Past Events
2025 CMI Winter Meeting at Mines
VIEW THE PHOTO ALBUM
10th CMI Winter Meeting was largest ever
A message from CMI Director, Tom Lograssos:
Thank you to all who made our 10th annual CMI Winter Meeting a huge success! With 150 people registered, this was the largest CMI event to highlight our students and early career researchers. They described their CMI research in dozens of oral and poster presentations, and had the opportunity to network with industry partners. CMI recognized the top two presenters in each category.
Best oral presentation:
* Humaira Nafisa Ahmed, University of Arizona, Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analyses of Neodymium Fluoride Equivalent Production through Hydrometallurgical Approach
* Subhamay Pramanick, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Enhancing Critical Mineral Separation for Sustainable Extraction
Best poster presentation:
* Sangita Gayatri Kannan, Colorado School of Mines, Local Economic Impacts of Mining in Nevada
* Mikael Broders, Ames National Laboratory, Ce-Fe-B Permanent Magnets via Wet Chemical Process
I’d like to thank the CMI Leadership Team for evaluating the oral presentations, and the newest cohort of the CMI Leadership Academy for evaluating the poster presentations. The CMI Winter Meeting was the first time the Leadership Academy met in person, and more information about the 6th Cohort program follows in this newsletter.
CMI selects 10 for sixth cohort of Leadership Academy
VIEW THE LA PHOTO ALBUM
The sixth cohort of the CMI Leadership Academy met virtually in January and in person during the CMI Winter Meeting. The group served as judges for the 22 posters presented by CMI early career researchers. The group learned about the CMI Education Toolkit as they created their own version of the kit, which they are encouraged to use in education outreach in their local area. Mentors for the group are Ruby Nguyen, Idaho National Laboratory (left) and Rod Eggert, Colorado School of Mines (right). Members of the CMI Leadership Academy are (front, from left): Chloe Tolbert, Idaho National Laboratory; Eunjeong Kim, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Rambabu Kuchi, Ames National Laboratory; Harshida Parmar, Ames National Laboratory; Chandra Nath, Purdue University; and (back, from left): Gaurav Das, OLI, Lesta Fletcher, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Subhamay Pramanik, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Zachary Adams, Phoenix Tailings; and Aaron Malone, Colorado School of Mines.
2024 CMI Meeting at Mines
2023 CMI Winter Meeting at Mines
PHOTO ALBUM
More than 135 people from 25 institutions gathered in Golden, CO for the 2023 Winter Meeting, which included the eighth annual forum for students and early career researchers, hosted by Colorado School of Mines. The three-day meeting, held January 24-26, featured overview and awards by Rod Eggert, CMI Deputy Director, Colorado School of Mines, welcome by Walter Copan, Colorado School of Mines Vice President for Research & Technology Transfer, and plenary presentations by Steven Boyd, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, Program Manager for Batteries and Critical Materials, and Tom Lograsso, CMI Director, Ames National Laboratory.
CMI students and early career researchers presented 20 oral presentations and 16 poster presentations, and were able to network with CMI Team members and Affiliates throughout the meeting. CMI celebrated its fourth cohort of the Leadership Academy completing their session.
Leadership Academy, fourth cohort:
- Atifi Abderrahman, Idaho National Laboratory
- Sidi Deng, Purdue University
- Ihor Hlova, Ames National Laboratory
- Syed Islam, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Michael Kesler, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Emily Moore, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Dan Park, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Meng Shi, Idaho National Laboratory
- Lionel Toba, Idaho National Laboratory
- Mairym Vazquez, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The Leadership Academy successfully coordinated the inaugural CMI Short Course, “Rare Earth Elements: Mine to Magnet and Beyond,” which was held at the Colorado School of Mines, January 23-24, prior to the Winter Meeting. Over 60 people attended this 1.5 day event, which featured eight speakers from universities, national laboratories, and industry. GROUP PHOTO
During the 2023 Winter Meeting, the CMI Leadership Team served as moderators for the oral presentations and served as reviewers for both the oral presentations and the poster presentations.
