Evan Thomas

Biography

Evan Thomas is the Director of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and holds the Mortenson Endowed Chair in Global Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a tenured Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Departments. Evan is currently a member of the NASA and USAID SERVIR Applied Sciences Team, a member of the board of the Millennium Water Alliance, and Co-Chair of the ASME Engineering for Global Development Research Committee.

Evan has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder, is a registered Professional Engineer, and has a Masters in Public Health from the Oregon Health and Science University.

Evan’s technical background is in water and air testing and treatment applied in contexts from emerging economies to operational spacecraft. He founded SweetSense Inc. which is supported by USAID and the National Science Foundation to develop and apply satellite connected sensors monitoring drinking water systems. Daily, the team is monitoring millions of people’s water supply across east Africa.

Evan’s research has been funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, USAID, the Moore Foundation, the UN Foundation, the CDC, UNESCO, the United Kingdom Department for International Development, the Gates Foundation, and others.