Faculty Awards

Wyatt Shields selected as Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

Anonymous — Fri, 10 May 2024 21:45:47 +0000

Wyatt Shields selected as Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:45

Susan Glairon

Assistant Professor Wyatt Shields presents at the 2023 Packard Fellows retreat.

Wyatt Shields has been honored with a 2024 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award for his contributions to teaching and research on medical microrobots, self-propelled miniature robots that one day might deliver prescription drugs to hard-to-reach places inside the human body.

PhD Student Nicole Day presents her research to Northglenn High School Students at the "Reverse Science Fair," held on Nov. 27, 2023. Credit: Byron Reed, 9News.

Microrobot seen under a scanning electron microscope.
(Credit: Shields Lab)

Eighteen Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars were selected for 2024, and each awardee will receive an unrestricted grant of $100,000.

"I am honored to join an impressive community of scholars who are committed to research excellence and teaching at the highest levels, reflecting the core values we share at CU �鶹��,” said Shields, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the �鶹��.

According to the foundation, award recipients “are within the first five years of their academic careers, have each created an outstanding independent body of scholarship and are deeply committed to education.”

Funds from this award will support new trainees in the Shields Lab to advance work on synthetic and living microrobots that are capable of performing next-generation medical tasks. Synthetic microrobots are manufactured from biocompatible materials to move or change shape in response to stimulation from ultrasound or magnetic fields. In contrast, living microrobots comprise nanoparticles that attach to—and co-opt—immune cells for enhanced delivery to diseased tissues for medical treatments.

The microrobots may one day enhance the delivery of drugs to diseased tissues within the body or inform treatment decisions; instead of cutting into the patient, the robots could enter the body through a pill or an injection and undergo remote stimulation.

Shields added that teaching takes many forms, including classroom pedagogy, mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the lab and engaging in community outreach.

“The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation value all of these dimensions of teaching,” he said.

Shields plans to use this award to connect academic research to classroom teaching and to engage the broader public. To this end, Shields and Alex Rose from CU Science Discovery created the first annual "Reverse Science Fair" last year. This event challenges graduate students to effectively communicate their research to local high school students in an engaging and understandable manner.

“The earlier we offer these opportunities for high school students to discover the diversity of scientific fields and careers out there, the better,” Rose said.

Shields has won numerous awards, including a Packard Foundation Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a Pew Biomedical Scholar award, an NSF CAREER award, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program award and a National Institute of Health Maximizing Investigators' Research award.

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Dan Schwartz awarded prestigious American Chemical Society Langmuir Lectureship

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 21:06:29 +0000

Dan Schwartz awarded prestigious American Chemical Society Langmuir Lectureship Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/02/2024 - 15:06

Susan Glairon

Photo caption: The Schwartz lab discovered that molecules move around on surfaces via a complex type of motion involving crawling, hopping and flying.

Professor Dan Schwartz

Professor Daniel K. Schwartz has been honored with the prestigious American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry 2024 Langmuir Lectureship award. He was nominated by his colleagues for significant contributions to the field of colloid and interface science.

Colloids are mixtures in which one substance is finely dispersed in another substance. Interface science refers to the boundaries between different phases of matter, such as between two unmixable liquids, or between a liquid and a solid.

Schwartz, a professor in CU �鶹��’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, said the award was significant for several reasons.

“Most importantly, it recognizes the excellence of research performed by my PhD students and postdocs, past and present,” he said. “The recognition is also special because it is sponsored jointly by the ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry and the ACS journal Langmuir, both of which are very close to my heart. The namesake of the award, Irving Langmuir, a Nobel laureate and the foundational figure of surface science, is a long-time scientific hero of mine.”

Schwartz will receive a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration and reimbursement for travel expenses to the ACS fall 2024 meeting and a $3,000 award. He will also deliver a special lecture at the ACS fall 2024 symposium.

Single molecule/nanoparticle tracking microscopy is
used to study transport in the liquid-filled void spaces of
porous materials.

Schwartz’s colloid and interface science research carries significant practical implications for various fields. These include membrane-separation processes and biocatalysis applications such as water purification, wastewater treatment, food and beverage processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing. His work also extends to chemical production as well as environmental remediation and biofuel synthesis.

“Dan’s contributions to fundamental understanding of dynamic interfacial phenomena are extraordinary,” the nominators said in a letter to the selection committee. “He has provided new windows into monolayers at interfaces, on solid boundaries and new approaches to understanding fundamental transport of confined molecules, nanoparticles and active particles in porous media. This work is of extraordinary scope and rigor.”

