A leading science and engineering university, Colorado School of Mines has long focused on solving the challenges facing society today. To do so, its faculty, staff and students need the most advanced knowledge and equipment.
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Carreon Research Group – Alderson Hall 194
Professor Moises Carreon
Our research interests focus on the rational design of advanced functional porous materials for applications in molecular gas separations, heterogeneous catalysis, and gas storage. We aim to have a better understanding of the formation mechanisms of these materials and to establish its fundamental structure/separation and structure/catalytic relationships.
Cash Lab – Alderson Hall 281
Assistant Professor Kevin Cash
Our lab develops nanoparticle based sensors and diagnostics to profile metabolism in biomedical and environmental applications. We study spatial and temporal changes in metabolites in complex systems to monitor changes to these systems from internal or external perturbations.
Center for Hydrate Research – Alderson Hall 383, 391 & 486
Professor Carolyn Koh
The Colorado School of Mines Center for Hydrate Research (CHR) laboratory is advancing the gas hydrate thermophysical, interfacial, and kinetic properties and their application in energy transportation and storage, including deepwater flow assurance. CHR’s mission is to provide state-of-the-art knowledge and tools for the energy industry and training the next generation engineers in gas hydrates in flow assurance and its energy applications.
Chauhan Lab – Alderson Hall 491
Professor Anuj Chauhan
We design biomaterials for drug delivery. A majority of our research focuses on ophthalmic biomaterials, including contact lenses.
Farnsworth Lab – Alderson Hall 282, 286 & 291
Assistant Professor Nikki Farnsworth
The main goal of our research is to develop biomaterial scaffolds to investigate cellular interactions with their environment and to harness this information to develop therapies using drug delivery or tissue engineering strategies to combat life-threatening diseases. Our research primarily focuses on type 1 diabetes (T1D), and the goals of the current research projects in the lab are to 1) understand the role of extracellular matrix interactions in cellular death and dysfunction during the onset and progression of T1D, 2) identify novel mechanisms leading to pancreatic islet dysfunction and death during the pathogenesis of T1D, and 3) develop therapies which preserve islet function and mass after the onset of disease.
Krebs Lab – Alderson Hall 288 & 290
Associate Professor Melissa Krebs
Our group is interested in the development of biopolymer systems that will allow the study of cells’ interactions with their microenvironment and that can be used for tissue regeneration and therapeutics. We are investigating the controlled delivery of bioactive factors and therapeutics, the presentation of insoluble signals to cells, the effect of mechanical forces on cell behavior and tissue formation, and the influence that different cell populations have on one another.
Soft Matter and Interfaces Laboratory – Alderson Hall 494
Assistant Professor Joseph Samaniuk
Our lab seeks connections between different material properties, such as viscosity or modulus, and the interactions of particles and/or molecules that make up those materials. This means we work with a broad range of materials, including films formed at fluid-fluid interfaces where particle-particle interactions are critical in determining the resulting film properties.
Solar and Electronic Materials Lab
Professor Sumit Agarwal
The focus of our research is on growth and characterization of solar and electronic materials. We use advanced materials characterization tools to understand fundamental phenomena at the atomic level.
Civil Engineering
Data-Driven Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanics Lab – CoorsTek Center 240
Professor of Practice Craig Brice
The DDAMM lab research goals are to advance the state of additive manufacturing and expand its industrial applications. These goals are being accomplished by elucidating relationships between additive process variables and mechanical performance.
Entrained-Flow Gasifier Laboratory – Brown Hall 293
Associate Professor Jason Porter
The Mines Entrained-Flow Gasifier Lab focuses on converting biomass, coal, end of life plastics, and other waste streams to valuable chemicals, including hydrogen and transportation fuels.
XSTRM: Extreme Structures and Materials Lab – Brown Hall W305
Associate Professor Leslie Lamberson
The XSTRM lab investigates mechanics of materials challenges under extreme conditions. Specifically we explore material behavior under high strain-rate, added temperature, environmental and/or electrical loading conditions via dynamic fracture and impact loading.
Chemistry
Sellinger Research Laboratory – GRL 331
Professor Alan Sellinger
The Sellinger research group focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of organic, polymeric, and hybrid based materials for application in: solar cells; scintillation (detecting alpha, neutron and gamma radiation); metal/covalent organic frameworks (COF/MOF for catalysis and gas storage); and critical materials purification.
Computer Science
Human-Centered Robotics Lab – Brown Hall W325
Associate Professor Hao Zhang
The lab’s research focuses on lifelong collaborative autonomy, with the goal of enabling robots to collaborate with humans, assist people, and take over tasks where our current society has shortcomings, as well as to operate over long periods of time (e.g., across days, seasons, and eventually over the robots’ lifetimes).
MIRROR Lab: Mines Interactive Robotics Research Lab – Brown Hall 339
Assistant Professor Tom Williams
In the MIRROR lab, we develop intelligent agents designed to interact naturally with human teammates. To do so, we combine theories and methods from artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and human-robot interaction with robotic and augmented reality technologies.
Electrical Engineering
Antennas, RFID and Computational Electronics and Antenna Measurements Labs – Brown Hall 306 & 313
Professor Atef Elsherbeni
These two labs provide fabrication and measurement facilities for antennas for frequencies up to 20 GHz. They also house the computing facilities for simulation and analysis of new antennas and RFID tag designs. Development and testing of advanced computational methods are also major research tasks of the ARC lab.
Geology and Geological Engineering
Mineral and Materials Characterization Facility – Berthoud Hall 110, 116, 118 & 119
Research Associate Professor Katharina Pfaff
The Mineral and Materials Characterization (MMC) Laboratory is a research laboratory within the Center for Subsurface Earth Resources and the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering that is dedicated to mineral characterization and application development for the minerals, materials, energy, environmental, biological, and planetary research groups, and industries.
Mineral Separation Lab – Berthoud Hall 147 C, D & E
Associate Professor Yvette Kuiper
This lab separates minerals for dating rocks and other dating or chemistry purposes. It has a crusher and grinder, wet-shaking table (that also can separate gold!), magnetic separations, density separations in heavy liquids and a picking microscope.
Stable Isotope and Environmental Laboratory – Berthoud Hall 404
Research Associate Susann Stolze
The Stable Isotope and Environmental Laboratory (SIEL) is located in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and provides analytical training and services relevant to geosciences and (paleo)environmental studies to students, faculty, and other researchers at Mines, other universities, federal agencies and industry.
Thin Section Lab – Berthoud Hall 147
Jae Erickson
The Thin Section Lab provides sample preparation services for students, faculty, and other researchers at Colorado School of Mines, as well as federal agencies and industry clients. The lab produces a variety of high-quality thin sections and other geologic samples for the study of rocks and minerals.
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Electromechanical Mechanical Testing Lab – Hill Hall 150
Professor Kip Findley
The research goals of this lab are to characterize the mechanical properties and performance of materials. The testing performed in this lab is an integral part to determining process-structure-property relationships.
A unique testing setup being used in this lab is for hydrogen embrittlement in metals. Specimens are pulled to failure in a hydrogen-rich environmental chamber while an applied voltage is used to measure crack propagation.
Fatigue Lab – Hill Hall 160
Professor Kip Findley
The research goals of this lab are to characterize the fatigue properties and performance of materials. The testing performed in this labs is an integral part to determining process-structure-property relationships.
Numerous studies have been performed evaluating the fatigue performance of surface hardened Brugger fatigue specimens, which simulate bending fatigue of the root of a gear tooth.