TIhe MAqAziNE of ColoRAdo Scl-iool of MInes Or. John U. Trefny: An interview with the president 4 Events Calendar Mines researchers receive two R&D 100 Awards: Two professors honored in R&D Magazine 9 Short Takes 10 Mines teams up with a dinosaur named "Sue" CSM helps design and teach a K-12 institute on paleontology 16 Mines Athletics 18 MINES Alumni Events Dr. John U. Trefny Mines is published quarterly by the Colorado School of President, Colorado School of Mines Mines and the CSM Alumni December January February March Association for alumni and By Marsha Konegni friends of the School. C Denver-area Lunch Bunch Colorado ET Denver West Lunch Bunch Comments and suggestions Where are the students? / holiday party at meets at the Chamber Players / Section breakfast, 8 meets at the are welcome. They may the Petroleum Club, Buffalo Rose, feature David Krakauer Sheraton Hotel, Buffalo Rose in be directed to the phone I remember What Is CSM's role in education? 555 17th St., Golden, 11:30 a.m. (clarinet) at the . 137 Union Street, Golden, 11:30 a.m. numbers or address listed very clearly For all our students—from K-12 programs, Denver, 11 a.m. Green Center, 7 p.m. Lakewood, 6:45 am. below. attending my to undergraduate, to graduate, to Call 303-273-3295 The concert is free, but or 3290 for Wings Over a fund-raising freshman professional outreach-—^we must Alumni Tennis John Trefny reservations. 2 Denver, a tour of reception with the Grand Junction assembly more continuously evolve to meet changing the Airplane Museum artist is $50 (adults) or Section luncheon at 1 5 event in Phoenix President with Mines tennis than 40 years circumstances and societal needs, constantly at Lowry Field, 1 p.m. $35 (seniors) for those Bookcliff Country Colorado School of Mines team, TBA. ago. There was providing an education that works. Details to foUow. wanting to contribute Club, noon to the Evergreen Midiael Watson, Director a dean on the Chamber Orchestra. CSM Alimini Association stage with an What is the fundamental purpose of [~ Grand Junction Dovmtown overhead slide showing the organization of the School? ^ Alumni Tennis , / Section Denver Luncheon, 18 event—Cal Poly- luncheon at Bookcliff Maureen Keller, Co-editor the university. The screen was filled with To have all students graduate with the skills TBA "Z Wait Until Dark Pomona Invitational Coimtry Club, noon. CSM Alumni Association connected boxes starting at the top with the and knowledge and character / matinee at Arvada Tournament at Board of Trustees and the president and then to have successful Center for Performing Pomona, CaUf. Leah McNeill, Co-editor branching out into many rows of vice careers, to lead fives of Grand Jimction Arts, 2 p.m. Details TBA. Director of CSM Office great fiilfillment, and Section Luncheon at Alumni Softball of Public Affairs presidents, deans, department heads, service- Bookcliff Country to make a difference 16 event in unit directors and the like. Club, noon Emporia, Kansas, for the betterment M Lxmch Bunch detail TBA. Contributing Writers ^ meets at the Misti Brady Although I found out later that no one was of the world. Working together as Buffalo Rose in Kacey Kingry expected to ask any questions in that Wrestling Golden, 11:30 a.m. Marsha Konegni assembly, I nevertheless raised my hand from a community, we 26 Alumni Reunion foster that goal. Bob Pearson about the fifth row, and the dean asked me at Coolbaugh House, Jo Marie Reeves Golden, 7:30 p.m. what I wanted. I brashly pointed to his Krys Strzelec What is the theme of your presidency? Jane Taylor organization chart and aslced, "Where are the students in your picture?" Since he had CSM will meet future challenges and opportunities as a Connected Learning Photography forgotten to include them, this led naturally Diouglas Baldwin to quite a commotion among the 1,000 or so Community. This theme recognizes the Misti Brady new freshmen. I nearly had my college career strength and coherency of an organization Karl Gehring ended on my very first day. that is connected in all its efforts. It addresses Marsha Konegni connections among the following: Jane Taylor Mines, of course, has organization charts too. • academic programs and projects However, I can assure you that in the • teaching and research Cover photo • academics and student life Karl Gehring organization chart that really counts here, students are prominently in the center They • students, faculty and staff • the School and alumni Graphic Design are why Mines exists. Emelene Russell • campus and support services Advertising & Design You've been at Mines for 23 years. How • Mines and its external constituencies. would you characterize the School? Printing This is a truly unique institution. Unique in It also involves connecting our technical American Web our programs, focusing on engineering and disciplines with political, social, cultural and applied sciences as related to the development economic dimensions. In a connected Contact us by writing to of the Earth and its resources. Unique in learning community, we can work MINES. PO. Box 1410 synergisticaUy toward