The award also entails an expectation that Schwartz will submit a feature article for publication in Langmuir within six months following his lectureship presentation.

“It is incredibly satisfying to share the award with my PhDs and postdocs,” Schwartz said. “I’m eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to describe their work to the award lecture audience in August.”

Professor Daniel K. Schwartz has been honored with the prestigious American Chemical Society Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry 2024 Langmuir Lectureship award. Schwartz was nominated by his colleagues for significant contributions to the field of colloid and interface science.

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Dan Schwartz awarded prestigious American Chemical Society Langmuir Lectureship

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Jerome Fox elevated to senior member of prestigious National Academy of Inventors

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 14:31:37 +0000

Jerome Fox elevated to senior member of prestigious National Academy of Inventors Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2024 - 08:31

Susan Glairon

Associate Professor Jerome Fox

Jerome Fox, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at the �鶹��, has been named a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). NAI senior membership recognizes faculty, scientists and administrators for their contributions to innovation, including patents, licensing, commercialization and technologies aimed at benefiting society.

“It is a wonderful honor,” said Fox, who has one issued patent and two patents pending. “Translating our academic work into technology that has the potential to change lives—namely, to yield new medicines for patients who need them—has been a team effort. I am thankful to the wonderful group of scientists and engineers who have worked, and who are still working, to make this happen.”

At CU �鶹��, Fox’s research group is engineering microbes to facilitate the discovery of biologically active compounds, paving the way to develop novel drugs and therapeutic agents to address unmet medical needs. The group is also developing innovative methods for measuring and manipulating cell signaling using light, which could lead to new therapies for complex diseases. Their broad interests also include the development of sustainable and efficient methods to produce oleochemicals to help meet the rising demands for renewable fuels.

Fox’s research group has uncovered novel inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B)—an elusive target for treating diabetes, obesity and cancer—and provided a new framework for using synthetic biology to address challenging drug targets.

In 2021, Fox commercialized his work by founding Think Bioscience, which licensed his intellectual property from CU �鶹�� to develop new medicines. The company, which has raised more than $25 million, is developing drugs to treat Rett Syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects one in 10,000 women; researchers there are also developing a cancer medicine for patients who do not respond to traditional immuno-oncology therapies.

NAI senior membership also recognizes faculty mentorship of young inventors. Fox received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Faculty Award from his department twice, and in 2023, he was honored with the Dean’s Performance Award for Teaching, an annual recognition given to one faculty member in the college.

Associate Professor Jerome Fox has been named a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors. Fox's research focuses on engineering microbes for drug discovery. He founded Think Bioscience, a company developing medicines for conditions like Rett Syndrome and cancer.

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Hendrik Heinz awarded IAAM Scientist Medal

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 14:57:30 +0000

Hendrik Heinz awarded IAAM Scientist Medal Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/12/2024 - 08:57

Hendrik Heinz, professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Colorado

�鶹��, has been awarded an International Association for Advanced Materials (IAAM), Scientist Medal in recognition of his contributions to advanced materials, engineering and technology.

The prestigious award was given to Heinz for creating powerful computational simulation tools that accurately model inorganic-biological systems, ranging from tiny atoms to a larger micrometer scale, Heinz said. The tools have greatly improved the accuracy of material design, making it possible to predict and create catalysts, composites and structural materials more efficiently. The increased accuracy allows researchers to speed up the design process and test new materials, leading to the development of improved materials, he added.

As part of the honor, Heinz was invited to deliver the IAAM Scientist Medal Lecture at the American Fellow Summit, held on March 1 in Miami, Florida. Following the lecture, he was presented with the IAAM Scientist Medal citation.

In 2020, Heinz was elected as a Fellow of the IAAM.

Hendrik Heinz, professor of chemical and biological engineering, has been awarded an International Association for Advanced Materials, Scientist Medal in recognition of his contributions to advanced materials, engineering and technology.

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Two ChBE professors selected for prestigious AICHE “35 Under 35” award

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 19:52:42 +0000

Two ChBE professors selected for prestigious AICHE “35 Under 35” award Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/10/2023 - 13:52

Susan Glairon

Two CU �鶹�� faculty members from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering were recently selected for the prestigious “35 Under 35” awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Assistant Professors Kayla Sprenger and Ankur Gupta have been recognized by AIChE as two of the 35 outstanding chemical engineering professionals under the age of 35. The 2023 award celebrates their significant contributions to the field as well as to AIChE, and acknowledges them as role models and innovators “who will pave the way for future generations.”

