Aerospace Engineering

Explore. Achieve. Lead.

Hanna Nordwall — Tue, 19 May 2026 21:54:23 +0000

Explore. Achieve. Lead. Hanna Nordwall Tue, 05/19/2026 - 15:54

The Smead Program provides excellence in research, academic programming, and personal and professional enrichment for the brightest minds pursuing graduate- and faculty-level research in aerospace engineering.

A unique community within the larger Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the �鶹��Ѱ��, the Smead Program emphasizes ground-breaking interdisciplinary research and leadership through a multi-pronged approach:

PhD Student Scholars
Faculty Fellows
Visiting Professorships
Distinguished Post- Doctoral Associates

Learn more

2025 Student Scholars

Madison Lin
Research: Trajectory
design and optimization

Hasani Spann
Research: Modeling and timing
of orbits and orbital transfers

2024 Student Scholars

Sarah Kinney
Research: Fluid structure interactions
in hypersonic applications

Lisa Ventura
Research: Decision-making for autonomous
aircraft, robot and human interactions

2023 Student Scholar

Cate Leszcz
Research: Characterizing
uncertainty in hypersonic
aerothermodynamic environments

2022 Student Scholars

David Dezell Turner
Research: Astrodynamics

Evangelina Evans
Research: Astrodynamics
for cislunar space applications

2021 Student Scholars

Sarah Luettgen
Research: Dynamics of the
Earth’s upper atmosphere

Mitchell Wall
Research: Hypersonics
and reentry vehicles

Meet the Smead Scholars – some of the brightest minds pursuing graduate research in aerospace engineering today, thanks to generous donors.

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News & Noteworthy

Hanna Nordwall — Fri, 15 May 2026 20:44:46 +0000

News & Noteworthy Hanna Nordwall Fri, 05/15/2026 - 14:44

�鶹��Ѱ��Engineering hosts NAE Quantum & Space Symposium

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science hosted the National Academy of Engineering’s Regional Meeting & Symposium, which focused on the convergence of quantum technologies and space applications. Participants discussed technical pathways for space deployment, implications for satellite architectures and national security applications and shared insights on accelerating the transition from laboratory prototypes to mission-ready systems. The program leveraged Colorado’s interconnected ecosystem of academic quantum and aerospace research, national laboratories, and commercial quantum, space and technology partners to facilitate technical exchange across academia, government and industry on this emerging frontier.

Clockwise from top: NAE Symposium hosts and special guests, from left, Hanspeter Schaub, Scott Diddams, Dana Anderson, Tsu-Jae Liu and Keith Molenaar; �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz greets an attendee; aerospace PhD student Zack Funke explains his research during the poster session.

Scott Diddams

Diddams, Schaub elected to NAE

Hanspeter Schaub

Two �鶹��Ѱ��Engineering faculty members were elected to the 2025 class of the National Academy of Engineering.

Scott Diddams is a professor and Robert H. Davis Endowed Chair in Discovery Learning in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. He is also affiliated with the Department of Physics and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He was recognized for his outstanding contributions in optical frequency combs and their applications.

Hanspeter Schaub is a distinguished professor and chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. A leader in the field of astrodynamics and spacecraft control, his research has advanced theoretical and practical understanding of spacecraft operations.

Diddams and Schaub were among 128 new U.S. members and 21 international members in the class of 2025.

Degrees launched in AI, sustainable engineering

�鶹��Ѱ��Engineering has launched two master’s programs designed to meet industry demand in key areas of national importance.

A Master of Science in artificial intelligence is now available both online and in-person (starting fall 2027), making �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder one of only a handful of universities offering a master’s degree in AI. The core curriculum addresses a breadth of areas central to AI engineering expertise, including machine learning, statistical learning, natural language processing and ethics.

The Master of Science in sustainable engineering represents a new model of cross-college collaboration at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, uniting expertise from business, engineering and the natural sciences to prepare students for the global demand for sustainability jobs. The nine-month program features an integrated 15-credit core with students from �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s MS in Sustainable Business, as well as engineering-focused electives and a capstone project with real-world partners in industry or government.

