The Roger and Dawn Crus Center for Renewable Energy

On Monday April 28, 2014 the Department of Metallurgical Engineering celebrated the Grand Opening of the Roger and Dawn Crus Center for Renewable Energy. Present at the event were Provost Ruth Watkins, Dean Frank Brown, Department Chair Dr. Manoranjan Misra, as well as current and retired faculty, and Crus friends and family.

The Center for Renewable Energy was recently established at the University of Utah and is dedicated to education, research, and outreach. The center will be the focal point for community activities to educate the general public and encourage K-12 students to study science and engineering-related disciplines focusing on renewable energy.

Roger and Dawn contacted the University of Utah’s Development Office last year in search of ways they might “help save the planet.” After meeting with Dr. Misra, Chair of Metallurgical Engineering, they concluded that supporting the work being done at the Center for Renewable Energy at the College of Mines and Earth Sciences was exactly what they would want to support. The Roger and Dawn Crus Center for Renewable Energy will exemplify their dream of finding ways to minimize waste, maximize energy efficiency, and facilitate recycling.

Currently, the center has solar, biofuel, solar hydrogen, fuel cell, and 3D printing units that are used to instruct students in various aspects of Renewable Energy. Additional units (wind energy, geothermal, solar thermal) and a virtual reality theater for interactive education are planned for the center.