CU Boulder secures $15M for climate resilience
NSF award funds CO-WY Engine to lead innovation in climate tech, boost regional economic development
The Colorado-Wyoming Climate Resilience Engine (CO-WY Engine), of which CU Boulder is a founding partner, was chosen as an inaugural National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine (NSF Engines). The CO-WY Engine is slated to receive up to $15 million over the next two years to transform the region into a national leader in developing climate resilience technologies.
The NSF Engines program—established in the 2022 bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act—invests in U.S.-based STEM research and development and is focused on funding regional hubs that will increase the speed and scale of emerging, critical and use-inspired technology to drive industry and boost job growth and ultimately, according to NSF, “solve the grand challenges of our time."
As the West suffers climate emergencies, from unprecedented wildfires to devastating droughts and heatwaves, the CO-WY Engine itself is a groundbreaking initiative to develop and commercialize advanced climate-resilient technologies. It’s poised to revolutionize how we understand, predict and mitigate complicated challenges. It also aims to empower communities, governments and industries by helping them to effectively navigate and adapt to climate change.
Its innovators, including key contributors and the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience, plan to reshape the landscape of climate technology and regional economic development in Colorado and Wyoming by focusing on topics like wildfire mitigation, earth sensing, methane emissions analysis, water resource management, sustainable agriculture and adaptation to extreme weather events.
CU Boulder’s track record in launching startups is another huge asset to the CO-WY Engine’s mission to find and implement widespread, impactful solutions. The university’s proven strengths in translating innovations into real-world applications also positions the CO-WY Engine to profoundly impact workforce development and community engagement while placing a strong emphasis on inclusive growth, ensuring that economic benefits reach across diverse communities.
“Colorado is known for creating new businesses, creating new startups, especially those that spin out of the research institutions—and CU Boulder drives that,” said Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for research and innovation and managing director for Venture Partners at CU Boulder. “So we’re taking that pipeline of startup creation and applying it to the climate resilience research in the Engine, which will be expanding and strengthening it further.”
In addition to research universities, the CO-WY Engine includes several community colleges and federal labs, regional economic development organizations, policy- and community-focused entities, industry partners, investors and startup accelerators. That level of regional collaboration made the CO-WY Engine a winner, according to Rees. “The critical factor that makes this successful is the multidisciplinary, multi-sector partnerships, and I think that’s what the Colorado-Wyoming Engine has done really well,” he said.
In its first grant cycle, announced in the summer of 2024, the CO-WY Engine launched its Use-Inspired and Translation Grant opportunities to accelerate the research, development and commercialization of innovations into tangible products, services or solutions that address climate resiliency.
The NSF Engines program is one of the single largest investments in place-based research and development in history—putting science and technology leadership as a central driver of regional economic competitiveness. This prestigious award allows the CO-WY Engine to compete for up to $160 million total funding over the next several years.
Principal
Bryn Rees
Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Collaboration + support
CU Boulder’s Earth Lab, Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience, Venture Partners at CU Boulder; Parag Chitnis, Mike Freeman, Christa Johnson, Tim Jones, Cass Moseley; Innosphere Ventures; more than a dozen federal labs, government organizations, higher education institutions and companies
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CU Boulder part of $160M NSF-funded effort to promote climate resilience