WorldWide Drilling Resource

37 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2015 Student Geothermal Competition Winners adapted from Information by the u.S. Department of Energy and Truckee Meadows Community College The U.S. Department of Energy announced the winners of the 2014 National Geothermal Student Competition. The competition challenged students to develop business solutions for public outreach and case studies which could help the industry pinpoint geothermal re- sources in subsurface areas across the United States. The theme of this year's competition, GeoEnergy Is Beautiful , encouraged teams to focus on a nontechnical deploy- ment barrier: communicating the benefits of geothermal energy. The contest chal- lenged students to create innovative info- graphics using publicly available data, scientific understanding, and graphics, and also to develop an associated out- reach strategy. The top 2014 teams: & Truckee Meadow Community College (TMCC) & The University of Texas-Pan American & The University of Mississippi Winning TMCC students Phil Ulibarri and Kim Baccelli were mentored by pro- fessor Jim Nichols to create their winning geothermal energy infographics and out- reach plan. Ulibarri said it’s about taking the information learned in class and making it understandable to people. “You have to translate the information to the average person who’s going to be buying and using geothermal,” he stated. The winning project included two papers, one describing the plan for the infographics, and the second outlining an outreach plan for education. The purpose of the contest is to cre- ate materials promoting clean geothermal energy. “If you want an outreach campaign, you need different types of graphics to impact or interest different demographics of people,” Ulibarri said. The final entry included 12 major graphics, and links at the edge of the poster to other education- al material. Additional educational illustra- tions, outreach, and educational content was interconnected with the narrative portion of the entry. The package includes a colorful illus- tration of the earth with a dinosaur and volcano, created for elementary school children. Also featured, is a diagram of geothermal energy delivery to buildings which is appropriate for middle school students, and more complex instructive illustrations about energy production for high school students. Winners for the case study challenge were also announced. This challenge focused on gathering geothermal data to identify trends in locating geothermal energy resources. Student teams pro- duced several case studies detailing the exploration, development, and geological history of specific geothermal areas. The students added their case studies to the Energy Department's open-source ener- gy information platform, to ensure their work can assist with future exploration and development efforts. The top three student teams: & Colorado School of Mines, cov- ering Colorado’s Waunita Hot Springs Geothermal Area. & University of North Dakota, cov- ering the Mt. Princeton Geothermal Area in Colorado. & University of North Dakota, cov- ering the Lightning Dock Geothermal Area in New Mexico. '6(- ( '10= 0'>' 38*0 *003,, 6*2' '880* 6**/ 36 136* .2+361'8.32 ('00 36 :.7.8 97 320.2* 1.(-.,'2,6392);'8*6 (31 &*)2*7)'= 3'6) 3+ .6*(8367@ **8.2, #-967)'= !*,.786'8.32 4*27 ? $4)'8* ? " $4)'8* ? ( 00-.2*= *(896* ? 9<.0.'6= 98.2, ? 92(- ? 6.00 .8 "*0*(8.32 ? 1403=** !*8*28.32 ? 97.2*77 "9((*77.32 0'22.2, ? 3(/8'.07 ? '259*8 ? '7.23 .,-8 6.)'= !*,.786'8.32 4*27 ? & 229'0 **8.2, #6')* "-3; ? 9<.0.'6= 92(-*32 ? %*2)36 *137 ? '78 6*7.)*287@ **8.2, ? #6')* "-3; 0336 .:*';'=7 9<.0.'6= "(-30'67-.4 9(8.32