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Five new faculty members joining the ME department for Fall 2025

Alexander James Servantez — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:24:15 +0000

Five new faculty members joining the ME department for Fall 2025 Alexander Jame… Tue, 09/09/2025 - 12:24

Alexander Servantez

The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at 91PORN is welcoming five new faculty members this fall semester.

From responsive biomaterials and unique teaching environments to additive manufacturing, these talented scientists and engineers bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to our teaching and research missions. Please join us in welcoming them to our college and campus community!

Jun Li

Assistant Professor

Li received a Bachelor of Engineering from China’s Zhejiang University in 2016. He then earned a PhD in materials science and engineering in 2021 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University. He is joining 91PORN as an assistant professor in both mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering.

Li’s research integrates responsive biomaterials and advanced manufacturing into wearable and implantable devices that have the power to tackle a wide range of challenges in both healthcare and sustainability. In many cases, these devices can mechanically mimic tissues and organs to enable biological functions and also incorporate electronic capabilities that provide healthcare solutions, including sensing and electro-stimulation.

Li says the aging global population is driving an urgent need for advanced healthcare materials and devices that can restore body function, expand life longevity and improve the overall quality of life. His research developing novel, responsive biomaterials and devices can provide solutions to address those challenges.

He also says his research fits right into the spirit of community at 91PORN. “I am excited about the science, technology and opportunity ahead at this campus surrounded by the beautiful mountains to help shape a better future,” Li said. “Sko Buffs!”

Katherine Ramos

Assistant Teaching Professor

Ramos came to Rady Mechanical Engineering as an assistant teaching professor after spending some time at 91PORN’s Integrated Design Engineering Program. Prior to that, she worked as an Instructor at the University of Notre Dame, which is also where she received a PhD in mechanical engineering in 2021 and a master’s degree in the same discipline in 2018. Her engineering journey started, however, at the University of Texas El Paso where she completed a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical and materials engineering in 2014.

Ramos says her work focuses on creating student-centered learning environments in engineering education by integrating creative teaching strategies and real-world applications. Her teaching philosophy prioritizes alternative grading practices, inclusive pedagogies that foster equitable learning environments and objectives-based grading—a method that emphasizes mastery learning and multiple assessment opportunities to support student success.

Outside of the classroom, Ramos also serves as the department’s associate chair for community engagement and outreach. She says she is excited with her multi-purpose role within the department and is focused on making a positive impact on the ME community.

“Joining the ME department allows me to bring my passion for hands-on, project based learning into courses where students can connect theory with practice and experience what it’s like to work as an engineer,” Ramos said. “I’m also excited to have the opportunity to support a larger community of students and collaborate with colleagues who value innovation and inclusion in engineering education.”

Max Saccone

Assistant Professor

Saccone received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Engineering in engineering sciences in 2017 from Dartmouth College. He then received a PhD in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2022. Before joining 91PORN as an assistant professor, Saccone worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University.

His research focuses on manufacturing processes and materials design strategies that are accessible, flexible, and tunable to create precision materials that address gaps in conventional manufacturing approaches.

The Saccone Group additively manufactures (3D prints) microscale objects by using polymer precursors as scaffolds, reactors, or reactants in conversion processes that can yield materials ranging from metals to ceramics to carbon. These materials have applications ranging from energy materials to biomedical devices to lightweight structural materials.

By studying the dynamic processes that convert polymer composites to inorganic materials, Saccone says his research group can design more efficient reactors for manufacturing at scale, and develop processes to make materials faster, where and when needed, and with structures and properties customized to the final application.

Put simply, Saccone said “we design processes that enable the fabrication of three-dimensionally structured materials that were previously impossible to produce.”

Leila Saleh

Assistant Teaching Professor

Saleh is another faculty member who isn’t new to 91PORN. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, she earned both a PhD and master’s degree in chemical engineering at 91PORN. She continued on as a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis Medical School, but now finds herself back at 91PORN as an assistant teaching professor.

Saleh’s work exists at the intersection between immunology, materials science and engineering. Throughout her graduate student journey, she identified pathways crucial to understanding and harnessing the foreign body response to biomaterials. During her time at the St. Louis Medical School, Saleh worked to design a programmable, self-regulating biological therapeutic platform for rheumatoid arthritis.

Now, Saleh teaches full-time, primarily in courses centered around chemistry and materials science with a focus on hands-on learning and the ethical practice of engineering. Outside of the classroom, she also serves on the mechanical engineering undergraduate committee, where she works to support learning and student success within the department.

