Missouri S&T is among the universities included in a new $100 million federal initiative designed to strengthen the U.S. critical minerals workforce.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies initiative Friday, Aug. 7.
The program aims to double the number of graduates nationwide in mining, minerals and related technologies within two years. Funding will support scholarships, curriculum development, teaching tools and other efforts to increase the number of students pursuing degrees in mining-related fields.
“Missouri S&T has educated generations of engineers and scientists who have helped meet our nation’s mineral needs, and this federal support will provide opportunities for even more students to pursue careers in this important field,” says S&T Chancellor Mohammad Dehghani, who was in Washington, D.C., for the Friday announcement and related discussions about critical minerals. “Developing the workforce needed to strengthen America’s critical minerals supply chains is an area where Missouri S&T has tremendous expertise and an important role to play, just as we have since our university was founded.”
DOE estimates the United States will need approximately 6,000 new engineers in the mining sector over the next 10 years, in addition to workers in materials science, processing and recycling.
“We need more engineers and other professionals with the expertise to find, produce and process the minerals our nation depends on for its economic and national security,” says Dr. Catherine Johnson, a Robert H. Quenon Associate Professor and interim chair of mining and explosives engineering at Missouri S&T, who was also in D.C. Friday. “This new initiative will give universities like Missouri S&T additional resources to educate those professionals and help meet the growing demand for their expertise.”
The university was also part of a $25 million proposal focused on workforce development announced Aug. 7 by the Department of War.
Missouri S&T’s roots in mining and minerals date to its founding as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1870.
In the early 1900s, alumnus Daniel Jackling pioneered large-scale methods for mining and processing low-grade copper ore that transformed the copper industry. Two decades later, alumnus V.H. McNutt discovered the first commercially viable potash deposit in the Western Hemisphere, securing a domestic supply of a mineral essential to agriculture.
The university’s critical minerals legacy also serves as the foundation for S&T’s Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy Tech Hub.
The federally designated Tech Hub was recently awarded $38 million to strengthen domestic critical minerals supply chains. This funding will support construction of an 18,000-square-foot pilot-scale critical mineral processing and recycling test bed at S&T designed to accelerate the commercialization of critical minerals technologies.