Aria Mundy, a dual-major mechanical engineering and applied mathematics student graduating this fall, has been selected to receive the CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science 2024 Outstanding Undergraduate Award.

The award is given to an undergraduate student who maximized their educational experience in a holistic way, with accomplishments across several areas.

Mundy is the fourth ME student to win the award since 1994. 

A home-grown love for engineering

Aria Mundy, recipient of the CEAS 2024 Outstanding Undergraduate Award.

Born and raised in the Boulder area, Mundy always dreamed of studying engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She loved math, she loved science and with encouragement from her early educators, she learned the importance of women in engineering.

“I was one of just a few girls in my physics class during high school,” Mundy said. “One of my teachers encouraged me to pursue a career in STEM and inspired me to explore engineering.”

Mundy started her undergraduate journey in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder. But after her freshman year, she decided to explore different areas of study in the college, eventually settling on the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“The awesome part about ME is how versatile it is,” she said. “I’ve held some different internships across different industries. It’s been awesome to jump around and get exposure to many exciting areas.”

Success in-and-out of the classroom

During her time at CU Boulder, Mundy demonstrated a talent for academic success. She was awarded a scholarship by the BOLD Center and was a part of the CU Boulder Esteemed Scholars Program and . In her sophomore year, she was accepted into the Kiewit Design-Build Scholars Program.

Aria Mundy crossing the finish line at the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships.

Mundy also exhibited success outside of the classroom. She has been a part of the CU Cycling and Triathlon Teams all throughout her college career, holding leadership positions on both teams. In the , Mundy brought four national championships back to Boulder, taking first in the Women’s Club Team Time Trial, Road Race, Criterium, and Omnium events.

Success has found Mundy as a member of the , as well. In 2023 and 2024, the squad took home two top-3 finishes in the .

“Being a part of the different scholarship programs helped expand my opportunities and community,” Mundy said. “As for athletics, being a part of sports has always been my escape whenever I feel overwhelmed in class.

“It’s been amazing to find some success at races. But at the end of the day, it’s really just about being a part of such a great community and finding balance alongside academics.”

Creating an inclusive culture

Mundy attributes her success in multiple arenas to the support of peers and mentors who took her under their wings.

Aria Mundy guiding middle school students through a science experiment. 

“When I was a freshman, stepping into sports felt intimidating at times. Cycling has few women and engineering has long been male-dominated,” she said. “But I’ll never forget the women who went out of their way to make me feel included. As I grew older, I felt the responsibility to create that same sense of belonging for others, too.”

In many ways, Mundy was on the front lines fighting for diversity and gender parity in engineering. As a member of CU Boulder’s , she helped organize local workshops encouraging young women to explore STEM career opportunities.

She also participated in the Project-Based Learning in Rural Schools Soil Quality Inquiry Program (SQIQ). This experience took her to Paonia, Colorado where she partnered with Paonia K-8 to guide young students through soil-quality experiments, fostering their curiosity about science and research.

“CU Boulder is a very welcoming place for women and underrepresented students,” Mundy said. "I strive to share my excitement and enthusiasm for engineering and community, showing others that they have a support system and can succeed in this environment.”

Making a broader impact

A strong love for engineering and outreach opened the door for Mundy to make an impact beyond the CU Boulder campus, too.

Aria Mundy during her time at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

In summer 2022, Mundy traveled to Rwanda as a member of the CU Engineers Without Borders (EWB). She worked with her peers to design and implement a rainwater catchment system. She said it was “a true embodiment of what it means to be an engineer.”

“This project was a powerful reminder of how engineering can bring people together to create solutions that make a lasting difference,” Mundy said.

She also completed internships at companies in various engineering industries such as Tendeg, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, NIST, Specialized Bicycle Components and LASP. Mundy’s award nominator says she has contributed to new ideas and technologies at each company.

“My philosophy has been to try as many different things as possible,” Mundy said. “I’m truly grateful to receive this award, and for CU Boulder’s support in providing so many avenues for me to learn and grow.

“If I had more time, I would love to keep exploring new things. I’m sad my journey is coming to a close, but I’m excited for what comes next.”

The Outstanding Undergraduate Award will be presented to Mundy at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Graduation Ceremony on Dec. 19. Mundy is considering pursuing a master’s in mechanical engineering while exploring full-time opportunities. 

