Adam Duran

Teaching Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

 Adam Duran is a strategic program leader and engineering educator with more than 18 years of experience spanning automotive research and development, technical consulting, and systems engineering. He specializes in bridging academic innovation with industry needs, developing workforce pipelines to prepare the next generation of engineers.

Before joining Mines, Adam served as Program Director and Research Engineer at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where he led major initiatives in advanced vehicle technologies and fuels. While at the lab, he also co-launched the GCxNREL cleantech accelerator in partnership with Shell advancing and derisking promising early-stage startup technology. As a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) and certified Project Management Professional (PMP), he has secured over $10 million in competitive funding and authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications.

At Mines, Adam directs large-scale experiential learning programs that integrate technical rigor with hands-on, team-based projects. In collaboration with Dr. Polina Brodsky, he leads the U.S. Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Challenge and co-advises the university’s Formula SAE team. He also serves on the Mines Capstone Leadership Team, helping guide curriculum development and instruction for annual cohorts of more than 700 engineering students.

A Colorado native, Adam brings his engineering mindset to personal passions such as off roading in his Jeep and DIY home improvement projects. Outside the lab, he enjoys exploring the Rockies with his wife and two dogs and expressing his creativity through charcoal and pastel art.

For more information see LinkedIn and Research Gate

 

Contact

Brown Hall W470E
303-384-2280
aduran@mines.edu

Education

  • M.S., Engineering and Technology Management, Colorado School of Mines (2016)
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines (2011)
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines (2009)

Recent Publications

View all publications on Google Scholar

 

  • Mistry, A., Brodsky, P., Brickey, A., Duran, A., et al, “Not-So-Quick and Not-So-Dirty Solutions to Decarbonize Off-Road Vehicles”, ACS Energy Letters 2025 10, 5322-5327, doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.5c02459
  • Brucker, A., Duran, A., Sullivan, P., Mistry, A., “Electrifying Off-Road Vehicles: Is 1000 [Wh/kg] Enough?”, ACS Energy Letters 2024 9 (8), 4053-4058, doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.4c01276
  • Miller, E. and Duran, A., “A Deterministic Multivariate Clustering Method for Drive Cycle Generation from In-Use Vehicle Data,” SAE Technical Paper 2021-01-0395, 2021, doi.org/10.4271/2021-01-0395.
  • Hou, Y., Moore, AM., Duran, AW., Walkowicz, KA., Smith, D., “A Hybrid Tour-Based Model for Energy Analysis of Multi-Modal Intra-City Freight: A Case Study of Autonomous Electric Vehicles,” Presented at 98th Annual Meeting of Transportation Research Board (TRB), Washington, D.C., January 2019.
  • Duran, A., Li, K., Kresse, J., Kelly, K., “Development of 80 and 100 Mile Work Day Cycles Representative of Commercial Pickup and Delivery Operation,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1192, 2018, doi:10.4271/ 2018-01-1192.
  • Duran, A., Phillips, C., Perr-Sauer, J., Kelly, K., Konan, A., “Leveraging Big Data Analysis Techniques for US Vocational Vehicle Drive Cycle Characterization, Segmentation, and Development,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1199, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-1199.
  • Lammert, M., Bugbee, B., Hou, Yi., Mack, A., Muratori, M., Holden, J., Duran, A., Swaney, E. “Analysis of Opportunities for Truck Platooning from Telematics Data,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1083, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-1083.
  • Miller, E., Konan, A., and Duran, A., “Bayesian Parameter Estimation for Heavy-Duty Vehicles,” SAE Technical Paper 2017-01-0528, 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-0528.
  • Muratori, M., Holden, J., Lammert, M., Duran, A. et al., “Potentials for Platooning in U.S. Highway Freight Transport,” SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. 10(1):2017, doi:10.4271/2017-01-0086.

Recent Courses

  • Introduction to Mechanical Engineering: Programming and Hardware Interface
  • Automation and Instrumentation
  • Mechanical Integration and Design
  • Vehicle Dynamics and Powertrain Systems
  • Aerospace Systems Engineering
  • Space Operations and Mission Design
  • Combustion
  • Leadership by Design
  • Innovation and Discovery in Engineering, Arts, and Sciences (IDEAS)
  • Cornerstone Design
  • Capstone Design
  • Financial Engineering