Astronaut Candidate and U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Erin Overcash. Photo credit: NASA

Alum tapped as NASA astronaut candidate

In September, Erin Overcash (AeroEngr'14, MS'17) reported for duty as part of NASA's 2025 astronaut candidate class. In addition to her �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder degrees, she attended U.S. Navy flight school and has logged more than 1,300 hours of flight in a variety of aircraft, according to her astronaut profile.

During her time at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, Overcash competed in track and field in the pentathlon, hurdles and high jump, among other events. She went on to train with the USA Rugby Women's National Team and has also competed in Ironman Triathlon events.

Marcus Holzinger
Hatfield Endowed Professor

Professorship established in space policy & law

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder donors Dale and Patricia Hatfield have given $2.5 million to establish the Hatfield Endowed Professorship in Space Policy & Law.

Underscoring the university’s commitment to leadership in this fast-evolving field, the professorship will drive teaching and research on space policy and law, with broad implications for national security, global communications, navigation, weather forecasting and international collaboration.

This interdisciplinary position will rotate every two years between the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the Leeds School of Business and Silicon Flatirons, supporting faculty whose teaching and research advance this work. Professor Marcus J. Holzinger of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is the inaugural Hatfield Endowed Professor, bringing expertise in space policy, domain awareness, development and strategy.

New book addresses engineering student wellness

As Counseling and Psychiatric Services therapists embedded in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Audrey Gilfillan and Alison West have more than eight years of combined experience supporting engineering students.

They recently harnessed that experience to co-author Decompile Your Mind: An Engineer’s Guide to Thoughts and Emotions, which tackles common challenges faced by engineering students, including perfectionism, imposter syndrome, self-criticism, loneliness, emotional suppression, rumination and uncertainty.

“Engineers have inspired us to rethink how we approach mental health — but the content itself offers value to many people, not just engineers,” West said. “Anyone who sees the world through an analytical, logical lens can gain value from this book.”

Jay Arehart
Assistant Teaching Professor

Symposium tackles embodied carbon reduction practices and materials

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Structural Engineering Institute co-hosted a summer symposium focused on advancing the structural engineering profession toward zero carbon.

The event, which drew 166 participants from 65 companies, marked an industry-wide step toward cutting emissions tied to building materials like steel and concrete, said faculty member and event organizer Jay Arehart.

The event explored design practices and materials that reduce embodied carbon — the greenhouse gases emitted during the production, transport and disposal of building materials. Arehart said he believed it was the largest gathering to date of structural engineers focused on embodied carbon reductions.

�鶹��Ѱ��President Todd Saliman, left, with Amy Moreno-Sherwood

Inclusivity champion wins �鶹��Ѱ��System award

Amy Moreno-Sherwood, senior director of the Campos Student Center (formerly the BOLD Center), was the recipient of the 2025 President’s Inclusive Excellence Award. The award is one of the university’s highest honors for individuals who go above and beyond to build inclusive and empowering communities.

Dean Keith Molenaar said Moreno-Sherwood’s unwavering commitment has profoundly impacted the college community. “Amy’s leadership of the Campos Student Center has elevated efforts to support engineering students of all backgrounds,” Molenaar said.

“Amy’s dedication and innovative approach are truly inspiring. Her recognition with the President’s Inclusive Excellence Award is a testament to her exceptional contributions.”

Learn what events and innovations have been taking place in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

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3 with ties to �鶹��Ѱ��Engineering elected to National Academy of Engineering

emad5542 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:19:25 +0000

3 with ties to �鶹��Ѱ��Engineering elected to National Academy of Engineering emad5542 Thu, 02/12/2026 - 10:19

Dana Anderson, Iain Boyd and Bob Erickson are among the 130 scientists and engineers from around the country who will be inducted as members of the NAE at a meeting this fall.

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23 years after Columbia disaster, one-of-a-kind 'plasma tunnel' recreates extreme conditions spacecraft face upon reentry

Jeff Zehnder — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:27:03 +0000

23 years after Columbia disaster, one-of-a-kind 'plasma tunnel' recreates extreme conditions spacecraft face upon reentry Jeff Zehnder Fri, 02/06/2026 - 12:27

Picture a spacecraft returning to Earth after a long journey.

