Table of ContentsIMPACT | VOL. 3 | ISSUE 1

LINGUISTIC GEOMETRY

MAKING ART FROM MATH

126

DEANMarc Ingber

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENTErica Lefeave

WRITINGErica Lefeave

EDITORIAL REVIEWLaura High

DESIGN AND PRODUCTIONAnabliss Design + Brand Strategy

COVER ILLUSTRATIONBryan Leister

PHOTOGRAPHYGlenn Asakawa, Michael Ensminger Photography

ABOUTImpact is published annually by the University of Colorado Denver College of Engineering and Applied Science for college alumni and friends. Send correspondence to Erica Lefeave, CU Denver College of Engineering and Applied Science, Campus Box 104, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364.

NEWS + EVENTS 2Headlines and milestones from the past year

Alumni Profile

KAREN MAESTAS 52014 Outstanding Woman in Engineering

Feature

MAKING ART FROM MATH 6Associate Professor Ellen Gethner uses

math and science to create art

STUDENT SOCIETY 9Society of Women Engineers at CU Denver

AWARDS 102013–14 National Science Foundation

CAREER Award recipients

RESEARCH 11New efficient simulations improve design of

zinc-anode batteries

Feature

LINGUISTIC GEOMETRY 12Professor Boris Stilman’s theory of linguistic

geometry could change modern warfare

Faculty Profile

TAM VU 15 Google + Research: supporting research in

capacitive touchscreen communication

Student Profile

RACHELLE WALTER 16 Medicine + Engineering: research

opportunities abound in the new

undergraduate bioengineering program

UPCOMING EVENTS 17Important dates over the next year

s I begin my fifth year as dean, the College of Engineering and Applied Science has accelerated an already impressive growth pattern in its educational and research programs. Student credit hours have shown an average annual increase of more than

12 percent during the last four years. Research awards have increased five-fold over the same four-year period.

But beyond the dollar figures, college faculty

have received some prestigious awards,

including three National Science Foundation

CAREER awards, two National Institutes

of Health Research Development Awards and

two Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Awards, among many others.

The college launched four innovative

certificate programs in the fall, including

certificates in software engineering, computer

forensics, computer science for high school

teachers and computer graphics and visual

effects. The digital arts certificate,

in collaboration with the College of Arts

& Media, prepares students to excel in a

multitude of industries including feature film,

broadcast, scientific visualization, medical

imaging and engineering. The other three

certificate programs are offered this fall at the

University of Colorado's new South Denver

facility, providing greater accessibility in this

rapidly growing region of the Front Range.

We’ve also launched three new

professional graduate programs: construction

engineering and management, geomatics

engineering and motorsports engineering. All

of these new programs are designed to meet

the needs of our ever-changing society and to

prepare graduates for in-demand careers in

an array of relevant fields.

In this issue of Impact, we focus on one of

the college's fastest growing areas—information

technology, a subject that affects all of our

lives. Information technology is pervasive in

today's world especially with the advent of

smart phones and tablets. Our students are

being prepared to take leadership roles in

meeting the information technology demands

of business, health care, government, education

and entertainment.

Faculty and students across the college

are performing cutting-edge research in

several IT-related fields. Current research

spans communications, programming

languages, bioinformatics, modeling and

simulation, signal processing, networking,

embedded systems, and human-computer

interactions. Highlighted projects include

high-performance computing; distributed,

wearable and remote computing;

algorithms; artificial intelligence;

computer graphics; and more. We are

partnering with many local companies

and government agencies in these

endeavors, providing both graduate and

undergraduate students with quality

experiential learning and research

opportunities.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Impact

and learning more about the incredible

work that’s taking place in engineering

at the University of Colorado Denver.

Kind regards,

Marc Ingber, Dean

College of Engineering and Applied Science

University of Colorado Denver

DEAN’S NOTE

NEWS AND EVENTS

Karunanithi and Rorrer receive faculty awardsArunprakash Karunanithi, associate professor of civil engineering, and Ronald Rorrer,

associate professor of mechanical engineering, were honored as recipients of

CU Denver faculty excellence awards by Provost Roderick Nairn at the CU Denver

Celebration of Faculty Excellence event in September. Karunanithi received the

Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award in recognition of his

contributions in research and his collaborative involvement with students in his

research. Rorrer received the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award in recognition

of his contributions to CU Denver faculty and his colleagues’ high regard.

Mechanical engineering students place first at 2014 Shell Eco-marathon AmericasIn April, eight mechanical engineering students competed at the Shell Eco-marathon

Americas in Houston. The CU Denver team was awarded first place in the hydrogen fuel

cell prototype category when its vehicle achieved 1,259 miles per gallon. Team members

Cole Booth, Kurtis Calkins, Scott Davis, Ben Johnson, Jeremy Johnson, John McGee, Alfredo

Saracho and Alysha Yinger spent eight months designing and manufacturing the vehicle,

called Archetype, which is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and is made of carbon fiber.

This is the second consecutive year that the CU Denver team has won first place in the

hydrogen fuel cell prototype category. In 2013 the team won with a vehicle that achieved

a maximum of 1,823 miles per gallon.

  AWARDS 

Engineering students receive NSF Bridge to Doctorate AwardsFive engineering graduate students have

been selected to participate in the National

Science Foundation’s Bridge to Doctorate

Program. The recipients are: Madia Stein,

bioengineering; Alejandro Henao, civil

engineering; Henok Ghebrechristos,

computer science and engineering; David

Ramirez, mechanical engineering; and Cindy

Munoz, mechanical engineering. The award

includes a $30,000 stipend, plus $10,000 toward

tuition and fees for the first two years.

