Shelly Miller

Five mechanical engineering research projects win PACES awards

alse6588 — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:13:12 +0000

Five mechanical engineering research projects win PACES awards alse6588 Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:13

Alexander Servantez

These awards connect research, creative work, and teaching and learning activities for faculty, staff members and students across campus with partners from Colorado communities and beyond. More than $7 million in funding, benefiting 5.5 million people, has been granted since 1999.

“We are proud of the rigorous, community-engaged work our faculty and staff are doing,” said PACES Assistant Vice Chancellor David Meens. “These public-serving projects highlight �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s powerful service throughout Colorado and beyond.”

According to OCE, this year’s application process was extremely competitive. Across campus, PACES received 31 proposals totaling $571,728 in funding requests.

Of these requests, PACES was able to fund 22 total proposals totaling $400,000. Read below to learn more about the Rady Mechanical Engineering faculty and students whose projects earned PACES funding this year.

Professor Michael Hannigan (left) and Associate Research Professor Daniel Knight (right).

SCENIC26: Environmental Sustainability Through Rural School Wildfire Inquiry (Daniel Knight, Michael Hannigan and Joseph Polman)

Wildfires are becoming an increasingly common part of life across Colorado, but many rural schools have limited access to engineering education and environmental monitoring tools.

That’s why Associate Research Professor Daniel Knight and Professor Michael Hannigan will expand the Colorado Science and Engineering Inquiry Collaborative (SCENIC) by introducing a new wildfire-focused curriculum to high schools across the state.

Students will investigate how wildfires affect local air and soil quality using monitoring technology developed at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, while engineering students will serve as mentors throughout the school year. By combining hands-on research with community partnerships, the project aims to inspire the next generation of engineers while helping students explore environmental challenges affecting their own communities.

Professional Research Assistant Evan Coffey (left) and Teaching Professor Shalom Ruben (right).

Listening to Communities: Co-developing Toolkits to Measure Sound and Air Pollution (Evan Coffey, Ellen Considine and Shalom Ruben)

When residents of Denver's Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods raised concerns about noise and air pollution, they asked researchers for help gathering the data needed to better understand the problem.

Professional Research Assistant Evan Coffey and Teaching Professor Shalom Ruben are striving to provide that help by working alongside community members to develop affordable sensor toolkits capable of measuring both sound and air pollution.

Residents will help determine where sensors are deployed, learn how to interpret the results and use the findings to support future community-led environmental assessments and policy discussions. The project also gives �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder students hands-on experience in community-engaged research and environmental monitoring.

Professor Emerita Shelly Miller.

Pilot Monitoring of Urban Pesticides for Human Health and Biodiversity Protection in Boulder, Colorado (Riley Mulhern, Karen Bailey and Shelly Miller)

Pesticides used in residential neighborhoods can affect both human health and local ecosystems, yet little data exists on how they move through urban environments.

A new PACES project led by Professor Emerita Shelly Miller will partner with the City of Boulder to monitor common residential pesticides using low-cost silicone samplers placed in yards and on dog collars.

The research will pair environmental measurements with biodiversity data and community input to better understand pesticide exposure and develop a blueprint for long-term monitoring that can help guide future public health and environmental policy.

Building Community Infrastructure for Air Quality Monitoring at San Lazaro Mobile Home Park (Enrique Lopez and Shelly Miller)

Residents of San Lazaro Mobile Home Park in Boulder are preparing for a multi-year coal ash excavation at the nearby Valmont Power Plant, raising concerns about potential air quality impacts.

Building on an existing community partnership, the PACES project will support the next phase of the project by training bilingual community health leaders, expanding air quality education and helping residents create their own response plan if pollution levels become concerning.

Rather than simply collecting environmental data, Miller and her team will focus on ensuring families understand what the information means and how to use it to protect their health long after the research concludes.

The Office of Outreach and Community Engagement (OCE) at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder has awarded five Public and Community-Engaged Scholarships (PACES) to faculty and students from the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. These awards connect research, creative work, and teaching and learning activities for faculty, staff members and students across campus with partners from Colorado communities and beyond.