The vehicle slams into the planet’s atmosphere at roughly 17,000 miles per hour. A shockwave erupts. Molecules in the air are ripped apart, forming a plasma—a gas made of charged particles that can reach tens of thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, many times hotter than the surface of the sun.

The sight is spectacular to behold, but it’s also dangerous, said Hisham Ali, assistant professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.

The Columbia disaster is a tragic example. On Feb. 1, 2003, as the space shuttle reentered Earth’s atmosphere, plasma flooded into the vehicle through a defect in its shield of protective tiles. The shuttle disintegrated, and seven crewmembers, including �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder alumna Kalpna Chawla, died.

Illustration showing NASA's Orion spacecraft returning to Earth. (Credit: NASA)

Ali has dedicated his career to helping prevent those kinds of accidents.

“One of the most critical and dangerous phases of any space mission is when spacecraft reenter Earth’s atmosphere,” he said. “If we’re taking more humans to orbit through space tourism, we need to do that safely and effectively, and that’s a challenging problem.”

Scientists call this kind of flight “hypersonic.” Vehicles hit hypersonic speeds when they travel at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, and faster. At sea level, that’s a blistering 3,800 miles per hour.

Ali and his team are trying to recreate the wild physics that occur at those speeds, entirely from the safety of the ground.

To do that, the group opened a new kind of research facility on campus in late 2025. Known as an inductively coupled plasma tunnel, the facility generates streams of plasma that flow at speeds of hundreds to thousands of miles per hour and burn at up to 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit and hotter.

He and his students are using this one-of-a-kind facility to test how new materials and other technologies behave in such a treacherous environment. They’re also exploring an out-there idea: whether engineers can use powerful magnets to actually maneuver vehicles flying at incredible speeds, something that’s not possible today.

“There’s not a chamber exactly like this anywhere in the world,” Ali said.

A lab that glows

That machine is coming to life now in a windowless lab on �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder's East Campus. There, a 40-kilowatt generator roars on, and it’s hard to hear anything over the sound.

Ali and a small team of graduate students monitor a series of readouts on a computer terminal. Beside them are the main components of the group’s plasma wind tunnel: The first is a tube made of quartz glass, known as a nozzle, which is about the size and shape of a wine bottle. It feeds into a much larger chamber that’s sealed with stainless steel several inches thick.

“I think we’re ready to light,” Ali says to his team.

In an instant, a lavender-colored light blinks on in the quartz-glass tube. The eerie glow comes from a plasma, like the kind that threatens spacecraft when they return to Earth.

From there, the plasma rushes into the metal chamber, which you can peer into through a porthole window. Inside, every surface radiates orange from the heat.

To simulate the conditions of hypersonic flight the group needs two things: speed and heat.

To build up speed, he and his students inject a stream of argon gas into their tunnel. A powerful vacuum system then sucks that gas through the tunnel—and fast. The vacuum can pull more than 20,000 cubic meters of air per hour, making it one of the most powerful machines of its kind at any university in the United States.

The heat comes next. The researchers hit their plasma with strong radio waves that flip back and forth. Those waves generate electric currents within the gas, eventually causing it to explode into a plasma. Once the argon is lit, the team can then inject regular, Earth air into the tunnel.

“My students and I worked a lot of late hours to make this happen,” Ali said.

Plasma flows into a chamber made from stainless steel several inches thick.

Staying cool

Ali’s own passion for hypersonic flight began on a school trip.

The engineer grew up in Alabama, and when he was in fifth grade, he attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. There, a guide pulled out a tile similar to the ones NASA engineers once used to shield space shuttles from heat during reentry.

“They put a blowtorch on one side and let us put our hands on the other. You could still feel that it was cool,” Ali said. “I thought that was very interesting.”

It kicked off Ali’s lifelong dream of helping humans explore the solar system—and come back safely.

The new plasma tunnel brings him one step closer to that goal.

Ali explained that he and his students can use a metal arm to lower almost anything—like a new type of heat-resistant material or design for a sensor—into the flow of their plasma. The streaming plasma instantly forms a shock wave around the obstruction. The team can then test how technologies behave under those kinds of extreme conditions.

