Congratulations to CBE senior Grace Anderson on several big achievements this semester, including presenting at the Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering Symposium and taking home the 3rd place prize in Mines’ Henderson Sustainability Challenge with her team.
In October Anderson participated in the Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering Symposium hosted by NC State University. At the symposium, Anderson presented her research with Prof. Diego Gómez-Gualdrón, “Attainable Volumetric Targets for Adsorption-Based Hydrogen Storage in Porous Crystals: Molecular Simulation and Machine Learning.” According to the symposium organizers, they received an overwhelming number of applications, and selected truly the “best-of-the best” for the all-expenses paid conference.
The semester-long Henderson Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship Challenge kicked off at the beginning of fall term with 24 Mines student teams pitching concepts for the sustainable repurposing of the mine’s surface facilities and properties. The students’ initial proposals included everything from resorts, education and recreation to business development, data centers and ecological enhancement.
Located near Empire, Colorado, just below the Continental Divide, the Henderson mine is a significant economic driver for the region, paying a significant portion of property taxes collected in Clear Creek County. Student concepts were required to take that in to consideration and provide a socioeconomic benefit to the surrounding communities. In addition, concepts had to be economically sustainable, socially acceptable and provide a positive and lasting legacy in the state of Colorado.
In August, a judging panel comprised of Climax Molybdenum employees selected the top 11 student teams to continue on in the challenge. Teams were then joined with Mines faculty and alumni mentors assisted the students in refining their ideas.
Anderson’s group, the Henderson Composting and Mushroom Farm team, made it through the second round of the competition in October to become a finalist, and ultimately took home 3rd place honors (and $10,000!) in the finals, which were held December 8.