Memorable Mines Moments of 2024: Celebrating 150 years of Oredigger excellence

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

While Mines was marking 150 years since the university’s founding, 2024 brought more than just sesquicentennial commemorations. From groundbreaking research in critical fields to expanded spaces for collaboration on campus to big wins by Oredigger teams, there was a lot to celebrate this year.

New spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship

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

In February, the Labriola Innovation District officially opened, with multiple makerspaces, specialized classrooms and student collaboration spaces. Labriola also hosts the new Cornerstone Design Workshop and the Thorson Design Center to support the signature Mines student experiences Capstone and Cornerstone Design. In addition, the xWorks Innovation Space provides building bays for student teams to work on larger projects.

The Beck Venture Center, dedicated to providing support for Mines-affiliated startups, opened in April. The new 31,000-square foot facility includes coworking, networking, class and events spaces, and is the home to the Mines Venture Program and Mines Venture Fund.

Expanding resources and support for a growing Mines community

Partnering with Community College of Aurora, Mines launched Mines Academy at CCA, a direct pathway for CCA students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Mines. 

On campus, Mines broke ground on a new 800-bed apartment-style residence hall for sophomores and Mines Park is currently in the midst of a full renovation that will bring capacity 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 Fall 2025.

Mines campus also has a new space for the littlest future Orediggers. The Mines Early Childhood Center, operated 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 a power storage and transmission solution for lunar exploration. The pair won $500,000 in NASA’s Watts on the Moon Centennial Challenge for their work, a culmination of a multi-year competition.

Two other Mines groups were also named finalists in NASA competitions: a Capstone Design team competed in the Human Lander Competition (HuLC) while a joint Mines and Lunar Outpost team named Ice Diggers were finalists in the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.

Leading the way on quantum

Mines continues to be a leader in the field of quantum engineering as part of Elevate Quantum, a regional consortium of institutions designated a tech hub by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Elevate Quantum was awarded $40.5 million in federal funding, which unlocked $84 million in matching state funds, as well as $1 billion in private capital. In September, Mines broke ground on Quantum COmmons, a new 70-acre facility in Arvada, Colorado, where Elevate Quantum can work toward making 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 also the fourth under head coach Chris Siemers, who led the Orediggers to the title previously in 2015, 2019 and 2022.

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

At the 2024 International Mining Games, Mines won the women’s division at the competition that included teams from the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. The team dominated in the Games’ activities that consisted of traditional mining practices. 

Mines’ American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) teams also had strong years. A Capstone Design team, which spent a year designing a two-story wood building that they had to assemble on site in less than 90 minutes, won first place at the ASCE Timber-Strong Design Build Competition. At the ASCE regional competition, the Mines team was named overall symposium champions, with the Concrete Canoe team and the Surveying team winning first place and a bid to the national championships.

A joint Mines-Arapahoe Community College team was named Year 1 champions of the Battery Workforce Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and global automaker Stellantis. The team was judged on the design of their electric vehicle battery packs and beat out other university teams from around the U.S.

Three Mines teams excelled at the All in Steel competition, winning first place in the Additive in Steel challenge and second place in the Forged in Steel challenge. With a third Mines team competing in the Cast in Steel challenge, Mines was the only university to have teams compete in all three of the competition challenges.

And in their first time entering the competition, Mines Robotics took home a victory in the Rival Robotics Competition in November.

Faculty engaging in groundbreaking research

Mines continues its tradition of engaging in ambitious, innovative research. Here are some of the groundbreaking projects from Mines faculty and students this 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 she founded. GelSana’s first product is a novel polymer-based gel called Cleragel, designed to improve wound healing by reducing inflammation.
• Mengli Zhang, research assistant professor of geophysics, and Yaoguo Li, professor of geophysics, are working with the U.S. Geological Survey to explore techniques that tap into underground geologic hydrogen.
• Mines researchers received three awards totaling $10.5 million in federal funding to support the development of fuel cell technologies.
• Three Mines faculty members received National Science Foundation CAREER Awards, which cover five years of research: Annalise Maughan, assistant professor of chemistry, for her work on solid-state batteries; Stephanie Kwon, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, for her work designing catalytic materials for carbon-carbon coupling reactions; and Lori Tunstall, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, for her work on improving concrete durability with a focus on sustainability.
• Katie Johnson, professor of electrical engineering, and Alexis Navarre-Sitchler, professor of geology and geological engineering, were on teams awarded funding through the Department of Energy’s Energy Earthshots program, which supports work that helps the U.S. reach a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. Johnson is on a team working to expand the capacity of offshore wind farms in the United States. Navarre-Sitchler’s team is focused on the interaction of fluids and mineral in an enhanced geothermal system environment.

Thought leadership on key issues

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

• Mines’ Payne Institute for Public Policy hosted the Critical Minerals Symposium, where crucial conversations about energy, natural resources and the environment were held. Keynote speaker Sen. John Hickenlooper announced at the event that he was co-introducing the bipartisan Unearth 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 critical minerals strategy.
• The Global Energy Leaders Summit brought together thought leaders, decision makers and Mines faculty, alumni and students to explore ideas, solutions and actions while connecting the university’s science, engineering and data expertise with global conversations on the future of energy.