Maxworth receives IEEE Life Member Graduate Study FellowshipPhD student Ashanthi Maxworth has been

awarded the IEEE Life Member Graduate

Study Fellowship in Electrical Engineering,

which carries a $10,000 per year stipend.

Maxworth completed her bachelor’s degree

at the University of Moratuwa, which is

the top technical university in Sri Lanka.

She joined CU Denver in spring 2013 and

currently is pursuing her PhD in engineering

and applied science under Assistant

Professor Mark Golkowski.

COMPETITIONS

2

Students compete at Cornell Cup USAIn May, five electrical engineering

students, Samir Hashem, Thanh

Bui, Michael Bourquin, Anthony

Supino and Shraddha Shakya,

competed in the third annual Cornell

Cup USA at Walt Disney World in

Orlando, Fla. Their project, Remote

Emergency Biometric System (REBs),

is a mobile biomonitoring system

that collects and transfers vital-signs

data wirelessly, enabling remote

monitoring for a large number of

patients in emergency scenarios.

Members of team REBs effectively

demonstrated their design problem

and solution in formal presentations

and fielded questions from the official

judges. This is the second year that

CU Denver students have competed

in the Cornell Cup under the guidance

of Assistant Professor Dan Connors.

Altholz receives CU Denver undergraduate research grantJacob Altholz, an undergraduate student in bioengineering, received a CU Denver

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) grant for academic year 2014–15.

For his research experience Altholz is working in Associate Research Professor Richard Weir’s

lab helping to design and construct a new functioning finger prosthetic. His goal is to simplify

existing prostheses, allowing for a more natural range of motion. This project is part of Weir’s

larger goal of developing fully functioning and comprehensive upper-limb prostheses.

UROP funds approximately 30 projects each year in all fields of study. It is hoped that through this

program students will receive a deeper understanding of methodologies in all aspects of research.

SPOTLIGHT

Bioscience 2 building breaks ground In April, the university and the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority broke ground on a

medical research incubator building, Bioscience 2, at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The

112,000 square-foot building is being built on the 184-acre Fitzsimons Life Science District.

Once complete, the four-story building will house the bioengineering programs on the first

and parts of the second floors. The building is scheduled to open in August 2015.

Li named assistant dean of international educationChengyu Li, professor of civil engineering, has

been named assistant dean of international

education. This is an important position

as the college continues to develop several

collaborations with international universities.

Li was instrumental in the development

of the 3 + 1 + 1 program with three Chinese

universities. The college also has partnerships

with institutions in Spain and Italy.

Shandas and Yakacki receive Technology Transfer AwardsRobin Shandas, chair and professor of

bioengineering, and Christopher Yakacki,

assistant professor of mechanical engineering,

both received CU Denver | Anschutz

Technology Transfer Awards. Yakacki was

awarded New Inventor of the Year, and

EndoShape Inc., a company based on

work by Shandas, was awarded the CU

Denver | Anschutz Company of the Year.

COMPETITIONS

3

College launches three new graduate programsThis fall the college launched three new

professional graduate degree programs,

which culminate with the Master of

Engineering degree: construction engineering

and management (CEM), geomatics

engineering, and motorsports engineering.

The CEM program was developed with

support from an advisory board of industry

professionals that identified a need for

managers in the construction industry.

The program is backed by the accredited CU

Denver Business School and the College of

Architecture and Planning. More information

is available at engineering.ucdenver.edu/cem.

The geomatics engineering program

provides broad-based expertise and cutting-

edge skills that span the growing geospatial

field and helps alleviate the shortage of

well-educated geospatial professionals. It is

one of just a handful of geomatics programs

in the country, and is administered by

acclaimed industry professionals. Learn

more about this program at engineering.

ucdenver.edu/geomatics.

The motorsports engineering program

provides a rigorous education in mechanical

engineering with a focus on motorsports

and in-depth exposure to the design–build

process. The goal of the program is to

graduate engineers who have had the

opportunity to work with state-of-the-art

equipment on comprehensive mechanical

engineering projects. More information

is available at engineering.ucdenver.edu/

motorsports.

  FARNOUSH BANAEI-KASHANI 

Farnoush Banaei-Kashani comes to the college from the

University of Southern California and joins the Department

of Computer Science and Engineering as an assistant

professor. His research focuses on fundamental and applied

data management with a special interest in data-driven

decision-making systems, i.e., systems that automate the

process of decision-making based on data.

  HEIDI BROTHERS 

Heidi Brothers joins the college as a clinical teaching track

assistant professor in civil engineering, specifically the

construction engineering and management program. Most

recently, Brothers taught civil engineering technology at

Metropolitan State University of Denver. She has 28 years

of experience in areas including sustainable design, civil and

environmental engineering, environmental management,

teaching, research and more.

  CAROLINE CLEVENGER 

Caroline Clevenger joins the college as assistant director of

construction engineering and management and associate

professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. Before

coming to CU Denver, she was an assistant professor in

the Department of Construction Management at Colorado

State University. Clevenger’s research interests include

sustainability, energy efficient buildings, project delivery

process improvement and building information modeling.

  STEPHEN GEDNEY 

Stephen Gedney joins the Department of Electrical

Engineering as professor and department chair. Since 1991

he’s been with the University of Kentucky, most recently as

a professor in electrical and computer engineering. Gedney’s

research interests include computational electromagnetics,

electromagnetic scattering, microwave circuit device

modeling, parallel computational methods and parasitic

extraction of mixed signal systems.