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Cofounded by Professor Michael Hannigan and Associate Research Professor Daniel Knight, the outreach program is called the and works in conjunction with the Mechanical Engineering course MCEN 4/5291, Project Based Learning in Rural Schools. The outreach program trains, supports and places CU students in underserved rural high schools that struggle to attract science teachers and have little engineering education available.

Hannigan and Knight work in collaboration with Professor Joseph Polman, the associate dean for research in the CU Boulder School of Education, and Angela Bielefeldt, a professor in Civil, Environment and Architectural Engineering. They plan to use a total of $457,531 in funding to expand their programming and services for the upcoming academic year.

“This is the seventh concurrent year that we received an Outreach Award,” Knight said. “We have a lot of passion for this project.”

Project Based Learning in Rural Schools works with 13 K-12 schools, half of which are based in the Western Slope area in Colorado. Other areas in the state include the San Luis Valley and the plains in northeastern Colorado. Along with the expansion of their partnerships with K-12 schools in Mongolia, Hannigan and Knight plan to begin working with , where the majority of students are Hispanic/Latino and potentially first generation college students. With the help of this year’s funding, they plan to begin translating their engineering curriculum into Spanish.

Project Based Learning in Rural Schools is a full-year course for CU Boulder students. The students will spend the fall semester improving their teaching skills and learning how to teach the outreach program’s hands-on curriculum to the K-12 students later in the spring semester. There is also a summer program focused on summer camps for K-12 students that is open to participants in the course.

“I have been really impressed with how the organization and design of this unique educational outreach program provides a quality learning experience for both CU engineering students and high school students at rural schools throughout the state,” Polman said.

The core of the course curriculum is based around air and soil quality monitors, which are known as “Pods,” and were developed in the Hannigan Laboratory. The air quality Pods measure aerosols, along with particulate matter, or PM, which are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere and account for a specific form of air pollution. Inhalable PM, which is less than 10 microns in diameter (PM₁₀), and fine PM (PM_2.5), which is less than 2.5 microns in diameter, are both known for their negative effects on human health and the environment. The soil quality Pods measure temperature, moisture, carbon dioxide and light.

Equipped with these monitors, CU Boulder students will visit the K-12 schools in the spring. For the first trip, the CU Boulder students will teach the highschoolers how to take measurements with the monitor and mentor them as they use the monitors to engage in inquiry-based learning projects, which allow K-12 students to ask and answer their own air and soil quality questions in their local community.

“There's something about getting your hands on a project that teaches you so much more,” said , a third-year engineering graduate student who is involved in the outreach program. “These kids come up with an original question, and then they test it with the materials we give them and the knowledge we teach them in a couple of weeks. They get involved. And there's just something about that process that’s so much more rewarding than just listening to a lecture and then doing an assignment.”

Some students decide to place the monitors around coal mines to measure its emissions, while others put them around landfills, feed lots or other agricultural settings.

“But other students come up with projects that I never would have thought of,” Knight said. “One student looked at the emissions from a PlayStation console. Another slept with a dog in his room, the next night with two dogs, and the third with three, and looked at the differences. And a lot of projects had to do with snowmobiles, four-wheelers and other outdoor projects like that.”

“At the end of the year, the rural high school students present their projects at a symposium,” Hannigan added. “They are often proud of their projects, so it is fun to see that. It’s also so cool to see those high school students looking to our students for guidance and mentoring. Our CU students shine.”

The Mongolian Chapter of the outreach program is facilitated by a partner . Like their American counterparts in Colorado, college students at the engage in a similar role with Mongolian high schools. With the help of the new funding, Hannigan and Knight plan to integrate the two groups of university students through Zoom meetings. Once paired up, U.S. and Mongolian mentors will facilitate the sharing of school project ideas and results. Ultimately, Hannigan and Knight plan to create a summer camp in Mongolia during the summer of 2024, where the two teams will meet face-to-face for team partnership development.

“I’m really excited to see the project and research expanding with the new NSF grant, and a more extensive program in Mongolia,” Polman said. “This will allow us to further explore the impact of culture and place on inquiry-based learning."

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New science standards in Colorado require students to learn by working through problems rather than memorizing facts. These new standards, based on , represent a significant change in what students will be expected to know and how science teachers will teach. 

To address these changing needs, Jayaram and his team want to develop a bioinspired robotics toolkit and an accompanying curriculum that will emphasize real-world problem-solving and hands-on learning. They call it “Build a Better Bug.” 

