When Corey Cox wandered through Outside Days, he wasn’t planning to change careers. Then he stopped at the CU Denver booth.
Inside the demonstration space, faculty members Ron Rorrer and Dana Carpenter, alongside Outside Inc.’s Adam Trenkamp, were introducing visitors to a new idea taking shape at CU Denver: an outdoor gear-focused engineering program built around hands-on product development, testing and industry collaboration.
For Cox, an outdoor enthusiast working in graphic design and marketing, this was his moment met.
“As a gear enthusiast and person always on the hunt for the perfect bag to hike, travel and explore with, I was hooked,” Cox said.
That conversation at Outside Days ultimately led Cox into CU Denver’s Outdoor Gear track within the Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a program developed through a collaboration between the College of Engineering, Design and Computing and Outside Inc. The program connects students directly to Colorado’s outdoor industry through applied engineering, rapid prototyping and performance testing inside CU Denver’s Outside Lab.
Now, one of several of the program’s early graduates, Cox’s story reflects the momentum building around the lab itself — a space where students, researchers and industry partners are designing and testing the next generation of outdoor products in the heart of downtown Denver.
Engineering meets the outdoor industry
At CU Denver’s Outside Lab, students move beyond theory and into the realities of product performance.
Inside the lab, students test materials, evaluate durability, analyze performance data and iterate on designs using advanced manufacturing and testing equipment tied directly to the needs of the outdoor recreation industry. The work mirrors the collaborative, fast-moving environment students will encounter in the field itself.
The lab anchors CU Denver’s growing partnership with Outside Inc. and supports a broader push to position the university within Colorado’s expanding outdoor economy, a sector that demands engineers who understand both technical performance and user experience.
For students like Cox, that blend became a powerful entry point into engineering.
“It gave me an opportunity to shift my future career choices toward something I more aligned with and have an interest in, providing technical knowledge and thinking methods I didn’t previously have,” Cox said.
“I have not only gained industry relevant experience, knowledge, and professional support, but I now know I have the ability to quickly adapt, learn hard things, and the confidence to feel competitive in a field I had zero chances in before.”
Learning through making
Courses like Intro to Product Design and Development, Lab Gear Testing and Composites helped Cox connect creative problem-solving with engineering analysis.
“Within these three courses, I feel I’ve improved my conceptual thinking and decision making, hands-on data analysis, and engineering problem considerations when designing and building anything that has a safety factor or performance metric,” Cox said.
That applied learning environment is central to the Outside Lab experience. Students aren’t just studying products — they are evaluating how materials fail, how designs perform under stress and how engineering decisions influence safety, sustainability and usability in real-world conditions.
The experience also creates direct pathways into industry networks.
“Not only do we have the ability to learn from world-class engineers and researchers at CU Denver, but being a student afforded me opportunities to connect with industry leaders and experts in a casual and non-competitive way,” Cox said.
Faculty support helped accelerate that learning curve.
“My professors — Dr. Trevor Young, Dr. Ron Rorrer, Dr. Kristin Wood and Dr. Dana Carpenter — were such tremendous help throughout the entire program,” Cox said. “They made sure my success felt as much their priority as it was mine.”
Building Colorado’s outdoor innovation ecosystem
As Outside Days return to downtown Denver, CU Denver’s presence reflects the university’s growing role in Colorado’s outdoor innovation ecosystem.
The Outside Lab has become a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, design and industry, giving students access to technical tools, professional mentorship and applied research opportunities tied directly to one of the state’s defining industries.
The model also reflects a broader vision within the College of Engineering, Design and Computing: expanding who sees themselves in engineering while connecting education to emerging workforce needs.
For prospective students exploring the Outside Days grounds this year, the lab may offer the same thing it offered Cox: proof that engineering can begin with curiosity — and that the pathway into the industry may be closer than they think.
College of Engineering, Design and Computing News 
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