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People of color breathe Denver’s smelliest air

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 21:17:27 +0000

People of color breathe Denver’s smelliest air Alexander Jame… Mon, 03/17/2025 - 15:17

A new �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder-led study, headlined by Professor Shelly Miller, shows that Denver residents in marginalized areas of the city are more likely to be exposed to odor emitting facilities. However, these communities are also the least likely to report these odors to the city, a statistic that Miller and her colleagues would like to see change.

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Miller discusses airborne COVID spread with Eos

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 21:39:49 +0000

Miller discusses airborne COVID spread with Eos Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/02/2022 - 15:39

Shelly Miller is interviewed in "Indoor Air Pollution in the Time of Coronavirus", a new long-format piece by Eos, the journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Miller is a professor of mechanical and environmental engineering at the �鶹��Ѱ�� and an expert on indoor air quality. She has been a prominent scientific voice in national media during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The article focuses on how aerosol scientists like Miller have spread the word on airborne transmission of COVID-19, and what it means for cleaning indoor air.

Read the article at Eos...

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The Conversation: Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 20:45:59 +0000

The Conversation: Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/11/2022 - 13:45

Professor Shelly Miller shares her recent research about COVID-19 transmission with The Conversation.

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Ask an expert: Staying COVID-safe this coming holiday, winter season

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 20:52:59 +0000

Ask an expert: Staying COVID-safe this coming holiday, winter season Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 13:52

Read updated advice from �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s Shelly Miller, professor of mechanical engineering and expert in indoor air quality, about the ways we can all help reduce our risk and keep our communities safe during the winter season.

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Simple safety measures reduce musical COVID-19 transmission

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:47:03 +0000

Simple safety measures reduce musical COVID-19 transmission Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/27/2021 - 09:47

ME professor Shelly Miller, a co-author of the study, finds masking instruments, social distancing and implementing time limits significantly reduce the risk of emitting COVID-19 airborne particles.

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Let’s talk about transmission of respiratory infectious diseases

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:24:31 +0000

Let’s talk about transmission of respiratory infectious diseases Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/11/2020 - 07:24

Professors Shelly Miller and Nina Vance, along with Miller's daughter, Renee Leiden, produced a video explaining how the transmission of respiratory infections can occur. They reveal that there are three ways someone susceptible to infection can contract a virus: contact transmission, spray of large particles and airborne transmission. Contact transmission occurs when someone susceptible to infection touches a surface that has been contaminated by a virus and then touches their eyes, mouth or nose. They said COVID-19 is not highly likely to spread in this way. A person can also become infected when a spray of large particles, or droplets, fly out of an infected person's mouth or nose and land on the eyes, nose or mouth of someone who is susceptible to infection. Airborne transmission occurs when the virus is suspended in particles in the air. Animal studies, superspreading events and air sampling have shown that COVID-19 is transmitted in this way.

Watch the video below to learn more about the transmission of respiratory infections and how to mitigate these risks.

[video:https://youtu.be/AGQYlrXzVJQ]

Professors Shelly Miller and Nina Vance, along with Miller's daughter, Renee Leiden, produced a video explaining how the transmission of respiratory infections can occur.

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The New York Times: Serve up some extra precautions at your thanksgiving table this year

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 21:09:01 +0000

The New York Times: Serve up some extra precautions at your thanksgiving table this year Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/10/2020 - 14:09

Public health officials, including mechanical engineering Professor Shelly Miller, urge families to keep celebrations small, avoid mixing households and open the windows.

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Ask an expert: Staying safe this winter and holiday season during COVID-19

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:45:31 +0000

Ask an expert: Staying safe this winter and holiday season during COVID-19 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/30/2020 - 12:45

With COVID-19 cases on the rise nationally, it is more important than ever to reduce one’s risk of contracting or spreading the virus. Learn from expert Shelly Miller about the ways we can all help reduce our risk and keep our communities safe.

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Aerosol research instrumental in getting musicians back to playing safely

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 15:47:54 +0000

Aerosol research instrumental in getting musicians back to playing safely Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/14/2020 - 09:47

A CU-Boulder research team of scientists and musicians seek to find out how musical ensembles around the world can continue to safely perform music together during the pandemic.

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