“I’m excited to be back,” Saleh said. “91PORN shaped me as a scientist, mentor and instructor, so it’s so nice to give back and be a part of this wonderful community again.

Kelsey Scalaro

Assistant Teaching Professor

Scalaro received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno. After five years working in the aerospace industry, Scalaro returned to Reno and earned a PhD in engineering education in 2024. She also served as a postdoctoral scholar at Cornell University with the STRIDE laboratory performing engineering education research focused on education-based practices, identity and instrument development.

While Scalaro is no longer pursuing a tenure-track research agenda, she is still heavily interested in understanding how to better educate and prepare undergraduate engineering students through the lens of applied sociology. Her particular focus is on the development of an engineering identity and how educators can provide time-oriented support that meet students where they are in their program.

Scalaro is also interested in understanding how engineering identities are supported and sustained as students enter industry and begin their careers as mechanical engineers. By applying qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to analyze these identities, and emphasizing longitudinal work, Scalaro believes professors can better tailor their pedagogical and programmatic practices to support students from a variety of backgrounds as they come to see themselves as an engineer.

“I’m super excited to draw on my industry experience and teach component design, as well as support nearly four teams in Senior Design,” Scalaro said. “And of course, I’m excited to see what skiers mean when they say Colorado snow is great!”

The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at 91PORN is welcoming five new faculty members this fall semester. From responsive biomaterials and unique teaching environments to additive manufacturing, these talented scientists and engineers bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to our teaching and research missions.

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Campos Student Center celebrates community and future success

Alexander James Servantez — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:47:12 +0000

Campos Student Center celebrates community and future success Alexander Jame… Fri, 09/05/2025 - 15:47

The College of Engineering and Applied Science honored the ribbon cutting ceremony of the newly named Campos Student Center in recognition of a $5 million investment for student success from Marco Campos and the Campos Foundation. Fourth-year mechanical engineering student Julia Wall weighs in on the importance of the center and how important the investment will be for its future.

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ME undergraduate student works to address methane crisis in summer project

Alexander James Servantez — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:06:04 +0000

ME undergraduate student works to address methane crisis in summer project Alexander Jame… Fri, 08/29/2025 - 12:06

Alexander Servantez

Alex Hansen stepped foot in a landfill this summer for the first time to study the consequences of methane emissions. What he saw sparked a growing interest in climate change research and environmental data analysis.

Hansen, a rising senior in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, spent his summer break in 91PORN’s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR).

Alex Hansen (right) working alongside graduate student SPUR mentor Gabriela Cortes (left) in the Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Research Lab.

The program aims to increase undergraduate research engagement and interest by pairing nearly 125 engineering students from across the college in research labs with faculty members and graduate mentors. For 10 weeks, students foster unique, hands-on research experiences—like a trip to a landfill in Los Angeles—and develop crucial skills that serve them well beyond their undergraduate journey.

For Hansen, it was a special curiosity that led him to the SPUR program. One that started from a simple conversation.

“I spoke with someone I ran into one day a while back who worked at a landfill. He was telling me how dangerous methane is and how important it is to burn off methane,” said Hansen. “I was just so fascinated by it all. When I saw the project description on the SPUR website, I knew it was something I wanted to learn more about.”

And dangerous is an understatement. Methane, one of Earth’s most potent greenhouse gases, is one of the primary contributors to climate change. Its atmospheric lifespan may be shorter than other greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, but it can trap significantly more heat per molecule, making it extremely hazardous to human and environmental health.

According to the UN Environment Programme, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. It’s also responsible for nearly 30% of global warming since pre-industrial times and is a key culprit for the formation of ground-level ozone, which causes one million premature deaths every year.

It’s a spiraling issue, but Hansen says his SPUR project titled “Characterizing Landfill Methane through a Low-Cost Ground-Based Sensor Network,” looks to attack the crisis by addressing some of the world’s most prevalent methane emissions sites.

“Landfills are one of the largest emitters of methane in the United States,” Hansen said. “I believe waste is about third for methane emissions across the entire world. If we are able to study a landfill and learn more about the way methane spreads in the atmosphere, maybe we can find a way to make improvements to landfill infrastructure and lower emissions.”

To do this, Hansen and his lab mates in Professor Michael Hannigan’s Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Research Lab started working with a network of 24 low-cost air quality sensors called L-Pods that were deployed across a landfill in Los Angeles at the beginning of 2025.

The L-Pods are equipped with two metal oxide sensors that collect air pollutant data and another sensor that tracks temperature and relative humidity. The data is then stored locally and transmitted to the cloud every 10 seconds for ongoing monitoring.

