Supply-chain delays for transformers, cables, and breakers push power grid to the brink

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, co-authors this piece that notes manufacturers have multiyear, billion-dollar backlogs as new data centers, industrial electrification, and peaking-capacity projects flood their ....
November 18, 2025

Kiewit, exec’s joint $4.3M gift establishes construction engineering program chair at Colorado School of Mines

A $4.3 million-endowment to Colorado School of Mines from Kiewit Corp. and Chairman Bruce Grewcock will create a program chair to oversee a new Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering degree.
November 17, 2025

Waymo self-driving cars are ‘learning’ Denver’s streets

Frankie Zhu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Jason Slowinski, associate vice president of infrastructure and operations, discuss Waymo's roll out of autonomous cars in Denver and Colorado School of Mines experience with a shuttle service that utilized autonomous vehicles.
November 9, 2025

How students maintain the iconic ‘M’ in Golden

Students in Blue Key Honor Society, the custodians of Mines' mountainside emblem, recently changed the M to light up as a bat to celebrate Halloween.
November 6, 2025

Rare Earths Are Hot. Not All of the Government’s New Buys Will Thrive.

Morgan Bazilian and Brad Handler of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, and student researcher Andrew Bauman authored this opinion piece on the potential impact of the U.S. government's renewed push ....
November 5, 2025

China’s rare earth export delay offers US a chance to weaken Beijing’s grip on the market

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, said he thinks the U.S. and its allies can make significant progress in a year’s time to lessen China's dominance of the rare earths market.
October 30, 2025

One of the country's few rare earth processing plants opens in Exeter

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, discusses the potential for a rare earth processing plant in New Hampshire.
October 30, 2025

The hidden mineral reserve: How U.S. mine tailings could cut imports and reduce toxic waste

Elizabeth Holley, associate professor of mining engineering, discusses how mine waste can be processed to fulfill part of the country's need for critical minerals.
October 27, 2025

Families discover fossils, robots and more at Mines Museum’s Spooktacular

Hundreds of costumed youngsters and their families stopped by the Mines Museum of Earth Science for the fifth annual Spooktacular, a candy-free event that emphasizes STEM-based activities and goodies.
October 26, 2025

Rising AI demand Is fueling higher electricity bills

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, co-authors this piece that argues that as utilities race to meet the energy appetite of the AI economy they are quietly transferring part of that burden to the public.
October 22, 2025

US and Australia agree to partner to break up China's dominance of rare earths

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, notes that creating the infrastructure for critical minerals mining and processing facilities presents the U.S. and Australia with many challenges.
October 21, 2025

Call it a silver squeeze

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business, explains that silver's importance is magnified because the metal is used in a myriad of consumer and industrial goods.
October 21, 2025