New Faces

NEW PROGRAMS

4

ENGINEERING+LEADERSHIPMaestas named 2014 Outstanding Woman in Engineering

he American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado named Karen Maestas, MS civil engineering 2001, the 2014 Outstanding Woman in Engineering. This prestigious award recognizes an outstanding woman in a leadership position for achievements in the engineering profession and for being a visible role model for young engineers.

Maestas, a senior project manager at URS

Corporation, manages a complex portfolio

of mine reclamation projects that has grown

annually from approximately $500,000 in

2007 to more than $8 million in 2013. These

projects involve numerous state and federal

requirements and a host of technical and

implementation challenges.

Using her expert technical abilities,

management and communication skills

and a thorough understanding of business

operations, Maestas leads a large and

diverse technical team that provides a wide

range of turnkey services for these multi-

state mine sites. Her ability to lead multiple,

concurrent and interconnected technical

projects and to communicate effectively

about complex technical subjects in a

way that is accessible to the public are

hallmarks of her career.

Under her leadership, URS has been

working with a university to test a

biological treatment method to address

elevated sulfate levels present in acid rock

drainage at a mine site. Maestas’ team is

also experimenting with spent brewer’s

grain, ordinarily a waste product of beer

production, as a carbon source, which is

a promising “green” alternative for mine

water cleanup.

“It is such an honor to be recognized as

outstanding in my profession,” Maestas says.

“Solving problems is something I love to do,

and throughout my career, I have certainly

dealt with many challenging situations. Being

involved in successful environmental cleanups

is one of the most gratifying parts of my job.

It’s amazing to see technology in action.”

As an active community member, she also

speaks out to promote math and science

education to students ranging from

elementary school to higher education.

“I’ve had great mentors over the years,

both men and women. When I graduated

from college more than 20 years ago, about

one in five engineers was a woman, and

that has not really changed much in the last

two decades.”

This is something she hopes will change.

Leading by example, Maestas encourages

women to pursue careers in engineering and

science. She offers these words of advice.

“Engineering is a challenging profession,

and it takes dedication and perseverance

to successfully complete your engineering

education. Be confident, and listen carefully

to your mentors along the way—they have

a lot to teach you about the real world

of engineering.

“Your success as an engineer often comes

down to how well you understand the

problem at hand, and whether you can

communicate clearly and effectively

to bring the right technical solution.

Engineering is a rewarding profession,

and I encourage women to wholeheartedly

pursue their dreams!”

“Engineering is a rewarding profession, and I encourage women to wholeheartedly pursue their dreams!”

Karen Maestas, MS 2001, encourages young women across the state to pursue careers in

engineering and science.

ALUMNI PROFILE

T H E M AT H O F M . C . E S C H E RStemming from that high school geometry

demonstration, Gethner has great interest

in the mathematics of M.C. Escher’s work.

It’s said that Escher worked to understand

many mathematical principles only to use

them in his artwork. One such project

involved creating a pattern inside of a

square tile that could then be rotated and

reflected to create an infinite wallpaper

pattern from that single tile. According to

Gethner, his idea was to overlay a number

of polygons in a square, call the resulting

pattern the motif, make four copies of

the motif, and then add four copies of the

motif to a larger square made up of four

squares in a grid.

T he interplay among math, science and art may not be clear to

many, but for Ellen Gethner, associate professor of computer

science and engineering, finding ways to use math and science

to create artwork is a passion. Inspired by a demonstration

in her high school geometry class, she has been applying

mathematical foundations to artwork for decades—from

algorithms inspired by M.C. Escher’s mathematical work to translating

music to a computerized visual interpretation.

“My geometry teacher colored a small square piece of paper with an

M.C. Escher-like drawing and then he took four small, square mirrors, and

stood them upright and perpendicular to one another around the drawing,”

Gethner explains. “When looking at the reflection of the mirrors playing off

of one another, you get an instant infinite and beautiful tiling of the plane,

also known as a wallpaper pattern. That simple example combines math

and physics to produce a stunning piece of artwork.”

FEATURE STORY

6

MAKING ART FROM

MATH

Cont’d on next page >

“Before placing each of the motifs in the larger

two-by-two grid, you are allowed to rotate and/

or reflect each one,” she explains. “By doing so,

you can create many ‘different’ square tiles. If

you then tile the plane with this single square

tile, you have a large variety of infinite wallpaper

patterns made from one motif.”

Escher had an application for his initial tiling

question—he wanted the ability to produce

many different wallpaper patterns from either

one (rotations only) or two (rotations and

reflections) templates, so he was looking for

a cost effective way to manufacture many

patterns as well as give the consumer some say

in the design. The tricky part was to determine

the number of patterns, which have come to be

known as “ribbons.” Escher did a laborious by-

hand investigation to try to count the number

of different patterns arising from a two-by-two

tile and, according to Gethner, he came pretty

close to the right answer.

“The combination of computer science and

math are central to the role of automation

and efficiency this work requires,” she

says. “I wrote several papers that gave the

mathematics behind and a formula for the

exact number of wallpaper patterns arising

from using a single motif (rotated and/or

reflected) n2 times in an n-by-n grid square.”

P R O D U C I N G T H E I N F I N I T E F R O M T H E F I N I T EThrough her research, Gethner has also shown—

using algorithms, graph theory and number

theory—that upon input of a given motif in a

square tile, one can always find a finite colored

“prototile” that, upon vertical and horizontal

translations, yields a colored wallpaper pattern

in which ribbons are colored uniformly and

overlapping ribbons are colored differently.