The researchers have already collaborated with one aerospace company to test a new type of heat-resistant material. They have plans to work with several more companies in the months ahead.

But the facility does more than just capture Earth’s atmosphere in a bottle. It can also simulate the atmosphere of many other planets. What would happen, for example, if a space capsule rammed into Mars’ thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere?

“Once our plasma is lit, we can inject carbon dioxide and create a plasma made of flowing carbon dioxide, similar to what a spacecraft might experience at Mars,” Ali said.

Hisham Ali inspects his plasma wind tunnel.

Room to maneuver

The team is tackling what might be the most persistent challenge of hypersonic flight: Once a vehicle hits those kinds of speeds, it’s nearly impossible to steer. That’s because anything that sticks out from a plane or spacecraft, like wings or flaps, would burn up almost at once. As a result, pilots can’t easily change a spacecraft’s trajectory after it reenters Earth’s orbit if something goes wrong.

Ali’s team hopes to get around that limitation with the help of an unusual property: magnetism.

Plasmas, Ali noted, are made of charged particles. If you have a powerful enough magnet, you can potentially change the flow of those charged particles, much like how you can use toy magnet to move around iron filings.

The researchers envision that future spacecraft could employ ultra-strong magnets to push on the plasma shock waves around them. In the process, they might build up enough force to turn—at least a little bit.

The team will soon start running experiments to test that idea.

For now, Ali is excited to see the culmination of a dream that began with a blowtorch all those years ago.

“Increasing humankind’s understanding of our world and others is something I’ve always found really inspiring,” he said.

Known as an inductively coupled plasma tunnel, the facility in Hisham Ali's lab generates streams of plasma that flow at speeds of hundreds to thousands of miles per hour and burn at up to 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit and hotter.

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Conducting space research as an undergrad

Jeff Zehnder — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:34:50 +0000

Conducting space research as an undergrad Jeff Zehnder Mon, 01/26/2026 - 11:34

Diana Hernandez, a sophomore and first-generation student at the �鶹��Ѱ��, is conducting research on space dust impacts using data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP). As a Lattice Scholar, she models impact data collected by PSP’s magnetometer instruments, which detect signals from dust collisions. This work is part of the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship and Fundamentals of Undergraduate Research Program, offering hands-on research opportunities.

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Shaping the Future of Aerospace: Smead PhD Scholars

Michelle Wiese — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 23:17:14 +0000

Shaping the Future of Aerospace: Smead PhD Scholars Michelle Wiese Thu, 10/30/2025 - 17:17

The �鶹��Ѱ��’s Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is pleased to welcome the 2025 PhD Scholars into The Smead Program.

They join the cohort of current Smead Scholars to explore, achieve and lead in aerospace engineering sciences.

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Skydiving into a PhD

Jeff Zehnder — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 19:07:56 +0000

Skydiving into a PhD Jeff Zehnder Thu, 10/16/2025 - 13:07

Jeff Zehnder

Adam Harris is advancing the frontiers of aerodynamics as a non-traditional student, finishing up a doctoral program in which he never expected to enroll.

“I’m writing computational fluid dynamics and finite element codes to study flow control by phononic materials and structures. A phonon is the quantum of vibrational energy, a quasi-particle that could give birth to a whole new species of technology,” Harris said.

A PhD student in the materials science and engineering program, Harris began his college journey in 2012 as a psychology major, but his time at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder did not last long.

“I didn’t show up to classes and just really didn't care. I was placed on academic probation my first semester and academic suspension my second,” Harris said.

A native of Miami, he elected to stay in Boulder, working in construction and landscaping. In 2014, Harris enrolled at Front Range Community College for an associate’s degree in business.

Skydiving Hobby

Harris also started skydiving as a hobby, hanging out at Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, making up to 10 jumps a day. Eventually, he was hired there for a paid ground crew position.

“I was surrounded by people who were monitoring weather, maintaining aircraft, and discussing flight mechanics. I started teaching myself basic aerodynamics, watching TED talks and physics documentaries online. It all became more and more interesting to me,” he said.

After finishing at Front Range, Harris decided to continue onto a four-year business degree at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. Because of his past suspension, enrolling required an appointment with an admissions advisor. The meeting would change the direction of his life.

