Twenty-five years ago, a colleague mentioned to Annette Bunge that dermatologists at the University of Utah were finding strange results in their study of chemicals moving through skin. Boldly crossing the discipline barrier, Bunge took a sabbatical in Utah, where she applied an engineer’s perspective to the biological problem, and quickly resolved the anomaly.
In 2010, when industry and governments around the world woke up to the fact that China had developed a near monopoly on the production and supply of rare earth minerals, alarm bells sounded and industry and government leaders went looking for experts to consult on the issue. One of the people they quickly identified was
Graduate environmental science and engineering students Leah Feazel and Andrew Nelson spent a challenging summer in Cameroon last year, volunteering their time to help support educational initiatives. The two launched their own non-profit organization, DOORs Cameroon, which works to sponsor motivated teenagers from Cameroon’s rural communities to attend college.
Robert Kee George R. Brown Distinguished Chair Division of Engineering “It was an act of self-defense,” says Robert Kee, describing the circumstances that first prompted him to develop Chemkin, today the most widely used chemical kinetic modeling software available. Kee was an engineer working with a team of chemists at Sandia National Laboratory in the
Faculty: Christian Shorey Specialty: “Liberal Science” Education There are a lot of people listening to Christian Shorey. Last year, more than 900 undergraduate students took his course, Earth and Environmental Systems, and he’s taught about that same number each year since coming to Mines in 2005. And now that the entire course is available as
Student: Jackie Barnes Year: Senior Major: Engineering—Civil Specialty Standing on the podium in Beijing singing “The Star Spangled Banner” with her gold medal around her neck and her hand on her heart, Jackie Barnes was moved by a flood of emotions: patriotism, pride, relief, excitement, accomplishment. It was one of the most memorable moments of
Faculty: Keith Neeves Research: Drug delivery, microfluidics While we’ve got a long way before medicine catches up with the treatment available in the sick bay on Captain Kirk’s Starship Enterprise, Keith Neeves, assistant professor of chemical engineering, is exploring some very exciting medical frontiers. He develops technologies to fine-tune drug delivery. “It’s personalized medicine,” says
Students: Wentz Wensel Year: Graduate Student Major: Geotechnical Engineering Rachel Des Cognets Year: Graduated Dec. ’08 Major: Engineering, Civil Specialty Wentz Wensel and Rachel Des Cognets traveled to Washington, D.C. last summer to serve as interns for the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources for the Republican Desk. Both enrolled in the McBride Honors Program,
Faculty: Tina Gianquitto Research: Science, Environment and Culture Tina Gianquitto recalls as a small girl walking hand in hand with her grandfather in his vast garden. “We’d roam around and he’d point things out and teach me about nature,” said Gianquitto, associate professor of literature in the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies. For
Student: David Pesek Year: Senior Major: Engineering-Electrical Specialty Last season David Pesek, the Orediggers 2008 starting quarterback, led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for total offense and passing. His success was hard-earned: he invested about 40 hours a week into football while balancing a 17-credit-hour academic schedule. This year he’s putting the same amount of
Student: Daniel Armijo Year: Freshman Major: Engineering-Electrical Specialty Free college—“it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I am really lucky to have,” said Mines freshman, Daniel Armijo. Daniel, a former Aurora Central High School student, earned a Daniels Fund Scholarship that will finance his education at any accredited two- or four-year college or university in the United