A group of wide-eyed middle school students huddled as they carefully placed copper tape onto a small card. After their final connection to a battery, a tiny LED light flickered to life.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” one student exclaimed, proudly holding up the glowing light to show to their friends. 

Moments like these filled the air at the 2025 , where CU Boulder’s Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering (ECEE) Department engaged with students across the region, igniting their curiosity about STEM.

Held at CU Denver, the event brought together more than 300 students in the greater Denver metro area to engage with STEM professionals. 

Sparking a passion for electrical and computer engineering

At the ECEE department’s activity booth, students experienced hands-on learning through interactive activities like changing the colors of LEDs and building paper circuits that lit up.

Stephanie Torres, an ECCE undergraduate, guided the young students through the activities. Having discovered her own passion for engineering at a young age while building with Legos and assisting her father with household projects, she understood the power of hands-on learning.

Torres helped the middle and high school students explore the technical aspects of LEDs and paper circuits, showing how programming microcontrollers controls voltage and LED colors. Some students hesitated at first, but with a bit of encouragement, they quickly grasped the concepts. 

“My favorite moment was seeing the students’ faces light up when they were able to make the circuits or change the red, blue and green LEDs to different colors,” Torres said. “Interacting with students who were so interested in STEM left me feeling hopeful for the future.”

That spark of curiosity was what the ECEE department hoped to spark in the next generation of STEM students at the fair. 

Hands-on activities with lasting impact

Melinda Piket-May, associate professor and chair of the external relations and outreach committee, was thrilled by the students’ enthusiasm.

“My favorite moments happened over and over when students completed the circuit, saw the light turn on and their eyes lit up. When I told them, ‘You just built your first circuit,’ their smiles were filled with amazement,” Piket-May said.

Parents joined in on the fun, eager to try making a circuit. The energy was undeniable, with three full tables constantly in motion and students proudly showing their circuit cards as a badge of honor.

Keriann Jacobson, education and outreach coordinator for the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at CU Engineering, echoed the excitement.

“Witnessing the students’ excitement as they visited our booths to learn about electrical engineering was my favorite aspect. They were so enthusiastic that they returned with their friends to join in,” Jacobson said.

The ECEE team inspired countless young minds, showing them that engineering is not only about circuits and wires, but it’s also about creativity and problem solving with discovery infused in. 

“One thing I’ve learned is that STEM and electrical engineering can be tough, but if you’re open to learning and have an open mind, it makes all the difference,” Torres said.

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In order for wind turbines to function effectively across wide ranges of wind conditions, you’ll need what’s known as blade pitch control. 

Lucy Pao, the Palmer Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at CU Boulder, was honored by the  for advancing research in wind turbine control systems. 

Her IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award recognized the work with her former PhD student Michael N. Sinner, now a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and collaborators from ForWind – Center for Wind Energy Research in Germany.

Advancing Wind Energy Through Control Systems

In the award-winning paper, Pao’s team explored how advanced control methods, specifically a model predictive control (MPC) framework, can optimize blade pitch control on wind turbines. 

Blade pitch control—the adjustment of a wind turbine’s blade angle—is crucial for regulating rotor speed and mitigating structural loads, particularly during gusty or turbulent wind conditions.

The study demonstrated how incorporating wind information, measured in this case with anemometers in a wind tunnel, can significantly improve the performance of wind turbines. By anticipating wind conditions before they reach the turbine, the system optimizes blade pitch adjustments in real-time, reducing wear and tear on turbine components and enhancing energy efficiency.

“With just a little bit of preview information, we were able to start pitching the blades ahead of a gust of wind,” Pao explained. “This reduces structural loads and regulates generator speed more effectively than feedback-only control systems.”

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice

While MPC is a well-known method in control systems, its application to wind turbines represents a leap forward in the field. Traditionally used in industries with slower dynamic systems, such as chemical processing, MPC has not been widely adopted in fast-moving systems due to its computational complexities. 

Dr. Pao’s team addressed this challenge by successfully implementing MPC on a fully instrumented, scaled wind turbine in a state-of-the-art wind tunnel at the University of Oldenburg’s ForWind Center in Germany.

“Our study proves that model predictive control can be implemented in real-time, even in dynamic systems like wind turbines,” said Dr. Pao. “Our findings pave the way for future adoption of this technology in commercial wind turbines, potentially transforming the wind energy sector.”

Collaboration Across Continents

The research is the culmination of a long-standing collaboration with the ForWind Center, initiated during Pao’s sabbatical in Germany in 2016.

“This collaboration began almost a decade ago with an exchange student and has since grown into a strong partnership,” Pao said. “We’ve exchanged students and postdocs, conducted joint experiments and built a shared vision for advancing wind energy.”

Michael Sinner’s involvement in the project is a testament to this collaboration. During his PhD, Sinner worked extensively with the ForWind Center’s advanced wind tunnel facility, which enabled precise and repeated experiments.

“Wind tunnel testing allows us to replicate conditions and isolate variables in ways that are challenging in open-field testing,” she said. “This control and consistency were critical for validating our findings.”

Looking to the Future

Pao’s collaborators have already begun follow-up studies, exploring the sensitivity of the control system to varying wind information and optimization horizon lengths. Preliminary results suggest the control approach is robust even when the predicted timing of the incoming wind, like a gust, is slightly off, which is encouraging for future field applications.

“We’re excited to see how this technology could be tested on full-scale turbines in the field,” Dr. Pao said. “The wind energy industry is already expressing interest, and we believe these advancements could have a significant impact.”

Beyond the technical achievements, the collaboration with ForWind continues to thrive. The partnership has facilitated ongoing exchanges, such as the current work of Juan Boullosa, a master’s student from Oldenburg University, who is contributing to wind field forecasting and optimization algorithms in Pao’s lab at CU Boulder through the Europe-Colorado Program.

The intersection of advanced control systems and renewable energy continues to offer groundbreaking opportunities for innovation and global collaboration. Reflecting on the award, Pao expressed gratitude for the recognition. 

“It’s a celebration of collaborative effort and the potential for meaningful impact, so it’s a tremendous honor.”

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