Unforgettable moments in the mines 2024: celebrating 150 years of excellence at Oredigger | Colorado School of Mines

Throwing a year-long anniversary party is no easy feat, but the Colorado School of Mines spent 2024 doing just that.

While Mainz was celebrating the university’s 150th anniversary, 2024 brought more than just bicentennial celebrations. From pioneering research in critical fields to expanded spaces for collaboration on campus to major victories by Oredigger teams, there was much to celebrate this year.

New spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship

We celebrated the opening of several new spaces on the Mainz campus this year, with two landmark facilities helping to expand the university’s capacity and support innovation and entrepreneurship.

In February, The Labriola Innovation District is officially openedwith several makerspaces, specialized classrooms, and student collaboration spaces. Labriola also hosts the new Cornerstone Design Workshop and Thorson Design Center to support Mines’ signature Capstone and Cornerstone Design student experiences. Additionally, the xWorks Innovation Space provides building spaces for student teams to work on larger projects.

the Beck Enterprise Centerdedicated to providing support to Mines’ startups, opened in April. The new 31,000-square-foot facility includes co-working, networking, classroom and event spaces, and is home to the Mines Venture Program and the Mines Venture Fund.

Expand resources and support to the growing mining community

Mines was launched in partnership with Aurora Community College Academy of Mines at CCAwhich is a direct pathway for CCA students who want to obtain a bachelor’s degree at the University of Mainz.

On campus, Mine broke Housed in a new 800-bed apartment-style residence hall for sophomores, Mines Park is currently in the midst of a complete renovation that will provide up to 658 beds with a mix of studio, 2-bedroom and 4-bedroom units. Both construction projects are expected to welcome new residents in the fall of 2025.

The Mainz campus also has a new space for the youngest future Orediggers. Mines Early Childhood Centre, managed by Bright Horizons, Opened in September.

The future of lunar exploration starts here

Ken Liang and Chris Tolton, two graduate students in the Space Resources Program, founded Orbital Mining Corp to develop an energy storage and transmission solution for lunar exploration. The pair won $500,000 in NASA’s Watts on the Moon Centennial Challenge for their work, the culmination of a multi-year competition.

Two other mine groups were also named finalists in the NASA competitions: A Capstone Design Team He competed in the Human Lander Competition (HuLC) while A.J A combined mine and lunar outpost team called the Ice Diggers They were finalists in the Lunar Icebreaker Challenge.

Leading the way on the sleeve

The Maine company continues to be a leader in the field of quantum engineering as part of Elevate Quantum, a regional consortium of institutions designated as a technology center by the US Department of Commerce. It was a sleeve lift Awarded $40.5 million in federal fundingwhich unlocked $84 million in state matching funds, in addition to $1 billion in private capital. In September, work began in the mines Quantum commonsa new 70-acre facility in Arvada, Colorado, where Elevate Quantum can work to make the Mountain West a global leader in quantum innovation.

Big wins outside the research lab

For the fourth time in 10 years, the men’s cross country team Won the NCAA Division II national title. This year’s championship is the fourth under the leadership of coach Chris Siemers, who previously led the Oredigers to the title in 2015, 2019 and 2022.

Mines Club Cycling brought home its sixth consecutive national title after winning the USA Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championship.

At the 2024 International Mining Games, Mines won the women’s division In a competition that included teams from the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, the team dominated gaming activities that involved traditional mining practices.

ASCE teams in mines have also had strong years. The Capstone Design team, which spent a year designing a two-story wooden building that they had to assemble on site in less than 90 minutes, won first place in a competition ASCE Solid Wood Design Building Competition. In the ASCE regional competition, The Mining Team was selected as overall symposium championswhere the Concrete Canoe and Survey Team won first place and was nominated for the National Championships.

A joint team was named for Mines-Arapahoe Community College Champions of the first year in the Battery Manpower Challengesponsored by the US Department of Energy and global automaker Stellantis. The team was judged on the design of its electric vehicle battery packs, and bested other college teams from across the United States

The three mine teams excelled in All in a steel contestAnd winning first place in the Additive in Steel Challenge and second place in the Forged in Steel Challenge. With the third Mines team competing in the Cast in Steel Challenge, Mines was the only university to have teams competing in all three competition challenges.

In their first participation in the competition, Mines Robotics took the victory At the Rival Robotics competition in November.

Faculty members engage in pioneering research

The mines continue their tradition of engaging in ambitious and innovative research. Here are some of the pioneering projects undertaken by faculty and students at Mainz in the past year:

• Melissa Krebs, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering, Received seed equity funding from Mines Venture Fund I For GelSana, a biomaterials company I founded. GelSana’s first product is a new polymer-based gel called Cleragel, which is designed to improve wound healing by reducing inflammation.
• Mingli Zhang, research assistant professor of geophysics, and Yaoguo Li, professor of geophysics, are working with the USGS to Exploring technologies that take advantage of underground geological hydrogen.
• Researchers in the field of mines obtained Three prizes totaling $10.5 million In federal funding to support the development of fuel cell technologies.
• Three Mainz faculty have received career awards from the National Science Foundation, covering five years of research: Annalize Maughanassistant professor of chemistry, for her work on solid-state batteries; Stephanie Kwonassistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, for her work designing catalytic materials for carbon-carbon coupling reactions; and Lori Tonsstallassistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, for her work improving concrete durability with an emphasis on sustainability.
• Katie Johnson, professor of electrical engineering, and Alexis Navarre Sechler, professor of geology and geological engineering, were among teams that received funding through the Department of Energy. Earthshot Energy Programwhich supports work that helps the United States reach a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. Johnson is on a team working to expand the capacity of offshore wind farms in the United States. The Navarre-Sitchler team focuses on the interaction of fluids and minerals in an enhanced geothermal system environment.

Thought leadership on key issues

In September, Mines hosted two events that sparked important conversations on key issues affecting the future of energy and innovation:

• Maine’s Bain Institute for Public Policy hosted the Critical Minerals Symposium, where important conversations about energy, natural resources, and the environment took place. Keynote speaker Senator John Hickenlooper made the announcement at the event He was co-introducing the bipartisan Discovery Innovation Act, which would establish a mining and mineral innovation program within the Department of Energy, and the National Critical Minerals Council Act, which would develop and implement a national strategy for critical minerals.
• Global Energy Leaders Summit Bringing together thought leaders, policymakers, faculty, alumni and students in the field of mining to explore ideas, solutions and actions while connecting the University’s expertise in science, engineering and data to global conversations about the future of energy.