Gupta’s research group studies interfacial phenomena, including electrochemical interfaces, colloidal motion, and microhydrodynamics for applications in energy storage, desalination and lab-on-a-chip technologies. He and his group aspire to delve into the design of porous electrodes using electrolyte transport phenomena, with the goal of advancing energy storage technologies.

“Being selected by the AIChE for the 35 under 35 award is an incredible honor, not just for me, but for my entire research group," Gupta said. "It's a recognition of the effort that's gone into our research on the broad and vital topic of electrochemical interfaces and colloidal physics for energy and environmental applications. This award serves as a motivation to continue pushing the frontiers of chemical engineering, and I'm deeply grateful for this acknowledgement.”

Sprenger’s lab focuses on multi-scale computational approaches to design immunotherapeutics against a wide variety of infectious and neurological diseases. She hopes to publish and establish her lab’s research in the areas of computational immunology and machine learning-driven vaccine design.

"It means so much to me to be selected by the AIChE for the 35 Under 35 award," Sprenger said. "My research is highly multidisciplinary, incorporating elements from physics, (bio)chemistry, neuroscience and immunology. Despite this breadth, my lab's approach to solving problems in these realms is deeply rooted in applying engineering-based principles. To me, then, this award is a reflection of this fact, as well as a nice nod to my continued commitment to the broader chemical engineering community."

The two will be honored at a Nov. 6 reception for alumni and friends at the 2023 AIChE annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

You can read more about the award winners here.

Assistant Professors Kayla Sprenger and Ankur Gupta were selected for the prestigious AICHE “35 Under 35” award.

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ChBE scientists awarded $2M NSF grant to teach computers to advance more affordable, efficient solar cells

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:47:41 +0000

ChBE scientists awarded $2M NSF grant to teach computers to advance more affordable, efficient solar cells Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/26/2023 - 07:47

A team led by ChBE Professor Hendrik Heinz won a $2 million National Science Foundation award to develop reliable predictive models for hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, which have the potential to usher in more efficient and affordable solar energy.

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Kristi Anseth selected as 2023 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 16:05:49 +0000

Kristi Anseth selected as 2023 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/15/2023 - 10:05

Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth was selected by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs as the 2023 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year Award recipient.

Anseth's nomination for this recognition was made by postdoctoral scholars in the Anseth Research Group, including Alex Khang, Della Shin, George Tseropoulos, Kaustav Bera, Michael Blatchley and Monica Ohnsorg. Their nominations highlighted Anseth's exceptional leadership in mentoring more than 45 postdoctoral researchers, with 20 of them now serving as faculty members at top universities. The group also praised Anseth's “incredible empathy and understanding” with personal matters requiring time away from the lab, as well as her commitment to fostering a healthy work/life balance.

Anseth will be recognized September 20 during a celebration breakfast for National Postdoc Appreciation Week.

Distinguished Professor Kristi Anseth was selected by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs as the 2023 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year Award recipient.

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CU �鶹�� earns NASA award for developing materials that reduce spaceflight costs

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 19:27:23 +0000

CU �鶹�� earns NASA award for developing materials that reduce spaceflight costs Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/06/2023 - 13:27

Susan Glairon

Current and former members of �鶹��’s Heinz Research Group have earned prestigious NASA Group Achievement Awards for their research centered on designing lightweight, high-strength materials aimed at reducing the costs of spaceflights.

Crafting such materials is challenging, requiring combining tiny sub-nanometer-sized molecules to meter-sized panels, said Hendrik Heinz, professor of chemical and biological engineering and materials science. His team has been part of the NASA Space Technology Research Institute for Ultrastrong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP).

“This award recognizes the hard work of my team, including several prolific graduate students, and the amazing efforts and collaborations within the US-COMP team,” he said.

The awards were extended to Heinz and his current and former team members: Amanda Garley (PhD ChemBio ‘22), Krishan Kanhaiya (PhD ChemBio ‘22), Michael Nathanson (MS ChemEng’18) and Jordan Winetrout, a PhD student on the Heinz team.

Heinz emphasized that reducing the weight of required materials through a combination of making them lighter and stronger results in cost savings for both launch expenses and fuel consumption. For example, the cost of launching one pound of spacecraft or cargo to the moon is approximately $10,000 but this cost surges to $1 million for Mars missions, he added.

Professor Hendrik Heinz

Consequently, reducing payload weight by just one pound equates to nearly a million dollars in savings for future Mars missions and enhances the transport of essential cargo.