They selected two oral presentations for top honors:
- Presentation: Reyixiati “Richard” Repukaiti, Idaho National Laboratory, “Electrochemical Immobilization of Arsenic from Cobaltite”
- Presentation: Sangita Gayatri Kannan, Colorado School of Mines, “General Equilibrium Impacts on the U.S. Economy from Disruption to Rare-Earth Permanent Magnets (REM) Supply”
They selected two poster presentations for top honors:
- Poster: Tyler Del Rose, Ames National Laboratory, “Mechanochemical Extraction of Lithium at Low Temperature (MELLT) from Domestic a-Spodumene”
- Poster: Ajay Singh, Ames National Laboratory, “Reduced Rare-Earth Magnets in Traction Motors Using a Hybrid Design”
2022 CMI Winter Meeting at Mines
PHOTO ALBUM
More than 120 people from 26 institutions gathered in Golden, CO for the 2022 Winter Meeting, which included the seventh annual forum for students and early career researchers, hosted by Colorado School of Mines. The three-day meeting, held March 29 – 31, featured keynote presentations by Douglas Hollett, Special Advisor Critical Minerals and Materials Supply Chain, U.S. Department of Energy, and Tom Lograsso, CMI Director, Ames Laboratory.
A notable feature of Winter Meeting was a panel discussion highlighting former CMI students and postdocs. These CMI alums, who now work in industry and for national laboratories, shared advice on networking and career development. This year’s panel speakers were Allie Anderson, R&D Engineer at Gopher Resource, Philip Keller, Process Engineer at Energy Fuels Inc., and Marilú Pérez García, Scientist II at Ames Laboratory.
CMI early career researchers presented 16 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations, and were able to network with CMI Team members and Affiliates throughout the meeting. CMI celebrated its third cohort of the Leadership Academy completing their session, and announced the beginning of the fourth cohort.
Leadership Academy, third cohort:
- Alex Baker, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Meghan Fujimoto, Idaho National Laboratory
- Hunter Henderson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Hongyue Jin, University of Arizona
- Emmanuel Ohene Opare, Idaho National Laboratory
- Ilja Popovs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Denis Prodius, Ames Laboratory
- Aaron Wilson, Idaho National Laboratory
Leadership Academy, fourth cohort:
- Atifi Abderrahman, Idaho National Laboratory
- Sidi Deng, Purdue University
- Ihor Hlova, Ames Laboratory
- Syed Islam, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Michael Kesler, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Emily Moore, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Dan Park, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Meng Shi, Idaho National Laboratory
- Lionel Toba, Idaho National Laboratory
- Mairym Vazquez, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The CMI Leadership Team acted as moderators for the oral presentations and served as judges for the event, selecting two winning presentations.
Best Presentation, First Place Award: Chaochao Pan, Ames Laboratory
“Develop Continuous Hot-Roll Method to Fabricate High-Temperature Nd-Fe-B Magnets Free of Dy”
Best Presentation, Honorable Mention: Meng Shi, Idaho National Laboratory
“Li2CO3 Recovery from Lithium-ion Battery Leachate”
The fourth cohort of the Leadership Academy judged the poster presentations, and identified two winning posters.
Best Poster, First Place Award: Caleb Stetson, Idaho National Laboratory
“Effect of Solute Ratios and Crystal Lattice on Metal Separations via Solvent-Driven Fractional Precipitation”
Best Poster, Honorable Mention: Kayla Cunningham, Colorado School of Mines
“Impacts of Rare Earth Elements on the Activity and Gene Expression of Nitrosomonas Europaea”
2021 CMI WINTER MEETING AT MINES
Nearly 200 people from more than 45 institutions met virtually for the 2021 Winter Meeting, which included the sixth annual forum for students and early career researchers, hosted by Colorado School of Mines. The three-day meeting featured plenary presentations by Valri Lightner, Acting Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office, U.S. Department of Energy, and Tom Lograsso, CMI Director, Ames Laboratory.
A new feature of this year’s Winter Meeting were panel discussions, highlighting former CMI students and postdocs. These CMI alums, who now work in industry and for national laboratories, shared advice on networking and career development, including to network, say yes to opportunities and be flexible/adaptable. The Industry Workforce Panel speakers were Tom Boundy, Process Engineer, Patterson & Cooke, and Shruti Singhal, Supply Chain Operations Manager, MedStar Health. The National Lab Workforce Panel speakers were Mary Case, Staff Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory, and Braeton Smith, Principal Energy Economist, Argonne National Laboratory.
