Judith Vidal PhD '09 has been appointed as codirector of Nexus, a strategic partnership between Colorado School of Mines and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies (NRL).
Vidal, a Distinguished Member of Research Staff at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, succeeds Ellen Morris, who co-led Nexus since its inception in 2019. As co-director, Vidal will partner closely with Mines co-director Vladan Stevanovic, Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, to help shape the program’s scientific and strategic vision, working to foster research that advances energy innovation and aligns joint research and education efforts.
The appointment was made by Adam Brattis, Acting Deputy Lab Director for Science & Technology at the National Laboratory of the Rockies.
A Mines alum, Vidal earned her PhD in metallurgical and materials engineering from Mines in 2009. She currently holds a joint faculty appointment in the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department at Mines, and her background is in thermal systems and materials science, including her groundbreaking work in thermal energy storage, materials degradation, and molten salt electrolysis to recover metals.
The core mission of Nexus is to invest in the development of joint responses to challenges, catalyze research funding for collaborative work, and foster the exchange of ideas. Nexus leverages the combined capabilities of both Mines and the National Laboratory of the Rockies to innovate solutions for key global challenges, such as growing urbanization, resource circularity for materials, and economic competitiveness in a global economy.
