Mines Trustee Vicki J. Cowart MS ’77 has been named the 29th recipient of the Medal in Memory of Ian Campbell for Superlative Service to the Geosciences. Cowart was presented this prestigious award at the Geological Society of America Presidential Address Ceremony in October. She worked in the industry for 16 years and served as the Colorado state geologist from 1993 to 2003. Cowart holds a Distinguished Achievement Medal from Mines.
Mines was awarded a $2.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the Dynamic Atom Probe, the first instrument of its kind to enable 3-D imaging and chemical identification at the atomic level with ultrafasttime resolution. The probe will allow researchers to determine how materials behave at high temperatures and voltages, enabling them to develop next-generation metal alloys for low-cost, high-efficiency devices like computer processors.
D. Vaughan Griffiths, civil engineering professor, was elected in October as director of Region 7 of theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers, America’s oldest national engineering society, which represents more than 144,000 civil engineers worldwide. His new role places him on ASCE’s governing board.
Azra N. Tutuncu, the Harry D. Campbell Chair in the Petroleum Engineering Department, is the new director of Mines’�Unconventional Natural Gas Institute (UNGI). Tutuncu has expertise in well engineering, rock physics, geomechanics, and subsurface research and development groups; she has held leadership positions at Shell International Exploration and Production Company and Shell Oil Company.
Mines hosted the 30th Oil Shale Symposium Oct. 18, the premier international conference on the development of oil shale. More than 250 delegates from all over the world attended. At the opening session, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Telecommunications Juhan Parts addressed the audience about oil shale and the U.S. energy future.
Mines was invited to join the National Geothermal Academy and participated in its summer program at the University of Nevada, Reno, which received a $1.2 million Department of Energy grant to develop and operate the National Geothermal Institute, a consortium of top geothermal research institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, Stanford University, the Oregon Institute of Technology and the University of Utah.