CMI early career researchers presented 16 oral presentations and 26 poster presentations, and could network with CMI Team and Affiliates through virtual breakout rooms. CMI celebrated its second cohort of the Leadership Academy completing their project, and announced the beginning of the third cohort.
Leadership Academy second cohort:
- Daniel Aberg, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Luis Diaz-Aldana, Idaho National Laboratory
- Santa Jansone-Popova, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Ruby Nguyen, Idaho National Laboratory
- Ryan Ott, Ames Laboratory
- Andriy Palasyuk, Ames Laboratory
- Zachary Sims, Oak Ridge National Laboratory most of term and now with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Aurelien Perron, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Leadership Academy, third cohort:
- Alex Baker, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Meghan Fujimoto, Idaho National Laboratory
- Hunter Henderson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Hongyue Jin, University of Arizona
- Emmanuel Ohene Opare, Idaho National Laboratory
- Ilja Popovs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Denis Prodius, Ames Laboratory
- Aaron Wilson, Idaho National Laboratory
The CMI Leadership Team served as moderators for the oral presentations. The Leadership Academy served as moderators for the poster presentations. Both groups served as judges for the event, selecting overall winners in both categories:
Oral presentation award winners:
* First place: Max Neveau, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Mechanism for Enhanced Surface Tension of Al-Ce Alloys in a Fully Liquid Direct Metal Write Process”
* Honorable Mention: Joseph Mattocks, Pennsylvania State University
“A Biomacromolecular Approach to the Detection and Extraction of Rare Earth Elements”
* Honorable Mention: Michael Guzman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
“Biologically Mediated Recovery of Tellurium from Mine Wastes”
Poster presentation award winners:
* First place: Alison Fritz, NETL Department of Energy
“Technoeconomic Assessment for Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Coal Feedstocks: A Case Study on Acid Mine Drainage”
* Honorable Mention: Mairym Vazquez, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Al‐Ce‐Based Alloys Processed Via Powder‐In‐Tube: From Superconductors Processing Methodology to Advanced Manufacturing”
* Honorable Mention: Stephanie Aurelius, Colorado School of Mines
“Rare Earth Elements and Antibiotic Resistance in Wastewater Microbial Communities”
2020 CMI WINTER MEETING AT MINES
PHOTO ALBUM
The CMI Winter Meeting was held on February 13-14 in Golden, Colorado on the Colorado School of Mines campus. During the two-day event, students, postdocs and early career professionals presented their research in 26 posters and 16 oral presentations.
There were 113 in attendance from 19 organizations including the Department of Energy, Ames Lab, INL, LLNL, and ORNL. Corporate partners included Infinium and Momentum Technologies. Institutions of higher education included FIPR at Florida Polytechnic, Idaho State, University at Buffalo, Iowa State, Case Western, UT-Knoxville, University of Arizona, Wayne State, Yale, Mines, Rutgers and Purdue.
Mines President Paul Johnson welcomed the researchers to campus during the opening reception and highlighted the updated CMI exhibit in the Geology Museum. Specials thanks to our plenary speakers: Mines Provost Rick Holz, CMI Interim Director Tom Lograsso, and AMO, EERE, DOE Technology Manager Helena Khazdozian. CMI Deputy Director Rod Eggert was the meeting host and MC.
Members of CMI’s Leadership Academy developed a poster session rating scale and to judge the 26 research posters.
| CMI Leadership Academy L-R: Andriy Palasyuk, Santa Jansome-Popova, Ruby Nguyen, Luis Diaz Aldana, Zachary Sims, Ryan Ott, Daniel Aberg. Not pictured, Aurelien Perron. |
The poster session winners were Rakesh Chaudhary and Abhishek Sarkar, both postdocs at Ames Laboratory pictured below with Rod Eggert, Helena Khazdozian, the DOE program manager for CMI, and CMI Leadership Academy members Ruby Nguyen of INL, and Zachary Sims of ORNL. The top oral presentations were selected by popular vote. The winners were Hannah Gagarin and Philip Keller, both graduate students at Colorado School of Mines, shown with CMI Deputy Director Rod Eggert.