CU Denver’s Office of Research awarded two Grand Challenge grants to help research teams explore barriers and opportunities for students pursuing engineering degrees and how the university can better prepare the future workforce for the outdoors industry.
Engineering for All
About 23% of the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s learners are Hispanic, which is twice the national average of engineering and STEM enrollments (as of 2023, the most recent data available). In addition, the college continues to help students secure local internships and—importantly—has higher-than-average success in overall retention.
Thanks to the 2024 CU Denver Grand Challenge Award, a team will study why our program works so well and find ways to enhance the student experience (both in engineering specifically and across CU Denver). The group will also look at how CU Denver may qualify for more engineering grants that are available to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) like ours.
Civil Engineering Associate Professor David Mays leads the “Engineering HSI” research group, which includes faculty from engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics/statistics, education, and our campus-wide Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
Outdoors Recreation Industry Workforce
Mechanical Associate Professor of Engineering Dana Carpenter will lead a team to study how the Outside Lab at CU Denver can support innovation in Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry. In 2023, CU Denver launched a partnership with Outside Interactive Inc., a leading creator of active lifestyle content, services, events, and experiences. Together, they’ve worked to establish a lab on campus that tests various outdoor recreational equipment, from skis to weatherproof clothing.
Students will have the opportunity to help test products and learn more about this multi-million-dollar industry. The research team working on “Get Outside! Convergence on Outdoor Recreation” will explore ways to expand the work being done in the lab and how it can help prepare students to work in the industry. It will also focus on the many types of outdoor-related programs and services available locally and nationally, enriching our partner network and providing further inspiration for growth. The cross-disciplinary team includes faculty from various engineering disciplines, psychology, the arts, history, and mathematics.
The Office of Research has funded 14 teams since the Grand Challenges awards program began in 2022. The Grand Challenge Awards are among several internal grant opportunities available to researchers at CU Denver. Seed grant applications are now open.
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