“This again gave rise to a method, albeit

much more complicated, for producing the

infinite from the finite. It was an exciting

discovery and nice interweaving of different

areas of mathematics and computer science

that led to the solution,” she says. “With the

algorithmic solution in hand, we wanted to

use it to color some of Escher’s interesting

motifs as well as design our own.”

What she has found, however, is that any

pattern that requires five or more colors is

7

The point is to be imaginative in transforming from one domain to another.”

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT.Ellen Gethner, associate professor of computer science and engineering,

finds ways to use mathematical functions to create works of art.

difficult to make visually appealing without

some depth of knowledge of what it takes

to make attractive color combinations. This

challenge led to some of her current work

of making art with music.

“While some of this research may be seen to

be subjective, there are scientific properties of

sound and light that are of interest and of help

to us,” she says.

C R E AT I N G A R T F R O M M U S I CUsing the natural numerical encoding of both

sound and color, Gethner is working with

Shannon Steinmetz, a master’s student in the

integrated sciences program at CU Denver,

to create artwork from music. The goal of

the project, according to Steinmetz, “…is to

construct a mathematical model that can

provide an analytic mapping between repeated

harmonic and/or dissonant melodies, and

patterns of visually pleasing or displeasing color.”

In other words, they’re working to find a way to

convey the mood of the music through art.

So, how does one determine the numerical

encoding of color and sound? This question

is the heart of the research project, and once

answered, the solution can be applied to

other areas of Gethner’s research.

“We are learning about frequency of both

sound and colors and working toward a

usable method to match and then display

them,” she says. “We have a way to go on

this part and are both working to learn more

about sound and color.”

For their first attempt, Steinmetz and

Gethner are encoding sound and color

using the frequency, which is challenging.

Determining frequency of individual musical

notes involves being able to sample the sound

in real time and then converting it to artwork

to be displayed on a computer screen.

Steinmetz devised a method to retrieve

sound during a live performance and then

convert it by way of a discrete Fourier

transform—a mathematical function that

transforms signals between time domain

and frequency domain—to a sine wave.

On said wave, the higher the amplitude the

louder the note and the shorter the period

the higher the pitch. As an experiment,

using the time domain, Steinmetz created

a visualization in which each note played

is represented as an arc traced over a swath

of three-dimensional space. Each arc has

a starting and ending angle based on the

changes in amplitude, and a radius that is

dependent on the amplitude of the main signal.

The resulting visualization is a set

of geometric shapes that collaborate to

form conic slices describing an interval

of the signal. Colors are constructed by

converting the signal information into

red, green and blue values using amplitude,

previous amplitude and signal-to-noise

ratio, respectively. Ultimately, Gethner and

Steinmetz want to leverage the discrete

Fourier transform and frequency mappings

to color a shape according to the frequency of

its sound; all of these factors will play

into the final artistic creation.

“The idea is that harmonious sounds

should look good on the screen, and

dissonance should look bad,” says Gethner.

“A lot of this is very subjective, as it should be

since we are trying to create art. The point is

to be imaginative in transforming from one

domain to another: The sky is the limit.”

To better help with this project, Gethner

is taking piano lessons, through which she

discovered an interesting puzzle. A C-major

scale has a somewhat positive cheery sound

while an A-minor scale (or any minor scale)

is a bit sad and contemplative. The exact same

set of notes is played in increasing order in

both scales; the only difference is the note

from which it begins. “Since our ultimate goal

is to create artwork that reflects the music

being played, we need to be able to detect the

difference between major and minor,” she says.

“One of the fun aspects of this project for me

is that unlike proving mathematical theorems,

which are either true or false, is that opinion

and experiment play a big role in the outcome

of how the result is automated by way of an

algorithm,” says Gethner. “This kind of work

has much more of an artistic flavor.”

8

STUDENT SOCIETY

NEW PROGRAM

Computer science partners with the College of Arts & Media to offer innovative new certificate program

T HE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER

Science and Engineering has teamed

up with the Digital Animation Center (DAC)

in the College of Arts & Media to offer a

new undergraduate certificate program in

computer graphics and visual effects. The

new program blends the technical side of

computer science with the artistic side of

the DAC to foster a synergistic partnership

between the two programs.

Min-Hyung Choi, associate professor

of computer science and engineering, is

the driving force of the program for the

college. “Through this program, students will

learn how the fundamentals of computer

science and computer graphics techniques

are applied and how they are becoming an

enabling technology for modern computer

animation,” he says.

According to Choi, this is a unique program

that fosters innovative education intersected

by both art and engineering. Students will

be trained in project-oriented environments

for producing technically advanced computer

animation and visual effects. Those who

complete the program will be prepared

for opportunities at animation studios,

computer game development companies and

multimedia industries.

Certificate completion requires

students to take core courses from their home

department, three courses from the other

program, and then complete the joint capstone

courses during the final two semesters.

Making an impression: Society of Women Engineers at CU Denver

“The biggest accomplishment of our chapter

is increasing our membership and outreach,”

says Chelsea Starr, chapter president and a

senior in mechanical engineering. “One of

the biggest obstacles that we have had to

overcome is the lack of participation.”

When Starr joined SWE as a freshman,

she was motivated by the networking

opportunities with female engineers in

the workplace and the opportunity to help

increase awareness about STEM fields through

K-12 outreach. “It is important to tell today’s

high school students why STEM fields are so

rewarding, and to encourage them to pursue

degrees in these areas,” she says. “SWE was

one avenue that allowed this link between

young girls and college students.”

SWE faculty advisor, Maryam Darbeheshti,

hopes that the work of groups like SWE will

help continue to shrink the statistical minority

of women in the engineering and STEM fields.

