麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院 faculty hit a record milestone in the 2017-18 fiscal year, bringing in $511.1 million in funding for pioneering studies addressing climate change, robotics, indoor farming听and more. These preliminary totals top last year鈥檚 $507.9 million in sponsored research funding across the university.听

To break this record, CU 麻豆影院 researchers secured grants from a range of government agencies, non-profit organizations and industry partners. The funded projects include ongoing efforts to monitor shrinking ice caps at the 麻豆影院 poles and research to develop a robotic small intestine. Final funding totals are expected later this year.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that our research funding has again exceeded $500 million, and represents record external investment in the important work of the university,鈥� said Terri Fiez, vice chancellor for research and innovation. 鈥淭his research reflects CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 commitment to innovation and impact鈥攊n areas as diverse as aerospace, energy, human health and earth and environmental sciences鈥攎ade possible by our exceptional researchers, faculty, staff and students.鈥�

The CU system as a whole similarly saw record levels of research funding in 2017-18. Together, the four Colorado campuses obtained $1.053 billion in awards, the second year in a row these totals climbed above $1 billion.听

鈥淥ne key way that the University of Colorado improves people鈥檚 lives is through the research conducted by our world-class faculty,鈥� CU President Bruce D. Benson said in a statement. 鈥淏ecause of this impressive level of investment by federal, state and local entities, CU grows even stronger in its ability to advance knowledge that makes all of us better.鈥�

Examples of recent sponsored research projects at CU 麻豆影院 include:

Keeping an eye on ice

The CU 麻豆影院-based (NSIDC) received a six-year, $50 million grant from NASA to archive and disseminate data on the frozen parts of the world鈥攊ncluding satellite and field measurements of changing ice conditions in听Antarctica and Greenland. The award will support NSIDC in managing and operating NASA鈥檚 Earth Observing System Data and Information System Snow and Ice Distributed Active Archive Center. The NSIDC is part of the (颁滨搁贰厂).听.

Imagining the future of food

Researchers from CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Department of Mechanical Engineering received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop the greenhouses of the future. The team is designing a new film that can split the light streaming into greenhouses into rays that plants can use more efficiently. Gardeners can also use the less efficient beams of light to purify their water supplies. The technology could help people to grow more food when resources are scarce. Read more about this research.

Detecting methane leaks

Colorado researchers turned Nobel Prize-winning technology into a rugged and portable device capable of remotely spying methane leaks from oil and gas operations鈥攃atching trace amounts of the gas from miles away. The research stems from an a $2.7 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Team members include scientists from CU 麻豆影院, CIRES, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). .听

Digesting with robots

Mark Rentschler and his colleagues in CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Department of Mechanical Engineering are exploring the next phase of robotics: guts. Drawing on support from the National Science Foundation, the team is developing a robotic small intestine that researchers could use to test out new medical technologies and treatments without the need for human subjects. Learn more about Rentschler鈥檚 research.