To achieve the goal of creating lightweight, high-strength materials, the team developed cutting-edge simulation methods for analyzing and predicting the thermal and mechanical properties of composite materials, such as carbon fiber yarns and polymer matrix composites.

These simulation methods include the development of the reactive INTERFACE force field (IFF-R), which predicts how those materials soften upon heating as well as how they bend, stretch, and fail. Additionally, the Heinz lab harnessed machine learning techniques to accelerate predictions of materials properties across length scales that surpass the capabilities of traditional computer simulation methods.

Current and former members of the Heinz Research Group have earned prestigious NASA Group Achievement Awards for their research centered on designing lightweight, high-strength materials aimed at reducing the costs of spaceflights.

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ChBE Professor Charlie Nuttelman wins university-wide award for passionate, engaging teaching

Anonymous — Mon, 01 May 2023 17:12:38 +0000

ChBE Professor Charlie Nuttelman wins university-wide award for passionate, engaging teaching Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/01/2023 - 11:12

Susan Glairon

“I am a lifelong learner, so teaching is the perfect career for me,” said Teaching Professor Charlie Nuttelman, who has taught 18 different chemical and biological engineering classes at CU �鶹�� since 2007. “Because when you teach something, you have to master it.” Nuttelman is pictured with his wife, Ella, and son, Logan, on top of Cirque Peak in the Canadian Rockies. Photo credit: Kate McNerny.

He cares deeply about his students. He constantly grasps students’ attention during class. He meets with students outside of office hours to ensure everyone gets all the help they need. He is one of the best professors I have had in Chemical and Biological Engineering. I truly feel lucky to have been able to take his courses and learn from him.

These are just a few of the many accolades from undergraduate students who have taken Teaching Professor Charlie Nuttelman’s classes.

Nuttelman recently won the �鶹�� Faculty Assembly Excellence in Teaching Award for his work as a CU �鶹�� professor and as a developer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). The university-wide award, given to only three faculty members each year, recognizes the importance of teaching and mentoring students as significant components of faculty duties.

“This award means a lot to me,” said Nuttelman, who has been teaching at CU �鶹�� since 2007 and has since then won the ChBE Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Faculty Award multiple times. “As a CU �鶹�� student, I would look at the teaching awards on the second floor wall of Norlin Library, and I would think, ‘Whoa, those people are pretty important. They have a big impact on students.’ And now I am among them.”

While Nuttelman’s classes cover topics that are not always the most exciting — such as Applied Data Analysis, Introduction to Engineering Computing, and Applied Data Instrumentation and Process Controls — his passion for the subjects and teaching shines through, generating a profound enthusiasm for students to learn.

Sam Burke-Bevis, a CBEN senior, says Nuttelman is excited about some of the most mundane topics in engineering, such as Excel shortcuts.

"He comes to class on time, learns his students names and shows actual excitement to teach the material, Burke-Bevis said. "I can't stress enough how much easier it is to learn a topic when the professor is happy to be there.”

To help students succeed and long before it was common to do so, Nuttelman created screencasts (short videos) of the material he taught. He later pioneered embedding in-video questions using PlayPosit (a tool that lets teachers create and edit interactive video assessments) to create “learning modules” that help students maintain focus. To date he has created hundreds of learning modules for multiple classes.

“These learning modules are a student favorite as they are short, cover the right material and are funny with added jokes throughout,” said Teaching Professor and ChBE Associate Chair Wendy Young. “Students consistently comment on how he makes the difficult material approachable and fun.”

Students can rewatch the screencasts, so they have multiple chances to get the answers right. “Everyone gets a 10 out of 10 if they put the work into it,” Nuttelman said.

Nuttelman also created online versions of Introduction to Engineering Computing (CHEN 1310) and Applied Data Analysis (CHEN 3010).

In response to students expressing difficulties in remembering material between semesters and especially over the summers, Nuttelman created a “booster” course for Material and Energy Balances (CHEN 2120), which include screencasts with in-video questions aimed at reviewing and refreshing prerequisite knowledge among the students. Comparing student performance with past years, Nuttelman found that his booster course led to improved learning and retention of knowledge.

“I have really appreciated the clarity of his teaching style — specifically his notes format, writing directly on the slides and having us work through in-class problems,” said Patricia Mendoza-Anselmi, a CBEN senior. “His screencasts my freshman year were super helpful during recitation and for completing homeworks. My favorite class thus far has been instrumentation and process control because Dr. Nuttelman has done a great job connecting what we're learning and applying it to the real world.”

