Alumni

Life in space from a CU �鶹ӰԺ alumna who has been there

Jeff Zehnder — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:53:33 +0000

Life in space from a CU �鶹ӰԺ alumna who has been there Jeff Zehnder Tue, 11/12/2024 - 11:53

Jeff Zehnder

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) is a lead space operations engineer and astronaut trainer at SpaceX with literal out-of-this-world experience.

The �鶹ӰԺ alumna recently returned from a five-day orbital mission aboard Polaris Dawn, which took astronauts further from Earth than any have traveled since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

On Nov. 11, she spoke to students and community members in a special event at Fiske Planetarium.

A �鶹ӰԺ native, Gillis shared what life was like in space for the four-member crew and details of the science and engineering that brought them to orbit and safely home.

What it is like experiencing launch for the first time.

Intellectually, I had studied all the physical changes you go through going to space, but actually going through them is fascinating. For this one moment, you’re defying gravity as the rocket lifts off the pad and you start accelerating and accelerating. You get pushed into your seat. The Gs get to about 4.5. When you get to second engine cutoff and you’re just floating, you no longer have pressure pushing you into the seat — you have fluid in your face. You suddenly feel like when you’re a kid and you’re laying upside down off the bed.

There’s an adjustment period once you are in orbit.

Every crew member goes through this time on board where you’re adapting. The first two days are pretty hard in space. You’re figuring it out. You’re going through all the physiological changes. You have this brain fog; you have elevated fluid. You can have space motion sickness.

You’re probably not feeling your best, in all honesty. How you set up a timeline for crew members in space should account for that. You could not possibly have talked our crew into doing any less on our mission, but hindsight is definitely helpful, and it’s just a reality that it takes a bit of time for crew members to adapt.

Keep an eye on space while following your passions.

I always knew how unlikely it was to ever become an astronaut. The statistics are not in your favor right now at our point in human history. I do think that’s going to change in the very near future if SpaceX is successful in bringing Starship online. You go from having four people in a spacecraft to 100 people in a spacecraft. As you change those numbers, cost of access to space will go down, so the opportunities that will exist will look much different in next 10-15 years.

For me, knowing how unlikely it was, it was super important to find things I was genuinely interested in. That way, no matter what happening in life, I couldn’t be disappointed because I was doing things that were interesting and engaging and things I wanted to be pursuing. Follow your curiosity, and it will take you to extraordinary places.

The incredible complexity of designing a space suit from scratch.

It was about a 2.5-year development program where one day we would show up and we’d have the left shoulder rebuilt in a certain way. The next Monday we’d show up and they’d have a whole new elbow for us to try. Then we’d go and get in the simulator and understand what worked and what didn’t and really fed that into the design process of these suits. It was a pretty extraordinary development effort.

There were times that we were learning stuff that went against industry knowledge. One of the things we discovered pretty late was the risk of electrostatic discharge in the suits. That led to an entire deep dive into understanding material testing.

One of the last tests we did still on Earth was once the suit had gone through all sorts of iterations, we actually took them to a vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center and we wore them in the vacuum chamber and ran through the entire depress and repress sequence. It was just an extraordinary test of competence into the suit, understanding what the pressure changes and temperature changes would feel like.

Moving in space without gravity to weigh you down creates challenges.

What’s so cool about moving in a pressurized suit is it’s really almost physical problem solving. You can only rotate your shoulder so many degrees, or you can only extend your arm so far in the suit. What that means is you have to make sure that a person of a certain stature can perform everything they need to in that pressurized environment. It was a really cool development process with SpaceX to figure out what new mobility aids we needed in the spacecraft. What additional handholds and footholds would be required to make sure we could accomplish all the tasks we needed to.

On flight day two we got pressurized in the suits and did a dry run (of the spacewalk). It was really fun to actually see how things worked, and what were the things we hadn’t accounted for. As soon as I went to the controls and interfaced with them, based on where my center of mass was, my feet would suddenly start rotating up, and so I had to find a whole new strategy for how to secure myself when I was at the displays and how to transition out from the displays.