The team brings together a diversity of disciplines. Along with Jayaram, Alexandra Rose of the Ecology and Evolutionary Department will help lead the team. Distinguished Professor William Penuel of the School of Education, Nathan McNeill, Stacey Forsyth and Scott Sieke will also lend their expertise in education. 

The toolkits are inspired by Jayaram’s research in his Animal Inspired Movement and Robotics Laboratory, where Jayaram and his research team study concepts from biology and apply them to the design of real-world engineered systems. In his lab, you can find robots modeled after the body morphologies of cockroaches and spiders. 

“We are fundamentally interested in understanding why animals are the way they are,” said Jayaram, “and how we can build bioinspired robots that can address social needs, like search and rescue, environmental monitoring or even use them during surgery.” 

The toolkits will give middle school students a chance to combine biology and robotics in their own ways. The kits will feature origami-based foldable body and appendage designs that are inspired by a variety of insects, such as cockroach legs, ladybug wings or mantis claws. 

After combining and rearranging parts to make their own unique bug, the students will use Python/Arduino-compatible open-source electronics to drive the robot and its biologically inspired sensors. Also, the students will have a Chromebook-compatible app to program, communicate and play with their designs. 

While building and interacting with their robot bugs, students will probe the underlying principles of what makes certain species evolutionarily successful and how we could perhaps learn from those insights.

“I love the opportunity to work at the intersection of biology and engineering,” Rose said. "And I hope to co-opt students’ excitement about robots to get them secretly learning about topics as seemingly diverse as physics, physiology, evolution, and the engineering design process.”

By leveraging CU’s partnership with Colorado Mesa University, Jayaram and his cohort plan to target an audience in a more rural part of the state to pilot the project. Also, they plan to work with the in Grand Junction, which runs educational and youth camps and served 26,682 learners in 2022 alone. 

“We want our primary audience to be students who don’t have ready access to the exciting science and engineering happening at CU,” Jayaram said. “That includes students who live away from the urban centers of our state.”

Jayaram also hopes the project can address gender biases in STEM through the way in which it bridges robotics with so many other different disciplines. 

As Jayaram and his cohort pilot “Build a Better Bug,” they plan to collect feedback from both students and teachers. Through photos, student-made videos, interviews and reflection exercises, they will fine-tune the toolkits and accompanying curriculum for future iterations. 

“We are excited to field-test these materials and believe that they will create impactful learning experiences for students,” Jayaram said. 

Jayaram and his collaborators are actively looking for talented undergraduate and graduate students who would like to contribute to the project. If you have experience in computer science and electronics and are interested in education and outreach, don’t hesitate to reach out: Kaushik.jayaram@colorado.edu. 

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By engaging with high schoolers through hands-on learning and real-world problem solving, graduate students in mechanical engineering are aspiring to get younger generations excited about STEM fields.

Through a partnership between the K-12 Outreach Group and in Denver, a group of graduate students recently visited the high school to lead an engineering project with first-year students. The high schoolers then made a fieldtrip to the CU Boulder campus to visit a handful of research labs.

“We try to encourage students to think about science and engineering as a career opportunity,” K-12 Outreach leader and graduate student said. “But we also want to show them that engineering is more than planes, trains and automobiles. It’s about human health, too.”

The high schoolers had to build a prosthetic leg and test its durability. Venkatesh and other graduate students gave lectures on principles like stress, strain and strength, while also giving them some design models from which to base their own prototype.

By using materials like cardboard, wooden dowels, tape and zip ties, the student teams built their own prosthetic leg according to their own decision-making processes and design strategies.

“They’re learning as much about teamwork as they’re learning about engineering,” Arrupe physics teacher said.

The student teams then tested their designs by seeing how far they could walk on it along a hallway and up a flight of stairs. 

“Rather than just having students read some material and try to understand ideas that way, it’s best to demonstrate it,” Tiscareno said. “Actions speak louder than words.”

Arrupe serves students with limited economic resources in Denver. The independent school focuses on building community partnerships by having students intern at local businesses one day per week.

The K-12 Outreach Group considers itself part of the school’s community-building ethos and has been working with Arrupe Jesuit High School since summer 2021, when the high schoolers built mouse trap race cars. Last year, they built insect-inspired robots and learned the basics of coding.

After this year’s students tested the durability of their prosthetic legs, they visited the CU Boulder campus to see what engineering research looks like in real life and get a feel for what it’s like to be a college student as well.

