This award supports a three day workshop on Grand Challenges in Earth Resource Engineering in Minneapolis, MN, during the second half of August 2010. The Workshop is intended to lead to a published report from the Earth Resources Engineering section of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. The subsurface is used for an increasingly diverse variety of applications: supply of drinking water, isolation of nuclear and hazardous wastes, underground storage of petroleum and natural gas, CO2 sequestration, urban transportation, homeland security issues, etc., and these various uses demand a better understanding of how rock in situ responds to man-made perturbations. Furthermore, prediction and control of unstable dynamic releases of energy as in damaging rock bursts in mines (and their large-scale counterpart, earthquakes), improved recovery of petroleum resources, the consequences of disposal of unwanted fluids by injecting them into rock formations at depth, and other industrial activities, depend on an improved understanding of the mechanics of rock and rock masses.
There are many challenging engineering problems that involve earth resources engineering, especially in the area of extraction and storage. For instance, directional drilling and borehole techniques for identifying characteristics of the rock formations are well advanced, and autonomous mining systems are taking place. Moreover, subsurface energy supplies are inextricably linked to national security and economic stability for the foreseeable future. However, the recent tragic accidents in the Gulf of Mexico and in West Virginia underscore the critical need for improved technologies to increase safety. To help promote the profession, a brochure will be developed and placed on the web to attract outstanding science and engineering students to earth resources engineering.
Section11 of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE Section 11), formerly designated "Mining, Petroleum, and Geological Engineering" was renamed "Earth Resource Engineering" in 2006 to recognize the expanding use of the subsurface for a variety of purposes not generally associated with the previous name. At the same time, rapid growth of world population and rising expectations for improved living standards are placing unprecedented challenges on the three traditional technologies. The close linkage between world resource distribution and global politics adds to the significance of Earth Resource Engineering, especially for major world powers such as the United States. Recognizing these developments, NAE Section 11 members decided, at the 2009 Annual Meeting, to establish a Committee to try to identify the leading Grand Challenges* in Earth Resource Engineering. A draft report was prepared by the Committee through E-mail correspondence. To complete the report, it was considered essential that direct face-to-face discussions take place, so a Workshop was convened in Minneapolis, a convenient geographic location. The Workshop allowed the Committee, plus invited colleagues, to meet and finalize the written report for defining Grand Challenges in Earth Resource Engineering, with the following overarching challenge for Earth Resource Engineering defined: To supply society with its essential needs for energy, minerals, and groundwater, and to use the earth itself as a resource for protecting people and the environment. Four associated component challenges were identified: 1. Make the earth transparent 2. Understand subsurface coupled processes 3. Minimize the environmental footprint 4. Protect people Details are provided in the final report. *The report Grand Challenges for Engineering (www.engineeringchallenges.org/) released February 15, 2008 by the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), identified 14 examples , all related to the four broad realms of human concern, sustainability, vulnerability health and the joy of living. Earth Resources Engineering is intimately linked to each of these realms. The NAE 2008 report has stimulated an ongoing debate in universities and industry and could have a significant influence on the future directions of science and engineering programs in universities, and on government funding of research and development.