Train for the worst day so you can experience the best day.

In training we had really prepared for every possible scenario we could come up with for the EVA (extravehicular activity). Really as much as we could use the imagination to prepare bad day scenarios, we had trained for them, and it was so smooth. You train for the worst day so you can actually experience the best day. The spacewalk went exactly as we had hoped.

There is so much we do not know about life in space.

We partnered with 31 institutions on 36 research experiments, a lot of which came from CU, which I was really excited about. Some of my former professors actually contributed experiments to the mission.

Overall, the research was really focused on experiments that needed human involvement, things that could benefit future life as we try and look toward Mars. There’s a lot of health issues that astronauts encounter over long duration, and this includes space motion sickness, and spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome.

Many astronauts do have degraded vision over time, and we don’t actually understand the mechanism at this point. It’s often associated with the fluid shift that happens where you suddenly have more fluid in your brain, but if we’re going to actually mitigate that and fix it in the future, we need to get to the heart of the cause, so we did a whole slew of experiments looking at different eye pressure and vision change data.

Re-entry is awesome.

It’s so, so cool to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. We start seeing a glow around the spacecraft at around 100 km. Then as you start to get lower you start to see these neon colors, pinks and oranges, and you actually see some of the sparks flying past the window. As you get lower in the atmosphere you start encountering turbulence with the different layers of the atmosphere. The thrusters are firing all around and it really feels like Dragon is clawing its way back into the atmosphere.

The mission does not end at splashdown.

We were picked up by the recovery vessel, and about 30 minutes later we climbed out of the spacecraft. We were checked out by the doctors before being flown by helicopter back to Kennedy Space Center, where we met our families. From there the mission wasn’t over, we had about a week of science and research and data collection post flight. We traveled to Houston pretty immediately for some high-density bone scans.

Trusting others with your life — teamwork is critical.

Human spaceflight is the ultimate team sport. It’s not only you have to have an extreme working relationship with the people on that mission — you are absolutely trusting them with your life to keep you safe. That extends to the people on the ground team as well, you have this entire team supporting you, and even more people behind the scenes beyond that.

As a trainer, I knew the technical side of Dragon and what you need to do to live and work in space, and what I found most interesting was in one of our early sims, the four of us go in the spacecraft, and we did terribly. We completely messed up the scenario. We were all going in different directions, chasing rabbit holes and ultimately just failed the simulation in so many ways. You have to learn how to work as a team.

It doesn’t matter what you bring to the team, you have to learn when to lead, when to follow, how you bring what you can contribute through a different lens because ultimately the success of the crew is what’s most important versus your own knowledge.

Seeing Earth from space changes you.

Seeing the Earth from that perspective cannot not change someone. All of our time here on Earth is so precious, your life is only so many hours overall. I have this immense appreciation for maximizing what we are here to do in this world. I think you certainly take calculated risks when you put yourself on a rocket and launch to space, or reenter the atmosphere. Those are all things that you have to believe that the risk is worth it for the benefit. It’s shifted my perspective a little bit on how cherished our time is with our family and our friends and what we’re here to do on this Earth. I’m still reflecting on it. I think it will continue to change me.

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Chemical and biological engineering alumnus gives back by mentoring the next generation

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2024 20:41:29 +0000

Chemical and biological engineering alumnus gives back by mentoring the next generation Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/01/2024 - 14:41

Susan Glairon

Throughout college and in the eight years since graduation, Ben Mousseau (ChemBio’16) has felt grateful for the mentors who guided him. Now a global supply manager at Tesla, Mousseau gives back to CU �鶹ӰԺ's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering by mentoring students through the department’s Alumni Student Mentor Program.

