WVU Spotlights Engineering, Energy, Supply Chain Expertise to Federal Officials on The Hill and in the Mountains.

Federal officials com e to the mountains 

 

This September, WVU has directly engaged with senior federal leaders on multiple occasions. 

Assistant Secretary of Energy from the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Audrey Robertson and her Chief of Staff Rachael Overbey, visited Morgantown’s campus on Sept. 28 and 29. 

She came to learn about the University’s work in mining education, critical minerals, and energy innovation, and to share information about the government’s Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies (PROSPECT) program.  

Her visit comes on the heels of the DOE launching the PROSPECT Planning Prize, a $16 million competition supporting universities with mining engineering programs as they develop plans to expand education and training in mining, critical minerals, processing, recovery, and recycling. 

The prize is part of DOE's broader $100 million PROSPECT initiative, which aims to attract students and workers to careers that can help revitalize American mining. Each institutional winner may receive up to $1 million to develop an implementation-ready workforce plan. WVU's Statler College team is preparing a proposal for the Oct. 5 deadline. 

As one of only 14 mining engineering schools in the country, the WVU has an incredible opportunity to support the next generation of mining engineers, especially at a time when the federal government is focused on quickly increasing the number of graduates in the critical mineral mining, processing, and supply chain degrees. 

Robertson joined President Michael T. Benson, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Pedro Mago, students, and faculty for a roundtable discussion on the growing need for mining and critical minerals professionals and how WVU can serve as the front door to securing these high-demand, high-paying jobs right after college. 

Researchers also shared work from across the University’s energy portfolio.  

Lance Lin, executive director of the WVU Rare Earth Elements Initiative, demonstrated how University’s proven technology can extract heavy rare earths from acid mine drainage (AMDREE™), found in legacy coal mines, while also cleaning waterways. 

Mission Critical Materials CEO Steve Dunmead and Vice Provost Mark Gavin shared plans on scaling and commercializing this AMDREE™ technology to help build a steady, domestic supply chain of rare earths elements for national security interests. 

Xingbo Liu, Statler’s associate dean for research, presented WVU’s broader energy research portfolio. Finally, RETI CEO Erienne Olesh and RETI CTO Sam Taylor closed out a jam-packed morning with an overview of the new WVU led NSF RETI Engine, which is focused on building the region’s next energy innovation hub.  

Together, the presentations showcased connects education and research in the energy arena. That work includes preparing and expanding the mining engineering workforce of the future, developing research and technologies that solve industrial and national problems, moving discoveries toward commercial use, and building an energy innovation network across Appalachia.   

Taking WVU research to Capitol Hill 

During mid-September, WVU leaders participated in the Coalition for National Science Funding’s (CNSF) Science Showcase on Capitol Hill. They joined nearly 200 researchers, advocates, educators, innovators, entrepreneurs, and representatives of scientific organizations to make the case for robust NSF funding in meetings with more than 100 congressional offices. 

Led by Erienne Olesh, RETI CEO, Liz Vitullo, RETI chief workforce officer, and Jay Hewitt, CEO of Viaduct, which is one of RETI’s first start-up companies, the NSF RETI Engine team was selected to showcase its work at the event. They shared their goals to improve energy efficiency, strengthen the electric grid, and support industrial growth in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. 

RETI was accompanied by Suzanne Bentzel, assistant vice president for federal relations, and Shikha Sharma, interim associate vice president for research development and Marshall Miller Energy Professor of Geology.  

The group also met with the offices of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice on RETI updates and other NSF-supported research and educational opportunities at WVU.   

 THe WVU Impact

For more than 150 years, WVU has worked to solve problems that matter to West Virginia and the nation. These recent engagements gave students, faculty and researchers an opportunity to share that work with federal leaders and show how WVU’s expertise can help prepare a skilled workforce, strengthen domestic supply chains and build a more resilient energy system.