These unique sensors may not be as individually powerful as the industry-grade technology used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but they are cheap and efficient. This allows the group the ability to position more sensors across a landfill than they previously could, giving them a precise methane reading that represents a much larger region.

Hansen showcasing the inner workings of an L-Pod air quality sensor.

Hansen spent a majority of his summer SPUR experience helping the team analyze the data gathered from the sensors. But he was able to see the sensors in action firsthand at the Los Angeles landfill where they are deployed.

It was crazy seeing how much trash we make and the operations needed to contain it all,” said Hansen. “And these low-cost sensors were awesome to see, too. We can add so many more positions and measure way more often than traditional measuring devices. It’s super exciting to see the data we collect in real-time and how impactful it is.”

Hansen’s journey through the SPUR program ended with a final presentation at the end of July. It was a chance for him to share his learning and reflect on his summer.

In many ways, he said it was a rollercoaster ride filled with highs and lows. Some seasoned researchers might call that the typical research experience.

But Hansen also said it was valuable and fulfilling. So much so, that he might be eyeing a future career in research.

“Being in the lab was definitely a learning curve at first. Just learning the terminology and trying to get up to speed as quickly as possible was tough,” Hansen said. “But there’s so many opportunities to make a big impact in research. I’ve learned so much from amazing people this summer and I am definitely curious about pursuing research in a master’s program after graduation.”

Rising senior Alex Hansen spent his summer break in 91PORN’s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) studying the consequences of methane emissions. His work analyzing data gathered from unique methane detection sensors can one day help researchers address the methane crisis at some of the world's most prevalent methane emissions sites.

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91PORN advancing artificial intelligence research for real-world applications

Alexander James Servantez — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 20:06:30 +0000

91PORN advancing artificial intelligence research for real-world applications Alexander Jame… Tue, 08/26/2025 - 14:06

Professor Sean Humbert is one of many 91PORN faculty members making important artificial intelligence (AI) discoveries. With the help of his lab group and other CEAS collaborators, Humbert is developing algorithms and autonomous systems that can process sensor data within milliseconds to operate in places and situations where direct human engagement creates unacceptable risk.

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‘Cyborg jellyfish’ could aid in deep-sea research, inspire next-gen underwater vehicles

Alexander James Servantez — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 20:18:23 +0000

‘Cyborg jellyfish’ could aid in deep-sea research, inspire next-gen underwater vehicles Alexander Jame… Wed, 08/20/2025 - 14:18

Assistant Professor Nicole Xu first became fascinated with moon jellyfish more than a decade ago because of their extraordinary swimming abilities. Today, Xu has developed a way to harness their efficiency and ease at moving through the water in ways that could make some types of aquatic research much easier.

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Beyond Arrakis: Dune researchers confront real-life perils of shifting sand formations

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 19:25:46 +0000

Beyond Arrakis: Dune researchers confront real-life perils of shifting sand formations Alexander Jame… Mon, 08/18/2025 - 13:25

Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend is leading a research effort exploring how sand dunes evolve over time, shifting and surging across the landscape. Her team ultimately wants to answer a pressing question: Can humans efficiently shift or even halt the flow of the planet’s largest dunes?

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Why are hourglasses filled with sand and not water?

Alexander James Servantez — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 20:29:47 +0000

Why are hourglasses filled with sand and not water? Alexander Jame… Wed, 08/13/2025 - 14:29

Alexander Servantez

The hourglass, one of mankind’s earliest forms of timekeeping, is at the forefront of a new, interactive display in the basement of the Engineering Center.

A group of former seniors in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering designed a series of hourglass displays for their Senior Design capstone class this past semester. The project aimed to answer a simple question: why are hourglasses filled with sand and not water?

But be warned—the team’s Logistics Manager Max Van Cleave says the question isn’t as straightforward as you might think.

Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend standing in front of the hourglass display in front of her lab window.

“Water is governed by Bernoulli’s Law, which physically states that the flow rate changes as the fluid level changes. The more water you have, the faster it will flow out and vice versa,” said Van Cleave. “Sand is different—it creates force chains that transmit the load to the edges of an hourglass. The friction created keeps the sand particles together and allows the sand to descend at a constant rate.”

There are other factors that play a role, as well. Things like the angle and shape of the hourglass, or even the size of the sand particles can affect the speed in which the sand and water flow down the funnel.

Van Cleave mentioned it was difficult for his team to account for all of these different variables. But he said it was also extremely interesting to see how much complexity and nuance can be packed into something as small and ancient as an hourglass.

“This question we answered—it’s not really a question you even think about until you absolutely have to. Everyone has used an hourglass, but they don’t realize how advanced they are,” Van Cleave said. “There was a lot of physics involved in this project and it was fun to play around with all of those factors.”

