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Professor Rajagopalan Balaji, a CU Boulder professor of civil engineering and an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, was elected as an honorary fellow of the  in December. The honor was received on his behalf at the inaugural ceremony of TROPMET 2024, India’s annual tropical meteorology conference.

Rajagopalan has dedicated more than 25 years researching Indian monsoon variability as a way to give back to his home country. His research aims to improve flood preparedness and explore the complex relationship between monsoonal climate and public health. 

“Making significant advances in understanding Indian monsoon variability is a labor of love,” Rajagopalan says. “This honor is particularly meaningful and gratifying, especially being recognized as part of such a .”

Rajagopalan Is one of 21 honorary fellows, joining a distinguished group that includes the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, PhD, a former president of India. The honor recognizes those who have made significant contributions to meteorological research, education or practice, both in India and globally. 

In 2023 Rajagopalan received a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship. His Fulbright work in India centered around developing monsoon forecasting models to aid residents in flood preparedness; exploring the intricate interplay between monsoonal climate and public health; and unraveling the monsoon variability over a timeframe of 5,000 to 10,000 years, along with its role in the peopling of the Indian subcontinent. 

India, in particular, remains highly vulnerable to the monsoon’s variability, and the impact extends beyond floods or droughts. The monsoons also affect water quality, public health, agricultural output and even the Indian stock market, he says.

Weaker rainfall directly impacts the country’s GDP, given that at least 50 percent of the population resides in villages heavily reliant on agriculture. Crop failures often drive rural residents to migrate to urban areas in search of employment, placing sudden strain on urban resources. This has an impact on nutrition, poverty and public health, he says.

Founded in 1956, the Indian Meteorological Society was established to promote the advancement of meteorology in India and to provide a platform for scientists, researchers and professionals in the field to collaborate and share knowledge. 

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Photo caption: Optical image of living microlenses. Engineered microbes focus light that pass through a thin layer of glass that forms on their surface.  Courtesy of Lynn Sidor, Meyer Lab, University of Rochester.

CU Boulder’s   played a key role in studying tiny bioglass lenses that were designed to form on the surface of engineered microbes, a scientific breakthrough that could pave the way for groundbreaking imaging technologies in both medical and commercial applications.

The project, led by the University of Rochester and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was inspired by the enzymes secreted by sea sponges that help them grow glass-like silica shells. The shells are lightweight, durable and enable the sea sponges to thrive in harsh marine environments.

“By engineering microbes to display these same enzymes, our collaborators were able to form glass on the cell surface, which turned the cells into living microlenses,” said Wil Srubar, a coauthor of the paper and professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program. “This is a terrific example of how learning and applying nature’s design principles can enable the production of advanced materials.”

Using imaging and X-ray techniques, CU Boulder researchers analyzed the silica, also known as “bioglass,” and quantified the amount surrounding different bacterial strains. The CU Boulder researchers demonstrated that bacteria engineered to form bioglass spheres contained significantly higher silica levels than non-engineered strains. Combined with optics data, the results confirmed that bacteria could be bioengineered to create bioglass microlenses with excellent light-focusing properties.

Microlenses are very small lenses that are only a few micrometers in size—about the size of a single human cell and designed to capture and focus or manipulate light into intense beams at a microscopic scale.  Because of their small size, microlenses are typically difficult to create, requiring complex, expensive machinery and extreme temperatures or pressures to shape them accurately and achieve the desired optical effects.

The small size of the bacterial microlenses makes them ideal for creating high-resolution image sensors, particularly biomedical imaging, allowing sharper visualization of subcellular features like protein complexes. In materials science, these microlenses can capture detailed images of nanoscale materials and structures. In diagnostics, they provide clearer imaging of microscopic pathogens like viruses and bacteria, leading to more accurate identification and analysis.

The University of Rochester contributed to this report.

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Two professors from CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering have been honored by The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists through its 40 Under 40 Recognition Program.