“It’s important to empower young women

to pursue futures in STEM,” she says. “The

students in SWE are energetic, smart and

full of new ideas. I’m extremely proud of this

group of students and excited to see what the

future brings.”

Although Starr graduates next May, she

her sights are set on the big picture and the

future of the organization. “I hope to leave CU

Denver with valuable leadership qualities and

experience, as well as satisfaction knowing

that our SWE chapter continues to grow.”

F OUR YEARS AGO, THE CU DENVER

Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

chapter emerged from dormancy. Since then,

membership has more than tripled and the

group continues to gain momentum. Already

this year, they are part of two college NSF

CAREER grant proposals and a STEM proposal

with the CU Denver Mathematical and

Statistical Sciences Department, and they

are mentoring students at area high schools,

including an all-female team of high school

students who will compete at the 2015 Shell

Eco-Marathon Americas in Detroit.

For more information about the organization, visit societyofwomenengineers.swe.org.

9

2013–2014 National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipients

Assistant Professor of Electrical

Engineering Mark Golkowski received

a 2013 National Science Foundation

CAREER Award. Golkowski’s CAREER award

project, “Whistler Mode Wave Propagation,

Amplification and Coupling,” is a five-

year investigation of electromagnetic

wave propagation in the near-Earth space

environment. The research involves ground-

based observations of low frequency waves

in Alaska, special laboratory experiments

performed at the Naval Research

Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and

theoretical simulations performed at the

University of Colorado Denver.

The space environment enveloping the

Earth (the near-Earth space environment)

hosts a rich array of physical processes

as well as billions of dollars worth of

spacecraft assets. Golkowski sees the

scientific discoveries of the CAREER

project as significantly enhancing current

understanding of magnetospheric physics,

including the large-scale energy dynamics

known as space weather. Space weather

effects are a leading limitation to spacecraft

lifetime and thus a significant economic

burden. Furthermore, with the prevalence

of interconnected electronics, ground-based

electrical and communication systems

are more vulnerable to detrimental space

weather events than ever before.

Through his CAREER program, Golkowski

will provide exposure for a diverse audience

to advanced research and will use novel

numerical tools to improve engineering and

mathematics instruction. He was motivated

by two well-documented deterrents to science

and engineering career paths: insufficient

mathematical proficiency and a perceived

lack of instruction in applicable, real-world

skills in college-level curricula. Unfortunately,

these impediments tend to be most prevalent

for underrepresented minorities. From his

teaching experience, Golkowski also knows

that electromagnetic waves are a prime

example of key engineering and science

material that is notoriously intimidating to

potential students.

Golkowski’s CAREER project seeks to

address these issues by leveraging the

current popularity of mobile smartphones

among students and youth. Golkowski

and his research assistants will work with

CU Denver senior design instructors to

develop a special smartphone application

that allows students to make recordings of

electromagnetic waves and also visualize

key aspects of electromagnetic phenomena.

This application will allow students to

improve their understanding of math and

science and to record and examine the low-

frequency waves that are the primary topic of

Golkowski’s research. Through this application,

the project will provide a much-needed bridge

between a dominant mobile culture and the

underrepresented education and career paths

necessary to create and sustain it.

Golkowski obtained his BS degree

from Cornell University and his MS and

PhD degrees in electrical engineering from

Stanford University. He joined the Department

of Electrical Engineering in 2010.

Assistant Professor of Mechanical

Engineering Christopher Yakacki

received a 2014 National Science Foundation

CAREER Award. Yakacki’s CAREER award

project, “A Two-Stage Processing Approach

to Shape-Switching Liquid-Crystalline

Elastomers for Biomedical Applications,” is a

five-year investigation into the development

of a reaction mechanism to tailor and

manufacture liquid-crystalline elastomers

(LCEs) for biomedical applications.

LCEs are a class of smart polymers that

can repeatedly change shape and optical

properties in response to a stimulus, such as

heat or light. Traditionally, LCEs have been

difficult to synthesize and manufacture for

applications such as biomedical devices.

This CAREER award is to investigate a new

approach and reaction mechanism to

tailor and manufacture these materials

for biomedical applications, specifically

shape-changing biomedical devices.

Shape-changing biomedical devices

promote minimally invasive surgery. Devices

can be compacted to a small size, inserted

through a small incision, and deployed once

inside the body. Many medical devices

CHRISTOPHER YAKACKI, PHD

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

MARK GOLKOWSKI, PHD

Assistant Professor

Department of Electrical Engineering

AWARDS

10

are left in place permanently, however,

some devices need to be adjusted over

time or even removed. LCEs offer the

opportunity to have the device return to

its compacted shape for easier removal.

Because of the soft nature of the material

and its unique optical properties, Yakacki

will use this award to continue his

work with Dr. Malik Kahook and the

Department of Ophthalmology in the

University of Colorado School of Medicine

to develop new ophthalmic LCE devices.

Yakacki’s CAREER award will also

serve to create summer workshops

for local high school students, which

will give them a hands-on experience

in how smart polymers can be used

in biomedical applications. Using this

new technology, Yakacki will apply his

teaching and industry experience to

design and develop interference devices

for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears,

which also illustrates how the fields

of mechanical engineering, materials

science, and bioengineering can combine.

He hopes to show that engineering isn’t a

confined area of study, and that although

there are individual degree programs,

engineers often solve problems using

an interdisciplinary approach. Through

this endeavor, Yakacki wants to give

students a better look at how a college

education can lead to unique, real-world

opportunities and experiences.

