Future Energy Scholars Course Menu

**Prerequisite: CEEN301**

Appropriate solutions to water and sanitation in the U.S. and globally need to be effective in protecting public health and preserving water quality while also being acceptable, affordable and sustainable. Onsite and decentralized systems have the potential to achieve these goals in rural areas, peri-urban developments, and urban centers in small and large cities. Moreover they can improve water use efficiency, conserve energy and enable distributed energy generation, promote green spaces, restore surface waters and aquifers, and stimulate new green companies and jobs. A growing array of approaches, devices and technologies have evolved that include point-of-use water purification, waste source separation, conventional and advanced treatment units, localized natural treatment systems, and varied resource recovery and recycling options. This course will focus on the engineering selection, design, and implementation of onsite and decentralized systems for water reclamation and reuse. Topics to be covered include process analysis and system planning, water and waste stream attributes, water and resource conservation, confined unit and natural system treatment technologies, effluent collection and clustering, recycling and reuse options, and system management.

**Prerequisite: CEEN470**

The learning objectives of this class are to build off of the information and theories presented in CEEN 470 and apply them to the design of water and wastewater treatment systems. Students will be presented with project-based assignments and, with the help of the instructors and associated lectures, will use fundamentals and commercial software to develop preliminary designs of water and wastewater systems. Students will gain experience in conventional and advanced treatment system design, software utilized by environmental consulting companies, and professional communication through the completion of this class. Course lectures will include fundamentals of design, guest lectures from practitioners, and tours of local treatment plants. Regional water and wastewater treatment employers (e.g., consultants, municipalities, industry, regulators) are actively searching for students with applied experience and this class will help promote the advancement of employment in the water and wastewater treatment field.

EBGN310 Environmental and Resource Economics

(EBGN310)

Prerequisite: EBGN201. 3 hours lecture; 3 semester hours.

Application of microeconomic theory to topics in environmental and resource economics. Topics include analysis of pollution control, benefit/cost analysis in decision-making and the associated problems of measuring benefits and costs, non-renewable resource extraction, measures of resource scarcity, renewable resource management, environmental justice, sustainability, and the analysis of environmental regulations and resource policies. 

**Prerequisite: EBGN201**

Study of economic theories of optimal resource extraction, market power, market failure, regulation, deregulation, technological change and resource scarcity. Economic tools used to analyze OPEC, energy mergers, natural gas price controls and deregulation, electric utility restructuring, energy taxes, environmental impacts of energy use, government R&D programs, and other energy topics.

**Prerequisite: EBGN201**

This course considers the intersection of energy and environmental policy from an economic perspective. Policy issues addressed include climate change, renewable resources, externalities of energy use, transportation, and economic development and sustainability.

**Prerequisite: EBGN301, EBGN330**

Application of economic models to understand markets for oil, gas, coal, electricity, and renewable energy resources. Models, modeling techniques and applications include market structure, energy efficiency, demand-side management, energy policy and regulation. The emphasis in the course is on the development of appropriate models and their application to current issues in energy markets.

**Prerequisite: EBGN409 or MATH213.**

This course seeks to develop the underlying economic problems of water use and how policy impacts the allocation of water in our economy. Water is a critical input for a number of sectors; from our basic sustenance to agriculture production, from industrial processes to ecological services, and from mineral extraction to energy production. Meanwhile, the supply of water is highly variable across space and through time while pollutants can further diminish the useable extent, making the policies to allocate and manage the resource central to understanding how the resource is utilized. The course will survey topics across sectors and water sources while applying economic theory and empirical/policy analysis.

**Prerequistes: EDNS151 or HNRS 115 and HNRS 120, EDNS155, EDNS192*

Design II: Materials builds on the design process introduced in Design I, which focuses on open-ended problem solving where students integrate teamwork and communication with the use of computer software as tools to solve materials engineering problems. The Design II: Materials curriculum matches the standard Design II deliverables but with a focus on Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (MME) based projects. Previous projects have utilized areas such as mechanical testing, bio-materials, semiconductors, ceramics, and non destructive examination to address industrial, environmental, research and geopolitical open-ended problems.

**Prerequisites: EDNS200, EDNS291**

This experiential design course focuses on how designers respond to increasing global interdependencies and diverse global cultures. Through a variety of design activities, students engage in systems thinking, strategic social planning, and sustainability analysis while applying skills toward reconciling competing perspectives, goals, and needs. The course also explores students’ place in the world and their responsibilities as design engineers, global thinkers, and interdisciplinary problem solvers. 

**HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110, EDNS151 or EDNS192**

This course explores how engineers think about and practice environmental and social responsibility, and critically analyzes codes of ethics before moving to a deeper focus on macroethical topics with direct relevance to engineering practice, environmental sustainability, social and environmental justice, social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, and engagement with the public. These macroethical issues are examined through a variety of historical and contemporary case studies and a broad range of technologies.

