Two Montana Tech graduate students attend CERAWeek

Two graduate students from Montana Technological University traveled to Houston, Texas in mid-March for the world’s premier energy conference, CERAWeek.

Materials Science Ph.D. students Zainab Nasrullah, from Lahore, Pakistan, and Max Triepke (B.S. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, ’22; M.Eng Materials Science, ’24) from Missoula attended the conference as part of NextGen cohort, which is a new initiative by CERAWeek to bridge the gap between the academia and industry to facilitate the discovery of new pathways for energy transition, find talent and build alliances. Nasrullah and Triepke’s attendance was facilitated by Lance Energy Chair Bob Morris and Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Angela Lueking.

“Renowned as Houston’s 'Super Bowl of Energy,' CERAWeek is organized by S&P Global and is the annual gathering of global leaders, policymakers, academia, and innovators offering shared learning, solutions, and insight into the future of energy,” Nasrullah said. “This energy conference is widely considered to be the world’s most influential and prestigious energy conference.”

Nasrullah and Triepke both are advised by Associate Professor and Interim Department Head of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Richard LaDouceur. Nasrullah’s research focuses on creating sustainable technologies for rare earth element extraction and separation. She is part of a team at Montana Tech working to obtain a patent for a process that provides economical methods of obtaining samarium-cobalt through recycling. Triepke’s research focuses on the mobilization of biochar production via high-temperature, solar-generated process heat. Last summer, Nasrullah and Triepke completed a training on technology viability assessment intended to help them move forward with patents for their respective research projects. Attending CERAWeek allowed the students to build upon that training.

“The massive platform of CERAWeek provided me with an opportunity to attend the pod and panel discussion sessions of industry leaders, innovators, and students sharing insights on the future of energy,” Nasrullah said. “We also attended the Innovation Agora House tour, which showcased technologies from nine partners (some of them are Microsoft, MethaneSAT, Petronas, ARAMCO, Canada, and Amazon Web Services) of CERAWeek that are transforming the energy industry. After attending those sessions and the house tour, I feel inspired and want to explore innovative ideas for my research, which is based on developing a sustainable technology for the extraction and separation of critical elements to fulfill the energy demand.”

Triepke said that the most valuable aspect of the conference pertaining to his research at Montana Tech was defining the “why” behind the work. Being able to sit in on panels where leaders of global energy companies, government agencies, and start-ups are discussing the direction they are taking their companies can help researchers understand how their research fits in in today’s energy world.

“Everything that we learned shows why we're putting projects in our lab into hydrogen, why we're doing projects with AI,” Triepke said. “It gives you an idea for the ‘why’ behind your projects. You don't necessarily need to attend the conference to understand why the energy world is going in the direction it is. You can read papers and inform yourself on it in different ways, but the importance of informing yourself going forward and being able to defend why you're doing this research, I think that was the biggest takeaway of the conference for me. Not only do you want to be doing something that's impactful and has a good scientific basis, but you also want to be doing research that's relevant and current. Inherently research is supposed to be cutting edge of science. This conference kind of defines where that is in the energy industry.”

Triepke had three main takeaways from CERAWeek, the first being AI, which was included in nearly every session. Whether the topic of the session was battery storage, hydrogen, oil and gas, or any other topic, discussion on the strategy, advantages, and risks of AI implementation throughout the energy sector was included.

Triepke’s other takeaways are more pertinent to programs here at Montana Tech. “Two of the three main takeaways from this conference were that the oil and gas industry isn’t going anywhere and that the mining industry is going to have to increase to provide the critical minerals for the electrification of the energy industry, especially in the US,” Triepke said. “That leaves Montana Tech in a really good position. We're working on research projects to further the advancement in the energy industry, while also producing a lot of graduates that are going to play a fundamental role in both the oil and gas as well as mining industries.”

Triepke sees opportunities for Montana Tech graduates in energy’s future, based on the conversations at the conference. Speakers at the conference stated that a more realistic perspective was needed when talking about the rate at which the energy transition will occur. The focus of the innovation seems to be on nuclear and hydrogen-based energy sources; however, their development is taking longer than expected. The discussions seemed bullish on the involvement of the petroleum and mining industries in the energy word while alternative technologies are being developed. Montana Tech seems to have a valuable spot in the short-term energy industry with petroleum and mining engineering programs as well as long-term with applicable research projects.

Nasrullah was encouraged to see the opportunities that are available for women in the field as well.

“The biggest highlight for me at CERAWeek was seeing highly successful, driven, and passionate women working globally in the energy sector,” she said. “Their stories and achievements in the Women in Energy panel discussion and dinner were truly inspiring and highlighted the importance of diversity and leadership in shaping the future of energy.”