Yakacki received his BS, MS, and PhD in

mechanical engineering from the University

of Colorado Boulder. He joined the

Department of Mechanical Engineering

in 2012.

RESEARCH

New simulation methods help improve design of zinc-anode batteries

Z INC-ANODE BATTERIES HAVE BEEN STUDIED AS A LOW-COST,

long-cycle life system for grid-scale energy storage. Kannan Premnath, assistant

professor of mechanical engineering, is involved in the development and application

of efficient methods for the simulation of electrodeposition phenomena in these

batteries to help improve their design and operating conditions.

“Energy storage represents a critical component in the redistribution and use of both

conventional and renewable sources of energy for different applications,” he says. “It is

important to develop new technologies that are reliable and cost-effective with minimal

negative influence on the environment.”

In zinc-anode batteries, the electrodeposition and

dissolution of an electrode occurs during charging

and discharging cycles, respectively. The

electrodeposition often results in the formation of

pointed needle-like structures on the electrodes known

as dendrites, which are undesirable because their

growth over time impedes the performance of batteries.

“The mechanism of electrodeposition is complicated

because the morphology of the deposits depends

strongly on the operating parameters like the applied

voltage and electrolyte concentration,” says

Premnath. “Thus, it is crucially important

to understand the complex underlying

processes involved in the electrodeposition

phenomena using modeling and

simulations. We have developed algorithms

to make computations for these

simulations more efficient.”

This research, which is in collaboration

with the City University of New York

Energy Institute, involves state-of-the-art

modeling and simulation methods and their

implementation on large parallel computer

clusters. These physics-based simulations

provide a fundamental understanding of

the various multiscale flow and interfacial

processes in these batteries, which

offer valuable insights for their design

and improvements. By developing more

efficient methods, Premnath and his fellow

researchers will enable faster simulations

of large-scale problems under different

parametric conditions.

“The new method resulted in several

orders of improvements in computational

efficiency while delivering accurate physical

results that matched well with recent

measurement data thereby demonstrating

its predictive capabilities,” he says.

11

W HAT IF CONVENTIONAL armed forces were equipped with a tool that changed the way wars were fought forever? What if every military unit had something like an animated X-ray into the future that showed all enemy activities and how best to protect against them? And what if these predictions were updated in real time? Take it a step further and imagine a future without missiles or nuclear warheads and with limited conventional weapons. What if the outcome of wars was decided without actual fighting but by computers instead? According to Department of Computer Science and Engineering Professor Boris Stilman and his theory of linguistic geometry (LG), it’s not a question of what if; it’s a question of when.

LINGUISTIC GEOMETRYFROM FIGHTING WARS TO COMPUTING THEM

FEATURE STORY

12

“Currently, little by little, the U.S. Army

is adopting our LG software to global

intelligence systems in stationary and

mobile command posts around the world,

to command and control systems inside

thousands of infantry assault vehicles, and

even to soldiers’ handhelds,” Stilman says.

“In a couple of years, or even sooner, this

visionary software will start saving lives of

American soldiers and, maybe, start changing

the course of wars around the world.”

LG is a type of game theory discovered by

Stilman that allows people to solve classes

of adversarial games of practical scale and

complexity. It is ideally suited for problems

that can be represented as abstract board

games, for example, military decision

aids, intelligent control of unmanned

vehicles, simulation-based acquisition,

high-level sensor fusion, cyberwar, robotic

manufacturing and more. The advantage of

LG is that it provides extraordinarily fast and

scalable algorithms to find the best strategies

for concurrent multi-agent systems. Unlike

other gaming approaches, the LG algorithms

permit modeling a truly intelligent enemy. LG

is applicable to the non-zero-sum games and

to the games with incomplete information,

for example, imperfect sensors, weather and

enemy deception.

Stilman’s research on new game theory

started in 1972 in Moscow. For 16 years he

was involved in the advanced research project

PIONEER led by former world chess champion

Mikhail Botvinnik and funded by the (former)

U.S.S.R. State Committee for Science and

Technology. The goal of the project was to

discover and mathematically formalize the

methodology used by the most advanced

chess experts in solving chess problems; in

other words, to mathematically replicate

human thinking. Over the course of the project,

Stilman developed the theoretical foundations

of a new approach that showed its power far

beyond the initial chess problem. This became

the basis for the development of LG.

In 1991, Stilman joined the Department

of Computer Science and Engineering at the

University of Colorado Denver, and in 1999, he

founded STILMAN Advanced Strategies to lead

the development of LG applications and to test

and transition them for use in society. STILMAN

was founded with the encouragement and

approval of the CU Denver administration.

“Our work with STILMAN was openly

encouraged,” says Stilman. “STILMAN

founders have always believed that

a collaborative relationship with the

university is mutually beneficial.”

Putting LG to the testThe Defense Advanced Research Projects

Agency (DARPA) is the primary research agency

at the U.S. Department of Defense and is

one of the main defense research agencies

in the world. It funds the development of

technologies that may lead to revolutionary

improvements in warfighting and to

technology in general. In 1999, a series of LG-

focused proposals to DARPA yielded a success

for Stilman. As part of the team led by the

Rockwell Science Center, he received a grant

to develop the LG-based command and control

system for the Joint Force Air Component

Commander project of the U.S. Air Force. It was

through this project that Stilman and his team—

including members from CU Denver, several

other universities and STILMAN—developed the

first full-scale software prototype of the

LG defense application.

The goal of the project was… in other words, to mathematically replicate human thinking.”

