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Engineering has the potential to be transformative, but we need to maintain a balanced perspective to prepare for the challenges ahead.

Dear Readers, 

This semester marks a big transition for the student body at the University of Colorado. After the majority of students attended school remotely for over a year, we have finally made a more or less complete migration back to campus. While some things resumed as normal, such as large lecture rooms being filled and the Center for Community dining hall offering buffet-style meals again, campus feels different than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Social introductions continue to include that “awkward wave” in place of a handshake, and wearing masks remains mandatory while indoors. Nevertheless, school is in session and we have learned to adapt. The theme of ‘Facing the Future’ seemed very appropriate for the current campus climate. In spite of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, new policies were put in place to provide a safe, on-campus experience. A vaccine mandate has led to 94% of CU Boulder students and 96% of CU Boulder employees getting vaccinated. This effort caused a significant decrease in on-campus spread of COVID-19, making CU Boulder’s COVID infection rate significantly lower than that of the city of Boulder and the state of Colorado. With mask mandates, the combined efforts of our community have made it safer and more comfortable to be on campus and continue doing our important work. In this issue, we discuss some of the amazing work being done at the Engineering College that will make our future a better place. Ranging from robots designed to save lives from collapsed buildings to a student-made sounding rocket headed for space, we hope to celebrate the current state of innovation at CU Engineering. Yet, at the same time, there are things that we feel still need to be addressed. As we adjust to being comfortable working in a global pandemic, the threat of climate change looms over us. In this issue of the Colorado Engineer, we also discuss how climate change has affected our local Boulder community and discuss aspects of the problem that call for attention. With our campus being so lively and filled with activity now, the state of our community is the best it has been for over a year. But without a balanced view, it is easy to be blindsided by the challenges the future may present to us. And so, we hope to provide you with some much needed perspective as we both celebrate making it to today while also preparing ourselves for tomorrow’s concerns.

Sincerly, 

Justin Wang 

Editor in Chief