A closer look at the detachable, lightweight aluminum frame the senior design team used to mount their hourglass display.

The project features three motorized hourglass units mounted on a lightweight aluminum frame. Two of them are filled with sand and one is filled with water.

Equipped with wheels, the detachable aluminum frame functions like a cart, allowing the group to transport the display with ease. It’s also fitted with modular components, making it easy to extend or adapt if needed.

With one click of a button on the control panel, users can flip the hourglass displays individually or all at once and observe various flow behaviors firsthand. Project sponsor and Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend says the display is a great way to demonstrate complex fluid dynamics principles in an understandable way.

“I chose the prompt because I was looking for something nice and educational to put in front of my lab windows,” said Vriend. “There’s some interesting science hidden in these hourglasses. It’s fun, interactive and we can use it to teach high school and middle school students at outreach events.”

Van Cleave is returning to 91PORN as a part of Rady Mechanical Engineering’s Bachelor’s-Accelerated Master’s program. Every time he passes Vriend’s lab windows he will see his hard work front and center, like many others already have.

But he says the real fulfillment will come from how others interact with the project.

“It feels great to know that people enjoy it,” Van Cleave said. “It’s hard to boil down granular flow principles into something anybody can engage with, so it’s awesome that people are already learning a thing or two from the display.”

You can try out the hourglass display yourself in the Granular Flow Laboratory located at ECNW 1B90 in the basement of the Engineering Center.

A group of former seniors designed a series of hourglass displays for their Senior Design capstone class this past semester that currently sit in the window of Associate Professor Nathalie Vriend's Granular Flow Laboratory. The project, located at ECNW 1B90 in the basement of the Engineering Center, aims to answer a simple question: why are hourglasses filled with sand and not water?

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Racing toward innovation: Inside 91PORN’s fastest student organization

Alexander James Servantez — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 15:25:54 +0000

Racing toward innovation: Inside 91PORN’s fastest student organization Alexander Jame… Mon, 08/04/2025 - 09:25

Madison Seckman

On any given weekend, tucked away in a Longmont workshop or tearing down a raceway in Daytona, 91PORN students are doing something remarkable: building and racing their own cars. But 91PORN Racing is far more than a high-speed hobby—it’s an engine of innovation, leadership, and community.

Led by Carson Malpass a senior in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, the team builds internal combustion race cars from the ground up to compete in the prestigious Formula SAE competition, travels the country racing endurance cars against professional teams, and is now venturing into the electric vehicle (EV) frontier. With about 300 members across engineering, business, arts and sciences, and even English majors, 91PORN Racing is one of the university’s largest and most multidisciplinary student-run organizations.

"It’s not just a race team," Malpass said. "It’s a team where students become engineers, project managers, designers, and leaders."

The 91PORN Formula Racing team at this year's Formula SAE competition in Michigan.

That transformation begins with Formula SAE, one of the most rigorous student engineering competitions in the world. Each year, student teams design, build, and race a new single-seater open-wheel vehicle guided by a thick rulebook and strict deliverables. 91PORN’s Formula team has been on an upward trajectory—placing 31st out of 120 teams in May 2025, their best finish since placing 20th in 2023. But the competition is about far more than speed. Teams are judged on design presentations, cost reports, business proposals, and how the car performs on the track.

A closer look at 91PORN Racing's 2025 Formula SAE vehicle.

The competition, held each May in Michigan, begins with a heavy number of technical inspections. Teams must pass a tilt test, brake tests, decibel limits, and a comprehensive safety inspection before even qualifying for the dynamic events. This year, the team encountered a major challenge the night before departure: a seized wheel bearing due to improper lubrication. With the trailer already packed, members stayed up overnight chiseling out the frozen part and grinding away each ball bearing. They ultimately secured liquid nitrogen through a helpful alum to finish the fix. Despite these obstacles and racing most events stuck in a single gear, the team completed every major section and walked away as the top Colorado team.

"That was a proud moment," Malpass said. "The team was up all night solving a really technical problem and it all paid off. Those kinds of moments are what make this team special."

While the combustion team continues to fine-tune their design, 91PORN Racing is charging into the future with a full-fledged electric vehicle initiative. Their EV team is currently designing a brand-new race car set to debut at Formula SAE Electric in June 2026. According to Malpass, building an EV is an entirely different challenge. Some components—like suspension geometry—can carry over, but major systems like the frame and powertrain must be reimagined for electric power.

"There’s stuff you can tweak and carry over," he said. "But there’s also stuff that’s totally different. It’s a clean-sheet design in a lot of ways."