PROFESSOR BORIS STILMAN

13

However, significant progress in the

development and testing of LG applications

and technology transfer didn’t happen

until 2004 when STILMAN was awarded

the DARPA real-time adversarial intelligence

and decision-making (RAID) project, a highly

ambitious project in artificial intelligence

aimed at developing automated tools

to perform predictive analysis of enemy

behavior, actions and intentions. It was time

to apply LG technology to complex military

operations and to test its advantages.

For the RAID project, DARPA chose one

of the most difficult types of operations—

Military Operations in Urban Terrain—

similar to those conducted by the U.S.

Army in Iraq. Though the smallest entity

on the team, STILMAN was responsible for

the key item: an LG-based “brain” behind

the software oracle RAID that predicts the

future for human adversarial teams Blue

and Red. As part of such prediction, this

oracle estimates enemy courses of action

and suggests the best responses for the Blue

team against the actions of the Red team

insurgents in real time.

Over the course of the project, DARPA

and the U.S. Army tested RAID software in

six experiments, some of which lasted more

than a month. In each experiment—following

recommendations provided by RAID—the

Blue team, simulating the U.S. Army, fought

the Red team of insurgents. Both teams used

the U.S. Army simulation package OneSAF.

The two teams were housed in different

rooms, and the Red team didn’t know

whether it was fighting with a RAID-assisted

Blue commander or a human-assisted Blue

commander. In all the experiments the RAID-

assisted Blue team outperformed the human-

assisted Blue team and consistently defeated

the Red team.

“After each simulated fight, DARPA

requested the Red commander to answer the

question, ‘With whom have you just fought,

humans or RAID?’” says Stilman. “In 44

percent of the cases, the Red commander was

wrong. In a sense, RAID successfully passed

the informal Turing Test of whether it is true

artificial intelligence.” He cautions, however,

What’s next?Historically, LG was developed by generalizing

experiences of advanced chess players. Fifteen

years of successfully applying LG to a highly

diverse set of modern military operations has

led Stilman and his team of researchers to

believe that LG is something more fundamental

than yet another mathematical model of

efficient wargaming.

“I suggested that LG is a mathematical model

of human thinking about armed conflict

resolution, a warfighting model at the level

of superintelligence,” he says. “To explain its

chess-related heritage, we should recall that

the game of chess was originally invented

1,500 years ago as a gaming model of ancient

wars. To formally prove this hypothesis we

The game of chess was originally invented 1,500 years ago as a gaming model of ancient wars.

that like any technology, weapon or

tool, RAID must be applied properly.

“Military advisors to DARPA see great

opportunities in RAID, but also warn

about the need for appropriate use.”

After 30 projects over the last 15

years, Stilman believes a transition to

the LG technology is finally happening.

A growing number of applications of LG

have passed comprehensive testing and

are currently being applied in real-world

command and control systems in the

United States.

should have demonstrated the power of LG

on ancient wars that happened before the

game of chess had yet to be invented. So far,

we demonstrated this theoretically on major

battles of Alexander the Great, Hannibal,

and Julius Caesar.”

So, perhaps in the not-so-distant future,

the U.S. armed forces will be able to better

predict the strategies of their enemies, and

modern society will have access to “what-if”

analysis of historic battles, all because of the

mathematical models contained in LG, and

a scientist’s initial interest in strategies used

in the game of chess.

14

GOOGLE+RESEARCHSupporting research in capacitive touchscreen communication

s society relies more and more on smartphones, tablets and other post-PC devices, traditional methods for identifying and authenticating users are becoming cumbersome and time-consuming. Tam Vu, assistant professor in computer

science and engineering, is addressing this problem through his research project One Ring to Rule Them All.

The project aims to provide a ubiquitous

solution for user identification and

authentication through a novel communication

technique called capacitive touchscreen

communication. Vu received a one-year Google

Research Award to help support his efforts,

the first Google Award for CU Denver, and the

fourth for the University of Colorado system.

“Our initial invention of the technology

had shown a very promising result and

was well received by both academic and

industrial audiences,” says Vu. “These initial

outcomes encouraged us to apply for the

awards from Google.”

The capacitive touchscreen communication

technology has the ability to change the way

society uses smartphones and other portable

devices. According to Vu, the maturity of

mobile personal and smart devices creates a

strong need for authentication methods that

are both secure and convenient.

“Existing technologies often fail on one

of the two requirements, if not both,”

he explains. “Our proposed method of

authentication is unique and timely. It

makes use of the popular touch screens and

touch surfaces as a communication medium,

eliminating the need to use the legacy wireless

communication that is known to be prone to

eavesdropping.”

practice. We are currently working closely

with our sponsor contact at Google to move

the project forward.”

Vu joined the college in fall 2013 after

completing his PhD at the WINLAB/Department

of Computer Science at Rutgers University in

New Jersey. He currently heads the Mobile and

Networked Systems lab, where they work on

various aspects of mobile systems and wireless

networks including mobile healthcare, mobile

communications, mobile context discovery,

mobile-centric Internet architecture and

mobile system security and privacy. Outside of

work, Vu enjoys photographing coffee shops

around the city, watching TED® talks and

hanging out with friends and family.

“Our initial invention…was well received by both academic and industrial audiences.”

FACULTY PROFILE

Tam Vu, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, received a one-year Google award to fund his research in capacitive touchscreen communication.

This new method uses the universal

capacitive touchscreens found in today’s

electronic devices as receivers for decoding

identification and authentication information

transmitted from custom-designed, wearable

hardware tokens, such as a ring or a watch.

The goal is to unify all forms of authentication

tokens, including credit cards, SIM cards and

car keys into a single, wearable ring.