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2023 Engineering Homecoming Tailgate

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 23:06:14 +0000

2023 Engineering Homecoming Tailgate Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/13/2023 - 16:06

The 2023 Engineering Homecoming Tailgate was a huge success bringing together over 460 alumni, donors, and friends for a memorable evening of food, drinks, lawn games, camaraderie and live music from the band High Street Revival.

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Aerospace grad has leading role on OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 16:53:38 +0000

Aerospace grad has leading role on OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/21/2023 - 10:53

Jeff Zehnder

Mike Moreau (AeroEngr MS’97, PhD’01) is NASA’s Goddard’s sample recovery manager for the mission that has seen an Earth-built probe fly more than 600 million miles to the asteroid Bennu, scoop up a sample of rocks, dust, and regolith from the surface, and fly back home.

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CU �鶹ӰԺ engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 22:42:21 +0000

CU �鶹ӰԺ engineering grad builds world-leading materials science company Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/31/2023 - 16:42

Susan Glairon

Paul Lichty’s journey from PhD student to running one of the world’s top atomic layer deposition (ALD) companies was shaped by his time at CU �鶹ӰԺ. Today, Lichty (MechEngr BS‘06, ChemEngr PhD‘11) is the CEO of Forge Nano, overseeing the development of the Thornton, Colorado-based company’s cutting-edge nano coating technology.

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CU �鶹ӰԺ adhesive research could boost medicine, electronics, and the environment

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 19:51:20 +0000

CU �鶹ӰԺ adhesive research could boost medicine, electronics, and the environment Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/29/2023 - 13:51

Josh Rhoten

Karan Dikshit

Karan Dikshit (PhDMatSci’22) is the first author on a paper in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces around new adhesive materials that not only allow for easy sticking and unsticking but could eventually contribute to sustainability efforts around the globe.

Dikshit studied polymer chemistry and mechanics with Assistant Professor Carson Bruns during his time at CU �鶹ӰԺ in the Material Science and Engineering Program. We asked him about the paper, his current job, and more.

Question: What was your area of study in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and how did you get to �鶹ӰԺ?
Answer: Prior to joining CU �鶹ӰԺ I had the incredible opportunity to gain research experience at the esteemed National Chemical Laboratory in India. It was during this time that my passion for scientific exploration and making a positive impact on the world through sustainable materials grew immensely. When I was considering my next academic step, CU �鶹ӰԺ stood out as a beacon of cutting-edge research and innovation – particularly in the fascinating intersection of sustainability and soft materials. It also boasted a stunning location nestled against the picturesque backdrop of the Flatirons which also helped me decide to come here.

I got my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in the summer of 2022. Currently, I have the privilege of working at FLO Materials, a company dedicated to tackling the pressing issue of industrial plastic waste, in Berkeley, California. FLO Materials aims to revolutionize the field by offering groundbreaking platform technology that enables the creation of infinitely recyclable polymers.

Q: How would you describe the work and results of this paper to a high school student?
A: Traditional adhesives are often derived from petroleum refinement and are difficult to dispose of in a way that isn’t harmful to the environment. New eco-friendly materials such as lipoic acid, cyclodextrin, and polyrotaxane – as we discuss in the paper – also stick together and have other advantageous properties like easy removal without leaving residue or harming the surfaces involved.

These materials are also made from molecules that can be bioderived. Cyclodextrin, for example, comes from plant starch. Utilizing renewable resources like that helps reduce dependence on fossil fuel-based options and the sustainable nature of the materials also opens the possibility of recycling them in other applications to further reduce waste generation.

Q: What are some of the other potential applications of this research?
A: The broad range of real-world applications for these pressure-sensitive supramolecular adhesives is incredibly promising. In the medical field, these adhesives have the potential to revolutionize wound care by providing gentle yet secure bonding in bandages and dressings. Their pressure-sensitive nature also allows for easy and painless removal, enhancing patient comfort during the healing process. And in the realm of electronics, they offer exciting opportunities for the development of flexible circuits.

