STEAM Café: A Panel Discussion on Critical Minerals

Join a panel discussion from 6-7 p.m. MT on Tuesday, July 18, at the Hay Camp Brewing Company (601 Kansas City St, Rapid City) as part of the South Dakota Mines’ Summer 2023 STEAM Café.

Critical minerals are so much a part of our everyday lives – in our cell phones, computers, electronic displays, cars, solar panels and batteries – that we rarely think about them. These minerals are essential to the economy and our national security. Demand is accelerating, but the world’s supply is limited; the biggest future impact will arguably be felt by people currently under the age of 25.

This panel discussion will cover what these minerals are, why they are in such short supply and the effects this has on our daily lives as well as what South Dakota Mines is doing to address this challenge and how people of all ages can get involved.

The discussion will be presented by Jason Combs, program director of the National Security Innovation Network at Mines; Dr. Andrea Brickey, an associate professor in the Department of Mining Engineering & Management; Dr. Jon Kellar, a professor in the Department of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering; and Emma Thompson and Annika Schooler, Civil & Environmental Engineering undergraduates (2024).

About the South Dakota Mines’ Summer 2023 STEAM Café Lineup

STEAM Café, an ongoing series of free, informal talks by Mines faculty, staff and visiting experts, is a partnership between the university, South Dakota Public Broadcasting and Hay Camp Brewing Company.

An acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, STEAM Café is held at 6 p.m. MT on the third Tuesday of each month at Hay Camp (601 Kansas City St, Rapid City), unless otherwise noted.

The 2023 summer STEAM Café lineup includes:

• June 20, 6 p.m. MT; Deep Science at America’s Underground Laboratory; Presented by Dr. Jaret Heise, science director at the Sanford Underground Research Facility
• July 18, 6 p.m. MT; A Panel Discussion on Critical Minerals: Essential to Everyday Life, Increasingly in Demand, and Mines Degrees Crucial to Solutions; Presented by Jason Combs, program director of the National Security Innovation Network at South Dakota Mines; Dr. Andrea Brickey, an associate professor in the Department of Mining Engineering & Management; Dr. Jon Kellar, a professor in the Department of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering; and Emma Thompson and Annika Schooler, Civil & Environmental Engineering undergraduates (2024)
• August 15, 6 p.m. MT; Genetically Engineered Microbes for the Industries of Tomorrow; Presented by Dr. Tanvi Govil, research scientist at South Dakota Mines