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If Colorado truly envisions itself to be a bold leader on tackling climate change, our state must have a strategy for decarbonizing concrete. Although concrete is not always top of mind, this critical building block presents a wealth of opportunities for sustainability and business innovation — as well as reducing harmful emissions.

Researchers at CU Â鶹ӰԺ are developing an app that could reliably and quickly predict whether batches of concrete made at construction sites are safe. If successful, the work could usher in a new era of building that is faster, more cost effective and safer overall for everyone.

New research published in Nature Materials from Associate Professor Tanja Cuk and colleagues sheds light on a fundamental chemical reaction — the breaking apart of water to produce a molecular fuel such as hydrogen. Cuk is faculty in the Department of Chemistry and the Materials Science and Engineering Program (MSE) and is a Fellow in the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI).

Three Materials Science and Engineering faculty members were recognized by Clarivate as highly cited researchers this year. Clarivate recognizes "the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year" via their Web of Science platform.

Eight researchers affiliated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are on this year’s list of Highly Cited Researchers, with many familiar names from the 2020 list.

Ahead of the joint Materials Instrumentation and Multimodal Imaging Core (MIMIC) Facility and Colorado Shared Instrumentation in Nanofabrication and Characterization (COSINC) facility virtual webinar on Nov. 18, Associate Professor Wil Srubar shares the importance of having core facilities at public institutions.

Melvin Colorado Escobar is a second year PhD candidate in the Responsive and Programmable Group under the supervision of Gallogly Professor Timothy White. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry at the American University in Washington, DC and his master's degree in chemistry at UC Irvine in California.

Professor Michael Toney has accepted the new faculty director position for shared facilities for material characterization and fabrication in the college.

The Carbon Leadership Forum has published a new report on the potential for meaningful climate impact through materials that serve as carbon sinks. Co-authored by Wil Srubar, an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the Â鶹ӰԺ, the report, partially funded by Microsoft, highlights ways building construction can use new materials to reduce our carbon footprint and even become "carbon positive."

The Colorado Shared Instrumentation in Nanofabrication and Characterization (COSINC) facility and the Materials Instrumentation and Multimodal Imaging Core (MIMIC) facility will host a joint virtual webinar from noon to 2 p.m. on Nov. 18 via Zoom.