Apr. 6, 2026 - ME Faculty and Staff Newsletter
This week! Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Seminar Series
Friday, Apr. 10. 3–4 p.m., KOBL 102
, a professor of engineering and chemistry at the University of Georgia, will be joining our department for the ME Distinguished Seminar Series. The events, open to all faculty, staff and students, feature scholars from a wide range of peer institutions across the country and some of the world's most prominent experts in mechanical engineering.
The talk is titled "Combustion for Sustainable Transportation," and will discuss how continued development of advanced combustion technologies plays a meaningful role in sustainably meeting rising energy demands while also mitigating near-term air quality and climate impacts.
Department Highlights
ME senior project turns waste heat into clean energy savings
Many industrial facilities rely on cryogenic gases for processes such as cooling, materials testing or energy transport. But before those gases can be used, they must be vaporized with electricity-intensive equipment that can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars each year. A team of seniors are working to address that problem by developing a heat-exchange device for their senior capstone project that captures waste heat circulating through refrigeration systems.
PhD student wins prestigious physics contest with endless avalanche experiment
PhD student Rylan Hodgson recently created a video that won the American Physical Society's (APS) 2026 Gallery of Soft Matter contest at the APS Global Physics Summit. The video demonstrates a unique view of the dynamics of granular flow with a rolling drum experiment that could one day be used to reveal key information about the mechanics and behavior of avalanches.
ME undergraduate designs custom sauna for athlete recovery
Student-athlete James Overberg has designed and developed a custom sauna that is crucial for helping endurance athletes recover from intense exercise. The new technology is now a permanent part of the Endurance Lab located in the Ford Indoor Practice Facility where it will assist Colorado student-athletes for years to come.
Welker receives Exceptional Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Graduate School has announced that Assistant Professor Cara Welker has earned one of this year's Exceptional Graduate Faculty Mentor Awards. The award honors faculty members for their outstanding contributions either to mentoring individual graduate students, improving the overall climate of graduate education within their program, or improving the graduate program itself.