The mission of the REACH CoLab is to develop high-impact technologies at scale and rapidly bring them to market, focusing on thermal energy systems for energy efficiency and decarbonization.
Current Research
High temperature heat pumps
High efficiency hybrid power generation
Heat activated cooling systems
Data center energy efficiency
Carbon capture
Recently from our team:
Todd Bandhauer was named to the Time Magazine’s 100 most influential leaders for Climate Action in 2025.
Five of our graduate students defended their theses/dissertations in 2025! Congratulations to
Dalton Moore, M.S., “Techno-economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of a Novel Air-sourced High-temperature Heat Pump with Hourly Resolution.“
Cyrus Johnston, M.S., “Digital Twin Modeling of an Ambient-Air-Source, Steam-Generating Heat Pump for Refrigerant Transition Planning.“
Hugo Mettes, M.S., “Optimization of a Pressurized SOFC-ICE-Turbo-Hybrid Generation Systems.“
Taylor Stoll, M.S., “Data Center Sustainability: The Role of Flexible Fuel CCHP in Mitigating Grid Emissions and Power Constraints.“
Ben Platt, PhD, “Development of a Hybrid Electric Organic Rankine Vapor Compression Cooling System for Energy System Resiliency.“
Seven papers have been published by students in our research group this year:
Mitchel, L.J., et al.: “Modeling and experimental validation of the air delivery system for solid oxide fuel cell power generation.” International Journal of Energy for a Clean Environment,
Siegel, M., et al.: “Evaluating Thermal Efficiency and Economic Impacts in Supplying Energy Demands for Direct Air Capture.” Environmental Science and Technology.
Ryan, K.P., et al.: “Transient modeling of an ambient-temperature-source centrifugal-compressor steam-generating heat pump.“ Applied Thermal Engineering.
Platt, B., et al.: “Experimental validation of a hybrid electric organic Rankine vapor compression cooling system.“ Applied Energy.
Platt, B., et al.: “Thermodynamic and turbomachinery analysis of a hybrid electric organic Rankine vapor compression system.“ Applied Energy.
Stoll, T., et al.: “Data center sustainability: The role of flexible fuel CCHP in mitigating grid emissions and power constraints.“ Energy Conversion and Management.
Reyes-Flores, V., et al.: “Operational Conditions for an Internal Combustion Engine in a SOFC-ICE Hybrid Power Generation System.“ Energies.
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2024
Congratulations to Caleb Anderson on his successful PhD Dissertation Defense, “Prediction and Mitigation Strategies for the Transient Thermal Performance of Low Thermal Resistance Microchannel Evaporators.“
Congratulations to Isabella Amyx on her successful M.S. Thesis Defense, “Thermal Management of Discretized Heaters using CuW Microchannel Heat Sinks and FC3283 for Laser Diode Applications.“
Congratulations to Lars Mitchel on his successful M.S. Thesis Defense, “High Efficiency Air Delivery Systems for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Power Generation.“
Congratulations to Victor Reyes-Flores on his successful M.S. Thesis Defense, “Operational Conditions for an Internal Combustion Engine in a SOFC-ICE Hybrid Power Generation System.“
Congratulations to Maddy Siegel on her successful M.S. Thesis Defense, “Evaluating Thermal Efficiency and Economic Impacts in Supplying Energy Demands for Direct Air Capture.“
Congratulations to Kelly Ryan on his successful M.S. Thesis Defense, “Transient Modeling of an Ambient Temperature Source Centrifugal Compressor Steam Generating Heat Pump.“
Congratulations to Brandi Grauberger on her successful PhD Dissertation Defense, “Viability and Sustainability of Desalinating Produced Water in the Oil and Gas Industry.“
2023
Congratulations to Lars Mitchel on 3rd place in the 10k at Mountain West Conference Championships!
Congratulations to Brandi Grauberger on her successful preliminary exam!
2022
Congratulations to Ethan Markey on the Successful Defense of his Master’s Thesis!
Wow - Congratulations to Dr. Bandhauer, David and Zach! Read about their new adVentures!
Follow this link to read more: Data Center Cooling Technology Born at CSU Receives Startup Support from Activate
Caleb presented on his previous research work on microchannel flow boiling at the Directed Energy Annual Science & Technology Symposium in Mobile, Alabama.
Caleb designed and fabricated new microchannel evaporators for a collaborative effort with the Army Research Lab funded by the Office of Naval Research. Shown above is what he fabricated during his time at ARL.
Shout out to Brandi Grauberger for representing us at the 2022 ASTFE-TFEC Conference in Las Vegas.
You can watch her presentation here: Waste Heat Utilization for Produced Water Treatment
Congratulations to David Hobby on the Successful Defense of his PhD dissertation!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALEX GRAUBERGER ON THE SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE OF HIS PHD DISSERTATION!
CONGRATUALTIONS TO BRANDI GRAUBERGER ON THE PUBLICATION OF AN ARTICLE IN THE LAtest ISSUE OF COLORADO WATER!
You can find Brandi’s article here: The Needed Evolution of Animal Product Processing Facility Water Management in the U.S.
2021
CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE ON SOME OF OUR NEW WORK ON WATER DESALINATION!
Read more here: DOE funds CSU researchers working on technical challenges of water purification
CONGRATULATIONS TO ZACH GILVEY AND JUSTIN HOLLIS ON THE SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE OF THEIR MASTER’S THESIS!
TAKE A LOOK AT OUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO RECENT ANALYSIS OF AGRICULUTRAL WATER SUPPLY!
Follow this link to learn more: Water scarcity will require agriculture to tap ‘unconventional’ sources like seawater, wastewater
2019
HOW WE REACH INTO INDUSTRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Read about our lab in this featured article: Bandhauer laboratory bridges gap between research and commercial deployment
SO HAPPY TO WELCOME INDUSTRY LEADERS TO THE POWERHOUSE TO SEE OUR WORK!
Check out this article for more: Ag-Energy Field Day connects energy leaders with CSU research
2018
A HUGE STEP FOR OUR LAB!
Read more about our new opportunity here: $1.8M from DOE supports innovative waste heat recovery system