our Good Used Golden CO 80402; or call quality, attracting an outstanding student common purpose 303-273-3294 or body, exceptional academic and administrative ining Machines (800) 446-9488, ext. 3294 faculty, and superior staff. Unique in size, and goals. between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. allowing us to easily work across Priced to Move . Repairs Done to Your Requirements M-F, MST; or e-mail to departmental and divisional lines to achieve [email protected]. the extraordinary in education and research. Photos Available on Line - www.whayne.com www.mines.edu csmaa.mines.edu/alumni 4 MINFS • mORADO SCI !00L OF MINES ^ • '^'^^RADO SCHOOL OF HINFS o prepare graduates for dealing with scenarios such as the T one above, the CSM Division of Engineering now offers an envkonmental engineering specialty in conjunction with the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering. Some 20 engineering majors are currently studying water and wastewater engineering, hazardous site remediation, solid and hazardous waste management, and environmental law and regulatory analysis. As with the other CSM undergraduate programs, the students are required to participate in a summer field session. "It is in the Mines tradition to have a rigorous and enriching field camp experience," explained ESE Division Director Dr. Plufippe Ross . "The Division of Engineering and the Environmental Science and Engineering Division are continuing this tradition in our new engineering track." So this summer, for the first time, a three-week session introduced environmental engineering track students to laboratory and field skills used in the characterization and remediation of environmental problems. Students spent the first week on campus, refreshing their basic laboratory skills and developing analysis and monitoring techniques. The CU Mountain Research Station near Nederland, Colo., was the site of the second week's activities, where the students conducted on-site environmental characterizations, including an assessment of the facility's wastewater treatment system. Immediately after arriving at the Research Station, the team of professors, a graduate assistant and students hiked for four hours to survey the study area using Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to supplement pubfished map data. The additional information provided the students with a more quantitative picture of the area and its features. Over the week, the students performed a number of activities connected with their field project, including setting up a weather station and monitoruig meteorology data, analyzing samples from the station's wastewater treatment lagoon, and sampling stream 7 "^'^ERArjO SCHOOL OF MINES By Leah McNeill & Misti Brady Called "The Oscars of Invention" and the "Nobel Prizes of more exotic ones from the common ones, so we have looked at Applied Research," these prestigious awards have been presented both," he explained. annually by R&D Magazine since 1963. The product of his research is an identification protocol used The Mines winners are: with a mass spectrometer-based detector developed for the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Command by a team including A bioweapons detector based on the CSM, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Orbital Sciences research of Dr. Kent Voorhees of the Corporation, and MSP Corporation. CSM Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, who developed the The first generation of these detectors came on line shortly after detection protocol for this instrument, the Gulf War and have been instated on U.S. Army and United which is now mounted on United Nations reconnaissance vehicles. Nations and U.S. Army vehicles. Battlefield detection is just one use for these specialized mass spectrometers. Voorhees sees application in other areas, such as A material modeling software rapid medical diagnostics, detection of bio-terrorism, and even program that accurately predicts food inspection. Two Ph.D. candidates at CSM are continuing the how metal parts change during work, expanding the identification protocol. processing and eventuaUy fatigue or fai! during use. It has application in a Dr. Lusk developed a phase transformation model that is part of wide range of fields from automotive the award-winning Microstructure-Property Model Software—a design ...to earthquakes and simulation tool that accurately predicts how metal parts deform volcanoes ... to microelectronic and change phase during processing and eventuaUy fatigue or fail systems. Dr. Mark T. Lusk, associate during use. The microstructure property software allows for professor of engineering at Mines, improved auto design through weight savings, higher ftiel efficiency, was part of a team of researchers that and greater safety. It can be applied to crashwortfiiness analysis developed this software. for aU types of vehicles, including trains and planes. The software is also being appfied to better understand how upper mantle As an R&D 100 winner, the weapons detector and the software convection relates to seismic activity.