College of Engineering & Mines

Updates for students, alumni, supporters and constituents

UND Team Wins First Place in U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Design Challenge

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office is excited to announce the latest winners of the Fall 2020 Geothermal Design Challenge™.

First Place: University of North Dakota, Thermal Vision
Submission: “Geothermal Applications for the World”

The University of North Dakota team’s winning infographic highlights the benefits of eight common uses of geothermal energy: agricultural drying, cooking, greenhouse heating, aquaculture, electricity generation, space heating, snow melting, and bathing and swimming. The infographic offers global context, breaking down each use as a percentage of the total geothermal market. A world map further illustrates the use of geothermal resources around the world.

Starting in September, teams of graduate and undergraduate students were challenged to use infographics and data visualization to foster understanding of geothermal energy, broadly communicate the benefits of geothermal technologies, and ultimately help overcome key non-technical barriers to geothermal development. Students from across the United States designed powerful, high-quality infographics to illustrate aspects of geothermal energy production, backed by robust technical data and accompanied by communications and outreach strategies to maximize impact.

Congratulations to the winners of the Fall 2020 Geothermal Design Challenge!

Portraits of Team Participants
Participants in the UND Team include Moones Alamaooti (PhD student in Geophysics), Jessica Eagle-Blustone (MSc student in Petroleum Engineering), and Jerjes Porlles (PhD student in Petroleum Engineering).