Annual Conference 2024

2024 Colorado Center for Advanced Ceramics Conference

Our Mission

Interaction and collaboration: We aim to create new partnerships and collaborations by connecting CCAC members and affiliates with other individuals and groups conducting research in related areas.

Resources: We strive to introduce CCAC members to the range of user facilities and expertise available within the Center and related facilities.

Community building: We seek to foster relationships among CCAC members and affiliates by providing an opportunity to interact in a cordial setting.

Dates: August 13th and 14th

Location: Coorstek Center for Applied Science and Engineering

1523 Illinois St
Golden, CO 80401

2024 Registration is Now Closed

2023 Photos

2024 Technical Program

Keynote Speaker - Jon Filreis

Jon Filreis is a “semi-retired” engineer, project leader, business manager, technology developer, and lifelong learner. Jon has had a long career in high technology industries from entry level mechanical engineering in medical companies to growing new business areas in electronics companies. Over the many years of helping to advance new technologies toward critical applications in medical, national defense, space, and communications industries, Jon has evaluated technologies, worked with researchers and developers, and helped make well founded decisions in the best interests of the companies, customers, and other stakeholders in the ventures. Jon has evolved into a new phase after over 40 years of full time work, focusing on STEM and environmental volunteering, new generations of his family, and other interests, as well as part time consulting in both commercial and government applications. The volunteering aspect of “semi-retirement” has become a very rewarding part of Jon’s journey. A major part of that is mentoring future generations of technologists to navigate the challenges and opportunities that they may encounter. This part of his journey started over 20 years ago as a referee for Lego robot contests and has evolved to include entrepreneurial mentoring programs for junior engineers and supporting STEM programs in schools.

Speakers and Poster Session

We are very excited to welcome invited speakers Dr. Andriy Zakutayev from NREL, Professor Justin Sambur from Colorado State University, and Dr. Jamesa Stokes from NASA Glenn Research Center. In addition, Dr. Chris Rom (NREL) will lead a workshop on how to ask better questions at conferences. This is based on his ongoing research into the equity of Q&A’s, and will be enlightening for all who attend.

As always, the conference will include contributed student talks from a variety of institutions, a banquet, and a poster session and competition. Attendance is free to all, and these are excellent networking opportunities at the largest technical ceramics conference on the Front Range.

Student-Industry Mixer

We will be hosting a Student-Industry Mixer to facilitate conversation and networking between representatives of participating institutions and potential student recruits. At this event, representatives will each have a table to set up promotional materials, and groups of students will rotate through, increasing the amount of interaction time for everyone.

Schedule

2024 Conference Organizers

Dagny Sacksteder

Dagny is a second-year PhD students in Materials Science advised by Professor Megan Holtz. She is researching reaction and degradation mechanisms of catalysts for H₂ production from water electrolysis through thin film studies. She previously earned a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Ohio State University.

Nate Bernstein

Nate is pursuing a PhD in Materials Science with Dr. Geoff Brennecka as his advisor. His research is focused on discovering new ferroelectric materials and explaining their properties. He began his studies at Mines in 2022. Before joining the team at Mines, he worked as an electrical engineer specializing in Radio Frequency and Microwave Frequency circuitry. His hobbies including spending time with his dog and trolling his advisor when opportunities knock.

Colton Gerber

Colton is a second-year Ph.D. student in Materials Science advised by Dr. Eric Toberer and Dr. Vladan Stevanovic. His research focuses on atomic-scale modeling of disordered materials with several elements, seeking to speed up ab initio calculations with machine learning methods such as equivariant neural network potentials/force fields.

Carter Stotts

Carter Stotts is a Ph.D. candidate at Colorado State University advised by Dr. Christopher Weinberger.

Jaime Tellez Gonzalez

After graduating from Mines with a B.S. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Jaime is pursuing a Master’s degree in Materials Science under advisement of Dr. Geoff Brennecka, conducting research on the sintering of barium titanate. When not in the lab, he is usually restoring (and occasionally breaking) old fountain pens.