Changing Gears

“I told her about all the science, engineering, and physics I was being exposed to. She looked at me suspiciously and said, ‘Are you sure you want to study business?’ Nope, put me down for physics,” Harris said.

He steamrolled through his courses, earning As and Bs in subjects where he had previously shown little interest. In the five years since his first stint at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, Harris had grown significantly.

“Turns out I really love math. I think my success was a product of motivation and how much I enjoyed where I was, the people around me, what I was learning, and relevance to my passions. I have a GPS in my skydiving helmet and I would always try to connect course concepts to data acquired from wingsuit flights,” he said.

As he was completing his bachelor’s, a connection with Mahmoud Hussein, a professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, opened the door to graduate school.

Graduate School

“I was still enjoying classes but I paid for undergrad myself, so I didn’t want to continue accumulating debt. I started talking to Mahmoud, and when I learned engineering PhD programs cover tuition and living expenses, there was no question. What an opportunity,” Harris said.

Hussein became his graduate advisor as Harris earned two master’s degrees – in aerospace and materials science. He expects to finish his PhD in materials science next spring.

His dissertation is centered on phononic subsurfaces (PSubs), which could lead to radical increases in fuel economy for jet aircraft and hypersonic vehicles. It has been a focus of Hussein’s lab for 15 years, beginning at the theoretical level and now approaching the applied stage, thanks in part to a major Office of Naval Research grant awarded last year.

“This started with purely computational work and now we’re 3D printing PSubs. We can validate the PSub’s tuned frequency response with a laser vibrometer, and we have candidate prototypes that yield the response we expect. We’re going to begin the first wind tunnel tests in collaboration with the Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder very soon,” Harris said.

What's Next?

As he writes his dissertation, Harris’s research background offers a wealth of career opportunities, but he is hoping for a particular dream job that would combine fluid dynamics and computational modeling with his love of skydiving.

It may sound like a fantasy. It is not.

“There’s a company in California that builds parachutes used for space craft atmospheric re-entry,” Harris said. “The job description is everything I’m doing at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, plus a requirement of parachute rigging experience, which I have.”

Wherever Harris lands, he is a long way from his beginnings in Boulder as an 18-year-old psych major.

“I think this is where I was supposed to be all along,” Harris said. “I just wasn’t aware of it back then. The synchronicity is really cool.”

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Robot regret: New research helps robots make safer decisions around humans

Jeff Zehnder — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:28:28 +0000

Robot regret: New research helps robots make safer decisions around humans Jeff Zehnder Fri, 08/29/2025 - 10:28

Imagine for a moment that you’re in an auto factory. A robot and a human are working next to each other on the production line. The robot is busy rapidly assembling car doors while the human runs quality control, inspecting the doors for damage and making sure they come together as they should.

Robots and humans can make formidable teams in manufacturing, health care and numerous other industries. While the robot might be quicker and more effective at monotonous, repetitive tasks like assembling large auto parts, the person can excel at certain tasks that are more complex or require more dexterity.

But there can be a dark side to these robot-human interactions. People are prone to making mistakes and acting unpredictably, which can create unexpected situations that robots aren’t prepared to handle. The results can be tragic.

New and emerging research could change the way robots handle the uncertainty that comes hand-in-hand with human interactions. Morteza Lahijanian, an associate professor in �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, develops processes that let robots make safer decisions around humans while still trying to complete their tasks efficiently.

From left, engineering professor Morteza Lahijanian and graduate student Karan Muvvala watch as a robotic arm completes a task using wooden blocks. (Credit: Casey Cass)

In a new study presented at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in August 2025, Lahijanian and graduate students Karan Muvvala and Qi Heng Ho devised new algorithms that help robots create the best possible outcomes from their actions in situations that carry some uncertainty and risk.

“How do we go from very structured environments where there is no human, where the robots are doing everything by themselves, to unstructured environments where there are a lot of uncertainties and other agents?” Lahijanian asked.

“If you’re a robot, you have to be able to interact with others. You have to put yourself out there and take a risk and see what happens. But how do you make that decision, and how much risk do you want to tolerate?”