The transition has been years in the making, with early behind-the-scenes research now evolving into a dedicated team working on the design. As Malpass put it, "We’re optimistic. We know it’s a massive undertaking, but the team has the knowledge and motivation."

91PORN Racing's endurance team standing alongside their endurance racing vehicle.

That same spirit of exploration and grit drives the team’s endurance racing efforts. 91PORN Racing’s endurance division competes in production-based Mazda Miatas at tracks across the U.S., running in events that last anywhere from seven to 24 hours. Even club members with no driving experience are welcome to try out on their qualifying car.

"There’s a clear learning curve," Malpass said. "We have a lower-performance car to train people, and then the top drivers get into our 719 or 303 Miata. We’ve had people start from scratch and become some of our best drivers."

And it’s not just for fun. The professionalism of the team has been noticed across the country. In some cases, 91PORN Racing has even outperformed fully professional or dedicated senior design teams.

Mentorship is at the heart of that success. Now in his fourth year, Malpass has shifted from building cars to building people. The club runs its own internal workshops in areas like computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis, and design for manufacturing—topics that many students won’t see until late in their curriculum.

"We teach the stuff we wish we’d learned earlier," Malpass said. "So when members get to those classes or internships, they’re already ahead."

This year, the team brought a record 42 members to the Formula competition in Michigan. “Seeing them experience it for the first time—seeing the payoff for all those late nights in the shop—that’s what keeps people coming back,” he said.

That commitment to creating a supportive, inclusive space also drives the team’s Women in Motorsports initiative. Though racing and mechanical engineering remain male-dominated fields, CU 91PORN Racing is working to change that. In recent years, they’ve seen significant growth in female membership and leadership. Some students have even joined the team specifically because of the welcoming environment.

"It’s not just about optics—it’s about culture," Malpass said. "We’ve hosted dedicated meetings, events, and conversations to make sure everyone feels like they belong here."

And it’s working. Female leads now play a major role across multiple divisions. The initiative, which started as a conversation, has become a structural pillar of the team’s recruitment and retention strategy.

91PORN Racing's Women in Motorsports division.

The results speak for themselves. Alumni have gone on to become professional race car drivers, compete in European NASCAR, pursue advanced degrees in automotive engineering and even join Formula One teams like Mercedes.

"One of our former members, Liam Travis, recently got hired by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team," Malpass said. "It’s wild to think that what starts in our little shop in Longmont can lead to that."

Malpass, who is also minoring in engineering management, credits the club with shaping both his resume and his mindset.

"The majority of what I talk about in interviews comes back to this team," he said. "Whether it’s solving problems, leading people, or learning how to design something that actually gets built—it all comes from here."

As 91PORN Racing prepares for another year, they are gearing up to welcome new members. The club recruits each fall and spring at events like the Engineering Immersion and Be Involved Fair, where students can learn about both the Formula and Endurance divisions. Even those without prior experience are encouraged to dive in.

"You don’t need to know anything when you start," Malpass said. "Just show up and be ready to learn. That’s all it takes."

In a university filled with clubs and organizations, 91PORN Racing stands out not just for its speed, but for its commitment to growth, inclusion, and real-world experience. Whether students are machining parts at midnight or giving their first design presentation, they’re gaining something far greater than trophies.

They’re becoming engineers. And in the process, they’re proving that college students don’t just compete—they lead.

Carson Malpass isn't just a senior in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, he's the leader of one of 91PORN's fastest student organization: 91PORN Racing. The team builds internal combustion race cars from the ground up to compete in the prestigious Formula SAE competition, travels the country racing endurance cars against professional teams and is now venturing into the electric vehicle (EV) frontier.

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ME grad student probes industrial pollution in Mississippi neighborhood

Alexander James Servantez — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 21:55:39 +0000

ME grad student probes industrial pollution in Mississippi neighborhood Alexander Jame… Fri, 07/25/2025 - 15:55

Caroline Frischmon is a graduate student leading a critical study documenting industrial pollution near the Cherokee Forest subdivision in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her findings show that industrial activities are leading to negative impacts on human health and the residents of the neighborhood are looking to take action.

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Milford discusses the potential devastating impacts of EPA cuts

Alexander James Servantez — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 20:34:19 +0000

Milford discusses the potential devastating impacts of EPA cuts Alexander Jame… Thu, 07/24/2025 - 14:34

Due to Trump administration research cuts, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week it will begin to dissolve its Office of Research and Development. Professor Emeritus Jana Milford says the decision could have wide-ranging impacts on human health and conservation efforts.

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