They visited Alaa Ahmed’s Neuromechanics Lab, Alena Grabowski’s Applied Biomechanic’s Lab, Robert MacCurdy’s and Kaushik Jayaram’s Animal Inspired Movement and Robotics Laboratory.

While testing out a lot of the equipment in the labs, the first-year high schoolers learned that engineering is a lot more than gears, cogs and wheels.

“A lot of the students said they had fun building their prosthetic legs and visiting the labs,” Venkatesh said. “One student said they learned engineering isn’t for them, but they also learned they could go to college. And that’s just as big of a win as anything else.”

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Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty have received another University of Colorado Boulder Outreach Award for their work with rural K-12 schools in Colorado.

Department Chair Michael Hannigan and Research Associate Daniel Knight will be using the $24,000 grant to expand their outreach program that educates K-12 students about air quality and emissions. They are conducting the work with Professor Joseph Polman, the Associate Dean for Research in the School of Education.

The Soil Quality InQuiry (SQIQ) project will allow students from five Western Colorado schools in the Delta County, Mesa Country Valley 51 and Lone Star districts to conduct their own soil quality research. CU Boulder will provide the curriculum, soil quality monitors, and student mentors from College of Engineering and Applied Science to support the K-12 classes.

SQIQ will begin in fall 2022, when CU Boulder mentors enroll in the program. Then in November, the soil quality monitors will be delivered to the five high schools.

Mentors will help the students with their soil quality projects during monthly visits in spring 2023. SQIQ will culminate with the high schoolers presenting their projects with scientific posters at school symposiums in March or April.

The goal of SQIQ is to enrich STEM education opportunities in underserved rural K-12 schools. Hannigan and Knight explained that many of these rural areas struggle to attract science teachers and have little engineering education available to students.

SQIQ also provides opportunities to connect with community members in these rural areas such as farmers, ranchers, coal miners and local businesses – each of whom are stakeholders in the push for cleaner air.

Hannigan and Knight also plan to connect with government agencies such as the , environmental organizations like the , and student development organizations such as Contigo that supports immigrant families.

Other partners on this project include faculty and students from and , since both partner universities are closer to the targeted school districts.

SQIQ is an expansion of the group’s ongoing outreach projects titled “Air Quality Inquiry Program” (AQ-IQ) and “” (SCENIC), which both aim to create pathways for STEM education in rural Colorado. AQ-IQ based projects have received an Outreach Award every year since 2018.

On top of being awarded another grant this year, Knight will also be the speaker at the Office for Outreach and Engagement’s annual awards banquet in April 2022.
 

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Learn more about CEME

Graduate students in mechanical engineering are aspiring to get younger generations excited about the field. The Committee for Equity in Mechanical Engineering (CEME) is accomplishing that goal by engaging with high schoolers in a manner that is similar to their own education – with hands-on learning.

On Tuesday, February 15, CEME invited 110 freshmen from  to campus, where they built insect-inspired robots and toured the (ITLL). It gave those high schoolers the chance to see what life is like as an engineering student.

"I think the best part is to connect with the students and show them that they too can pursue STEM," CEME member Rosa Morales said. "I love speaking Spanish with them, demonstrating that we are not very different from one another and showing that if I could do it, they could too. I also love to hear them say 'that was so easy' after they've completed the projects we put together! I feel like these projects show them that they really can do STEM."

Arrupe Jesuit serves economically disadvantaged students from Denver's inner-city neighborhoods. The school focuses on community partnerships to better overcome the challenges of servicing urban communities. CEME has stepped up be one of those valuable friendships.

CEME has been working with Arrupe Jesuit High School since summer 2021, when the group visited the school and built mouse trap race cars to demonstrate the fundamentals of engineering. The success of that event is what inspired the graduate students to plan the field trip to campus.

Since CEME knew they wanted ongoing interaction with the high schoolers, the visit was step one in a two-part project. On campus, the high schoolers built 30 insect-inspired robots with a focus on the hardware component of the devices. Step two involves CEME members going back to Arrupe Jesuit High School to teach the students about the software component. The graduate student volunteers will instruct the high schoolers on building basic code for the robots. 

"Seeing them get excited about the simple stuff that I still geek out about is so fun," said Brennan Moeller, one of the graduate student volunteers.

CEME members and the graduate student volunteers hope this work impacts how the freshmen high schoolers envision their futures. Volunteer Brittany Nixon added that the best part of these events is "connecting with the kids, seeing them get excited about science and engineering, and encouraging them."
 

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