Mines’ “Trusty Trussers” steel bridge team won first place at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Rocky Mountain Regional Conference in April. Seniors Karlyn Adams, Luke Frash, Zachary Grabowski, Daniel Kane, Jackye Lagen and Bailey Smith’s 1:10 scale model bridge incorporated a unique wishbone truss design. At the national competition in May, the team took 24th.

David W. M. Marr, faculty member since 1995 and co-director of the Center for Microintegrated Optics for Advancing Bioimaging and Control, is now head of the Chemical Engineering Department.

John McCray, Mines professor since 1998 and director of the Hydrologic Science and Engineering Graduate Program, has taken over as director of the Environmental Science and Engineering Division.

Two graduate students have been awarded prestigious three-year Department of Energy fellowships: Ann Deml (Materials Science) and Greg Lehnhoff (Metallurgical and Materials Engineering).

With a five-year, $400,000 National Science Foundation award, Mines and Worcester Polytechnic Institute established the first center dedicated to sustainable metals recovery and recycling in the U.S. – the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3).

Hallgerd Eydal, a post-doctoral research scientist in the Environmental Science and Engineering Division, was awarded a three-year Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Union. Studying the microbes and viruses in Yellowstone hot springs, she will spend two years at Mines, followed by one year at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Burke Fort, director of Mines’ 8th Continent Project, was awarded Jefferson Economic Council’s “Genesis Award-Economic Developer of the Year.” The award honors Burke and 8th Continent for “contributing to sustained economic vitality in Jefferson County through creative leadership, innovation, facilitation and collaboration, both within and outside Jefferson County.”

Carl Mitcham was awarded an honorary doctorate by Valencian International University in May.

Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have announced the joint appointment of Masami Nakagawa to conduct research related to geothermal heat pump technologies. Nakagawa, an associate professor in the Department of Mining Engineering, is also leading the creation of a Geothermal Academy, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.