President Johnson highlights Mines' role at the forefront of energy innovation
Mines' Paul C. Johnson was joined by Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller on recent episode of Close of Business Tuesday podcast
Colorado School of Mines President Paul C. Johnson shared his vision for the university’s role in shaping the future of energy in a recent episode of the Close of Business Tuesday podcast by Veriten.
Joined by Jeff Miller, CEO of Halliburton, President Johnson emphasized the importance of hands-on learning, real-world impact and energy-focused innovation that positions Mines as a global resource in education and research.
With demand growing across sectors — from energy and AI to infrastructure, aerospace and national security — Mines is uniquely positioned to deliver both talent and trusted expertise.
“There are very few places where you can find the technology, the experience, the expertise that’s needed for expanding the energy portfolio,” Johnson said. “We’ve always tried to position ourselves as a trusted resource and an objective resource for technical information.”
President Johnson also highlighted Mines’ distinctive approach to research — one that prioritizes impact beyond publication and encourages students and faculty to take ideas to reality.
“I want every student to have an experience, hopefully many experiences where they can say, ‘I went from something I scribbled on a piece of paper to actually build this thing, and I got to test it and try it out and work with it,’” he said.
President Johnson pointed to the Labriola Innovation Hub as one example of how the university is turning that vision into reality.
“You want a student to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and just have some crazy idea and they just want to be able to walk over and 3D print it out. And we want to be able to do that,” he said.
He emphasized Mines’ hands-on, practical approach to engineering education, highlighting the university’s experimental mine as a symbol of its applied research strengths. The facility supports cutting-edge work in areas ranging from defense technologies to quantum engineering — fields that are increasingly vital to the future of energy.
“Probably anybody on campus could trace some of what they’re doing or what they’re learning back to energy and energy in the future,” he said.
Watch or listen to the full podcast at https://veriten.com/stream/cobt-270/.
About Mines
Colorado School of Mines is a public R1 research university focused on applied science and engineering, producing the talent, knowledge and innovations to serve industry and benefit society – all to create a more prosperous future.