Q: Anything else you want to say about your time at CU �鶹ӰԺ?
A: In addition to the lab work, my time at the �鶹ӰԺ brought significant personal growth and development. Engaging in research, attending conferences, and participating in seminars allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and embrace new challenges. Presenting my work to a wider scientific community also enhanced my communication skills and confidence in sharing my research findings with others.

These experiences not only deepened my knowledge but also sharpened my critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Beyond the academic realm, I had the opportunity to collaborate with diverse individuals from various cultural backgrounds. These interactions enriched my perspective and fostered a greater appreciation for different approaches and ideas. Being part of a supportive and collaborative environment encouraged me to become a more effective team player, building strong relationships and learning from the expertise of my peers.

Other CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers involved in this research include Aseem Visal, Femke Janssen, Alexander Larsen, and Carson Bruns. This work was supported by the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Rady Mechanical Engineering Department, ATLAS Institute, and the National Science Foundation.

Karan Dikshit (PhDMatSci’22) is the first author on a paper in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces around new adhesive materials that not only allow for easy sticking and unsticking but could eventually contribute to sustainability efforts around the globe.

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Faculty set to host seminar on education, research practices, and ethics of ChatGPT

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 15:42:01 +0000

Faculty set to host seminar on education, research practices, and ethics of ChatGPT Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/30/2023 - 09:42

This session will provide a chance to hear from and have conversations with leading experts on the technical areas underlying ChatGPT and other generative AI, the uses of generative AI in university and K-12 education, and the ethical and societal issues associated with generative AI tools.

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Civil engineering alumna advancing disaster risk reduction

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 17:16:09 +0000

Civil engineering alumna advancing disaster risk reduction Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/21/2023 - 11:16

Josh Rhoten

Casie Venable

Graduate school was not always part of Casie Venable’s (PhDCivEngr’20) plan.

Growing up, she had family members in the construction industry and was surrounded by people who had both a passion and commitment to public service.

With her own interest in math and science, Venable always thought she would go into industry, move towards urban planning, or become a practicing civil engineer. Either way, she knew she wanted to work on large projects with a connection to policy and community issues that have a real-world impact.

That combination eventually led her to an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech in 2016. But pursuing a doctorate seemed unlikely, she said.

“I never expected to do a PhD,” Venable said. “In fact, CU �鶹ӰԺ was the only PhD program I applied to. I really doubted whether it was the right path for me at the time, but I am happy I made the decision to go there.”

Venable eventually came to �鶹ӰԺ to work with professors Amy Javernick-Will and Abbie Liel on community resilience through a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need fellowship. These awards come from the U.S. Department of Education and provide assistance to students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in key fields such as structural performance, risk perception and risk communication, for example.

Venable was co-advised by Javernick-Will and Liel, whose research groups often work closely together in the civil department and the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience on campus around those topics. Her research project specifically focused on post-disaster reconstruction using examples from the Philippines to illustrate the complex interactions between humans, disasters and the built environment that must be addressed together to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience.

“Working with them was an overwhelmingly positive experience and through the GAANN I was able to create my own research topic,” she said. “My interests sit at the intersection of their expertise – Amy has a strong organizational knowledge and disaster recovery background, and Abbie has a strong focus on structural and risk mitigation. It was great to bounce ideas off them as well as other students working on similar problems in their groups.”

Venable currently works in San Francisco for Arup, a global collective of designers, engineers, and consultants, dedicated to sustainable development. As a consultant she works with clients to help them understand the potential risk they face from a variety of natural hazards such as seismic activity and wind as well as manmade disasters like train derailments. That work includes conducting high-level and detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of existing buildings, she said.

Venable encouraged both undergraduate and graduate students to take a variety of courses and participate in different research topics during their time at CU �鶹ӰԺ.

“When getting a PhD, we really love our niche thesis topic and develop this great domain knowledge,” she said. “But the skills you pick up along the way are what really translate in your career later. The big picture and your goals for what come next should be your north star, but it doesn’t have to be a straight path.”