**Prequisites EDNS292**

Complex problems in areas of healthcare, transportation, energy distribution, communication require an integrative solution spanning technical, social, and environmental perspectives.. In this course, students develop an appreciation of systems thinking as a holistic approach to complex problem solving. Students will engage with systems thinking in a way that recognizes the ‘whole’ of the problem through analyzing interrelationships, attributes, and effects. Students apply systems thinking perspectives to a socio-technical problem, describe the problem through modeling techniques, design a holistic solution, and improve upon the solution through justification and systems thinking approaches. 

**Prerequisites: HASS100 or  HNRS 105 and HNRS 110 (Coreq HASS200)**

This course is an introduction to the relationship between engineering and sustainable community development (SCD) from historical, political, ideological, ethical, cultural, and practical perspectives. Students will study and analyze different dimensions of community and sustainable development and the role that engineering might play in them. Also students will critically explore strengths and limitations of dominant methods in engineering problem solving, design, and research for working in SCD. Students will learn to research, describe, analyze and evaluate case studies in SCD and develop criteria for their evaluation. 

**Prerequistes: EENG281 or EENG282 or PHGN215**

Fundamentals and primary sources of energy; Energy conversion; Comprehensive energy picture in USA and the world; Generation of electric power today; Understanding of the electric power grid and how it works; Renewable energy resources and distributed generation; Wind and PV power generation; Future trend in electricity delivery; Energy sustainability.

**Prerequisites: EENG311**

This course presents a comprehensive exposition of the theory, methods, and algorithms for data analytics as related to power and energy systems. It will focus on (1) techniques for performing statistical inference based on data, (2) methods for predicting future values of data, (3) methods for classifying data instances into relevant classes and clusters, (4) methods for building, training and testing artificial neural networks, and (5) techniques for evaluating the effectiveness and quality of a data analytics model.

**Prerequisites: EENG282, EENG389, EENG470**

This course focuses on different aspects of interconnection of distributed renewable generation resources at the power distribution and transmission levels. Hands-on simulation-based case studies will help the students examine the covered topics on realistic power system models and understand how renewable energy interconnection issues affect power and voltage quality. Students will also be introduced to the US electricity markets and the role of renewable energy and energy storage in providing deliverable energy flexibility.

**Prequisites: EENG480**

The course investigates the design, operation and analysis of complex interconnected electric power grids, the basis of our electric power infrastructure. Evaluating the system operation, planning for the future expansion under deregulation and restructuring, ensuring system reliability, maintaining security, and developing systems that are safe to operate has become increasingly more difficult. Because of the complexity of the problems encountered, analysis and design procedures rely on the use of sophisticated power system simulation computer programs. The course features some commonly used commercial software packages.

This class is limited to freshmen and sophomores. It counts for Global Studies, or if you came in with that credit, it counts for a midlevel CAS class. Either way, you can use this class to meet your graduation requirements.

A: Carbon: the building block of life on Earth, and it plays a starring role in global climate change and the energy transition. This class looks at Carbon as an object, where students will encounter it via the expertise of an anthropologist, a poet, an organizational psychologist, and a project design expert.
B: Water: focus on rivers. In the western United States, rivers hold an outsized role in agriculture, energy production, and recreation. Faculty include an economist, a specialist in water governance, a philosopher, and an expert in project management.
C: Global Energy Systems: How do we provide enough energy to satisfy demand, growth, and bring billions out of poverty, while also reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to avoid a climate catastrophe? As a future Mines graduate, you should understand the complexity of this future energy challenge. Be one of the scholars poised to make a difference in the uncharted territory ahead.

**Prerequistes: HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110.*

This course examines the major patterns of human energy use and interaction with the natural environment on a global scale from the origins of civilization to the present day. Topics analyzed include the dynamics of historical change in energy and resource use, the ways in which energy and the environment have shaped the development of past societies, cultural perceptions of energy and the environment during different historical eras, and the impact of past human activities on natural systems. Analysis of historical trends will also serve as a basis for discussions related to current issues in energy and the environment.

**HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110. Coreq: HASS200**

This interdisciplinary seminar course analyzes how droughts, floods, water management, global trading system, and climate change affect the hydrological and food systems that are critically important for economic prosperity and political stability. It addresses water policy at scales that range from community level to global governance regimes. It uses relevant analytical perspectives of, for example, psychology, political economy, development studies, and institutional approaches in economic geography to help students understand how certain transboundary water conflicts have emerged, their national and regional implications, and policies and institutions that can be used to resolve them.

**HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110. Coreq: HASS200**

An interdisciplinary capstone seminar that explores a spectrum of approaches to the understanding, planning, and implementation of energy production and use, including those typical of diverse private and public (national and international) corporations, organizations, states, and agencies. Aspects of global energy policy that may be considered include the historical, social, cultural, economic, ethical, political, and environmental aspects of energy together with comparative methodologies and assessments of diverse forms of energy development as these affect particular communities and societies.

**Prerequisites: HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110. Corequisite: HASS200**

We will use political science approaches, theories, and methods to investigate the global, regional, state, and local politics of renewable and non-renewable energy, spanning all uses: transportation, heating and cooling, and electricity. We will look at the politics behind energy in a subset of countries to be chosen by the class, such as China, Brazil, India, Austria, Spain, Venezuela, and Germany. We will then focus on energy in Colorado and other US states, conducting primary research on the stakeholders and the relevant political outcomes. We will hear from energy companies, non-governmental organizations, university and research entities, government representatives, legislators, and local activists.

**Prerequistes: HNRS305 and HNRS315**

Study of selected topics related to earth, energy, and/or the environment through case studies, readings, research, and writing. This course may focus on the human dimensions or broader impacts of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

**MATH332 or EBGN509**

This course addresses the formulation of linear programming models, linear programs in two dimensions, standard form, the Simplex method, duality theory, complementary slackness conditions, sensitivity analysis, and multi-objective programming. Applications of linear programming models include, but are not limited to, the areas of manufacturing, energy, mining, transportation and logistics, and the military. Computer use for modeling (in a language such as AMPL) and solving (with software such as CPLEX) these optimization problems is introduced. Offered every other year.

**Prerequistes: MATH111**

This course addresses both unconstrained and constrained nonlinear model formulation and corresponding algorithms (e.g., Gradient Search and Newton’s Method, and Lagrange Multiplier Methods and Reduced Gradient Algorithms, respectively). Applications of state-of-the-art hardware and software will emphasize solving real-world engineering problems in areas such as manufacturing, energy, mining, transportation and logistics, and the military. Computer use for modeling (in a language such as AMPL) and solving (with an algorithm such as MINOS) these optimization problems is introduced. Offered every other year.

**Prerequistes: MATH111**

 This course addresses the formulation of integer programming models, the branch-and-bound algorithm, total unimodularity and the ease with which these models are solved, and then suggest methods to increase tractability, including cuts, strong formulations, and decomposition techniques, e.g., Lagrangian relaxation, Benders decomposition. Applications include manufacturing, energy, mining, transportation and logistics, and the military. Computer use for modeling (in a language such as AMPL) and solving (with software such as CPLEX) these optimization problems is introduced.

**Prerequistes: EDNS151 or HNRS 115 and HNRS 120**

A sustainable energy system is a system that lets us meet present energy needs while preserving the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable Energy Systems introduces undergraduate students to sustainable energy systems that will be available in the 21st century. The course focuses on sustainable energy sources, especially renewable energy sources and nuclear energy (e.g., fusion). Students are introduced to the existing energy infrastructure, become familiar with finite energy sources, and learn from a study of energy supply and demand that sustainable energy systems are needed. The ability to improve energy use efficiency and the impact of energy sources on the environment are discussed. Examples of sustainable energy systems and their applicability to different energy sectors are presented. The course is recommended for students who plan to enter the energy industry or students who would like an introduction to sustainable energy systems.

**Prerequistes: HASS100 or HNRS 105 and HNRS 110. Coreq: HASS200**

In this course students will be introduced to the fundamental legal principles that are relevant to sustainable engineering project development. General principles of United States (U.S.) environmental regulation pertaining to air quality, water quality, waste management, hazardous substances remediation, regulation of chemical manufacture and distribution, natural resources, and energy will be discussed in parallel with international laws pertaining to environmental protection and human rights. In the context of engineering project design, students will explore legal, societal, and ethical risks, and risk mitigation methodologies.

**Prerequistes: MATH213, PHGN200**

Energy Engineering is an overview of energy sources that will be available for use in the 21st century. After discussing the history of energy and its contribution to society, we survey the science and technology of energy, including geothermal energy, fossil energy, solar energy, nuclear energy, wind energy, hydro energy, bio energy, energy and the environment, energy and economics, the hydrogen economy, and energy forecasts.

**Prerequisite: PHGN200, MATH225**

Review of the solar resource and components of solar irradiance; principles of photovoltaic devices and photovoltaic system design; photovoltaic electrical energy production and cost analysis of photovoltaic systems relative to fossil fuel alternatives; introduction to concentrated photovoltaic systems and manufacturing methods for wafer-based and thin film photovoltaic panels.