Similar to humans, robots have mental models that they use to make decisions. When working with a human, a robot will try to predict the person’s actions and respond accordingly. The robot is optimized for completing a task—assembling an auto part, for example—but ideally, it will also take other factors into consideration.

In the new study, the research team drew upon game theory, a mathematical concept that originated in economics, to develop the new algorithms for robots. Game theory analyzes how companies, governments and individuals make decisions in a system where other “players” are also making choices that affect the ultimate outcome.

In robotics, game theory conceptualizes a robot as being one of numerous players in a game that it’s trying to win. For a robot, “winning” is completing a task successfully—but winning is never guaranteed when there’s a human in the mix, and keeping the human safe is also a top priority.

So instead of trying to guarantee a robot will always win, the researchers proposed the concept of a robot finding an “admissible strategy.” Using such a strategy, a robot will accomplish as much of its task as possible while also minimizing any harm, including to a human.

“In choosing a strategy, you don't want the robot to seem very adversarial,” said Lahijanian. “In order to give that softness to the robot, we look at the notion of regret. Is the robot going to regret its action in the future? And in optimizing for the best action at the moment, you try to take an action that you won't regret.”

Let’s go back to the auto factory where the robot and human are working side-by-side. If the person makes mistakes or is not cooperative, using the researchers’ algorithms, a robot could take matters into its own hands. If the person is making mistakes, the robot will try to fix these without endangering the person. But if that doesn’t work, the robot could, for example, pick up what it’s working on and take it to a safer area to finish its task.

Karan Muvvala watches the robotic arm pick up a blue block. (Credit: Casey Cass)

Much like a chess champion who thinks several turns ahead about an opponent’s possible moves, a robot will try to anticipate what a person will do and stay several steps ahead of them, Lahijanian said.

But the goal is not to attempt the impossible and perfectly predict a person’s actions. Instead, the goal is to create robots that put people’s safety first.

“If you want to have collaboration between a human and a robot, the robot has to adjust itself to the human. We don't want humans to adjust themselves to the robot,” he said. “You can have a human who is a novice and doesn't know what they're doing, or you can have a human who is an expert. But as a robot, you don't know which kind of human you're going to get. So you need to have a strategy for all possible cases.”

And when robots can work safely alongside humans, they can enhance people's lives and provide real and tangible benefits to society.

As more industries embrace robots and artificial intelligence, there are many lingering questions about what AI will ultimately be capable of doing, whether it will be able to take over the jobs that people have historically done, and what that could mean for humanity. But there are upsides to robots being able to take on certain types of jobs. They could work in fields with labor shortages, such as health care for older populations, and physically challenging jobs that may take a toll on workers’ health.

Lahijanian also believes that, when they're used correctly, robots and AI can enhance human talents and expand what we're capable of doing.

"Human-robot collaboration is about combining complementary strengths: humans contribute intelligence, judgment, and flexibility, while robots offer precision, strength, and reliability," he said.

"Together, they can achieve more than either could alone, safely and efficiently."

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Enhancing orbital safety with better space weather predictions

Jeff Zehnder — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:40:25 +0000

Enhancing orbital safety with better space weather predictions Jeff Zehnder Fri, 07/11/2025 - 12:40

Jeff Zehnder

Anant Telikicherla is developing new instrumentation for an upcoming sub-orbital rocket flight.

Surrounded by racks of electronics equipment, tools, and pieces of an aluminum rocket body – the laboratory could be mistaken for a mad scientist’s lair – Telikicherla is working on an instrument he hopes can help provide advance warnings for solar flares.

“These flares are one of the most powerful explosions in the solar system,” said Telikicherla, a PhD student in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the �鶹��Ѱ��. “Flares release an insane amount of energy that can reach Earth in eight minutes and large eruptive flares are often associated with energetic particle events that are a radiation risk to astronauts and can be really damaging to satellites.”

As a student, Telikicherla is co-advised by two leading researchers, Tom Woods, a senior research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and Bob Marshall, an associate professor in aerospace.

Flare prediction is an active area of research around the world, and Telikicherla is hopeful the instrument he and Woods have been developing could eventually provide 10-15 minutes advance warning of flares. It is a short period of time, but any additional notice would be beneficial for space weather operations.