Associate Professor Sherri Cook and Assistant Professor Cresten Mansfeldt were recognized as “talented individuals who have, either personally or as part of a team, been responsible for helping to advance the fields of environmental science or environmental engineering in a demonstrable way within the last 12 months,” according to the academy’s website.

Cook received her BS from Virginia Tech and her MSE and PhD from the University of Michigan. At CU Boulder, she pioneered three courses that teach sustainability principles to students across disciplines. Her research focuses on sustainable solutions to global drinking water and sanitation challenges, aiming to improve treatment systems while minimizing risks to human health, the environment, and financial stability. Her research has included innovative technologies such as biochar-based micropollutant removal from wastewater and advancing zero-carbon bio-cement through her co-founded company, Prometheus.

Mansfeldt earned his PhD at Cornell University, after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota.  He refined his expertise during a postdoctoral fellowship at Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Mansfeldt teaches courses on material flows, from microbial carbon cycling to urban waste management. His research focuses on the interplay between natural and built environments, emphasizing water reuse, the microbiome of built environments and the impacts of disasters, such as wildfires, on urban systems. Past projects include monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in campus wastewater, evaluating the risk of synthetic biology products and exploring the bioethics of biological innovations in environmental engineering. His current research examines contaminants from wildland-urban interfaces, tracking synthetic biology products in the environment and advancing water reuse.

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The Clarence L. Eckel Award is given in December to one outstanding graduate and up to two runners up receiving a BS degree in civil or architectural engineering in the fall semester. The award winners are selected by the CEAE Awards Committee from students with high academic standing and contributions to educational and extracurricular activities, including service to engineering student societies and the community. Clarence L. Eckel was CEAE chair from 1926-1943 and dean of the College of Engineering from 1943-1960.

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Millions of miles of aging water, wastewater and natural gas pipelines across the nation are at growing risk of failure, posing significant environmental, safety and financial challenges. Repairing these urban pipelines is often complicated and expensive due to their location beneath buildings and roads, but new repair solutions that significantly cut pipeline repair costs are emerging.

CU Boulder’s Center for Infrastructure, Energy, and Space Testing (CIEST) is at the forefront, pioneering testing procedures for these innovative solutions.

Led by Assistant Research Professor Brad Wham, CIEST played a key role in establishing a new standard for Internal Replacement Pipe (IRP) testing through the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

The work was made possible through a recently completed $7.8 million Department of Energy (ARPA-e) REPAIR project.

This advancement paves the way for industry approval of cutting-edge pipe repair technologies, such as using robots or other methods to install internal replacement pipes that line aging pipelines, reinforcing their walls and extending their service life.

“Getting an ASTM standard to vote is a big deal,” Wham said. “We designed these methods to serve a variety of industries as well as both current and future pipe replacement solutions. We have also developed unique physical testing capabilities that don’t exist anywhere else in the world.”

CU Boulder led the testing and analysis efforts and served as the primary experimental testing facility for evaluating various pipeline repair methods. CIEST researchers constructed three full-scale testing devices and developed models to predict potential failures in hard-to-reach replacement pipelines. By simulating real-world stresses—such as traffic loads and ground movement—they assessed how well these repair materials would perform over time.

The tests demonstrated that many of the internal replacement pipes effectively sealed holes, cracks and gaps, providing a lasting seal of 50 to 100 years at a cost of less than $1 million per mile—significantly lower than the approximately $10 million per mile it costs to dig up and replace pipes in urban centers.

In addition to a 90 percent drop in cost, the repairs will help reduce methane emissions from natural gas lines, which contribute to climate change, while also decreasing the risk of dangerous explosions from gas leaks. Additionally, they will prevent leaking water lines from wasting significant quantities of treated water and reduce the likelihood of potential contamination from external sources. 

Project collaborators on the grant include Cornell University, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and the Gas Technologies Institute (GTI). The USQ team used the data collected by CIEST to develop a publicly available app that can be downloaded and allows users to input material specifications, site information and other details to assess performance and design internal replacement pipe technologies.

