Adam Duran recognized with KEEN Rising Star Award

Adam Duran, teaching assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has been honored with the 2026 KEEN Rising Star Award from the Kern Family Foundation.

The award is given to junior faculty members who have gone above and beyond to equip undergraduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. Duran was one of three engineering faculty members across the U.S. to earn the distinction this year from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN).

"Technical skill tells you whether you can build the thing. It tells you nothing about whether the thing is worth building," Duran said. “What separates a graduate who thrives is the ability to walk into an ill-defined situation, figure out who is affected, find the connections nobody drew, and create something of value under ambiguous conditions. That is the entrepreneurial mindset, and it is not a business skill bolted onto an engineer. It is what it means to be an engineer."

With the institutional funding from the Kern Family Foundation that accompanies the award, Duran plans to build a library of short stand-alone online modules that teach the entrepreneurial mindset without taking time away from technical instruction. Each 10- to 15-minute module pairs a short video built on a real engineering case with interactive scenarios in which students make decisions, compare their choices against expert responses and get immediate feedback. The modules will import directly into standard learning management systems, so faculty at Mines and elsewhere can add them to any course, from first-year design through capstone.

“In my experience, students learn the technical material more deeply when they understand who it serves and why it matters,” Duran said. “That is what the entrepreneurial mindset gives them. These modules are built to complement what faculty already teach. A student works through one before class and brings that thinking into the lecture, lab or design review. I want any engineering instructor at Mines or anywhere else    to be able to add one to a course with very little effort.”

At Mines, Duran directs large-scale experiential learning programs that integrate technical rigor with hands-on, team-based projects as a core faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department's automotive track.

In collaboration with Polina Brodsky, teaching associate professor of mechanical engineering, he leads Mines’ involvement in the U.S. Department of Energy EcoCAR Innovation Challenge and co-advises Mines' 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.

Before joining Mines, Duran served as a Program Director and Research Engineer at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, where he led major initiatives in advanced vehicle technologies and fuels. While at the lab, he also launched and directed a startup accelerator that helped early-stage energy technology companies move their innovations toward market. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, certified Project Management Professional and holds three degrees from Mines: an M.S. in Engineering and Technology Management, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

An initiative of the Kern Family Foundation, the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is a network of 69 universities across the United States committed to instilling the entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students. The Kern Family Foundation’s mission is to empower the rising generation of Americans to build flourishing lives anchored in strong character, inspired by quality education, driven by an entrepreneurial mindset, and guided by the desire to create value for others.

Duran joins KEEN leadership team at Mines

Mines is also excited to announce that Duran will join the Mines KEEN Leadership Team, alongside Provost Stefanie Tompkins; Jack Bringardner, Ben L. Fryrear Chair for Innovation and Excellence; Megan Sanders, director of the Trefny Innovative Instruction Center; and Dean Nieusma, associate professor and department head of Engineering, Design, and Society.

In this expanded leadership role, Duran will be instrumental in advancing Mines' institution-wide initiative to scale character education, integrate the entrepreneurial mindset across engineering curricula, and expand faculty development. His leadership will help empower faculty to prepare students to identify opportunities, create meaningful value and bring ideas to reality.

Since joining the Mines faculty full time in 2022, Duran has been highly engaged with Mines’ partnership with KEEN. His growing list of national leadership roles and recognitions include serving as an Engineering Unleashed Community Catalyst, joining Team Crescendo, being named a 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellow, and now receiving the prestigious KEEN Rising Star Award. Duran was also recently selected for the 2026-2027 Entrepreneurial Mindset Future University Engineering Leaders (EM-FUEL) cohort.