“I am so humbled to have been chosen for

this award knowing that there were many

qualified proposals submitted,” says Vu.

“The funds will go far in helping us push our

technology to security and privacy protection

MEDICINE+ENGINEERINGResearch opportunities abound in new undergraduate bioengineering program

ver since she was a kid, Rachelle Walter has wavered between pursuing a career in the medical field and studying engineering. When she came across the new undergraduate bioengineering program at CU Denver, she thought it was a perfect match.

Now that she’s completed her first year, she’s

certain she made the right choice. The course

work is challenging, but Walter knows you have

to work hard to get what you want—it’s a lesson

she learned from watching her father, and one

she appreciates every day. As she begins her

second year in the program, Walter is doing all

she can to make sure her dreams become a reality.

“I really like the program in that it’s new and

that it’s smaller,” she says. “They’re teaching

us material from industry ... Knowing we’ll be

prepared is really awesome.”

This past summer Walter participated in the

prestigious American Physiological Society (APS)

Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship

program, which funds undergraduate students

to do research for a 10-week period. The program

understand more about the early stages of

development in Type I and Type II Diabetes and

could potentially lead to therapeutic targets to

inhibit or delay their development.

“With diabetes, you have an accomplishable

goal,” she says. “This disease doesn’t change

over time, which is really awesome to get into.”

In addition to the research award, Walter

also received a travel grant to the 2015 APS

annual Experimental Biology meeting in Boston

to present her research data.

Walter applied to the APS fellowship program

with the hopes of gaining hands-on research

experience and the opportunity to decide

whether she enjoyed it. Ultimately, she wants

to continue into either the National Institutes of

Health Medical Scientist Training Program or the

MD/PhD bioengineering program. And although

her eye is on graduate programs, she wants to

become fluent in German and to learn about law.

“My back-up plan is to become a patent

lawyer,” she says. “I don’t want to have just one

path planned because things can change.”

Regardless of the path she chooses, Walter

knows her hard work will pay off. “My greatest

inspiration is my dad,” she says. “He led by

example and showed me that if you try hard

and put your mind to it, you can accomplish

anything. He taught me to be how I am today.”

For now, her experiences in the bioengineering

program have made her more confident in her

current path. “I want to help people and to

make a difference. I can’t wait to gain more

knowledge about research and also contribute

to the advancement of medicine.”

“I want to help people and to make a difference.”

is designed to introduce students to a scientific

research career in which each student works

on his or her own research question in an

established APS investigator laboratory. Walter

worked with Richard Benninger, assistant

professor in bioengineering, and post-doctoral

researcher Nikki Farnsworth, to investigate pro-

inflammatory cytokine induced changes in gap

junction coupling in the pancreatic islet and to

determine a potential mechanism for overcoming

these changes. This study will help researchers

STUDENT PROFILE

UPCOMING EVENTS

CELEBRATE

Commencement CelebrationsDECEMBER 13, 2014 | COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER MAY 16, 2015 | AURARIA CAMPUSEach semester, graduating students participate in commencement ceremonies to mark

the completion of their degree and a new beginning for what comes next. Everyone

is invited to attend and to congratulate our newest class of alumni. Find additional

details at ucdenver.edu/commencement.

What’s your story?We’ve shared some of our stories, and now

we want to hear from you. Tell us about the

impact you’re making by sending an update

to Erica Lefeave at erica.lefeave@ucdenver.

edu or at CU Denver College of Engineering

and Applied Science, Campus Box 104,

P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364.

Get involvedWe’re always looking for ways to build

stronger connections with our alumni,

our partners and the community. If you

want to get involved with the college—

as a mentor, a volunteer or through

internships—contact the Office of the

Dean at 303-556-2870.

Support your collegeGive a scholarship, send a student team

to an engineering competition or support

cutting-edge research. Your gift makes

a tremendous impact at the college.

For more information on how you

can help, contact Noelle DeLage at

noelle.delage@ucdenver.edu

or 303-315-2026.

1,000 More campaignThis year, CU Denver

launched 1,000 More,

a campaign to foster

student success and provide financial

support for 1,000 additional CU Denver

students every year, and to triple private

support for scholarships by 2020. Both

need-based and merit-based scholarships

are priorities during 1,000 More, as are

scholarships for international students,

study abroad opportunities, transfer

students and graduate students.

Learn more about the campaign

and how you can contribute at

ucdenver.edu/1000more.

COMPETE

Fall and Spring Senior Design CompetitionsDECEMBER 12, 2014 AND MAY 15, 2015 | AURARIA CAMPUSCome see our students’ finest work as they present their senior design projects to a

panel of industry judges and compete for cash prizes. Visit engineering.ucdenver.edu/

seniordesign in early December and in early May for information about the showcased

projects and event timing and location.

CELEBRATE

Year-End Celebration 2015MAY 15, 2015 | NINTH STREET PARK AURARIA CAMPUSJoin faculty, staff, students and alumni for sun, BBQ,

conversation and fun as the college hosts its fourth

annual Year-End Celebration. Visit engineering.

ucdenver.edu/celebration this spring for details.

17

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Campus Box 104

P.O. Box 173364

Denver, CO 80217-3364

VISIT US

1200 Larimer Street, Suite 3024

Denver, Colorado 80204

Tel: 303.556.2870

FIND US ONLINE

engineering.ucdenver.edu

ABOUT: Information technology is

a subject that affects all of our lives,

especially with the advent of smart

phones and tablets. Our students are

prepared to meet the IT demands of

business, health care, government,

education and entertainment.

Cert no. SW-COC-001530

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDDENVER, CO

PERMIT NO. 831