Greg Rieker in his lab at CU Boulder
Using lasers, mechanical engineer Greg Rieker can understand exactly how molecules react during the combustion process. When a laser is projected across a combustion environment, certain wavelengths are absorbed depending on which molecules are present at a given time.
For his excellence in combustion science, he was awarded the Hiroshi Tsuji Early Career Researcher Award in April. It鈥檚 his second top international award in the past year.
鈥淲hat makes these awards special is that I couldn鈥檛 have done it anywhere else but CU Boulder,鈥� Rieker said. 鈥淭he laser technology we鈥檝e translated into combustion and other practical applications was first demonstrated on campus by Nobel laureate professor John Hall.鈥