See List of Guest Tours

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Tuesday, November 15
7:30am- 11:00am
Cost: $25

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the nation's premier research laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency technology development. NREL's wind energy research and development (R&D) projects focus on developing technologies that will operate cost-effectively at lower wind speed sites and increasing national capacity. Visitors to the National Wind Technology Center will receive an overview of NREL's wind program as well as an insider's look at state-of-the-art design and testing facilities.

Government Issues ID or Valid Driver's License required. All international visitors must complete the Foreign National Data Card. Tour meets at 7:30am and leaves at 7:45am

Government National Laboratories Water Research Facilities at the Federal Center

Wednesday, November 16
8:15am- 1:00pm
Cost: $25

National Ice Core Laboratory
This tour lasts about an hour, and it includes discussions about the work that is done at the NICL, as well as some of the science behind ice core research. The group into the freezer for a brief few minutes, and the temperatures in the main storage are about -36 Celsius, so a warm coat, hat, and gloves are recommended.

Bureau of Reclamation Hydraulics and Materials Lab
The lab applies hydraulic modeling, hydraulic analysis, and field testing expertise to the solution of water resources, hydraulics, and fluid mechanics problems. The lab addresses site-specific issues and pursues applied research that develops new water resource management tools for reclamation. The Bureau has active programs in environmental hydraulics, water conservation, dam safety, and hydraulic structures and equipment.

National Water Quality Laboratory
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gathers data for determining the location, amount, availability, and quality of ground and surface water throughout the United States and its territories. About 75 to 80 percent of the water-quality samples used in this effort are analyzed by the National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL). The NWQL determines organic and inorganic constituents in samples of ground and surface water, river and lake sediment, aquatic plant and animal material, and in precipitation samples. The NWQL receives about 30,000 samples every year for chemical analysis.

Government Issues ID or Valid Driver's License required
Tour meets at 8:15am and leaves at 8:30am.

The Colorado School of Mines

Wednesday, November 16
1:15pm- 4:30pm
Cost: $25

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is home to a number of unique interdisciplinary research centers. This tour will include a visit to the Colorado Fuel Cell Center (CFCC) which focuses on developing the technology necessary to satisfy the world's rapidly growing energy demands. Direct electrochemical oxidation enables electricity production at nearly double the efficiency of conventional technology. Pollutant emissions are negligible and operation is nearly silent. Fuel cells can operate on many fuels, including hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and biomass. Systems are scalable from small portable units to large power plants. They integrate well into hybrid-power solutions. All these benefits promise sustainable energy production and energy security. The CFCC is housed int he General Research Laboratory, a $3M facility opened in 2005 as a public-private collaboration. Also located at CSM is the Center for Automation, Robotics and Distributed Intelligence (CARDI) whose laboratories are located in the West Wing of Brown Hall which contains 70,000 square feet of research, classroom and office space opening in August 2011. CARDI pursues advanced engineering and computer science research in signal processing, control systems, robotics, sensing, sensor/actuator development, machine learning and intelligence. Applications are to problems of concern at CSM, including the environment, energy, natural resources and mining, materials, transportation, structures, geotechnical, information, communications, networking, medicine, and data mining. Additional CSM laboratories will be included if time permits.

Tour meets at 1:15pm and leaves at 1:30pm