Burke-Bevis added that Nuttelman’s respectful attitude towards his students has had a significant impact on his personal work ethic.

“He treats us like students who have completed an extremely difficult degree,” he said. “Being treated with respect makes you want to attend class and pay attention to return that respect.”

Known for making difficult material approachable and fun, ChBE Teaching Professor Charlie Nuttelman recently won the university-wide �鶹�� Faculty Assembly Excellence in Teaching Award. The award also recognizes his highly successful Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), soon to surpass 500,000 learners.

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Adam Holewinski receives Fulbright to synthesize renewable fuels and chemicals

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 16:05:15 +0000

Adam Holewinski receives Fulbright to synthesize renewable fuels and chemicals Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 04/09/2023 - 10:05

Susan Glairon

Adam Holewinski, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship to research efficient ways to produce sustainable chemical products and fuels using electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind.

Beginning in late August, Holewinski will spend five months as a 2023 Fulbright Scholar at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), conducting research, advising graduate students and giving research talks at various universities in Denmark. Holewinski also hopes to establish ongoing collaborations between CU �鶹�� and DTU, and possibly with other Danish institutions, including student exchanges.

“It’s a new experience, both professionally getting to explore some new research avenues and personally getting to spend five months in Europe,” Holewinski said. “I haven’t been out of the country much, so I am looking forward to it.”

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers opportunities to teach, research and conduct professional projects in more than 135 countries and to expand American partnerships and share knowledge. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as a demonstrated leadership in their field.

A wide array of new opportunities

For Holewinski, the Fulbright award is an opportunity to advance the work of the Holewinski Research Group, which focuses on “efficient, renewable and environmentally benign catalytic processes for the production of energy, as well as commodity and fine chemicals.”

Producing chemical products like fuels, plastics and fertilizers very often requires a catalyst, a substance that speeds up chemical reactions and reduces the amount of energy used to drive the reaction. Usually this energy comes from heat derived from burning fossil fuels, but Holewinski’s research involves using electricity from renewable sources.

His research also involves designing new catalysts to convert renewable carbon sources such as sugars from biomass (e.g., plants or algae) into fuels that could replace fossil fuels and reduce harmful emissions. These renewable carbon sources can also be converted (using new catalysts) to create the organic building blocks needed to make sustainable, recyclable plastics.

Holewinski said that combining renewable electricity, catalysis and sustainable raw materials such as bio-carbon "introduces a wide array of new opportunities." For example, one common area of electro-catalysis research relates to splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Hoelwisnski said that it is theoretically possible to swap out the oxygen-producing reaction with something that generates other useful chemicals as reactions that produce each gas occur in separate compartments of an electrochemical cell.

"Hydrogen is valuable, as it can be used as a 'clean' fuel, but there is not a commensurate need for synthetic oxygen," Holewinski said.

His research involves developing the right catalyst to replace the reaction that makes oxygen with one that makes a high-value chemical, such as plant-based building blocks for plastics. Another research direction involves “rewiring” the oxidation catalyst to turn water into hydrogen peroxide, which is later used in a variety of chemical syntheses, as well as for water treatment and bleaching in the pulp and paper industry.

Overall, Holewinski says his research could lead to a decrease in emissions during the manufacturing of chemical products. The more efficiently it can be done with less infrastructure, such as requiring fewer solar panels to create the electricity, the closer his research will be to competitively creating alternatives to fossil fuels.

But, he says, his research is a long way from producing results that would improve the life of the average person.

“It would be very unrealistic to say I am going to go somewhere for five months and come out with a commercial product that will change the world,” Holewinski said. “The realistic hope is that we can bring some new methods and techniques to my research group so we can elevate the work we are doing.”

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Faculty Awards

Wyatt Shields selected as Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

Dan Schwartz awarded prestigious American Chemical Society Langmuir Lectureship

Jerome Fox elevated to senior member of prestigious National Academy of Inventors

Hendrik Heinz awarded IAAM Scientist Medal

Two ChBE professors selected for prestigious AICHE “35 Under 35” award

ChBE scientists awarded $2M NSF grant to teach computers to advance more affordable, efficient solar cells

Kristi Anseth selected as 2023 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor of the Year

CU �鶹���� earns NASA award for developing materials that reduce spaceflight costs

ChBE Professor Charlie Nuttelman wins university-wide award for passionate, engaging teaching

Adam Holewinski receives Fulbright to synthesize renewable fuels and chemicals

A wide array of new opportunities

CU �鶹�� earns NASA award for developing materials that reduce spaceflight costs