CoorsTek, Coors family announce major commitment to Mines to fund research partnership, new academic & research facility
95,000-square-foot CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering to serve as focal point for substantially expanded collaboration and discovery between CoorsTek and Mines
GOLDEN, CO (September 25, 2014) – Colorado School of Mines and CoorsTek, the premier global provider of engineered ceramics and other advanced materials, announced today a major commitment by CoorsTek and the Coors family to fund a significant research partnership and the construction of the CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering, an interdisciplinary academic and research facility on the Mines campus. The investment is the latest development in a multigenerational partnership between CoorsTek and the university, focused on solving global challenges through innovation and shared technical expertise.
INVESTMENT
At just under $27 million, the investment by CoorsTek and the Coors family is the largest single private commitment in Mines’ 140-year history. It is funding the expansion of a longstanding academic, research and career opportunity partnership between CoorsTek and Mines, highlighted by the establishment of the CoorsTek Research Fellows Program and a range of high-tech equipment purchases, including one of the most advanced electron microscopes in the United States. CoorsTek’s and the Coors family’s funding, in conjunction with a $14.6 million grant from the state of Colorado, enables the construction of the 95,000-square-foot CoorsTek Center for Applied Science and Engineering, a world-class facility that will support a broad range of academic and research activities on the Mines campus as well as serve as a focal point for the CoorsTek-Mines research partnership.
“A measurably better world will come from the amazing solutions that advances in engineered ceramics and engineered materials make possible,” said Dr. John Coors, chairman, president and CEO of CoorsTek. “In order for that to happen, we need more scientists and engineers trained in state-of-the-art facilities by expert faculty, and more opportunities to collaborate with the brightest researchers. For CoorsTek, our investment in Mines is not only an investment in the future of our company and a great university – it’s an investment in solving global challenges in energy, transportation, information technology, the environment and the quality of human life itself. This partnership between CoorsTek and the Coors family, the state of Colorado and Colorado School of Mines is not about a building. It’s about something much more. It’s about connecting students, researchers, faculty and industry to impact the world in ways that we can’t even predict today.”
“With this extraordinary commitment, CoorsTek is laying the groundwork for an integral campus landmark and dynamic hub of rich intellectual exchange,” said Mines President Bill Scoggins. ”Their involvement will accelerate the strategic integration of some of our most fundamental areas of expertise across disciplines to address complex issues shaping our global future, and we couldn’t be more honored to work with them on this historic initiative.”
THE COORSTEK CENTER FOR APPLIED SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
The CoorsTek Center will support the College of Applied Science and Engineering. It will be the home building for the Department of Physics, and support the highly collaborative partnerships between the college’s four departments and two interdisciplinary programs: Physics, the Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering, the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, the Materials Science Program, and the Nuclear Science and Engineering Program. The college attracts $24 million in research funding annually, including support for nationally known centers such as the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center, the Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics, the Colorado Fuel Cell Center, and the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and has a physics program ranked 5th nationally in the number of bachelor’s degrees granted.
Planning for the $45 million CoorsTek Center is now underway. Building features will include flexible laboratories, customizable classrooms for hands-on learning, and centralized teaching and research space. The facility will be located on and around the site of the current physics building, Meyer Hall, at 16th and Illinois streets in Golden.
ABOUT COORSTEK AND MINES
CoorsTek makes the world measurably better as the partner of choice for technology and manufacturing companies worldwide whose success requires the unique, high-performance properties of products manufactured from engineered ceramics and advanced materials. CoorsTek products and components touch people’s lives through amazing solutions to global challenges in energy, transportation, information technology, healthcare and defense, among others. For more information about CoorsTek, including product information, its history since 1910, and locations throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia, visit coorstek.com.
Colorado School of Mines is a small, focused and collaborative public research university with a global reach, engaging innovative thinkers who are working to solve the world's most pressing challenges. Mines has an international reputation for excellence in engineering education and the applied sciences with special expertise in the development and stewardship of the earth’s resources. Learn more at mines.edu.
Contact:
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations, Colorado School of Mines
303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu
Trisha Kendall, Senior Director, Communications, Colorado School of Mines Foundation
303-273-3526 / TKendall@mines.edu
For The Coors Family/CoorsTek
Rick Keating, President & CEO, Keating & Co.
917-767-2400 / RKeating@keatingco.com