2025 - 15:15

A gecko-inspired technology developed by the Shields Lab, in collaboration with doctors at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, uses a specially designed material that adheres to tumors inside the body and steadily releases chemotherapy drugs over several days—potentially allowing for fewer but longer-lasting therapies.

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Scientists develop method to build tiny custom microrobots

Susan Glairon — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 23:04:14 +0000

Scientists develop method to build tiny custom microrobots Susan Glairon Mon, 07/07/2025 - 17:04

Photo caption: Stencil printed with a CU-shaped cutout for controllably depositing metal onto the particle that is underneath

Researchers at the �� have created a new way to build and control tiny particles that can move and work like microscopic robots, offering a powerful tool with applications in biomedical and environmental research.

The study, published in Nature Communications, describes a new method of fabrication that combines high-precision 3D printing, called two-photon lithography, with a microstenciling technique. The team prints both the particle and its stencil together, then deposits a thin layer of metal, such as gold, platinum or cobalt through the stencil’s openings. When the stencil is removed, a metal patch remains on the particle.

Kendra Kreienbrink , a materials science and engineering
PhD student in the Shields Lab, is the paper's first author.

The particles, invisible to the naked eye, can be made in almost any shape and patterned with surface patches as small as 0.2 microns — more than 500 times thinner than a human hair. The metal patches guide how the particles move when exposed to electric or magnetic fields, or chemical gradients.

“The shape of surface patches gives particles information about where to go,” said Assistant Professor Wyatt Shields, one of the paper’s authors. “We've not had good methods to control the shape of those patches until now.”

With this control, these particles could potentially help improve how drugs spread through human organs, improving the drug’s overall effectiveness, or aid in the removal of pollutants from contaminated environments.

The research team includes first author Kendra Kreienbrink, a materials science and engineering PhD student in the Shields Lab, along with two undergraduate students: Zoe Cruse, majoring in chemical and biological engineering and computer science, and Alisha Kumari, in biomedical engineering.

“This paper not only represents the exciting things that can be accomplished in active particles and microrobots using non-conventional microfabrication,” Shields said, “but that the inclusion and mentorship of undergrads early in research can lead to innovative outcomes.”

The tiny particles could potentially help enhance drug distribution in human organs, improving the drug’s overall effectiveness, or aid in removing pollutants from contaminated environments.

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Two chemical engineering PhD students earn major NSF fellowships

Susan Glairon — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:49:34 +0000

Two chemical engineering PhD students earn major NSF fellowships Susan Glairon Mon, 06/30/2025 - 13:49

Annette Thompson's research could lead to more sustainable ways to make everyday products like medicines and fuels without petroleum-based processes; Nolan Petrich's work could help develop therapies that help repair or replace damaged tissues or organs by using the body’s healing abilities for intestinal diseases.

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Advancing super strong and lightweight next generation carbon-based materials

Susan Glairon — Fri, 30 May 2025 14:15:43 +0000

Advancing super strong and lightweight next generation carbon-based materials Susan Glairon Fri, 05/30/2025 - 08:15

Jeff Zehnder

Materials researchers are getting a big boost from a new database created by a team of researchers led by Professor Hendrik Heinz. The initiative, now available online to all researchers, is a database containing over 2,000 carbon nanotube stress-strain curves and failure properties.

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Ankur Gupta named to C&EN’s prestigious "Talented 12" list

Susan Glairon — Fri, 23 May 2025 14:22:09 +0000

Ankur Gupta named to C&EN’s prestigious "Talented 12" list Susan Glairon Fri, 05/23/2025 - 08:22

Assistant Professor Ankur Gupta was named to Chemical & Engineering News' prestigious Talented 12 list, which honors early-career scientists who use their chemistry know-how to make a real-world impact.

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