“It essentially informs IRP developers what material characteristics and/or geometric properties they would need to survive our testing and extend their pipe service life,” Wham said.

50-year extension

Some municipal water lines stay in service for more than 100 years, so adding another 50 to 100 years through pipe lining technology is a significant advancement, allowing utilities to better manage their replacement schedule for aging infrastructure in a cost-effective way, said Dustin Quandt, an engineering project manager with CIEST.

“Fifty years is an important period of time,” Quandt said. “Because these technologies act as a new pipe with improved performance, utilities can fund these projects through capital improvements rather than maintenance budgets.”

Gaining industry confidence

Natural gas and water utilities have historically been reluctant to adopt new technologies, due to strict regulations and high risks in the event of failure, Wham said. To help address these concerns, the project has included representatives from major gas utilities and global experts to guide the development of testing and analysis techniques.

“By operating as a third-party, unbiased group, we are building confidence in the potential of these technologies to come forward,” he said. “We’re also fostering industry competition, which helps reduce costs.”

The center’s advancements in the natural gas sector have attracted the attention of the water industry, which is now considering adopting their proposed testing methods for pressurized water pipes.

Looking ahead

CIEST is examining pipes with bends and assessing the ability of these repair technologies and robots to navigate these additional geometries and hazards. Other future steps include evaluating these repair techniques under extreme conditions such as earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes and wildfires.

“While we made significant progress in the last few years, there’s a lot more work to be done in this growing industry,” he said.

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Chaya Farley

Major

Architectural Engineering

Award

Perseverance award

This award recognizes undergraduate students who persevere despite adversity – above and beyond the inherent perseverance needed in any engineering major.

Post-graduation plans

Continue with the Bachelor's Acelerated Master's (BAM) program in architectural engineering with a focus in structures.

Could you tell me a bit about yourself?

I spend most of my time with my dog. I also do a lot of art in my spare time. I don’t really have a preference as to what type—pencil, ink, acrylic, watercolor, oil pastels and ceramics. During the breaks when I go back home, I enjoy riding dirt bikes, especially free-riding and making my own trails.

What accomplishment are you most proud of, either academically or personally?

One of my proudest academic accomplishments is learning to take initiative in difficult situations. As an engineer, part of the job is learning things on your own, and I developed this skill by teaching myself subjects that I had not yet learned but needed to apply for my senior design project.

Can you share a moment (or moments) when you felt like you were "officially" an engineer?

The moment I felt like I was officially an engineer was when I took senior design.  I was applying everything I had learned as an engineering student, especially toward the end of the project when I presented my work as the structural engineer for my team. Hearing professional engineers say “a job well done" gave me the confidence to know I can succeed in their field.

What was the biggest challenge for you during your engineering education? What did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge during my engineering education was learning to navigate setbacks. I struggled with a few fundamental courses and had to retake them. However, I learned that you can’t let a small challenge stop you from finishing. I knew I could pass the classes, so I set my mind to it and refocused myself. That goes for anything you do in school, work or life— it’s about having the ability to stick with stuff, teach yourself stuff and being able to maintain composure when life throws you curveballs.

What is your biggest piece of advice for incoming engineering students?

Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. As an introverted person, it took me a long time to step out of my comfort zone, and that led to missed opportunities. I never really joined extracurricular activities, took advantage of office hours and rarely interacted with classmates and professors. It wasn't until my senior year that I realized the long-term effects of those missed connections. Joining clubs and building rapport can lead to valuable relationships and help you discover your passions while fostering motivation, insight and personal growth. Equally important is prioritizing your mental health. You can't be your best self at the expense of your emotional well-being as it affects every aspect of your life— academic performance, social interactions and professional development. Sometimes you might feel low, and it can be a tough decision to take a break when you are in the middle of your education. However, taking time off of school or moving your graduation to a later date doesn't make you a failure or less successful than anyone else. It just means you understand the significance and value of self-balance in achieving long-term success.

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