The basis of the instrument, called the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph and High Energy Imager (SEUSHI), derives from a paper Telikicherla published on solar flare onsets in The Astrophysical Journal. SEUSHI is slated to fly next spring aboard a sounding rocket.

Sounding rockets are sub-orbital flights that soar to the edge of space and offer engineers and scientists an opportunity to conduct short duration experiments for a much lower cost than those on full size rockets.

“Our group tries to build new instruments to better understand the sun, and hopefully this flight demonstrates the technology and then we’ll propose it as a long-term project aboard a future small satellite,” Telikicherla said.

A native of Dehli in India, Telikicherla has been fascinated by space since a young age. He earned his bachelor’s at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, a university run by India’s national space agency, and then worked at the Indian Space Research Organization’s Human Spaceflight Center for two years.

The desire for advanced research drew him back to school.

“My work was fun, but I had a longing to do more fundamental research, to go beyond what a normal industry job does,” he said.

He earned a master’s at the University of Alberta. There, he worked on a different sounding rocket instrument and earned first prize at the AIAA SmallSat conference student paper competition for a submission based on his master’s thesis.

Telikicherla wearing a clean room "bunny suit."

For his PhD, Telikicherla was drawn to �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, where he had already spent time at as an undergrad in a summer exchange program called INSPIRE.

A collaboration with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), INSPIRE offers students from around the world the chance to come to Boulder to design and build a small satellite. It was where he was first introduced to Woods’ research.

“He was the PI on one of the satellite’s instruments and as we were building it, I realized I was more interested in the instrument than the larger spacecraft. That sounded more exciting, making new measurements of things no one has ever looked at before,” Telikicherla said “I told him I wanted to analyze the solar data after it launched and he said absolutely, even though I didn’t have a solar physics background.”

Now a year into his PhD program, Telikicherla splits his time on campus between the lab and conducting observational analysis of existing solar flare data.

“I can download data in real-time from satellites using LASP’s downlink and that’s awesome,” Telikicherla said. “Then, let’s say I get bored staring at my computer for hours, I can go work in the lab instead. I get to do both, and I feel that’s very enjoyable from a PhD student life point of view.”

SEUSHI is scheduled to launch aboard LASP’s EVE Rocket Program in April 2026 from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

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Eleven engineering students earn prestigious National Science Foundation fellowships

Jeff Zehnder — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 15:37:47 +0000

Eleven engineering students earn prestigious National Science Foundation fellowships Jeff Zehnder Tue, 07/01/2025 - 09:37

The National Science Foundation has bestowed 11 prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards to �鶹��Ѱ�� engineering students.

The national awards recognize and support outstanding grad students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

Awardees receive a $37,000 annual stipend and cost of education allowance for the next three years as well as professional development opportunities.

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Aerospace Engineering

Explore. Achieve. Lead.

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News & Noteworthy

�鶹��Ѱ�����Engineering hosts NAE Quantum & Space Symposium

Diddams, Schaub elected to NAE

Degrees launched in AI, sustainable engineering

Alum tapped as NASA astronaut candidate

Professorship established in space policy & law

New book addresses engineering student wellness

Symposium tackles embodied carbon reduction practices and materials

Inclusivity champion wins �鶹��Ѱ�����System award

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3 with ties to �鶹��Ѱ�����Engineering elected to National Academy of Engineering

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23 years after Columbia disaster, one-of-a-kind 'plasma tunnel' recreates extreme conditions spacecraft face upon reentry

A lab that glows

Staying cool

Room to maneuver

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Conducting space research as an undergrad

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Shaping the Future of Aerospace: Smead PhD Scholars

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Skydiving into a PhD

Skydiving Hobby

Changing Gears

Graduate School

What's Next?

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Robot regret: New research helps robots make safer decisions around humans

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Enhancing orbital safety with better space weather predictions

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Eleven engineering students earn prestigious National Science Foundation fellowships

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�鶹��Ѱ��Engineering hosts NAE Quantum & Space Symposium

Inclusivity champion wins �鶹��Ѱ��System award

3 with ties to �鶹��Ѱ��Engineering elected to National Academy of Engineering