91¶ÌÊÓƵ Innovators News
91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder teams are among the first winners of the NSF-funded Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine, which supports innovative climate resilience projects across the region1. This initiative, backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation, aims to address key issues like water security, wildfire prediction, and extreme weather modeling through interdisciplinary collaboration.
91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder Physics—This prestigious new professorship, resulting from a $1 million endowment underscores the university’s growing prominence in quantum information science and applied quantum physics. Jun Ye is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in precision measurement, ultracold molecules and ultra-high precision atomic clocks.
Fourteen teams of University of Colorado entrepreneurs, faculty researchers and graduate student innovators will compete for a combined $1.25 million in startup funding grants in this year’s Lab Venture Challenge (LVC) Showcases. Judges from Venture Partners at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder’s entrepreneurial network will hear Shark Tank-style pitches across two nights, one for innovations in biosciences and another for physical sciences and engineering.
91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder Today—91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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.
91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder Today—An international team of researchers led by an engineer at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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 91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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—91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder with Venture Partners at 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder.
Colorado 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 91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator.
91¶ÌÊÓƵ 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 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder, explores technologies like recycling and carbon capture to prevent carbon from ending up in the environment.