Graduate school was not always part of Casie Venable’s (PhDCivEngr’20) plan.

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Certificate programs and research shaped civil engineering alumna’s time at CU �鶹ӰԺ

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 15:49:02 +0000

Certificate programs and research shaped civil engineering alumna’s time at CU �鶹ӰԺ Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 03/19/2023 - 09:49

Josh Rhoten

Katie Chambers

When Katie Chambers finished her environmental engineering undergraduate degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2016, she was not entirely sure what she wanted to do next.

Most of the environmental engineering jobs she wanted around water and sanitation required higher degrees that would be expensive to complete. That was when she first heard about the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program from the U.S. Department of Education. It provides fellowships to graduate students with excellent academic records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue an advanced degree in a field designated as an area of national need in the United States.

In CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, the GAANN program trains future scientists and engineers in areas that relate to resilience in the face of natural or manmade disasters at home and abroad.

“The �鶹ӰԺ offered me a full ride through the GAANN program to do a PhD and it was hard to say no to that – especially with the beautiful location,” said Chambers. “But I would say the opportunity to learn and work with (Professor) Sherri Cook – who is so committed to her students – on topics related to resilience was a huge part of why I came here. It was a great opportunity I couldn’t pass on in so many ways.”

Chambers (PhDCivEngr’21) studied water, sanitation, and hygiene in low-income settings for her PhD. Her research eventually focused on sanitation reconstruction in Ethiopian communities that had suffered from regular flooding – seeking ways to better build resilience into the infrastructure in the area.

“I was a part of Engineers Without Borders as an undergrad, so this research was a sort of natural extension of that work, and I was able to travel there and work in the field as well,” she said. “I certainly had an interest in sanitation resilience and reconstruction in hazard-prone areas before coming to CU, but Sherri really helped me put together a great PhD thesis from that during my time with her.”

Today, Chambers works for the U.S. Government Accountability Office as part of the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics Team. As a part of the legislative branch, the Government Accountability Office provides Congress, the heads of executive agencies, and the public with timely, fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Katie Chambers at the U.S. Capitol building. She finished her PhD through the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program.

Chambers’ team focuses specifically on scientific advancements and she is based out of the Denver field office.

“My team provides Congress with foresight, oversight, and insight on challenging science and technology topics, as well as the policies governing them – everything from carbon capture to artificial intelligence, quantum computing and vaccine development," she said. “It’s our job as the experts to provide reports for Congress about the current and potential effects of these topics, as well as provide context and key policy questions lawmakers should consider around them.”

Chambers also earned graduate certificates in science and technology policy and in global engineering during her time at CU �鶹ӰԺ. She said both have helped in this role immensely.

"Our audience is largely non-scientists, but our technical knowledge is important for helping us understand these complex topics. So, I would say having the added experience from both of those certificates allows me to talk at several levels about why these scientific advances matter and communicate well when it comes to the policy implications,” she said.

Chambers said younger engineers considering graduate school or joining the workforce should try to take courses outside their core disciplines if possible.

“All of the professors I worked with were wonderful and were always happy to talk with me, which was incredible,” she said. “I recommend exploring outside your home department in terms of classes or certificates to build your network and see how your interests and expertise can be used in different career paths.”

Chambers (PhDCivEngr’21) studied water, sanitation, and hygiene in low-income settings for her PhD.

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Alumni Spotlight: ShoeSense is off and running, with help from CU �鶹ӰԺ entrepreneurial ecosystem

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 22:28:33 +0000

Alumni Spotlight: ShoeSense is off and running, with help from CU �鶹ӰԺ entrepreneurial ecosystem Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/14/2023 - 16:28

Michael Lock Swingen

When Connor Winter (MechEngr’16) decided to pursue a Certificate in Engineering Management in conjunction with his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, it put him on a path that would lead to the founding of his own startup company, ShoeSense.

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